full of grace

If you had ever told me I would one day wonder how much Jesus weighed when he was born, I would have thought you were crazy. But now I wonder...how was Mary's delivery? Was it hard or easy? Long? By the book? Complicated? Having these babies has brought out so much of the human-ness of Scripture. So often I read the Bible and think 'Yup, Hannah was barren. Oh and Mary had Jesus in a stable.' But I forget that they were real women with real feelings. And if they're anything like this woman they probably had times where they were downright emotional. How did it feel for Hannah to go month after month with little hope of a pregnancy while her husband's other wife was Fertile Myrtle and mean on top of it? How did Mary feel delivering a baby all by herself without another woman to understand and nurture her through it? In a stable?! And how much did Jesus weigh?!

And to add on to all of this...the fact that Jesus arrived as a baby boggles my mind. Looking at these sweet babes sleeping next to me, they are so helpless. So loved but--really--pitifully helpless. And then I think about Mary and how she handled this craziness with such grace. Did she snap at Joseph and hold it against him that he didn't have a reservation anywhere? Did she whine about the long trip and cold floor? I doubt she did and it convicts me and challenges me. She makes me want to treat others with more grace and live more gracefully.

I may not be as grace-filled as Mary but I do know that I'm definitely treasuring up all these things and pondering them in my heart...just like she did with her baby Jesus.

 

These girls have made me wonder more but that hasn't made me believe any less. And doesn't wonder have a lot to do with this season? I hope everyone has marveled at the wonder of this miracle today. Merry Christmas from a Mary wannabe.