Mary returns to Nazareth

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The First Christmas RGB12Luke 1:56 states it simply, “Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.” We are left to our imaginations to get an idea of what might have been running through Mary’s mind on the long trip home.

She was likely traveling with strangers or people she didn’t know well – whoever might be traveling to Nazareth at the time. She had been staying with her elderly pregnant cousin for three months, sheltered from prying eyes, from people who knew she was engaged but not married. As a young teenager, her pregnancy was probably becoming obvious. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to be aware of the kinds of questions people might ask her simply making polite conversation on the way to Nazareth. When is your baby due? Who is your husband? Did she answer that she wasn’t married yet?

Even if no one pressed her with questions, she had plenty to think about on the long journey home. What would Joseph say when he saw her and realized she was pregnant? What would all her friends and relatives say and think? Would they believe her if she said she was carrying God’s baby? What would she tell them?

When she finally arrived in Nazareth she had to face the people she knew, and she surely felt their stares and whispers. Joseph was not pleased. We can read what Joseph wanted to do in Matthew 1:18-19. At least he wasn’t planning to have her stoned, though he could have done that. Joseph decided to divorce her quietly.

Divorce sounds odd to us because Joseph and Mary weren’t yet married. But in the Jewish culture of that time, the legal commitment had already been made and a divorce would be needed to break it.

We have to admire Mary’s courage. Mary had to cling ever so tightly to the words the angel Gabriel had said to her: “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God!” Luke 1:30 (NLT)

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. Front cover RGB (300)

 

The first Christmas – series of posts

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Front cover RGB (300)You are invited to follow the posts that tell the events leading up to and following the birth of Christ here on this blog. The posts are spaced a few days apart to help develop the feel of advent as well as to give the message time to settle on our hearts a little at a time as we re-experience the wonder of the birth of Jesus the Christ. A few posts are already up, so you may want to click here to find the first post. All posts are short so it won’t take long to catch up. Continue through the posts by clicking on the next title at the top of the post on the right (or the previous post title at the top left). Some of the posts will publish closer together beginning on Dec 23, to help re-enforce the moment-by-moment events in the Bible. To catch each post when it first come out, you may find it helpful to subscribe to the blog through your email using the sign-up window at the right.

Most of the illustrations come from the children’s book The First Christmas by Janice D. Green and illustrated by Violet Vandor. These posts are written with older children and teens in mind and include additional information that was omitted from the children’s book. These extra pages may have other illustrations or may go unillustrated.

Mary visits Elizabeth

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The First Christmas RGB10What might you have done if you were Mary and just received the news that you were going to give birth to God’s Son? Who would you have wanted to tell about what had happened? Mary went to see the one person she knew would believe it – her older cousin Elizabeth. Read it for yourself by clicking on this link: Luke 1:39-56. (If you missed my earlier post about Zachariah & Elizabeth, click here.)

This was no small trip for Mary. Elizabeth lived in a “small town in the hill country of Judea.” Although no one can say for certain which town she lived in, that region was about 90 miles south of Mary’s home in Nazareth. She probably traveled with other people who were going that direction, possibly walking much or all of the way.

On the day Mary knocked on Elizabeth’s door, the two pregnant women shared news that no one else in the world would understand. Even Elizabeth’s unborn child recognized the excitement of that moment and leaped in her womb.

Mary burst into song with joy as she sang what has become known as The Magnificat – Mary’s song of praise. Read it for yourself at Luke 1:46-55. You can choose more than one translation to read if you like. Mary’s song proclaims how God exalts the lowly and humbles the proud and haughty.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Simple math tells us she may have stayed until John was born, since we know Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Mary would have been a big help to her aged cousin during her last three months of pregnancy, and staying with her in a distant place gave her a temporary escape from the public eye as Baby Jesus grew inside her.

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor. Front cover RGB (300)

Gabriel visits Mary

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The First Christmas RGB8About six months after Gabriel delivered God’s message to Zachariah, he came to earth again. This time he appeared to Mary saying “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Seeing the angel must have been alarming as he next calmed he by saying “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.”

Gabriel then told Mary that she would give birth to the promised Messiah and that she should name the baby Jesus. You can read this account for yourself in Luke 1:26-38.

Wow! What a message for a young teen to receive. The Bible doesn’t give us all of the details, but it is generally believed that Mary was likely in her early teens when Gabriel came to give her this special word from God. The angel’s statement, “You have found favor with God,” intrigues me. I wish I could have a window to see into Mary’s heart. What was it that set her apart as the favored one? All we have to go on are these few verses.

Even though Mary questioned how she could have God’s baby, she wasn’t challenging Gabriel to prove it as Zachariah had done. She was only seeking understanding. Perhaps this glimpse is telling.

How many times do we question God with a spirit of “How could you let this happen?” How willing are we to let God be God? Do we accept what comes in our path, whether we like it or not, and trust God to “have our backs?”

As Mary faced the world in the next few months – a pregnant virgin – I’m sure the angel’s words, “Fear not, you have found favor with God” came to her mind quite often. Knowing that she had found favor with God surely must have given her comfort that no one else could give her. Life as the Mother of Jesus was obviously not going to be a picnic, not because Jesus was an unruly child, but because the world would not accept him.

If we are true believers in Jesus, we too can cling to that sense of security as God’s children, and trust that he is watching over us through everything we must pass through.

For younger children The First Christmas, by Janice D. Green, illustrated by Violet Vandor.Front cover RGB (300)

 

Christian Authors Blog Hop & Giveaway

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Christian Authors Blog Hop

Welcome to the Christian Authors Blog Hop & Giveaway!

December 7 – 11, 2015

 

Thank you for visiting my blog. Today, I am participating in the Christian Authors Blog Hop & Giveaway. From December 7 to 11, a group of Christian authors will share their thoughts on writing for the Christian market. “Hop” to each blog where there will be a chance to win great prizes. 

Christian Authors Blog Hop & Giveaway Schedule

December 7 – The Children’s & Teens’ Book Connection

December 8 – Books by Corine

December 9 – Bible Bites 4 Teens, Bible Quilts, and Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC

December 10 – Midnight Fireflies 

December 11 – Cheryl’s Christian Book Connection

Questions for Janice D Green, who blogs on
Bible Bites 4 Teens, Bible Quilts, and
Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC

Please tell our readers a bit about yourself.

I am a retired elementary school librarian, a wife, mother, and grandmother, and a child of the King – the God who created the earth and the universe. I enjoy God’s great outdoors, music, sewing, and many kinds of crafts. My husband and I hope to build a small, modest home using our own tools and the timber and other materials from our own property.

How long have you been writing for the Christian market?

I submitted my first manuscript/story to the United Methodist Publishing House in 1970 and was elated to see it published in a take-home Sunday school paper. I wrote a few more stories, but was sidetracked with family concerns so that I only submitted a few more times and stopped. I recently wrote and self published two Bible storybooks, The Creation and The First Christmas. I have written a manuscript for a picture book about Jonah, and I am also working on a middle grade novel that has an underlying Christian theme.

Name one challenge facing Christian writers today.

A serious challenge for many (myself included) is getting manuscripts submitted. It takes a lot of courage (or guts) to decide the manuscript is ready and put it in the mail. An author can spend hours poring over the Writers Market deciding who to send the manuscript to. And then the odds of getting the manuscript accepted is extremely low, especially for first time writers. We need to learn from our rejections, polish up our manuscripts and/or start new manuscripts and keep trying.

Do you write for other markets?

I have written several newspaper articles as a correspondent. I have also written an alphabet book in rhyme about nature, and a few children’s stories that might work in the secular markets, though they are not published. I am also working on a middle-grade novel. Over the past few months I have been doing more blogging than writing for publication, as I have been re-thinking my goals for future writing projects.

What is one thing you would like readers to know about you or your writing?

For the most part, I write to build up self confidence in children and youth, as well as to encourage their faith in God and in the Bible. I am writing Bible Bites 4 Teens because I remember how difficult the teen years were for me. I have many personal regrets concerning my teen and young adult years, and I believe if I had been taught to take the Bible more seriously at that age I would have avoided many of those mistakes. I feel I have so much to share, though I’m still trying to find my voice.

My Bible picture books are The Creation and The First Christmas. My key goal in writing these books was to tell the events in a way that helps the child understand that they really happened, and they are not myths. They are also written in a way to promote discussions between the parent and child to help them remember what they learned. These books are available on Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC.

One more thing… When I write picture books about the Bible, I encourage and provide instructions on a way to make Bible quilts using coloring pages that correspond to the pages in the picture books. Learn more about my Bible quilt ideas and how easy it is to make a crayon colored Bible quilt on my blog Bible Quilts.

Win a Blog Hop Giveaway Prize!!!

Terms and conditions to enter for prizes:

  • You must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
  • Contest starts on 12/7/15 and ends at 11:59 pm EST on 12/13/15.
  • Winner’s names will be announced at each blog hosting a giveaway.
  • Additional restrictions may apply. See individual blogs for details.
  • VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

I am offering a book to one reader through a random drawing of all readers who qualify by leaving a comment on this post according to the contest dates above. To qualify you must say which book you would like to win and why. Additional chances will be given for each comment relevant to the post on any blog post on: Bible Bites 4 Teens, Bible Quilts, or Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC. Crude or derogatory comments will be removed along with the usual spam comments and will not be considered.

The winner may choose one of the following books for his/her own prize:

IMG_2427e TheCreation (300)

 

My first book, The Creation, retells the account of the seven days of creation as well as what happened with Adam and Eve in the Garden as recorded in Genesis 1-3.

 

Front cover RGB (300)

 

My second book, The First Christmas, retells the events that preceded and followed the birth of Jesus the Christ child. The accounts in both the book of Matthew and the book of Luke were used to create this narrative.

 

Sowing Seeds - front cover (300w)

 

Sowing Seeds: Writing for the Christian Children’s Market was written by Kathleen M. Muldoon, former writing instructor at the Institute of Children’s Literature. This book is a resource treasure for anyone interested in writing for children and teens from a Christian perspective.

 

The winner for today’s Blog Hop Giveaway will be announced on this blog on December 15, 2015. (Note extended date)

Congratulations to Angela M. Hawkins, winner of the Bible Bites 4 Teens blog hop prize. (update Dec 15, 2015)