The Nineteenth Person of Christmas is Mary, the Traveler

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:4-7 

Poor Mary.  Nine months pregnant, traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  The distance is about 80 miles; a normal person can walk about 20 miles per day.  But a pregnant woman is not a normal woman!  (ha ha)  And, Samaria lay between the two cities, so they probably would have walked around it.  So it's possible that they journey could have taken up to a week.

Now, Mary and Joseph had to have known it was time for the baby to arrive.  I wonder why she didn't stay behind?  Perhaps it was because she had no one to help her.  Perhaps their families had truly shunned them for this pregnancy.  We don't know the answer to that question.

But I would like to think that Mary would have been somewhat prepared for the possibility.  She did have swaddling clothes, which consisted of a cloth tied together by bandage-like strips. In those times, after an infant was born, the umbilical cord was cut and tied, and then the baby was washed, rubbed with salt and oil, and wrapped with strips of cloth. These strips kept the newborn child warm and also ensured that the child's limbs would grow straight.

So Mary would have had these things with her.  She wasn't surprised when she went into labor.  But oh . . . how tired she must have been.  How she must have ached, how her feet, legs and back must have hurt!

I wonder if she worried.  If she worried that God had made a mistake, giving His Son to her.  I mean, they couldn't even find a decent place to give birth!  Here she lay, in a stable, giving birth to the Son of God, among farm animals, their feed and excrement, rodents and the like.

And don't make the mistake of thinking that the stable tradition teaches us about, like our beautiful nativity scenes, is anything like what really took place.  Mary literally gave birth in a cave - a structure hollowed out of the side of a hill.  Rocks all around her.  Nothing comfortable.  Nothing joyous.  Nothing perfect.  Far from it.

But then, out of this discomfort, this imperfection - comes love.  Love in the form of a perfect baby boy. 

Verse 19 says that as all these things were happening - the birth, the angels, the shepherds - "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

She's changed quite a lot in these last months.  A simple virgin girl, transformed into a mother.  A young innocent who has not seen much of the world, has suddenly seen miracles.  An obedient servant, who becomes a leader for generations to come.

Mary is important to the Christmas story, because - yes, she shows us that God can use anyone.  She shows us that God does miracles.  But she also shows us that God amazes us.  He confounds us.  He uses the worst of our circumstances to make the best miracles, the best blessings, of our lives.