Advent Week 4 - Echoes of the Manger in Every Offering

The Venerable Dr. Julie Russell-Crunk / December 19, 2025

As we enter the season of Advent, we prepare for and await the birth of Christ our Savior.

We, as Christians, prepare by praying, reading, reflecting and anticipating the miraculous gift of Jesus. This time of preparation and waiting is much like that of expectant parents awaiting the months long anticipated arrival of a child’s birth, much like Mary and Joseph did two thousand years ago. Hope, peace, joy and love are embodied in these parallel periods of preparation and waiting.

Mary and Joseph, traveling to Bethlehem for the census, found themselves with no accommodations in which to stay. At the time of this journey, Jesus’ birth was imminent.

As recorded In Luke 2:7, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

Wrapping a newborn in strips of cloth known as swaddling cloths was a custom of the culture at the time. Among the reasons this was done was to keep the baby warm and secure. Today, we care for our newborns in much the same way by tightly wrapping them in a blanket we call a receiving blanket for the same reasons. In addition, today’s babies are typically given a hat for their head, providing warmth and protection.

For those living in poverty with limited resources, providing for a newborn child can be a burden. Without the ability to purchase needed clothing and blankets, they must rely on donations and/or scavenging for these items. Having served such families, my husband and I have been saddened to see the tattered, dirty, stained and ill-fitting clothes of children and adults.

Millions of people around the world live in abject poverty. Certainly, the need for the essentials of food, clean water, shelter and clothing is real. Along with these basic human needs is the need for the good news of the salvation of Jesus.

Over 15 mission trips to Guatemala, serving in a mountainous region and in the slum and garbage dump of Guatemala City, I have encountered families living in extreme poverty. The homes were typically one room with dirt floors and one centrally located light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Their furniture, clothing and other belongings were either donated or scavenged.

A particular family living in the Guatemala City garbage dump community captured my heart. The family consisted of a mom, dad, grandmother and six precious daughters living in one room with a dirt floor and one light bulb hanging from the ceiling in a centrally located place.

In January 2020, two months before Covid hit, I had the opportunity to visit with this family. They shared the news that they were expecting a baby boy to be born in July of that year. As we talked excitedly about the anticipated arrival of a son, I thought about the needs of this child and how they would be met. As a knitter, I immediately committed to knitting their baby a hat. In March, Covid gripped the world. My anticipated May trip to Guatemala was cancelled and I had no way to get the blue and white baby hat to this family.

The shutdown continued and so did my knitting! Eventually a way to get the baby hat to Guatemala would open up and I would have more hats to take to give to families in need. Never underestimate God who always has a plan! Truly, always. On a weekday morning the last week of July, I awakened to God telling me to recruit more knitters because I could not knit all the needed baby hats. God even named this outreach ministry Hats from the Heart. God takes the very simple and makes it big, big to serve many. Remember the miracle of the fish and loaves?

God knows each and every one of us before we are born. Jeremiah 1:5 states, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” And Psalm 139:13-14 reads, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Every child is a blessing from the Lord.

Hats from the Heart, a ministry of Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy, is answering God’s call to the most vulnerable around the world. Since August 2020, over 5,000 hats have been received from knitters and crocheters across the United States. They are lovingly made and prayed over prior to being sent to me. Anglican priests, deacons, missionaries and mission partners have taken hats to those in need in 28 countries. They accompany the message of the salvation of Jesus. Every hat is prayed over by the maker, by me as I prepare them for shipment and by the clergy, missionary or mission partner distributing the hats. These hats travel with the message of the saving grace of Jesus.

As we enter the season of Advent; a time of holy anticipation, we remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 25: “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (v. 40). Advent calls us to prepare not only our hearts, but also our hands, to welcome Christ by serving those in need. A simple baby hat, lovingly made and prayed over, becomes more than a gift of warmth; it is a sign of hope, a new beginning, and a quiet echo of the manger. Not a hand-me-down or a castoff, but a new offering, stitched with dignity and grace. In each thread, the love and light of Jesus is carried to a child awaiting comfort.