She was an ordinary teenage girl with ordinary dreams. It was supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life. Although the man she was going to married was older than she was, it was a part of their world. And then it happened.
There is no record of earlier conversations with God. The angel just appeared. God has a way of doing that in life--just appearing. She was chosen. She had found favor. She was what--going to have a baby? She was going to bear the Son of God? All of this was overwhelming to her. Then it happened. God made love to Mary.
She knew that it was a reality as her body began to change quickly. She was fearful of what was going to happen. Would Joseph believe such a story? Would he leave her? What would her friends and family say? Where would she go?
All of these questions while being in the forefront of her mind, were nevertheless nothing to compare to the love she felt inside of her. She would make it. Every time she was about to be overwhelmed, the child would move and it would calm her fears.
Mary learned that being chosen and favored in the eyes of God is very different that what one expects. God colors outside the lines of life.
The lines of life are about power and being right in the eyes of the world. It is about doing things to be seen or doing things that are expected but for the wrong reason. The lines of the world invite us to look after only ourselves.
The birth of the baby that Mary carried was God inviting us to get out of the lines of this world and into the picture of another world. This baby invited the poor to the banquet, touched the untouchables, and offered good news of great joy to those whom the world had forgotten. That is what happens when one experiences the love of God.
The love of God was born to an unwed mother at a time when there were no comforts of home--in a cave as they journeyed. As you experience the miracle of Jesus' birth, remember. God tends to color outside the lines of life!
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