In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria Nazareth in Galilee to Judaea, to the city of David called Bethlehem
When I read this first passage from Luke 2: 1-7 I see the parallel in my own life with that of Mary. From what we read many people did not believe Mary that she did not have relations with a man but by the gift of the Holy Spirit Mary is pregnant. There have been many times in our life with our daughter Mary and our son Jacob people had not agreed with us and have felt at liberty to tell us what they think. We have always sought wise counsel and felt this is what the Lord is calling us to do in our many decisions. They may not be what the crowd is doing or even family but we know true in our heart it is right with Jesus.
How I have experienced Mary’s inspiration and encouragement in my own life first came to me when our son Jacob was diagnosed with cancer at age two. Jacob was our first born and our first born son, so I did not really know what it was like to care for a child or children. The night the doctors told us to rush him to Children’s hospital because we think he has cancer, my heart just sank, I cried and I felt it was the same tears as Mary’s when she sat beneath the cross. Then we were up all night and the next day when the doctors told us that our little boy, our son, our first born, did in fact have cancer, it was at astage 4 (the worst stage you can be at), his right lung was completely collapsed, there was a big mass in between his lungs and it was moving over into his left lung. I was in utter disbelief, again I thought of Mary watching her son being nailed to the cross. The very first time they had to take Jacob from our arms to do a biopsy, he was crying out Mommy and this stranger took him away, these big wooden doors slide open, there they went, the big wooden doors closed shut and I could hear his cry fade as they walked into the room. This makes me think of Jesus when he was hanging on the cross crying out to his mother and crying out to God, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. There have been so many times my son has been in such pain and as his mother the only thing I could do was hold him. That feeling of true vulnerability and helplessness made my heart connect with Mary when they brought Jesus to her after they had taken him down from the cross with all of his scares and she just held him and wept. These are examples that if I did not have Mary’s inspiration and encouragement to keep me going, on the right path with faith and trust in God the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I don’t know where I would be today.”
(Lori Eyth, Cooperative, NE)
