Can I have my cake and eat it too?...

Yesterday is the day that the Church has established as Mary's birthday. September 8. All the Saints have a feast day, but Mary has a bunch of days that celebrate her because, after all, she is Jesus' mom. Mom's have a pretty important job. The first being the most important; bringing a child into the world.

Have you ever wondered why God made it so darn difficult to bring a new life into the world? I mean, think about it. A woman carries a baby inside her for 9 months. That would be like an entire school year. We've all been through a school year and know how LOOOONG they can seem to be. Pregnancy is no easy walk in the park. But that's not even the whole of it. We could get graphic with the labor and delivery aspect, but we'll just be content with using the word 'graphic' and assume that we all know that labor and delivery is certainly not easy. And then the child is born, and your job doesn't stop there. Now you've got years of teaching, disciplining, nurturing, loving, and providing for that child. Being a parent is by no means easy. But I think God made it difficult because things that are easy tend to be less fulfilling. The things in life that require sacrifice and hard work are generally the things that make us feel the most satisfied and fulfilled in the long run. Note that I said in the long run. Certainly some things, like eating a carton of ice cream in one sitting, might give you a short term satisfaction, but you'll be feeling less satisfied later when you have a belly ache and feel the need to run a marathon to work off the calories you just ate.

So let's talk about abortion, shall we?

Did I totally blindside you with that one? When we were celebrating the birth of Mary yesterday, I had a thought: "What if Mary had chosen to have an abortion?" I mean, she said "YES" to God, but she didn't really know what she was getting herself into. The angel never told her that she was going to be pregnant 5 seconds later and thus would be facing possible public scrutiny since she was not married. He never told her she'd be traveling to Bethlehem when she was full-term and having her baby in the comfort of a...stable??? With animals and no family around to help out. She didn't even know for sure that Joseph would stick with her. He could have chosen to leave her too. Mary had, by definition, a teen, crisis pregnancy.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

I think God knew that very well that years down the road, the world would be struggling with the issue of abortion in a huge way. I think that is part of the reason that He came to a young girl, a teenager, and asked her to be the Mother of God. And I think that was part of the reason that He came to her with the question before she was married to Joseph. Sure, she was saying "Yes" to something pure and holy, but the rest of the world didn't actually know that, so she was subjected to the same feelings that any pregnant teenager would have. Fear, uncertainty, anxiety, doubt. But she didn't just take the easy way out. She kept her child, and she faced all the scrutiny and pain that went along with it.

She knew how precious life was, and she knew that His life had a purpose. That's part of the reason I don't buy into that "it's my body, it's my choice" thing. It's a life, and one that is vital to the lives of so many others. That baby could find the cure for cancer, or be a loving husband/wife/priest/nun/aunt/uncle or a missionary to Africa, or a future president. If you're not sure the point I'm trying to make here, think "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart. So many lives are touched by just one life. And yes, it is a HUGE sacrifice to bring a life into the world, crisis situation or not, but it is SO WORTH IT! We have to let God be God and realize that even though the pregnancy may have been "unplanned" in the eyes of the world, the life was always planned by God. "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you...." -Jeremiah 1:5

Ok, so I know most of you were expecting cake. We DID make Mary a birthday cake. We used the recipe for this cool rainbow cake from my friend Kate's website. Kayla thought it was pretty awesome. Ours did not look nearly so cool as Kate's, but it was colorful, and Kayla LOVED putting the sprinkles on top.

Kayla also got to blow out the candles on the cake for Mary. She especially liked the star candles (Mary, Star of the Sea, Pray for us!).

And to drive home that point about each life, touching so many others... Here are just 3 of the lives that touch mine in a significant and truly incredible way each and every day.