What Would Mary Do?

…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control… ~ Galatians 5:22-23

One day when my youngest was nearly six months old I was sitting with him at our dining room table. It was far too early on a chilly morning near Christmas-time. He kept shoving the food I was offering him off His high chair tray. I was frustrated and grumpy, and wasn’t looking forward to going to work. At that time, I was commuting more than two hours a day, daycare was in the opposite direction from my office, and I was still nursing, as well as juggling the needs of my four- and five-year-old sons. I was exhausted.

But I really didn’t want to be annoyed with the baby. He was just doing what babies do. He was a particularly sweet baby, too (and today he’s a particularly sweet almost-two-year-old boy). I looked at him with new eyes. What if he were Jesus? What would Mary do?

Well, just what would Mary do? That was the question du jour. It gave me a peaceful feeling to imagine that other people surely had the same challenges I was facing ~ even Mary, mother of Jesus, could have.

• When Baby Jesus upturned His cereal bowl, spilling its contents onto himself, the tablecloth, and the freshly washed floor, what would Mary do?

• When Baby Jesus wiggled and squirmed and kicked His feet right into His dirty diaper while being changed, what would Mary do?

• When Baby Jesus fussed and whined and gnawed His knuckles nonstop because he was teething, what would Mary do?

• If Baby Jesus wanted to get in her bed at 2:00 a.m. every night, what would Mary do?

• When Jesus wiped His nose on His sleeve, His mouth on His shirt, and His hands on the couch, what would Mary do?

• When Jesus tossed His garments into the wash inside out every single time, what would Mary do?

• When Jesus ran off and disappeared during a family outing and was not even a wee bit remorseful when found, what would Mary do?

• If Jesus couldn’t sit still during church, what would Mary do?

• If Jesus wouldn’t take His nose out of His book to do His chores, what would Mary do?

• If Jesus trampled through her flower garden to make her a Mother’s Day bouquet, what would Mary do?

I’m not really sure what she would do. But I bet it has something to do with asking God for help or getting together with her cousin Elizabeth to compare notes. Sometimes there’s nothing anyone else can do but listen. And oftentimes that’s enough.

For all the mothers of the world: I respect and honor the beautiful ~ and often challenging ~ work you do in bringing forth new life and nurturing the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your children. I hope and pray that you can feel God's love pouring through you. May you see the light of Christ in your children now and always.