Day 6 of the New Year and so much has happened already with so much more to come!
First, a reminder that my post will be coming to you on Tuesdays. HaPpY TuEsDaY! Posting on Tuesdays gives me time to wrap up the weekend visitors, make announcements, and get some writing done on my current novel.
Take, for example, the Christmas story. An event I've read many, many times, told to children, seen as plays, etc. Yep, got that story down pat.
THEN, God saw my heart and spoke to me, saying, "Wait a minute. There is so much more!"
I recalled Mary's responses to the angel's news, the birth of Jesus, and to other events in her life: she pondered them in her heart. The word ponder means to think about something carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion.
I'm not sure how far away from Bethlehem the shepherds worked the night the angel and the heavenly host appeared to them. They couldn't have been too close or the people from the city would have heard and/or seen the heavenly host. After hearing the news, they ran to the place, crashing Mary and Joseph's secluded room with their enthusiasm and wonder. The Bible says the shepherds told everyone they saw, not only the truth of the baby in the manger but also the words of the angel and the heavenly hosts. They became the first missionaries.
Then the two pieces glued, forming a new perspective for me. Mary was young, probably a teen. She'd heard a message from the angel about the coming baby; the responses from family and Joseph, her aunt Elizabeth and Zechariah's when she stayed with them; felt the baby grow then the actual birth.
There was so much happening that was new for Mary. God saw the need to not only touch the heart of the shepherds, but to give her a stable connection-a way to understand and assimilate the pieces. The shepherds arrived, completely jazzed after seeing the angel and heavenly hosts, energized to see the newborn king, and completely humbled yet bursting with excitement. They weren't family members coming to join a birthday celebration. They were shepherds. Stinky shepherds. Men who didn't hang out with city folk. Yet they left all they had--to see the newborn King, who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger--near Mary.
Take a moment to slip into Mary's sandals. Someone comes to the place where you are staying and says, "We have been told that your son is here. We heard he rescued an entire unit in combat and want to see him to celebrate." Although you had heard the stories from others, the enthusiasm of the unexpected visitors validate and heightened your perception to an epic level.
God, in His infinite wisdom, not only told the shepherds about the newborn king for them to go see, and the townspeople who heard their story, but perhaps He also did for Mary's sake, to confirm in her heart what she had known and heard.
If Mary chose one word for the year, pondering would be the one I think she would have picked.
So the New Year is here. I have my word for the year and will share it next Tuesday. Take the time to think about your word for the year. Those who share will receive a personalized token to remind you of the choice and to help keep you on target.
Did you have a good holiday?
Comments