Thoughts from the deck

The guys had to leave super early this morning, so I've been up since before 6.00 - wow. Decided it would be better for me to stay up than to go back to bed. It's now time to make breakfast for the Blessings, but first...

While I was enjoying some quiet time on the deck, listening to the birds and such and watching Polly stalk Beren, I was reading from the first chapter of Luke. Mary's response to the angel's pronouncement is terrific:

And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me
according to your word." Luke 1.38

She's just been told her world is going to turn upsidedown. Yes, I know, I've read that every Jewish girl dreamed of being the chosen one, but when you get down to brass tacks, there's a lot of unpleasant reality that Mary has in front of her. The amazing blessing of carrying the Messiah, of being entrusted with raising the Son of God, yes. But also the months and years of "what will/do people think/say?" Those thoughts had to come into her mind, don't you think? And yet she says to the angel, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word."

How often I balk at the the process that must precede the things the Lord has called me to do. And yet, Mary's response is the proper one. May my heart and my will also say, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word."