Hold these things

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

A mother knows what it's like to hold a newborn baby. She marvels at his tiny fingers and toes, his rosebud lips, the way his pudgy hands have yet to make way for knuckles. She admires the way his hair swirls gently against his head, listens intently to every gurgle and cry. She sees the way he moves and is amazed at how his movements mirror the way he felt in her womb just hours or days before.

She cannot believe she has been blessed with this child. That God has chosen her to mother this tiny little being - to raise him and know him, to laugh with him and hold his tiny hands, to dance with him, to nurse him, to teach him and guide him.

A mother cherishes her baby child every minute of every day in that babymoon time. She keeps a camera close by and captures his sleeping moments, the way he looks in his new pajamas, his precious little feet, his big baby yawns. She just can't get enough of this new person in her life.

I remember dearly those new days with each of my babes. The way I was absolutely overwhelmed with adoration for them.
In Canaan's favorite Christmas book, The Christmas Story According to Luke, I read for the first time this verse about Mary . . .

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

I'm sure I've seen the verse before, but it struck me anew this week as I read it to my son. I suddenly pictured Mary with her baby, the Christ child, and how completely overcome she must have been. She wasn't just a new Mommy. She was a new Mommy to the King. The King of Kings. The Lord. The creator of Heaven and earth. The Savior! I can't wait to sit with Mary in Heaven and ask her to describe what she felt in those days, as she cradled and nursed our Father God. She nursed our Father God! Talk about wishing there were a manual by which to raise a child! Wow.

Christ the Savior is born.
Christ the Savior is born!