I have always loved the Christmas story and have heard it hundreds of times.  But this year, I have been thinking about it from a completely different perspective.  As I sit here, 31 weeks pregnant with our baby boy bumping up against the keyboard of my computer, I can’t help but keep thinking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, during this holiday season.  
 
Wow, what an amazing woman of the Lord!  A young virgin when told she was with child, her reaction continues to humble me as I look back to Luke 1:38, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as You have said.”  I can tell you right now, my reaction was not that sweet and spiritual to just being pregnant in general!  I struggled with it for months and Mary was immediately praising her Savior for choosing her for this enormous task.
 
As I continue to grow bigger by the day, my stride has turned into a bit of a waddle, I’ll admit it.  Last night I asked my husband, how in the world did Mary ride a donkey 9 months pregnant to the town of Bethlehem?  I mean seriously, I groan and moan if we hit any slight bumps in the road!  
 
I have just gained such a deeper respect and admiration for how Mary carried and handled herself as the mother to the most important man the world would ever know.  As I sit here watching and feeling this little boy move inside, I fall more in love with him every day.  But I constantly think, I would give anything to spend just one day with Mary and ask her what it was like to feel that little boy moving inside her knowing it was the Son of the Most High.  What a responsibility, but at the same time what an honor and what a life changing experience!
 
As most of you read this, you are probably not pregnant and your circumstances may not have changed as drastically as mine since the last holiday season. The story of God’s grace, His ONE WAY love from heaven to earth, in the form of his perfect son, Jesus, is still alive and real and active in our world today.   My prayer for you this holiday season, is that you will be able to experience what I have and enjoy seeing the Christmas story from a fresh perspective.