“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’
“‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’
“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.’
“‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.” – Luke 1:26-38
There is the way you think your life ought to go, and then there is the way it actually goes. Mary didn’t plan to have a baby before being married to Joseph, let alone the mother of the Son of the Most High.
Mary seems like the type of young woman who heard the voice of the prophet Isaiah, saying, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it,'” even when that way might seem riddled with unknowns, even when that way likely will be shadowed by condemnation and rumors. Mary took a deep breath and answered, “I am the Lord’s servant.”
Advent Activity: Bake Christmas Cookies
You have Henry to thank for the fact that this is a short meditation today. He is clinging to my pant leg waiting ever so impatiently for me to finish so we can begin mixing dough for cookies. So, off I go!
Sarah Marie Wells 