A Mother's Love

I saw the movie "The Nativity Story" last night.

Mary has always fascinated me. I would have so many questions for her were I given the chance to interview her. What was it like? What could possibly go through the mind of a young teenaged girl when suddenly an angel appears and alters the entire scope of your life? I remember what I was like at thirteen. How did she have the presence of mind to answer so calmly and assuredly? It could only have been God's power working through her.

I also feel intensely for Mary. I look at my own amazing little ones, and see their beautiful personalities unfolding and their minds working and imagine all the things that they are going to do with their lives. How painful it would be to know what Mary had to know about Jesus. Yes, He was God's Son in the flesh, come to save her from sin and unite her to Yahweh, and I'm sure she understood that the task of salvation was not going to be a pleasant or easy one. But He was her son, too. She walked with him when he had a tummy ache in the middle of the night and she bandaged his scrapes when he was an ambitious toddler climbing everything in sight. She laughed at his childish jokes and her heart swelled with pride the first time he recited his Torah lesson.

How terrible to realize that her son's path inevitably led to a cross.

But really, are we no different? Should we not also pray for our children to find the path that leads them to what God intends for them to do? For some it is an easier path for others, and I cannot help but hope that my children will never have to choose between faith and life. But should I not hope in that moment they would know what to choose?

That's why Mary is a hero of mine. I want to be a mother that loves God enough to teach my children to do the same, at any cost. A mother that doesn't stand in the way of the path God has chosen for her children. A mother who prays for the strength to lead her little ones to the throne of God and show them all that He truly is.

God give us that strength.