Confessions of a Teen Mom

No, I'm not a teen mother. I'm in my 30s. However, I'm thinking about one teen mom today, as Christmas is only a few days away.

I've been thinking about everything this particular teen mother had to go through during her nine months of pregnancy... and her subsequent labor and delivery. As with any teen mother, she had to endure shame because she was unmarried and had a child on the way. I believe that was punishable by death in her time. Seriously. Fortunately, she did have family who believed her, and she did have her, urm..., boyfriend, or fiancee' (for lack of better terms), Joseph, to stand up for her. He had to endure shame from others because people talked about the fact that she had a baby that "wasn't his".

This teen mother rode on a donkey, with her fiancee', many, many miles, on a donkey. Nine months pregnant. In labor. I don't even think you're supposed to ride horses while you're pregnant, but this woman did. She traveled many, many miles, with her fiancee', because he wanted to claim her and her baby as part of his family. They refused to take them at the inn, so she had to labor and deliver a child in a stable. In a dirty, yucky, smelly stable. After traveling on a donkey. In labor. In pain. No doctors or nurses. No bed. No epidurals. No doulas. No midwives. No lactation consultants on hand to ensure the baby latches on properly. Just Mary and Joseph... and eventually the newborn baby, Jesus.

How did they endure all of this? Why did they endure all of this? Well, they knew what others who know the true meaning of Christmas know! With God, all things are possible. God sent his only son, Jesus, to truly humble beginnings. Would you be able to do the same?

So, yes, I've been thinking about the Christmas story from Mary's point of view. I know that Catholics see Mary in a different light than some, but in my eyes, that takes away from who Mary really was. She was a young girl, chosen by God to carry the King of Kings. A young girl, not unlike I was at that time in my life. By all accounts, an ordinary girl. I think Catholics miss the mark because they don't see that God chooses ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and that is the true power that He has.

So I think to myself, what does God want me to do, and will I have the faith to do it? Mary did.