Jesus I'm your mother!

Our last woman in the lineage of Christ – Mary! We are going out with a bang on this one – she’s Jesus’ freaking mother - you can’t get any closer than that!! Everyone knows who Mary is. But does everyone know how young she was when this huge responsibility was placed in her lap? The answer is 13. Thinking back to myself at 13 and how I would feel if I was told I would be giving birth to the Savior let’s just say…I’d be totally freaked out! I just started shaving my legs and didn’t even know about shaving my armpits and you’re telling me I’m going to have a baby? And he will be called Jesus? And oh yeah – he’s pretty much the Son of God. Awkward!

I’d be pretty glad if I was Mary that the song ‘Mary Did You Know’ did not come out until way after the fact because it would have freaked me out even more. The lyrics go…
Mary did you know…your baby boy will some day walk on water / will save our sons and daughters / has come to make you new / the child you have delivered will soon deliver you / will give sight to a blind man / will calm a storm with his hand / has walked where angels trod / when you’ve kissed your little boy you’ve kissed the face of God / is Lord of all creation / will one day rule the nations / is heaven’s perfect lamb / the sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.

People talk about Kate Gosselin being a super mom – well she had nothing on Mary!! TLC would be all over this one – I can see the show now – they'd call it ‘Oh Jesus I’m Your Mom’ – starring Mary and Joseph and Jesus Christ as Himself!

As we’ve all heard many times, age is just a number. As of today, I am 429 months and 3 days old. Sounds like a strange way to say I’m 35. I think it is funny when you ask a mother how old her child is, she will tell you in months. Now I can understand doing this when they are under 1, because months are all they have. But when they turn 1, just say 1 people! Also when you’re young, you give ½ years…I’m 11 and a half. That half is important. To this day, I still acknowledge my half birthday. I was under the impression everyone did but apparently I’m one of the few.
I think you pretty much stop telling and people stop asking your age around 30. Personally I don’t care, it is what it is, but some people have real hang ups when it comes to age. Thank goodness God doesn’t!

Our last truth – women are favored by God. Hooray for us girls!! Now I personally know what it means to be favored. We have a joke in my family that I’m the favorite child and I have to admit – for me, it’s kind of fun. Or it's fun to at least pretend that I am because I know my parents truly do not favor me over my sister.

Now having the favor of God does come with a bit of responsibility. It’s not automatic. You can’t have favor with someone who you don’t even know. If you have a relationship with God and you remain faithful - you will remain in His favor. Jen gives the example of Peter and feeding the sheep. This is one of my favorite stories of the Bible. I have a close relationship with my dad and since I was young I have asked him, “Dad – do you love me?”
He will say yes and I will respond “Feed my sheep”.
Sometimes he answers yes I’ll feed your sheep because he knows the drill. I try to catch him not thinking about it and get him to just say yes so I can say the feed my sheep part.
It’s funny because it is the same way with God. If I am close to Him and He asks if I love him, I’ll say yes and I will feed your sheep. But if I stray away and get off track when he comes to me with this question I simply say yes. Then he has to remind me to feed his sheep.

Feed His sheep ladies - remain in His favor!!

I’m so sad this book has come to an end! I loved the book and would recommend if you haven’t already read it, you need to!! One last story for you...
When I was little I wore my underwear backwards for so long that when my mother tried to get me to stop, it just didn’t feel right wearing them correctly.
This is kind of how I feel in life lately. I think I know myself and my capabilities but everything I know about myself is just like my underwear – backwards!
After reading about these 5 great women – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth Bathsheba and Mary – I see some of the same great stuff in myself. I too thought I was too powerless (Tamar), too tainted (Rahab), too inferior (Ruth), too broken (Bathsheba) and too young (Mary). Now I know I am smart, brave, beautiful, influential and Godly – how cool is that?! I got my panties on the right way and it feels good!!