Christmas Reflections about Mary

This Christmas season my church choir did its traditional program called A Festival of Carols. This year's program was called "Sounds of the Season" and was a radio show counting down to Christmas with emails and call ins to play specific songs. I don't know if everyone realized it, but all of the emails or call ins were true stories. One was about listening to "Twelve Days Confusion" while doing Christmas baking and another was about how after a trip to a friend's house with her large family, an only child found significance in the song "Silent Night". Another was about a mom who had made her son a quilt and when he had enlisted he took it with him. One year he asked for more quilts for all the soldiers he was with. With the help of other women and some online support to help with shipping costs, she was able to meet his request.

I was able to contribute one of the stories that was shared (I even got to record my voice to be a "caller"). I wrote about deep late night reflections I would have after my son was born. I thought as we head to Christmas that I would share it again.

"I hadn't thought much about Mary as a mother until I had my own son. After he was born, when it was getting close to Christmas, I found myself looking at his little face and thinking about what Mary felt when she looked at Jesus's face. Did she look for a family resemblance? Or did she look for His glory? When I rocked my son, I wondered how Mary would have rocked Jesus. When I held his little hands, I realized that the hands Mary held had formed man from the dust of the earth. As I wondered about my son's future, I questioned how much Mary really understood of what Jesus would accomplish. As I sang lullabies, I imagined what songs Mary sang to her Son. How nice it must have been to have a perfect Son who never sinned and yet . . . how convicting. How strange it would have been to see the Son of God taking His first human steps. How unique to teach the All-Knowing God to talk - the very One who spoke the universe into existence! Suddenly songs about Mary as a mother took on a whole new meaning. To this day, they bring tears to my eyes thinking about what an awesome responsibility and privilege it would have been to be the mother of Jesus."

The story of Jesus's birth can become so familiar that it loses it's awe and wonder. God Himself came down to earth because He loved us so much to take the death penalty that we deserved so that we could be reconciled to Him. That is the most wonderful thing that He could have done. As we celebrate Christmas this weekend, take a few moments to pause and really think about what Jesus coming to earth really means. Take in the wonder of that event. And have a very Merry Christmas!