Mary

Ok, so there aren't any pictures to share yet because I have not had the baby yet. But I wanted to share some thoughts with you that I had this morning as I was not sleeping. I can only lay on one side so long before the pain in that hip wakes me up. Then I have to get up and go to the bathroom (because anytime I wake up I have to go to the bathroom) and turn over to the other side to try to go back to sleep. And I have a great bed with a very comfortable mattress. I have a soft pillow to lay my head on and another one to hug to my chest. I have a warm blanket to pull up over my shoulders and a heated mattress pad under me. I have a bathroom right across the hall that I can walk to without getting cold.

As I think about these things, I cannot help but compare my situation with that of our Lord's mother. Though the circumstances of our pregnancies are vastly different, I imagine that she was experiencing many of the same discomforts as I am currently 2,000 years ago (yes I know that Jesus's birthday is probably not really Dec 25th, but I am comparing anyway!). I am sure her hips hurt as she lay down on the hard ground to try to get some sleep. And I have ridden a horse before and been sore afterwards when I was not pregnant so I can only imagine how sore her legs must have been after getting off her donkey after a long day's ride 9 months pregnant!

I don't know what she knew about pregnancy or delivery, but I am sure there was some anticipation in her heart about the coming delivery. She was alone with a man to whom she was engaged, but they had never been intimate. Her whole engagement to him had been surrounded by controversy. I think she probably trusted him and had a deep relationship with him after all they had been though, but the thought of him delivering her baby had to be a little intimidating nonetheless. I am sure this young girl's heart longed for her mother to assist her when her time came just as I do, but she was not there. There was no hospital, no doctor, no pediatrician to assist if something went wrong. There was only a stable of some kind, a carpenter, and a young girl about to give birth to her first child. A child who was the very Son of God. A child whom she wrapped in whatever cloths she could find. I will wrap my son in soft blankets, adorable outfits, and diapers I can throw away when they are used.

As I think about this, I am touched by gratitude for what Mary went through, not only that night, but all her life for this child. She could have been stoned during her pregnancy. She had to endure having a perfect child (and then some that weren't so perfect!). She later had to watch her son die a horrible death on a cross. My heart breaks for my son when he has an ear infection and there is nothing I can do to ease the pain. Her heart must have completely broken as she watched Him endure the cross. And the Bible says in Luke chapter 2 twice that Mary pondered these things in her heart. She did not complain and ask for explanations, she simply did what God had asked her to do and then took the time to think about it. I know she was just a woman, but she was an extraordinary one who I think we can all learn from. Thank you Mary for your many sacrifices. Thank you for your obedience and for bringing my Savior into this world even though it was in less than ideal circumstances. But thank you most of all Jesus for choosing to come into this world in such humble circumstances, fully human yet fully God, and taking my sins for me that someday I might spend eternity with you in Heaven.