Mary

Today in Relief Society our lesson was on Mary. It was a really good lesson, and I learned a lot of things I didn't know before. I felt the Spirit really strong and just wanted to share some of the feelings I had, and have been having all season long.
Ever since I was a little girl, the song "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant (and only Amy Grant, in my book) has been a favorite all time Christmas song, and since I've become a mother, even more so. I love thinking about how Mary was feeling, how scared she was, all the responsibility placed on her shoulders to raise the Son of God. "Breath of Heaven, hold me together... lighten my darkness... pour over me Your Holiness."
Another song that I LOVE is "Mary Did You Know?" (my choice? Clay Aiken, weird, I know). My favorite line of that song is, "When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God." When I kiss my little baby, I'm still kissing a child of God, my daughter of God that I have the responsibility to raise. Just as Jesus Christ had His mission on Earth (saving every person to ever live and giving them Eternal Life), my own little daughter has her own mission in life, and it is my calling and responsibility to help her find that.
I like to think of Mary as a person, not as a Saint as some Religions have made her (not that I think that she was under qualified to become a Saint, I just don't personally worship or pray to her). I like (is that weird?) to think of her going out of her mind with her crazy children in their crazy toddler years, because I don't believe that the toddler Jesus just sat around, I think he had a personality and liked to play and be (innocently) mischievous, just like my toddler. I like to think of Mary going out of her mind with worry when she couldn't find Jesus on their way out of the city because He was teaching in the temple. You may recall my own panic mode when I lost Rachael in Wal-Mart and my desire to punish her, I bet Mary, as a mother, wanted to punish Him, but obviously He told her that He had been teaching His Father's words.
I hope you take the time to listen to this song, especially if you haven't ever heard it before. I could take every single line in this song and apply it to my life, but I won't, you'd probably get bored. It makes you think of Mary as a person, which is what she was. Just an imperfect mother with a high calling, but she knew the importance of that.


(I just watched the video, its kinda weird, so just listen to the words.)