Have you heard those Christmas songs that seem to depict Mary and Joseph as completely unprepared for parenthood, as if labor pain caught them by surprise.
I tend to think of Mary as an expecially prepared young woman. She KNEW she was pregnant. It wasn’t uncommon for girls her age to wed and have children. She was WILLING. She told the angel, let it be to me as you have said. She knew this child was from God. She was probably studying parenting before the angel left.
I have known a few very smart 14 year old girls. In today’s age, they would get books from the library, and google labor and delivery. They would also do what Mary did, seek out information and advice. She went to see her cousin Elizabeth, a woman who was further along in her pregnancy. Mary may have even been present at the labor and delivery of baby John, taking mental notes, and making a list of what she needed. And she continually praised God….She experienced the Holy Spirit…wow..
Now she may not have imagined a birth in a stable, but I am certain she imagined the birth. After all, God chose this remarkable young woman. The Bible also says that she treasured these things in her heart. I think she was a woman who thought about things. She was there at the savior’s birth and she was there at his death. I can’t even imagine such a thing. Let’s give her a little credit, shall we?
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