"Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home." (Luke 1:56)
God did not send Mary into motherhood alone. He gave her the gift of spending time with Elizabeth, her cousin (pregnant with the baby whom we know as John the Baptist), as the two embarked on their miraculous journeys of motherhood.
He orchestrated the timing of Mary and Elizabeth's pregnancies so that these two mamas could share three months together as they prepared to deliver two extraordinary baby boys into the world. Though separated by age, life experience, and distance, they held motherhood in common and this bonded them together in a beautiful way.
I have no doubt they laughed together. They cried together. They prayed together. They processed together. They dreamed together. They encouraged one another. They considered who their babies would become and they commiserated over pregnancy symptoms. They confided hopes and fears in one another.
How beautiful that God did not leave Mary and Elizabeth in isolation as they navigated pregnancy and prepared to welcome their babies into the world. His heart was for them to do motherhood in community, as it is for us. God did not intend motherhood to be a solo sport!
And so we must be intentional in receiving “our people” - those God has placed around us to be our "running buddies" in the marathon of motherhood. It is wonderful and necessary to have mentor mamas to look up to - to receive their wisdom and learn what motherhood looks like in the season ahead. It is good to share advice and encouragement with those who are one step behind us on their motherhood journeys. But to share life with another mama in your season, to crawl through the trenches together - that is a gift from God; a true grace and treasure.
We must resist the urge to run alone in the name of ease or busy-ness or being an "independent spirit." There are some blessings we will never receive until we learn to lean into community, depending daily on Jesus and others. God wants to build us up, encourage us, strengthen us and give us fullness of joy, and I believe he uses community as a conduit of these blessings.
My prayer is that we would learn to live in dependence as we receive the mamas that God has placed in our lives for this season. May God grant each one of us the gift of a Mary-Elizabeth friendship in our season of motherhood. And may we not take that friend for granted, but may we bless her and build her up as we march this marathon together.
Ask yourself: Do you have a Mary-Elizabeth friend in your current season of motherhood? How can you bless her this Christmas?
How can you further cultivate community in your daily life, depending more deeply on your people?
Action step: Invite a friend along to run an errand, wrap gifts or help you do a house project. Why do alone what you could do together?
Comments