In 1918 Rose Fitzerald Kennedy gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who would later be diagnosed with intellectual disabilities that made it necessary for the child to be institutionalized.
As the matriarch of one of the most successful families of our time, Rose became very bitter about her daughter’s situation. She was filled with anger towards God. The Kennedys were the ideal family, and there was just no way a child of theirs could possibly be institutionalized.
Then one day, a maid that worked in the Kennedy home, spoke up to Rose. She said: “Mrs. Kennedy, I have watched you for several months, and I know how angry you are. But if you don’t do something, that anger is going to ruin you.” She then made a suggestion to Rose: “I think you should say this prayer: ‘O Lord, make my heart a manger, where the Christ child can be born.”
Rose thought this idea was silly at first but spent the following night tossing and turning in bed. She couldn’t put what the maid suggested out of her mind. She then succumbed to the maid’s suggestion and got on her knees beside her bed and prayed: “O Lord, make my heart a manger where the Christ child can be born.”
That manger she built in her heart for Christ provided her the strength to handle all that life threw at her.
It’s impossible to change ourselves with just the help of others. We need God in our lives to change us also. As Christmas approaches, may we all build a manger for Christ within our hearts.
–shared from an article by Todd Lesley at Wake Forest Baptist Church
Brave Journey, Bill
