Mary's Story

I am finally finishing up the book "A Lineage of Grace" by Francine Rivers. Francine does such an incredible job of making people in the Bible come to life and this book has really brought to life 5 women who I have never really given much thought to before. They are 5 women in the lineage of Jesus who made some interesting choices, and one would think "Why would God choose her to be a part of Jesus' lineage" but he did, which brings me hope!

The final story is Mary's. I wasn't really looking forward to reading it because I felt like I knew her story...we hear it every Christmas. But now, I have a different perspective. I've been pregnant and I'm now a mom.

I was telling Matt some of my thoughts about why I thought it was interesting that Mary was engaged and not single when this all happened and thought I'd share them here.

• God's timing and plans are perfect! He chose a woman who was engaged to be married. I never thought how important this was until now. You see, in Mary's time, her being pregnant was enough reason to be stoned to death. The only way she (and her baby) survived is because of her fiance, Joseph, who was God-fearing and stood up for her. Had she not been engaged to be married, its very possible she would have died.
• Being pregnant is difficult and exhausting! Could you imagine being pregnant in her time? Sleeping on the hard floor, dust everywhere...AND she decided to make a long journey to visit her best friend Elizabeth while she was pregnant AND she had to travel to Bethlehem for the census. No thanks! She needed support...which is another reason why God's timing is perfect...she was engaged, then married, to Joseph. Again, had Joseph not been around she would have been killed or disowned by her family.
• Finally, I think God was creating a picture of what He desires "family" to look like. Had Mary been pregnant and single, it would have said there is no need for a man to be a part of the family unit. Fathers aren't necessary. But instead he chose a couple, in the perfect circumstances, that would parent Jesus together. He created a family unit.

I love when scripture comes alive. I would definitely suggest you read this book!