My daughter is pregnant with her 1st child. She is a tad nervous about being a new mom, as can be expected. I think anything new, for the 1st time, is scary. Remember when you got your drivers license and your mom or dad said ‘Here are the keys, see you at dinner.' Oh the freedom….and the terror, all in one heart and mind.

Before I begin about Mary, let me ask you a few questions. Raise your hand if you have children. Yup – a few hands are raised. Raise your hand if your kids were perfect. No? No perfect kids…anywhere? How about ‘good' children? Got any of those?

I don't know about you, but I am always asking a mom who has a new baby, ‘So, how is the new baby? How is everything going?' I do that all the time….and now wonder what I even mean when asking those questions. Am I asking if they baby is sick, sleeps through the night, or eating enough? Am I asking if the breast feeding is going good? I have NO idea what I am asking really.

Most mom's say ‘Oh, she is so good. She sleeps through the night.' Or ‘He is so good. He hardly cries. Such a good baby.' A good baby. We all want good babies don't we?

As moms….we all want to get it right…right?

We all want to do our best. We either want to be just like our parents or we say ‘I am going to be a totally different mom.' We have our ideas and expectations of what being a ‘good' mom looks like. Am I correct in all this? Don't you agree? Didn't (don't) you want to be a great mom and have great kids? And be able to say how ‘good' they are.

As I was sitting in my quiet time the other day, my mind was drawn to the song ‘ Mary, Did You Know'.  I was thinking about Mary, the mother of Jesus,  and her children. Her first born was Jesus. And Jesus was perfect…in his whole life he never did anything outside the wishes of his Father, his Heavenly Father. He was always doing what his Heavenly Father wanted him to do – even as a baby.

When Mary was with the other moms did she ask them how their baby was? And when someone asked Mary did she reply ‘Oh, he is perfect. He only cries to let me know he is hungry or needs a diaper changed.  He coos and smiles and is just plain perfect.' 

 I wonder… 

…did she feel a tad smug because her baby was ‘so much better' than any of theirs. Did she think that she was just an amazing mother? .

…when her other children arrived, who were regular kids just like our kids and were NOT perfect, did she realize that it was not her parenting skills that made Jesus who he was…it was God who made him perfect?

…how it was like raising a son who ‘danced to the beat of a different drummer'. Who was totally in tune to someone else. Who was a part of someone else.  Even at age 12 Jesus was sharing knowledge with others that could only have come from God. 

Scripture tells us: After celebrating Passover everyone headed towards home. After a few days they found that Jesus was not with them. Luke 2: 36-51 tells us:

‘After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.' He said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart.'

She treasured all these things in her heart…

Ahh…my heart just aches and overflows with that one sentence.  Because as a mother my heart aches and overflows with love for my own children. I have so many memories. I treasure my time with them and all that we share…even now when they are adults I treasure all these things in my heart.

So Mary, the mother of Jesus, did you know that your baby boy…

• Would one day walk on water
• Would save our sons and daughters
• Has come to make you new
• Would give sight to a blind man
• Calm the storm with his hand
• Has walked where angels trod

And, Mary did you know….

• When you kiss the face of your baby boy you kiss the face of God?

Ahhh….please listen to the song. I added it below. Close your eyes and just listen.

I know It is hard right now…very hard. 

I get that. That little baby boy knew that it would be hard right now too. Lean into Him. And treasure all of these things in your heart.

A few other posts you might like to read about Christmas…and Jesus.

• The Unwrapped Gift
• Is the Message of Christmas Good News?