Mothers of the Bible Speak to Mothers of Today - Commentary

Chapter 10 - Elizabeth: A Willin Sa!rifi!e Oh dear, here we go again. Another woman having a baby to her surprise when she is well past the child bearing part of her life. Happens a whole lot in the bible doesn't it?!?!? I wonder why there are so many such stories in scripture. I never really thought about it in that light before. ould it be the reality of what children bring to the world ! hope for the future, the promise that part of us will live after we are gone... It's a reminder of how important our role as parents, as moms, is. It's a reminder that the future of the world, the future of our faith, are dependent to some degree on how seriously we ta"e our responsibility to pass on our faith and what it means to live a godly life. And the best way we can do that is by setting an e#ample. Our children learn more from what we do than they do what we say$ by who and what we surround them with rather than what we tell them about. %hat's not to say that we remove ourselves from the realities of a sometimes cold, cruel world, but that we model &&'( )what would 'esus do* while we are going about the business of living. %his is probably a really good story for this time of year. &e are after all in Advent and loo"ing toward celebrating the birth of 'esus once again. A birth that will change the world. +ut ,li-abeth's son 'ohn, 'esus' cousin, would become a "ey player in the drama that would be 'esus life, death and resurrection, and our eventual forgiveness and salvation. And it is a worthy pursuit to ta"e a loo" at the life of a woman who must have had much to do with how 'ohn would approach life in the world. He would grow to become a .odly man, one who many thought might actually be the /essiah, a man who had disciples of his own. ,li-abeth was indeed a woman of deep faith, a faith that was lived and breathed in everything she did. It must have prepared her to deal with the challenges that would come along with bearing a very special child announced to her husband by an angel. And it must have prepared her in a uni0ue and wonderful way to be there to support /ary who would become the mother of another baby announced by an angel. 1retty cool stuff! 2o how does your faith, not 3ust what you believe in your heart and mind, but how you turn that into action in your life, prepare you for being the mom of a special child? How does your faith inform and drive your choices in life in a way that is destined to help prepare your children for the calling .od will have for them in the world? 4or me, that is the ultimate lesson of this chapter, and all because of a really special lady named ,li-abeth.

5ev. 2usan 2. 'ones