Could I Give Up My Child For the Good of the World? (Mary from a mom's perspective)

Christmas has finally come, and we are faced with signs of it everywhere.  People are rushing to get last minute gifts.  Last night, I noticed that the Walmart parking lot was full, but the Lowe's and Home Depot parking lot was empty.  I told my husband that was because the wives had already bought their husbands gifts three months ago and the men were in Walmart desperately looking for their wives a present.  I can say this because my husband was one of those desperate men.  But now all the gifts are bought and my least favorite thing to do has come- wrapping Christmas gifts.  I've contemplated just giving them in the Amazon boxes they came in but was shot down by my children.  Even though they are teenagers, they still want to unwrap the gifts for Christmas.  I've watched them grow from little toddlers who played more with the boxes than the gifts to young adults that are becoming interested in clothes and grown-up things.  This had me thinking about Mary, Jesus's mother.  We read the story of Jesus' birth all the time, but I started thinking about before Jesus was born.  In Luke 1, Mary is approached by the angel, Gabriel, and told that she will bring forth a baby that will rule on the throne of King David.  She faces the supernatural, ridicule, fear of rejection, and ultimately, fear of death should Joseph bring her to public eye.  But through all of this, she remains faithful to God and trusting Him.  I'm sure the road was rocky both figuratively and literally (Come on, she had to ride on donkey while pregnant!  You can't get rockier than that!)  She stayed faithful knowing that her son would fulfill God's promises.  Now, imagine her celebrating his birthdays.  She watched him grow older.  He no longer wanted toys for his birthdays, but grown-up things like tools to follow in his carpenter father's footsteps.  In her mind, she was waiting for God to do His thing and make her son king.  Now, picture the thoughts going through her mind as the son she birthed, spent years of birthdays with, held when he scraped his knee was nailed to a cross.  She had to remember the angel's words of her son ruling on David's throne.  How could he rule when he was dead?  Why would God perform one miracle like the virgin birth to allow him to die later?  Mary had to war with doubting God's goodness and promises.  As I watched my children in front of our Christmas tree, I thought, "Could I have given my child up for the world?"  Yet, Mary did just that.  She stood at His cross crying.  She followed His body to the tomb.  She prepared His body.  She waited for God to keep His promise.  And God did!  Sometimes we have to go through the tomb moments where it seems like our dreams are gone to get to the promise fulfilled.  This Christmas, remember that God gave a miracle of Jesus' birth to our world.  But He fulfilled the promise through Jesus' death on the cross.  Christmas is not about the presents.  It's about the fact that through Christ's birth, death, and resurrection from the dead, we can have Christ's Presence!  Have a wonderful Christmas high-heeled warriors!