Holiday Special: The Mothers of Christmas

This time of year can be just delightful -- cozy read-out-louds, cookie making,  teatime, puzzles, caroling, cuddles and generally just enjoying ourselves!But sometimes, even under normal circumstances, the holidays feel less than lovely. Perhaps we are traveling with toddlers and totally out of our rhythm, or dealing with extended family dynamics, or we are staying home with family far away and feeling lonely.And that’s not even considering the incredibly painful circumstances many of us may be in –whether we are grieving the loss of a parent, or a child, or a severed relationship. Christmas can be both best and the worst time of year.As mommies, what do we do when our painful circumstances seem pointless? To begin to wrestle with that question, we are going to be spending time with three mothers of Christmas --Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Anna the prophetess at the temple.Each woman was in a different life stage and each experienced unique challenges –and each got to participate in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ –the Son of God.God is the one writing our story and He invites us to delight in him and his miraculous salvation just like these special women did.Merry Christmas, my friends. <3           We are going to read short sections from Luke about each of these mamas and comment of them briefly and then we are going to consider their message all together. So our first mama is Elizabeth. From Luke 1:5-7, 13-17, 24-25 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Luke tells us several important facts about Elizabeth.   She was married to Zechariah the Priest, and she is described as a daughter of Aaron -which means she also came from a priestly family. She would have had ample access to the scriptures and likely a rich heritage of faith in God.  Both she and Zechariah are described as “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.”  And yet, Elizabeth had lived with shame and disappointment –she is advanced in years, and she is barren. So at her holiday family gatherings, Elizabeth would constantly be reminded that she is barren. And in her ancient middle eastern context this would have been devasting and could even be looked upon by some as a consequence of her sin.  When the angel speaks to Zechariah, he says his prayers have been answered –this means that Elizabeth and Zachariah have been praying for a child, likely for decades. But then, in her old age, the Lord chose Elizabeth to give birth to John the Baptist –the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, foretold in Isaiah and described as the greater Elijah. God used Elizabeth’s bareness to prepare