on treasuring and pondering...

The Son of God just entered the world, in flesh and blood.
The angels appeared.
The shepherds came.

And Mary treasured and pondered...

I love this, this beautiful depiction of wisdom and grace and expectancy; she did not sit in fear, she did not question what was next, she did not anxiously shy away from those who wanted to see Jesus... she treasured and pondered upon those first moments with her Son, The Christ. 
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart..." - Luke 2:19

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am sure that she was overwhelmed, how could you not be? It was the start of a new season, not just for Mary and Joseph, but for the world as a whole. New seasons bring new fears and insecurities; when you enter foreign territory (physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually) there is a quick tendency to question, to build up walls. The Enemy thrives in that place because it makes his job easy, after all, he is the Great Accuser. Now, I cannot say that I am in a season that is remotely close to that of giving birth to the Messiah, but I sat there at church this Sunday, and this spoke so deeply to the places in my heart... Treasuring and pondering, what a beautiful depiction of the Saviors first moments on Earth.

I want to be a woman who treasures "all these things", a woman who ponders upon "all these things". Right now, I am in a season of pondering, but I too readily forget to treasure. I am really good at pondering, dwelling, and over-analyzing. Those things come very easily to my heart. I am not a skeptic, but I naturally question what is right, good, best, godly. It is good to question, to ask for wisdom, to desire understanding, but sometimes that desire blinds me to the treasure; in my pondering, I don't want to miss the treasuring.

Mary could have just pondered. She could have dwelt on her seeming incapability, her insecurity, her irrational fears. But she chose to treasure; she treasured the moments with her new Son, with the shepherds and angels gathered around, with her soon-to-be husband at her side. 

Pondering and treasuring, a holy balance. My prayer during this new, expectant season is that my heart would be softened in ways that it needs to be, that I would not get so wrapped up in thoughts and fears that I would forget to treasure the fun, the newness, the possibility. 

Friends, may we be quick to ponder, but even quicker to treasure.