I am posting a picture of Rhonda, Celeste and myself, Christmas 1958. I was eight, Rhonda was six and Celeste was three. We have always celebrated the Christmas Season in a big way in the Manley family. Though my parents never had the luxury of being extravagant, they made the season special. In fact, at my mother's bidding, those three kids you see in the picture (including little three year old Celeste) memorized Luke 2: 1-14 (The Christmas Story). The three of us would quote it together. As long as Dad and I live, the Christmas season will still be special as we celebrate the coming of our blessed Savior and Lord and the home going of Rhonda and Celeste. December 28 will be the bookend to our celebration. Sixteen years ago tomorrow, December 28th, we celebrated the life of Rhonda and tomorrow, again on December 28th, the family will celebrate the life of Celeste.
It is almost impossible to comprehend that the Creator of the universe took on flesh and was born of a peasant girl. The One who spoke the galaxies into existence, became a speechless newborn baby. God gave the stars light, veiled His own glory, and quietly slipped almost unnoticed into the human race. The Lord who clothed all of nature in its boundless beauty and order, came to us wrapped in rags and lying in a feeding trough. The miracle of His incarnation is too unexpected, too mysterious, too holy for us to understand. The human heart is personal and desires a personal response. We have a desire for our Father to step out of the impersonal picture and meet us as individuals. We all want not a principle, not a picture, but a person.
So, God the Father stepped out of the picture. The Word became flesh. Jesus - Emmanuel - God with us became the meaning of Christmas. Because of our personal experience as the Manley family with Christmas, we will always need - God with us. We will always follow the shepherds to the manger and bow in astonishment and thanksgiving, glorifying and praising God for all we have seen and heard as we remember His first coming - and my two precious sisters' final home going!
