How to Have a Wonder-Filled Christmas

I love the song I hear playing non-stop in every store I enter right now, the one with the line that gets stuck in your head so easily.  

"It's the most wonderful time of the year."

I know those stores are sending not so subtle hints that I need to get my Christmas shopping done, preferably in the store I'm in right at that moment, but I like the song for a different reason.  I like it because my mind re-writes it ever so slightly.

"It's the most wonder-filled time of the year."

And it is full of wonder.  Wonder that my God, who created every light I see in the night sky, would see me, thousands of years in the future, and call me loved.  Wonder that He would be moved by his heartache over our coming separation because of my sin, moved enough to set a plan in motion to bring me back into His arms.  And wonder that His plan for my redemption involved a cave, a peasant teenage girl, and a baby.

Such a wonder-filled plan.

But, over the last twenty years of parenting, I've learned the wonder can get lost in the wrapping paper and the cookie baking.  If we're not careful to impart the significance of the season to our children, it's easy for them to wake up the day after Christmas having missed the meaning in the remembering that was designed to draw them closer to the God who initiates all wonder.

And that's why Advent exists, to create avenues for remembering the meaning and exploring the path from the cradle to the cross and beyond.  To become filled with the wonder.


Author's Note:  As a Christmas gift to Treasure the Ordinary's readers, below is an Advent study that can potentially spark dialogue with all the people in your house, no matter what their age!   May you be blessed as each of you find ways to prepare your hearts for the celebration of our King's birth.  Merry Christmas!

Week 1 Advent Devotional - "Identity"

Opening Question: What is your favorite nickname you’ve ever been given?

Begin by showing your younger children the two sections of the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. 

ASK [younger children]:  Which part of the Bible do we find stories about Jesus?  (New Testament)

ASK [older children]:  Which part of the Bible is your favorite to read, the Old Testament, or the New Testament?  Why?

It's true that the stories of Jesus are found in the New Testament, but the Old Testament talks about Him, too!  It may not use the name Jesus, but it does mention other names that Jesus goes by.  Just like you have a nickname (refer to your child's name here), Jesus has other names.  And when they are mentioned, we know God is talking about His son, Jesus.  See if you can find His names in this Scripture from the Old Testament.

READ:  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”  Isaiah 9:6-7

WRITE:  Let the children write the names of Jesus down on a piece of paper as they find them in the Scripture.  They may enjoy decorating it.  When you're finished with the devotional, hang this in a place they will see it throughout the week.

ASK [younger children]:  Were these good nicknames for Jesus?  How is He these things?

ASK [older children]:  Which of these names of Jesus is meaning the most to you in your life right now and why?

*  If you have younger children, this could be a good place to pray out loud as a family, giving thanks for the way Jesus is these things in your lives.  Older children can continue on with the following discussion.

When people give nicknames, it's often meant to tease or poke fun.  When God gives nicknames, it's to build people up.  He changed Abram ("Father") to Abraham ("Father of Many").  He changed Jacob ("Deceiver") to Israel ("Prince of God").  He changed Simon ("Reed") to Peter ("Rock.")

ASK:  Is there a label you've been given by the world that makes you feel small?  It might be a nickname, but it might also just be an attitude that you feel other people associate with you (i.e.  lazy, nerdy, etc.). 

READ:  "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it."  - Revelation 2:17

There will be a day when God will let you know your name that He has for only YOU!  You may not know exactly what the name is right now, but you can get to know His heart for you and what He thinks about you.  Let's pray and ask Him to speak to us tonight about what He calls each of us.  Let's allow that to take precedence in our hearts over anything the world or other people might try to label us.

Close with prayer over your children.  Parents, this is a great opportunity to bless your children with words of life!

Click here for Week Two: "Security"

Click here for Week Three: "Provision"

Click here for Week Four: "Protection"

What To Do When Someone Hurts Your Child

Ever since I was a little girl, I've read the Christmas story from Mary's perspective.  What would it have been like to birth the Savior of the world?  After a pregnancy where everyone thought the worst of you?  And what was it like to experience that birth far from home, away from your own mother, with only your young, terrified husband to hold your hand?  The birth of Jesus was a miracle in many ways, and one of them was that a young teenage girl said yes to the whole thing, trusting God to sort out the details of her very real life.

But, I'm certain the birth wasn't the hardest part for Mary.  For, just days later, she would hear the words no mother ever wants to hear at her baby's dedication service, spoken by a prophet who whispered them while looking deep into her eyes, "And a sword will pierce your own heart, also."  (Luke 2: 35)


What could she have thought upon hearing those words?  She had no frame of reference for what was coming.  She hadn't yet read the back of the book. 


She found out in real time that not everyone would believe He was who she always knew He was.  That people close to her would turn on him, betraying Him into hands that sought to kill the life she brought in to the world.  That He would die on a cross being mocked and spat upon by the very ones she knew He loved more than Himself.  And it's that part of Mary's story that both breaks my heart and captures my respect.

Because just recently, I watched a child born of my body experience hurt at the hands of someone else.  It was small in the great scheme of life, the kind of thing that most everyone experiences in junior high.  But, it brought tears and pain and confusion to one I love more than my next breath.  And in that moment, I didn't want to sit on the sidelines and pray.  I didn't want to counsel forgiveness.  I wanted to crawl out of my mama bear cave, stand on my hind legs, and roar until I could force retribution.  I wanted to fix it.  And fix it with vengeance.


But, I didn't get to.  Because that's not the way of the God I serve.  Instead, I held my child close to my heart, waited for the tears to stop, and we prayed.  We released the one who had done the wounding and we asked the Lord to bless them.  I admit that a little later, I also had to quietly ask the Lord to forgive the angry thoughts I had entertained that may have involved super glue and a flagpole, but the point is, in that mama bear moment, my child needed me to model a life value.  Because my babies won't always have me around to run to.  But, they will always have the God we can go to together.  And He is there for both of us, just like He was there for Mary.


He was there when she birthed her vagabond son in a stable.  He was still there in her panic when she realized she had left her pre-teen in Jerusalem and was a three day journey away from him.  And He was there again when she watched the man she knew to be completely innocent of sin murdered on a cross for her own sin.


He was there.  He was there for her and He was there for her son.  He was there because that boy was also His son.


And that's what brings peace in the moments when we watch our children walk through pain.  The truth that, even more than being bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, these children belong to Him.  He loves them more than we can fathom.  He has a plan for their lives, one for hope and a future.  And He will never leave them.  They are His.

Advent Devotional, Week Four

Author's Note:  This is last of a four part Advent devotional series for families here at Treasure the Ordinary.  May you be blessed as each of you find ways to prepare your hearts for the celebration of our King's birth.  Merry Christmas!


Week 4 Advent Devotional - "Protection"

Opening Question: What trip have we taken as a family that you enjoyed that most? 

During our time together today, we are going to look a trip Jesus took with his parents when He was just a baby.  Mary and Joseph didn't have a car seat, or even a car, but they packed up their tiny baby and traveled over 300 miles for a very important reason.

 

READ:  Matthew 2:1-12
 
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 


After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.


And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”


When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” 


After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene."


[NOTE:  for very young children who may not be ready for a discussion about Herod's killing of children, parents may wish to not read the bold print aloud.]


Herod wanted to kill Jesus because he was afraid of another king taking his place.  He didn't realize that Jesus was not coming to sit on the throne in Jerusalem, but to save us from sin.  So, he wanted attack Jesus because he did not understand who Jesus was and what he was doing.  Herod did not feel secure and safe as a king, so he was jealous of anyone else who might be a better king than he was.


A lot of times when people hurt us our hurt our feelings, it's because they don't feel good about themselves. 


ASK:  [younger children]  When someone hurts our feelings, how can we pray for them?  (that they would understand they are important to God.)


ASK:  [older children] Have you ever hurt someone or hurt their feelings because you didn't feel good about YOU?  How can you make sure this does not become a pattern in your life?


God protected Jesus from Herod by sending Him to Egypt.  This was the very place God's people had been slaves hundreds of years before, until God called Moses to lead them out! 


ASK:  Why do you think God would send Jesus THERE?  (Younger children should be helped to arrive at the conclusion that no one would think to look for Him there, but older children can be helped to find the deeper truth that God was making a statement that Jesus had come to lead us all out of the slavery of sin.)


If God had not protected His son as a baby, Jesus would not have been able to die for us on the cross.  God could see the whole, big picture, and He knew just what to do.  When God protected Jesus, He protected US, too!


Closing Question:  What things does God want YOU to do in the future?  How is He protecting you even now so that you can do those things?

Advent Devotional, Week Three

Author's Note:  This is part three of a four part Advent devotional series for families here at Treasure the Ordinary.  May you be blessed as each of you find ways to prepare your hearts for the celebration of our King's birth.  Merry Christmas!


Week 3 Advent Devotional - "Provision"

Opening Question (Option 1): If you had a thousand dollars to spend on a present for someone, who would you buy for and what would you buy them? 

Opening Story (Option 2):  Parents, take a few minutes to tell each child about the day they were born.  Where was it?  What was happening that day?  How did you feel when you got to see them for the first time?

During our time together today, we are going to look at the place where Jesus was born.  If one of us was going to plan where Jesus would be born, we would have probably picked Jerusalem because it was the capital city  and the most important city in Israel.  But, that's not the city God chose.  Let's read a Scripture from the Old Testament that talks about what city God chose instead.

 

READ: “But you, Bethlehem, David’s country, the runt of the litter—From you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule Israel."  - Micah 5:2 (The Message Bible)

ASK:  [younger children] What does it mean to be the "runt of the litter"?  So what kind of city was Bethlehem?

ASK:  [older children] What message do you think God was sending when he chose a small, insignificant city like Bethlehem for Jesus to be born in? 

ASK:  When have YOU felt small and not important?

The enemy loves for us to feel too small for anyone to notice us.  He especially loves to tell us that we are too small for God to care about us.  But, that is not true.  Even the city that Jesus was born in is sending a message, that He came for all of us because He loves all of us, right down to the tiniest of us. 


He also knows every one of our needs, the big ones, and the tiny ones.  He saw Joseph and Mary every moment that they were traveling to Bethlehem, and He was already preparing a place for Jesus to be born.  It may have been just a dirty stable to some people, but to God, it was a safe place, away from the people who wanted to hurt baby Jesus (we're going to talk about that next week!), and it was exactly what Joseph and Mary needed.


ASK:  What is something you need right now in your life that we need to pray about?  It can be a physical need, or something your heart needs.

Close with prayer over your children.  Parents, this is a great opportunity to emphasize to your children that God sees each of them individually and knows every bit of their hear needs.  But, He still likes to hear our voices when we talk to Him.  And He also likes to speak to us in return.  Make sure you lead your kids in a time of listening as well as praying.  You may want to play a worship song at this time and encourage your children to write down what they hear God saying to them (younger children can draw a picture of what God is saying) so they learn to treasure His voice.  

Advent Devotional, Week Two

Author's Note:  This is part two of a four part Advent devotional series for families here at Treasure the Ordinary.  May you be blessed as each of you find ways to prepare your hearts for the celebration of our King's birth.  Merry Christmas!


Week 2 Advent Devotional - "Security"

Opening Question: What is something you don't like to do alone?  (Parents, with younger children, you can go first to set the tone.  Example:  folding sheets, going to the dentist, etc.)

ASK [younger children]:  What are some of the names we studied last week that Jesus is called?  (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace)

ASK [older children]:  Has the Lord done anything else in your heart regarding names/labels after we talked about it last week?

During our time together today, we are going to look at one more name Jesus is called.  It was prophesied in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah, chapter 7.  It's mentioned again in the book of Matthew after Jesus was born.

 

READ: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” – Matthew 1:22-23

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it meant that He had left His Father's home in Heaven and come to live with us here on earth.  He chose to put on a body like ours and come live here with people so that He could show us how to become God's children.  

After He died, He went back to Heaven to stay with God there.  But, He really didn't leave us, because He sent someone to stay with us here until He comes back to get us.

 

ASK:  Who did He send to stay here with us?  (the Holy Spirit) 

[Older children can read John 15 with you at this point in the discussion.  Help them make the connection that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, who lives within us 24/7.]

ASK:  If God is Emmanuel, and His spirit is with us at all times, are we ever truly alone?   Why do we FEEL alone sometimes?  (we forget He's there, we don't stop to listen to His voice, we have trouble seeing/understanding what He's doing, etc.)

No matter what we feel, the promise of God is that Jesus is "God with us."  This means He was with us years ago when we were born, He's with us right now, and He will be waiting for us in our tomorrow.


ASK:  [younger children]  How can we remember God's promise that He's always with us?  [Consider having each child make a poster to hang close to their bed that shows God is with them, even when they feel like they are alone.]


ASK:  [older children]  Which one of these means the most to you right now?  That God was in your past, that He's in your present, or that He will be in your future?

 

Close with prayer over your children.  Parents, this is a great opportunity to talk to your children about the fact that God will always be with them, and that you are also available to them when they need to talk or when they feel alone.  Let them know that is why God puts people in families, so that they are not lonely.  (Ps. 68:6)

Advent Devotional, Week One

Author's Note:  As a mother of four children, spread out in ages by 7 years from the oldest to the youngest, I have often felt that family devotionals either speak to my younger children or speak to my older children.  It's sometimes difficult to engineer a discussion that involves them all.  So, this Christmas, I would like to provide my readers with an Advent resource that can potentially spark dialogue with all the people in your house, no matter what their age! 

To that end, I will be posting a family devotional, one for each week of Advent, throughout the month of December.  May you be blessed as each of you find ways to prepare your hearts for the celebration of our King's birth.  Merry Christmas!

Week 1 Advent Devotional - "Identity"

Opening Question: What is your favorite nickname you’ve ever been given?

Begin by showing your younger children the two sections of the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. 

ASK [younger children]:  Which part of the Bible do we find stories about Jesus?  (New Testament)

ASK [older children]:  Which part of the Bible is your favorite to read, the Old Testament, or the New Testament?  Why?

It's true that the stories of Jesus are found in the New Testament, but the Old Testament talks about Him, too!  It may not use the name Jesus, but it does mention other names that Jesus goes by.  Just like you have a nickname (refer to your child's name here), Jesus has other names.  And when they are mentioned, we know God is talking about His son, Jesus.  See if you can find His names in this Scripture from the Old Testament.

 

READ:  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”  Isaiah 9:6-7

WRITE:  Let the children write the names of Jesus down on a piece of paper as they find them in the Scripture.  They may enjoy decorating it.  When you're finished with the devotional, hang this in a place they will see it throughout the week.

ASK [younger children]:  Were these good nicknames for Jesus?  How is He these things?

ASK [older children]:  Which of these names of Jesus is meaning the most to you in your life right now and why?

*  If you have younger children, this could be a good place to pray out loud as a family, giving thanks for the way Jesus is these things in your lives.  Older children can continue on with the following discussion.

When people give nicknames, it's often meant to tease or poke fun.  When God gives nicknames, it's to build people up.  He changed Abram ("Father") to Abraham ("Father of Many").  He changed Jacob ("Deceiver") to Israel ("Prince of God").  He changed Simon ("Reed") to Peter ("Rock.")

ASK:  Is there a label you've been given by the world that makes you feel small?  It might be a nickname, but it might also just be an attitude that you feel other people associate with you (i.e.  lazy, nerdy, etc.). 

READ:  "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it."  - Revelation 2:17

There will be a day when God will let you know your name that He has for only YOU!  You may not know exactly what the name is right now, but you can get to know His heart for you and what He thinks about you.  Let's pray and ask Him to speak to us tonight about what He calls each of us.  Let's allow that to take precedence in our hearts over anything the world or other people might try to label us.

Close with prayer over your children.  Parents, this is a great opportunity to bless your children with words of life!

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Denise Boynton!  She is the winner of the "Treasure the Ordinary" blog book that's fresh off the presses.  Denise is a longtime friend, so when her name was drawn, I was thrilled to be able to send her a copy. 

Is there a friend in your life who needs some treasure?  If you'd like to order your own treasure book, please click here.  I've been so delighted with the way the book turned out, and I'd be happy to send you one for someone on your Christmas list.

Blessings to all treasure readers, and have a very Merry Christmas season!

Author's Note:  For those of you who are in my area, Treasure the Ordinary, Volume One is on sale at the Growth Central Bookstore at Emmanuel Fellowship Church.  You can pick up a copy there without shipping charges.

Another Christmas Birth Story

At Christmas time, we’re used to reading the story of a birth.  Just maybe not this birth.

"When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.^”  - Genesis 38:27-30

What a bizarre story found in this tucked away corner of the Scripture.  One son waves hello, gets a scarlet thread tied around his wrist, and then disappears.  The other son somehow intrudes into the process of birth and makes what the text refers to a “breach.”  He pushes his brother back so he can break out into the world.

And the mama?  A woman named Tamar, whose story is not a family friendly tale.  She went through a lot of family disfunction, was sinned against, sinned herself, and ended up unmarried and pregnant by her late husband’s father.

And then comes the birth, with this odd occurrence.  Two sons.  One named Perez, meaning “breach” or “broken out.”  The other named Zerah, meaning “dawning” or “brightness.”

And these twins are a picture of you and your big brother.  Your big brother named Jesus.

This brother Perez – he is everything we are.  A man who will push to get his own way, a man who causes brokeness and breaches.  A man who carries the sin nature.

This brother Zerah – his situation is a foreshadowing, a hint of the redemption that was on the way.  A man who was here before we were, yet came after man to save man.

Jesus lived before the beginning of time.  He is eternal God.  Yet, since sin entered the earth, the whole world had been waiting for Him to arrive in the flesh.

And none of it was a surprise to God.  The fall of man.  The entrance of sin.  The withering of mankind.  He wasn’t shocked or astounded.  He had a plan.  And it was the same plan He had from the beginning.

The plan was Jesus.

From the moment Adam drew breath, the sin of the world was tied to Jesus with a scarlet thread.  God knew His own son would have to come to save us, so we could be grafted into the family.  And He still did it.  Knowing His son would have to die a brutal death to save us, He still created us, mankind. 

And even more amazing.  Jesus said yes.

He said yes to the virgin birth.  He said yes to taking on flesh.  He said yes to coming to earth as a baby, putting the fate of mankind into the hands of a carpenter and his teenage bride.   And in doing so, He said yes to the cross.  To the agony of bearing the sin of the world on His perfect and blameless shoulders.  To the humilation of dying naked on a tree.  He said yes and He came.

He said yes because it meant having you.

And for all the years from the garden to the manger, He waited, with a scarlet thread tied to his wrist.  It was his love for you.

There’s another labor story we don’t think about much at Christmas. 

Jesus’ labor on the cross.

After Jesus had been on the cross for awhile, with every sin of mankind placed upon Him, after every vile act from tiny lies to genocide had been tied around His neck, He was ready to finish what He started in the manger.  He bore those sins to the very end, and then He shouted “IT IS FINISHED!” and He gave up His spirit.

And a soldier came a stuck a spear into His side.  And John the disciple, an eyewitness, tells us in John 19 that when the spear pierced his side, “immediately blood and water came out.”

It was the fulfillment of the scarlet thread, the fulfillment of the promise.  It was the greates birth story ever told.  Because the only time blood and water flow together under natural circumstances is during a birth.

And Jesus was indeed birthing something.  He was bringing into the world a new covenant, a new man.  He was closing a door, and opening a new one.

Paul calls Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15 the “last Adam.”  This means something terribly important for everyone who follows Jesus.

It was the first Adam who brought sin into the world.

It was the last Adam who brought redemption into the world.

The first Adam caused mankind to fall.

The last Adam redeemed it.

The first Adam imparted a curse to all his sons who came after him.

The last Adam made a way for all those sons to come home to the Father.

Paul also says in Colossians that Jesus is the “firstborn of many brothers.”

Jesus…the most amazing big brother ever.

No longer do we have to live under the curse of sin.  Our big brother paid for us to be free.

Our brother who chose to wear the scarlet thread.

 

Following Mary's Example

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."  (Luke 1:38)

It's probably because I'm a woman, but when I think of the miracle of the Savior's birth, I think a lot about Mary.  And I can't help but imagine how it must have felt to have your normal, village life turned upside down by the Almighty God in the space of a few moments, never to be the same again.

She was just a girl.  A girl in a sleepy town.  A girl with shy eyes cast upon a simple carpenter.  A girl who was known for goodness and kindness.  The kind of girl mothers hoped their daughters would be like and the kind of girl fathers advised their sons to find.

And then she was pregnant.  And everything was different, in the blink of an eye.

And she had to tell the simple carpenter.  And she had to endure his disbelief.  And even when God changed the carpenter's mind, and he came to support her, they had to bear the weight of an entire village's scorn on their own.  And she was no longer that kind of girl.  She was now "that kind of girl."

And then, just when it's time to be nesting and getting ready to hold her baby, there is a journey thrust upon them.  And the two of them, the carpenter and the girl, set off for a distant city.  There will be no familiar village midwife there.  There will be no home to rest in built by Joseph's own hands, a retreat from prying eyes.  There will be no mother there, no one to advise her in how to nurse a newborn.  It will just be the two of them.  And a baby.

And yet, when the time comes, and she holds Him in her arms, they are not alone.

The light of a star she has never seen before bathes her baby in His swaddling clothes with light.  There are the songs of angels on the air, singing a welcome to her little one.  There are shepherds, huddling in awe around the manger Joseph tried his best to clean before she laid their infant in the warmth of the hay.

And I can't help but compare her experience with mine.  When I think back fourteen years ago to the very young woman who birthed her firstborn, I remember a pregnancy filled with anxiousness, the kind that wonders if I have what it takes to be a good mother.  I remember a nervous husband who stroked my hand and cried because he could do nothing to help my pain.  I remember my hair in two braids, looking so young the nurses seemed to think I needed extra advice.  I remember desperately needing my mother in the days to follow, so grateful she was there to tell me what to do next. 

We are both humans, Mary and I.  And we birthed sons.  And we have both pondered those experiences deep within the recesses of our hearts.  But, the difference is, my son was not being born to save me.  He will not grow up to bear the weight of my sin.  I won't watch him die upon a cross.

And that, to me, is the miracle of Mary's life.  She carried the One who would make her world right again.  She birthed the One who would redeem her.

And she didn't have to.  She could have said no to the rejection, the agony, the pain of the whole experience.  It's true in doing that she would also have missed the joy that would be her reward, but she really could have played it safe when the angel came to give her the news that she had found favor in God's eyes.  I think God would have understood if she said no. 

But, she didn't.  She said yes to God.  She said yes, not knowing if Joseph would ever understand.  She said yes, not knowing how she would live, how she would provide for the Son of God.  She said yes not even understanding why God had chosen to do things this way.  She just said yes.

Mary was the only one chosen to birth the Messiah, but she is not the only one who is asked to do the impossible.  Every day, God comes to His children.  And He tells them they are favored.  And He says, "You're not going to understand it all right now, but I have a job for you."  And He waits for our answer.

"Yes, Lord.  Me, too.  Whatever you desire of me.  I say yes."