Have Yourself a “Mary” Little Christmas…
She was eighteen. Ever since we became friends at the age of 13, I thought we were pretty much alike. We both loved to read and fantasized about writing our own stories some day. We sat around discussing all the issues of adolescence – boys, the “in” crowd and what we wanted to be when we grew up. We tried out for the school musical together and wore matching poodle skirts as we sang “Bye Bye birdie.” I’ll never forget the night I snuck her out of her room (where she had been put under house arrest by her very strict Mormon parents) and we went and toilet papered a friend’s house. That night, it was pretty much harmless fun, but that was the beginning of a splitting in our paths.
I knew that even though we were like two peas in a pod, really we were quite different. I knew Jesus and my friend, well, she knew about him and she lived in a religious household, but she didn’t really know Jesus the way I did. I tried to tell her about Him and we had many conversations about it, but she just didn’t see her need for Him. Religion in general seemed like a farce to her as she saw her parent’s regimented life filled with rules, but not love.
One night when she was 17, she confided in me that she thought she had found true love (in the fry guy who worked with her at McDonald’s). My heart sunk as I heard of her lack of morals, her desire to leave her family traditions and lead a reckless life with no boundaries. It wasn’t long after that, when she mailed me a note from college saying that she was going to drop out and go live in a Mormon home for pregnant teens. Her family was shocked and disappointed because in their little “perfect” community, teen pregnancy was not normal, acceptable, or forgivable. My friend wasn’t allowed to come home. Her parent’s never saw the baby and she had only one choice – to give her child up for adoption.
I thought that incident would change my friend, wizen her up a bit, and make her realize the value of living a moral life, but the heart is not changed so easily. She married, had three kids and then the pattern repeated itself. My friend has been married countless times, had six children (none of whom she parents) and continues to search for true love.
My dear pregnant teenage friend did not share much else in common with another pregnant teen-Mary, the mother of Jesus. I’ll tell you why.
Although she knew about religion, she did not KNOW God personally and she did not have a personal faith in God’s power to work in her.
Although she knew about rules and regulations, she did not have a heart to live in submissive obedience to God’s calling.
Although she talked about God and read about God, she has never understood or experienced the amazing beauty of GOD WITH US…Emmanuel. She still doesn’t know the treasure of God living within her.
But Mary did.
Simple Mary. Ordinary Mary, lower middle class Mary was about her normal, boring life as a teenager when suddenly she received news that would turn her ordinary life upside down. When the angel announced to her that SHE would be the mother of God’s son, how did she respond?
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”
Mary obeyed God as a humble servant, with a submissive heart and all because of her very personal faith in God’s power to do the un-imaginable.
How about you? Do you have that kind of faith? Do you have that kind of submissive servant heart?
Have a Mary Christmas!
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Come visit me…
I really enjoyed this my friend, bless you.
Oh Heather, My heart broke for your friend. Just broke. There are so many girls just searching for love. It just fires my passion all the more to share the real love we know to be true. Wonderful devotion. Wonderful!
Heather, what a powerful devotion and a reminder that there are alot of “friends” like the one you had and described. So many out there looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. Thank God for godly examples of women like Mary and others in the Bible that we can pattern our lives after. Thanks for sharing and may we not forget that God uses the simple ordinary “Mary’s” that live inside all of us. -Blessings, Laurie
Heather, thank you for this touching devotional. My heart is broken for your childhood friend. God is the God of the impossible. I’m praying for her salvation. It’s never too late.
Wow, thank you for sharing such a beautiful story. I love the questions you asked about Mary and our faith. Thank you so much.
I pray all the time for a faith that strong that no matter what is asked of me, I say “whatever Your will, Lord” — and I am 45 years old. I can’t imagine it in a teenager! What a blessed servant’s heart she had.