Mary

In 2006, I was blessed to celebrate my first Christmas as a Mother. That year I could relate to the Christmas story in a whole new way. I’ve always thought that “it must have been hard” to give birth to a baby in a stable, but I really had no idea what Mary was missing out on. She had to travel a far distance right before she gave birth, and the traveling did not occur by car. She had to give birth in a dirty stable with only her husband there, not in a clean hospital with doctors, nurses, and her mom. These things must have been hard to endure, but the thing that got to me the most was what told in Matthew 2:13 and 16.

Matthew 2:13: 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.”

Matthew 2:16: 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.

I can’t imagine Mary’s emotional state as she dealt with the fact that someone was trying to kill her child, and that because of her child, many many other children were killed.

This Christmas Eve, my Sister and I sung a song called “Breath of Heaven.” It’s a song about what Mary may have thinking right before she gave birth. It's such a powerful song, and makes you look at Mary in a different way. I hope it speaks to you!