{"id":16138,"date":"2013-12-10T00:01:41","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T06:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=16138"},"modified":"2013-12-10T00:38:21","modified_gmt":"2013-12-10T06:38:21","slug":"away-manger-mahalia-jackson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/12\/10\/away-manger-mahalia-jackson\/","title":{"rendered":"Away in a Manger"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you were to ask me what my favorite Christmas carol\/song would be, my first instinct would be to say \u201cAway in a Manger<\/em>\u201d, by Mahalia Jackson.\u00a0 (THAT version \u2013 it\u00a0MUST be Mahalia!)\u00a0 When I was in middle school my family moved to Nashville from Ohio, where we had literally lived around the corner from my grandparents.\u00a0 Each year at Christmas break we would travel back to Ohio to spend two weeks with my grandparents and extended family.\u00a0 I loved those times, we had too many people in too small of a house, but it was always a time of laughter, movies, cards, a TON of food and music \u2013 LOTS of music. One particular compilation album my grandparents owned included \u201cAway in a Manger<\/em>\u201d by Mahalia Jackson.\u00a0 I had never heard anyone sing like her!\u00a0 What I didn\u2019t realize then was that she had been an incredible gospel singer \u2013 and when she sang about Jesus, sisters, you were having worship! She sang \u201cAway in a Manger\u201d like she was singing in the presence of God.\u00a0 Even at a young age, that song affected me at such a spiritual and emotional level that it still brings me to tears and worship \u2013 every<\/i> time I hear it.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to me as a college student, and the compilation album has been lost.\u00a0 This track of Mahalia\u2019s is nowhere<\/b> to be found. No record, no tape (this shows you how old I am\u2026), no CD of hers had it available, and I couldn\u2019t find it on iTunes. I searched for this song for YEARS, sisters, no exaggeration.\u00a0 Then one year, my closest friend at the time gave me a Christmas gift. \u201cIt\u2019s not much,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it was all I could get for you.\u201d\u00a0 I opened it to find\u2026.. a CD with the Christmas music of Mahalia Jackson and Nat King Cole \u2013 with \u201cAway in a Manger\u201d included<\/i>.\u00a0 SHE FOUND IT!! It was the one thing that mattered the most to me and she presented it to me in her true humble fashion. The best gift I had ever been given.\u00a0 Well, by a person….<\/p>\n

The best<\/b> gift I have ever been given\u00a0is the gift of Jesus.\u00a0 And He, in turn, gives the best gifts!\u00a0 James 1:17 says; \u201cEvery good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.\u201d\u00a0 We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ as our Lord (Acts 2:38).\u00a0 Romans 12:6-8 tells us that we are all given gifts in order to strengthen the body of Christ.\u00a0\u00a0 We are also given grace (thank You, Lord!): \u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith \u2013 and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God<\/b>\u201d (Ephesians 2:8).<\/p>\n

Perhaps you are like me. You have searched for years for the<\/strong> thing that would make you happy, but have never found it.\u00a0 It is Jesus<\/i><\/strong>. Just like that song ushered (and still ushers) me into the Presence of God.\u00a0 That Savior, born away in a manger, brings us boldly into the Presence of a God that loves you and wants to shower you with gifts \u2013 gifts that no one (but He!) could ever give you. Won\u2019t you receive His gifts today?<\/p>\n

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!\u00a0 I hope you enjoy it, too. When she sings: \u201cI love thee, Lord Jesus! I ask thee to stay close by me forever, and love me, I pray,\u201d it brings me to tears every time.\u00a0 “I\u00a0DO love You, Lord Jesus. Thank you for loving me!\u00a0 Stay close.”<\/p>\n

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