Because She Believed

I'm journaling my way through the scriptures leading up to Jesus birth this month. I started doing it last year but never finished and this year I got off to a late start. So goes my life.

It has been very refreshing and deepened my understanding of all that God did to prepare his people for His son. I love when the Lord gives me a refreshed and new view of characters in the Bible that I have heard about my whole life. The Lord brings them alive in new ways every time! I am ready to keep it going with a new book of the Bible after Christmas. 

And then there was Mary.

The Bible doesn't give us a lot of details about Mary. We have to make a lot of assumptions about her based on the culture of the time and the events that surrounded her. The character of God also gives us some very definite hints about her character because he chose her to play such an important role; being the mother of Jesus.

But this morning as I read my scripture passage I read it as a mother, expecting my first child.

I couldn't help but let my mind wonder into the mind of Mary on that night when Jesus was born.

Wait! I can't go into labor here! I want my mother with me! I need the midwives! I want to be at home! We are in an animal barn in another town with complete strangers! The Son of God cannot be born in an animal barn! It smells horrible in here! It is dirty! God, this isn't how it is supposed to be! My baby needs to be born in a quiet, clean place where I can protect him and keep him warm, not in a barn!

I don't really know if this is what Mary was thinking, but I bet a barn was not where she expected to give birth. I'm sure she had a plan for Jesus birth. I'm sure she had idea's of where the birth would happen. Her expectations were possibly all being tossed out with the straw in that barn as her contractions grew harder as the animals looked on. And to make things worse, as far as we know, Joseph had to help deliver the baby. That was not appropriate according to culture. 

Mary was a real person with real feelings and even though she had great faith, I have a feeling she also had a lot of spunk about her. Serious spunk! Her whole life she had to deal with people who didn't understand who Jesus really was.

She could have recalled scriptures read to her by her father.

"For I know the plans that I have for you, ' declares the Lord,' plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

"Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand." Proverbs 19:21

How many times have I let my expectations of something or someone cause me to miss out on truly experiencing God's blessings. Many times!

How many times have I let my own plans get in the way?  Many times!

How many times have I become so caught up in the chaos around me that I can't see what God is trying to do? Too many times to count.

And because she believed...

But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. Luke 2:19

I don't think anything happened like she had thought. Actually, her life had been turned upside down for the past 10 months so I'm sure his birth didn't surprise her much at all.

Maybe that is why she was able to cherish it all in her heart. She knew who was orchestrating this world changing event. She knew God would do what he said he would do. That is why God chose her to be the mother of His only begotten Son!

Lord, give me the faith of Mary. A faith that is so solid that any plan I have is simply laid aside for your will that is always so much more exciting than anything I could ever dream.

Wednesday Words

Have you heard of Stellan?

If not, it is probably because you are not on twitter, or you may not be following one of the thousands who follow Stellan's mom.





A few days ago I saw a post about praying for Stellan. Then I saw another one & another one, so I decided I had to check it out. I followed the link and found myself at a blog called My Charming Kids. The authors name is "McMama". It didn't take long for me to find out about who Stellan is and why everyone is praying for him.

He is a 9 month old baby born with a heart defect. If you want, I encourage you to read his story here. Stellan is dying, they just don't know when. He could live for only a few days or he could live for many years. I was most impressed by the honesty & transparency of this mom. She knows her God and knows he is in control, but watching her son suffer is hard & she tells you how hard it is. She tells God how hard it is, but in the same breath, she recognizes God's sovereignty and she loves him for that.

Today McMama wrote an excellent post about their struggle to stay focused on the daily issues at hand. I chose a part of her blog as my "Wednesday Words".

But therein lies the challenge of the Christian walk: It is so daily. Daily I find I must die to myself and refocus my eyes on the Lord. And, here in the the hospital with our son, it has become a moment by moment challenge.

Life is so daily, but so is our God and he has promised to never leave us, but rather to strengthen us & help us to endure the difficulties we will face when we place our hope & trust in him.

Wednesday Words

Wednesday Words is a meme that I am starting on my blog. I will post scripture or quotes that inspire me or impress me. It could be something my kids say or my pastor, who knows. I won't comment on the words, I will just let them speak for them self.

If you would like to participate, grab my image & link it back to my blog. Leave me a comment letting me know you are linking me. I would love to see what words have impressed you or what inspires you to be a better wife & mom.

Today's quote is by Anne Sullivan.

"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate systems of education. They seem to me to be built upon the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think. Whereas if the child is left to himself, he will think more and better, if less showily. Let him go and come freely, let him touch real things and combine his impressions for himself instead of sitting indoors at a little round table, while a sweet-voiced teacher suggests that he builds a stone wall with his wooden blocks or plant straw trees in bead flower-pots. Such teaching fills the mind with artificial associations that must be got rid of, before the child can develop independent ideas out of actual experiences."

- Anne Sullivan, tutor to Helen Keller