Skip to main content

Mary Pondered

“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
(Luke 2:19)

Dear Family and Friends,
Ever wonder and ponder the Christmas story of old?
It really seems to make no sense . . .
It starts out with young Mary,
a Jewish unmarried maiden,
raised in a God fearing home.
Joseph, her fiancé is older
and known to be quite a virtuous man.
His family too provided a godly heritage and lineage for him.
With their credentials, all seemed to be going quite well,
But into their wedding plans comes this surprise baby,
A Supernatural Miracle.
Confirmation comes by way of angelic messengers,
And an older relative of Mary’s.
Yet for nine months there must have been thoughts of:
What next?
Why us?
What does this really mean?
How will this ever work out for the best?
Can we honestly raise a King?

The final straw must have been that trip to Bethlehem.
Now they would be away from family and friends,
Who would help them with the birth?
Any plans they may have had for help were nixed . . .

All we read of next,
Is that the baby is born at night
In a back inn stall,
Swaddled in cloths,
And laid upon a feeding trough.
Certainly, the parents must have wondered and pondered:
Was this really the way the Messiah,
Wanted to enter into human life?
The Creator of the world and infinite universe
Using His creation to create Himself?



What a confinement!
What vulnerability!
What humility!
God was entrusting them
With His only one of a kind Son,
Hadn’t human flesh failed God so many times before?
No wonder, Mary pondered . . .

It had to be too much,
The parents must have felt plain overwhelmed,
Just when fear could have taken off and captured their hearts for good,
God shared His story to the few fortunate shepherds on the hillsides,
Watching their flocks that night.
With spectacular angelic fanfare,
The shepherds were told “Fear not, all is well,
For Christ the Lord has come.
The holy baby has been born,
Go and find the One
Laying in the feeding trough,
He is your Savior!”

They left their flocks and quickly came and searched,
Until they found the baby in the trough.
After they had seen the baby,
They told everyone everything that they had watched and heard.
All who heard the news wondered,
“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

It’s no wonder that Christmas comes at the close of the year,
A perfect time to ponder,
To put together,
To compare the events of all this year. . .
Peace then comes only by placing our trust
In Him, the One who lived among us,
and came alone to save us.

So remember this season
To wonder and ponder Jesus,
Your Savior to be!

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hummingbird Lessons

My eye caught a small round mound stuck upon a branch.  Looking closer, I found indeed it was the start of a hummingbird nest.  And yes, I now had the mother hummingbird buzzing around my head, reminding me that I was in her space.  I have been able to witness at least 3 other hummingbird families come to life, and I was always mesmerized by these "tiny vulnerabilities" becoming resilient birds in only a matter of five to six weeks.  The nest was right out my patio door, and I had the best view to watch them daily.  I was smiling. I had a hunch that babies would be coming soon, because our hummingbird feeder had been especially sucked dry only a few weeks earlier.  One day I found at least 4 hummingbirds at one time feeding, which is highly unusual because most times they come one at a time and don't seem to want to share the space.  If they would share, it was two only at a the bar and of course on opposite sides.  I was filling that feeder at le...
Post a Comment
Read more

Awe

  The thunder resounded with a loud clap! Certainly, it came as an afternoon surprise.  The expected rain seemed less than what was forecasted, but with the thunder came a bucket of heavy raindrops splashing against my kitchen window.  I wanted to take it all in, the fresh aroma of falling rain and the beauty of water drops hitting the leaves of my nasturtium and petunia hanging baskets.  Unfortunately, the rain cloud quickly fled, running away into the eastern sky.  But then the sun made its way onto the scene, and I was drawn to a thick band of rainbow colors shining up at me.  The western sky was magnificently orange, completely bound up tight with that solo color scheme.  I went outside to catch it all before it would disappear.  Creation again was causing me to pause in awe and wonder. . . Awe is that reverential wonder, that even includes fear and respect.  It is only a 3 letter word, but it takes bigger and grander words to define it....
Post a Comment
Read more

Complicated Relationship Living

Today is Mom's birthday.  If she were here,  we would be celebrating her 109th day of life.  I can't believe that it has already been 20 years since she said goodbye to earthly living.   I was much too young back then, at the age of 45, to lose my Mom.  You always long for at least one more conversation to ask the questions you didn't get a chance to do.  You often wished you would have had more talks, especially as you find yourself on a different side of life, other wise known as the senior years. As parents we always desire to keep our family ties together and close, but it doesn't always work out that way.  When our  parents were still living, and as they grew more elderly, they of course were the bond that brought my brothers and myself together.  As adult children, we each had a unique relationship to them, but I am realizing now, that we didn't necessarily have a tie with one another.  We were children of the nuclear family, ...
Post a Comment
Read more