Merry Christmas Everyone. I trust that you are having a great time with your family as you mark this special season. Our young ones are so excited over every activity we have planned, and those that they are planning mentally by themselves (without calculating the funds to cover it, LOL). Sometimes as mothers though, we can be overwhelmed with all the things we have to do and handle especially during busy seasons such as this. We may begin to get lost, frazzled and burning our candles of patience faster than we light them. However, can we take a minute to appreciate the role of mothers in the Christmas Story especially for those of us celebrating this season?
I want us to place ourselves in the role that Mary had to play. Carrying a pregnancy for 9 months that caused members of society to look at you funny, a pregnancy that you almost lost your engagement over. A pregnancy that you could not explain! Cast your mind to the time you had your first pregnancy, and how your body reacted to the new stranger living inside of you. Some folks have an easy first trimester, others don’t. I do not know what category Mary fell in, but I am not sure she got a pass on morning sickness because she was carrying God’s Son.
Airlines tell us today, that beyond 32 weeks (sometimes as early as 28 weeks for multiple pregnancies) we are no longer allowed to travel. Now imagine a young girl pregnant for the first time, and being made to travel so close to her due date. She could not even get a carriage to ride in; her Uber ride probably was more like a donkey as horses would have been beyond the pay grade of a carpenter. Then fast forward to delivery time, no rose scented room with soothing music to calm you down. Just a manger to lay the baby; a “garage for animals” to stay in. Then after having the baby far from home, you are told you need to get on the road, again, as people are looking for your baby to kill him. Hiaannnnn!!! The life of a refugee with an infant is not exactly anybody’s cup of tea. This is not the best time to travel to Egypt and see the world, I would have thought. Ah, Mary must have thought “Haba!” I am sure Mary must have wondered if she would ever live an ordinary life again.
But yet in the midst of all the birth drama, remember the shepherds who encountered the angels in the fields. Remember the wise men who came from far just to see this baby and with precious gifts. My dear mother reading this, the child or children you have are special too. They may not be sent to save people from their sins, but they are also important in God’s agenda for the world to become a better place for all humanity. You may seem to be toiling in obscurity but the news of your child/children will give the world good news some day and hope.
Hang in there and do not get discouraged. Roll with the punches of motherhood. Keep going because you are strong. You are fashioned to birth great destinies. I have to remind myself to never stop seeing God in my children. Take off your dusty and grimy lenses of parenting, and clean them if you have to, but never stop seeing God in your child. We hide behind the phrase, “I cannot come and go and kill mysef” now, but we won’t die on this job, neither will it kill us if we do it right. As Mary yielded herself to the One who sent her the good but shocking news, let us also yield ourselves and then behold what He will do with us. Till then, keep watching over your precious little angels.
P.S: Today I mark one of my great gifts, the birth of my first born who was born on Christmas Day. She turned 14 years old. I remain truly blessed and amazed at the young woman she is turning out to be, which is, everything I am not. LOL. Go Girl. Mummy loves you Mmesoma.
photo credits: zazzle.com & the internet
