Mary Did You Know

As you can imagine, Christmas has brought on a whole new meaning this year with little man around. As a surprise to me, it's not been getting caught up in buying gifts for him (he only has 3 from us and I bought them a long time ago) or trying to get him to say Ho! Ho! Ho (although I really am trying), it's been about Mary.

I don't think I have ever really just thought about her and her role in the Christmas story as much as I have the last few days. As I hold my precious son, I think about what she must have felt that Christmas night. When she looked into his eyes (can you imagine being the first "human" to see the eyes of our Savior?), could she really fathom his true existence? Could she really grasp that he was going to save us all, including herself? Was her love for her child the same as it was with me, immediate and so overwhelming you could hardly breathe, or was it even more given the circumstances? I wonder if she, at times, sort of forgot that he was God incarnate?

I often referred to Hannah (Samuel's mom) while we were struggling to get pregnant and how she vowed to give her son over to God, if he would only give her a son....and then she did it!!! I can't imagine how hard it was on Hannah to take Samuel to the temple, so many miles away, and leave him there at such a young age. But Mary, oh Mary, her situation was so much more. She knew from the beginning that Immanuel was never hers, there was no need to take him to the temple, for he was God in flesh. My mind can hardly imagine. What an amazing woman and what an awesome privilege.

As Carson and I stand looking at our Christmas tree and all the shiny things that he so loves right now, I am always careful to turn us slightly to left so that he can see the Nativity that sits right beside the tree. (A nice balance I think.) I point to Mary, who is holding baby Jesus, and tell him about that baby's mommy and that that baby came to save Him. Oh how I long for him to always know the true meaning of Christmas and cherish it as much as I do.