God is in your humble manger

The barn or stable is nothing fancy, basic wood structure with thatched roof and likely stinky.  Yet God the creator Himself became a baby and chose such a humble place to be born.  This is my favorite Christmas message.

Last year I was so comforted by this truth that I cried for days thinking of it.  I took a humble job with minimum wage last year in a senior living facility.  Everything I did there was humbling, cleaning tables/chairs, sweeping and mopping daily, refilling and maintaining coffee machine and juice machines, baking and wrapping cookies, making sandwiches and getting necessary ingredients from kitchen....etc.  I was busy and I had to be on my feet all day.  The only thing I enjoyed with talking with the elderlies when they are in the mood for conversation.  There were many days when I wondered what I was doing there when I could have easily made twice the salary somewhere else doing easier jobs.  But there was a call in my heart to be there for that season, and that call was to minister to the elderlies which I had never done before that time.  It was not all roses and rainbows.  The elderlies are needy, and many are grouchy because they are in pain and dealing with lots of frustrations and disappointments.  They are not the easiest to be around.  Yet in that humble place, God again and again told me, "I am here".  God was in my manger, that little cafe.

This year I found myself comforted by this same truth again as I made the big move to Taiwan.  The hardest thing about it was leaving my children and friends, selling my furniture, donating all my stuff other than two suitcases full of clothes, and leaving the house I lived for 27 years.  Nothing feels the same here.  It's so hot during Christmas, in the 80's.  I now live in a tiny apartment in a big city with no yard and no car.  I squint my eyes when I am trying to read and understand Chinese, (my ability is about 4th grade level) and often had to ask what certain instructions meant like a child.  I don't know where to go when I need something; again, I had to ask.  I recently purchased a coffee maker which I had no idea where to go to get until I asked my sister, and she took me to a big Carrefour.  Most coffee drinkers here drink out of these tea bag coffee packets that sits on top of mugs.  I wanted to decorate for Christmas, but most decorations were overpriced and very glittery.  I cannot fit a tree in my apartment, so I had to make peace with a Christmas without a tree.  The only places that had Christmas decorations were big stores and hotels.  Christmas is seen as just another way for businesses to make money.  I was falling into a depression during this season as I cope with the adjustments.  Yet at this time, I was reminded again that God is in my humble manger.  He is here with me in my little Taiwan apartment though it is very tiny and there isn't yet the comfort of a home.

God saw my inner struggle.  Last week in His perfect timing, He sent me an old friend to be with me.  She was my elementary school classmate, and we became best friends then.  But since I moved to the US and she got married to a man from London, we were in different parts of the world and lost touch for a long time.  When she knew that I was moving back to Taiwan, she excitedly booked a trip to see me and some relatives.  God knew I needed a friend at this time.  What a blessing!  We had so much to catch up on and she helped me remember some wonderful things that I had forgotten long ago.  All week long we explored different areas and historical sites (she is a journalist who loves art and history). Best of all, we tried different local foods.  I felt less alone and more OK to be so different because I had a good friend who was with me.  How much more should I feel comforted by my eternal friend, God, being with me in my humble little dwelling here!

Are you in a place that is humble, unappealing, ordinary and uncomfortable?  Are you struggling to accept where you are and wishing that it was bigger and better?  You are not alone.  God is there in YOUR manger too.  Remember to celebrate that truth this Christmas.  Emmanuel God with us!  He is truly the reason for this season.