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Christmas Travelers

The Christmas Miracle: Most Americans believe the virgin birth is literally true

The Nativity Story

KEEPING CHRISTMAS IN THE CLASSROOM

The Traditional Christmas Carols collection

Christian Origins of Christmas

Christmas by Phil Yancy

Christ Climbed Down

The Birth of Jesus Christ

TWO BABES IN A MANGER

Where Love Is, God Is by Leo Tolstoy

What if God was one of us

The Promise of Christmas

The Original Christmas Carol

Christmas Carols

I Heard the Bells of Christmas Say

Bending Low at Bethlehem

A Christmas Carol

O CHRISTMAS TREE

The Little Match Girl

Swept Up in Joy

The Noel Candle

The History of Christmas with Anecdotes, Poetry and Quotes

Gift of the Magi

What Makes Christmas Important?

The Wooden Shoes of Little Wolff

Christmas Bidding Prayer

A Christmas Story

The Original Christmas Story

Christmas Love Is... paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13

Home for Christmas-A Heart-warming Christmas Story

Silent Night 1914

Christmas Angels

The Tablecloth

A Pioneer Christmas

Christmas,1881

They Tried To Outlaw Christmas

A Visit by the Christ Child

The Christmas Miracle at the Battle of the Bulge

The Miracle of the Costliest Gift

Holiday Fear

IS ANYONE MISSING BABY JESUS

More Stories of Christmas

Please show this love this season

The Christmas Poem

Can This Be Christmas?

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13 CHRISTMAS VERSION

The Candy Cane and The Passion of Christ

Bette Midler Was Wrong

The House of Christmas

Shun Happy Holidays

the true story of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

How To Get What You Really Want

Why Jesus is Better than Santa Claus

A Christmas Letter From Jesus

The Twelve Days of Christmas

the 12 prayers of Christmas

Mary, Did You Know?

The W in Christmas

An interesting article: Is God Against Christmas?

Finding Your Way to Christmas

The Meaning Behind the Twelve Days of Christmas

O Little Town of Bethlehem

When the Holidays Hurt

Christmas Wish

Christmas Story (from India)

Sermon On the Nativity by Augustine

That's How Much I Love You

More Christmas thoughts

Christmas with family requires cookies!

Best Christmas Ever

Why the Bells Rang




Use this story which speaks so beautifully of the Incarnation

and it will need no introduction or explanation

LOVE LAYS BARE


      It was a bitterly cold Christmas eve in Korea in 1952. A pregnant young mother, Bak Yoon, hobbled through the snow toward the home of a missionary friend where she knew she could find help. Tears of sorrow froze on her face as she mourned her husband. He had recently been killed in the Korean War, and she had no one else to turn to. A short way down the road from her missionary friend's house was a deep gully spanned by a bridge. As Bak Yoon stumbled forward, birth pains suddenly overcame her. She fell, realizing that she could go no further, and crawled under the end of the bridge. There, alone, under the bridge, her baby boy was born.
     Bak Yoon had nothing with her except her heavy, padded clothes. One by one she removed all pieces of her clothing and wrapped them around her tiny son, still connected to her body by his umbilical cord. Then feeling exhausted she lay back in the snow beside her baby.
      The next morning Miss Watson, long-time missionary, drove across the bridge in her car to take a Christmas basket of food to a needy Korean family. On her way back, as she got near the bridge, the car sputtered and died - out of gasoline.
         She got out of the car and started across the bridge. Through crunching snow under her feet she heard another sound - a baby's faint cry. She stopped, unbelieving, and heard the cry again. "It's coming from beneath this bridge!" She crawled under the bridge to investigate and there she found a tiny, bundled baby, warm but hungry, and young Bak Yoon frozen in death. With a knife from her tool box she cut the cord and took the baby home with her. After caring first for the child, she, along with some helpers, brought Bak Yoon's body back to near where she lived and buried her there.
She named the baby Soo Park, and adopted him. He was strong and healthy and so grew up among many other orphan children that Miss Watson cared for. But to her, Soo Park was special. She often told him, "Your mother had great love for you, Soo Park," and about how she had proved that love. He never tired of hearing of his beautiful mother.
       On Christmas day, his 12th birthday, snow was falling. After the children had helped Soo Park celebrate his birthday, he came and sat beside Miss Watson.
     "Mother Watson, do you think God made your car run out of gasoline the day you found me?" he asked.
       "Perhaps He did," she answered. "If that car hadn't stopped, I would not have found you. But I am so glad it stopped. I love you and am very proud of you, Soo Park." She put her arms around him.
        He rested his head against her. "Mother Watson, will you please take me out to my mother's grave? I want to pray there. I want to thank her for my life."
       "Yes, but put on your heavy coat. It's very cold."
        Beside the grave, Soo Park asked Mother Watson to wait at a little distance. She walked aside and waited. As the astonished missionary watched, the boy began to take off his warm clothing, piece by piece.
         Surely he won't take off all his clothing! she thought. He'll freeze! But the boy stripped himself of everything, laid it all on his mother's grave, and knelt naked and shivering in the snow.
         She waited one minute, two minutes. Then she put her gloved hand on his snow covered shoulder. "Come, Soo Park. Your mother in Heaven sees how much you love her. I will help you dress."
         Then in deep sorrow he cried out to the mother he never knew: "Were you colder than this for me, my mother?" And he wept bitterly because he knew of course, she was.
         Jesus stripped himself of his royal garments to come and live among us. Was he that cold for us? Surely we never have to wonder if he loves us, or even how much he loves us. He demonstrated that to us nearly 2000 years ago. Celebrate in his love.
     From The Short Circuit, a student publication of Asbury Theological Seminary, Volume 86, Dec. 6th, 1986, No. 11