The Other Thing

Two blog posts in the span of three days. Somebody stop me!

Ok, here's the other thing I've been mulling on. This year in our Christmas musical at church, I sang that song we've all heard a gazillion times, "Mary, did you Know?" The line that has stayed with me is, "This child that you delivered will soon deliver you". It got me to thinking a lot about Mary, and about all of us. Because really, there is nothing new under the sun; people are people.

Anyway, I was thinking how Mary was just going about her business when all the sudden, she finds herself carrying this child. To say that her life was turned upside down would be a bit of an understatement, don't you think?

I began to wonder about what Mary might've planned on doing with her life had this turn of events not happened. Probably, she just wanted to marry good ol' Joseph and have babies, be a good Mama, love God, the end. Nothing too fancy. Or maybe she secretly wished she could study scripture like the men she knew. Maybe she even dreamed of striking out on her own (that's a stretch, but I'm making a point here). Who knows? The point is, Mary was a human girl and I'm pretty sure she wasn't the only human girl in the history of human girls that didn't have hopes, dreams, plans. Especially if she had any imagination at all (has anyone met my 11 year old???). And yet, when the angel visited her and told her how it was about to go down, she instantly submitted.

Now think about her life AFTER the visitation. We aren't told whether she was ever frightened, frustrated, or doubtful. But, we have the whole history of human experience to tell us she probably was. Also, we know that she had to ride a donkey for days on end, give birth in a barn, flee to Egypt, come back, raise a little boy who just happened to be the Son of God, then ultimately watch him hang, bleeding and dying, from a Roman cross. I think it's safe to say that given the choice, she would've opted out of much of that.

Here's the point I'm trying to get to: The thing Mary needed most was the thing that brought her the most inconvenience, the most turmoil, and ultimately, the most pain. The very thing that took from her the life she'd planned or wished for, was that which would, in the end, give her real life.

Is this not true for all of us? Taking a lesson from Mary, I can only believe that the hard things, the things I might not have checked the box for had I known, are the things I need the most. I've had hard times as a mama. I've had hard times as a wife. And I've had hard days and nights these last nine months.

I'm only saying that I think the hard things are the things we need most. The child that Mary delivered...He ultimately delivered her, as He will ultimately deliver us. But the simple truth is that there were some really hard things in between for her, and there will be for us. Fire that refines is painful, but would we choose to be unrefined?

As I type this, I'm realizing that it's not just in the big hardships that this applies. It's also true in the small little inconveniences, the everyday little plans that go awry. When your kids are sick or when money is tight. It's an everyday truth: Life is not easy. Yet I don't think there is room for complaining. I'm not the fastest learner, but one thing I've learned for sure is that acceptance is crucial. Whether it's true suffering or just an inconvenience we deem worthy to whine about, it may be just what we need; He knows what he's doing. With my whole heart, I believe that the key to our peace, moment by moment, is the same as Mary's: "Be it unto me according to thy word".

Wishing you all the best Christmas ever!
Em