by John Emery

John Emery — an engineer at John Fluke Mfg. Co. in Everett, Washington — had already contributed a conversion testimony to net.religion.christian ("How I Came to Walk with Jesus," September 1985) and an allegorical tale ("The Story of a Captain and His Passengers"). In December 1985, as Christmas approached, he shared this small story.

It is about building a manger. Not metaphorically — literally: buying ceramic figurines, failing to find a pre-made manger, going looking for scrap wood behind his townhouse complex, finding particle board in exactly the right amount, then finding hay along a lakeside walkway that had been laid out for ducks. The story makes no grand theological claims. It simply notices that when he stopped to ask God for help with a very small problem, something turned up. "I guess he was trying to tell me that Christmas was meant to be simple."

I just thought I would share a cute little story that happened to me last Christmas. I had decided to buy a manger set. After looking around for a while, I finally bought one. However, after I got it home and put it together I was disappointed. It was poor quality and the figurines were small and made of cheap plastic. What's worse was that the set was fairly expensive.

A couple days later, I ran into a set of ceramic figurines (9 pieces). The pieces were about 5 times the size of the ones I had and the price of this set was about half of what I paid for the other. I couldn't believe it! So I returned the other manger set and purchased this one.

The problem with this set was that it did not have a manger or hay. I had my heart set on the whole works however. I figured surely I could buy a manger separately. After looking and looking, I came up empty handed. Then I thought perhaps I could build my own. Besides, it would be cheaper. I figured perhaps the Lord wanted me to make the manger myself. That sounded like fun! Gee, Noah built the ark, Solomon built the temple, and I could build the manger!

The next problem was to figure out what kind of wood to buy. It had to be thin and easy to work with. No problem. Well I went to a few stores and surprisingly there was nothing I could use. Well I started becoming frustrated and a bit angry. Then I thought, "Lord, I want to make this manger set for you. What shall I do?" Soon I got a thought to go look in back of our townhouse complex. I had never been out there before because all that was out there were some trees, bushes, and wild grass. For some reason I was excited about going out there. My wife thought I was a little crazy.

Well I went tramping through the wild weeds. After looking for about 5 minutes, I ended up at the edge of a parking lot and lo and behold, there sat a pile of 3 or 4 pieces of pressed particle board. Exactly what I was looking for. After figuring out the dimensions I needed, it turned out that the amount of wood I had was nearly exactly the right amount! Well I built it and it turned out great. A coating of vegetable oil gave it a nice natural look.

Next I wanted some hay to put in it. I said, "Lord, you did it once, I trust you can do it again." Well I didn't get any urges to go back to where I found the wood, but I went and looked anyway. I didn't find any. I thought, "Oh well" and settled for some tree figs. Then a couple of days later I was walking from the parking lot to the building to work. We have a small lake with swans, ducks, and geese on the way. Well to my amazement, someone had placed a bunch of hay along side the walk way for the ducks (I assumed). I took just enough for my manger and left plenty for the ducks (they didn't get too mad).

I ended up with a lovely, inexpensive manger set and a warm feeling in my heart that God helps even with the smallest things. I guess he was trying to tell me that Christmas was meant to be simple. I hope everyone's Christmas is simple and bright.

In His Name,
John Emery

Colophon

John Emery was an engineer at John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. in Everett, Washington, and a regular contributor to net.religion.christian in 1985. His posts included a conversion testimony, a parable about a ship captain, and reflections on how the Lord works in daily life.

This post appeared December 16, 1985. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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