The Story of Advent
December 3rd, 2022
Advent feels more than a little different this year. Having a baby is nerve-wracking, exciting, and an overall emotional roller coaster. There is pressure from all areas of life to go about child-rearing in a particular way and make the correct decisions.
Now rewind to Mary. For one, she “broke the norm.” I cannot imagine what it would have felt like to interact with a community who would not be understanding while going through pregnancy. Even Joseph tried to remove himself from the situation and when compared to raising a child, pregnancy is the easy part! After having an angel come and tell her the baby she was growing was in fact the child of God, the pressure from the community wouldn’t matter. The concern (for today) would no longer center around if lunch meat is safe while pregnant, when to introduce a bottle, whether or not spanking scars a child for the rest of his/her life, etc. The pressure to then live a life worthy of being God’s child’s human parents, how to answer questions (there are so many questions), what would childhood even look like for this baby? And in addition to all the questions and fears, to not have a community supporting you? I can only imagine the added stress and fear Mary and Joseph felt. But I also imagine that God instilled them with a sense of peace and confidence, after all, that would not be the craziest thing he had done to/for them.
- Sadie Cullison-Case