It had broken her heart when her youth pastor had to gently break the news that she looked too old to play the Virgin Mary. From the time she was a little girl until she was seventeen, she had recited the Magnificat in the church's annual Christmas play, and no passage in Scripture had ever resonated with her in such a powerful way as Luke 1:46-55.
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,
For He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden,
For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He that is mighty hath done to me great things,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with His arm;
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
And exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
And the rich He hath sent away.
He hath helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.
She had thoroughly memorized the text in the beautiful King James Version and taken the time to research the meaning of all of it. The more she understood, the more beautiful Mary's prayer was. Mary had just found out that she would be pregnant without even having sex, which seems very unfair. Her reputation would be ruined, and so would the reputation of the man she loved, but that didn't matter.
He who is mighty hath done great things.
Mary was blessed, and so was the young girl who got to portray her a couple thousand years later.
She didn't really understand how blessed Mary felt until she began to watch her little ones grow and change. Their little girl was seven now, and their sweet boy had just turned three. They were both so smart and beautiful and kind-spirited, and she was entirely in awe of them. Every little thing about them.
He who is mighty hath done great things.
Her handsome man bustled through the door with his arms full of his bag from work and their wriggling little boy, and she met them both with a kiss, taking their daughter's hand and escorting her to the dining room table to do homework. As her little one pulled out her spelling worksheet, she couldn't peel her eyes away from those long little fingers. She was so much like her father. When she caught her mama staring, she smiled a smile that made the corners of her big, glittery eyes crinkle a little bit at the corners.
He who is mighty hath done great things.
Once they'd worked through the whole spelling worksheet, they worked a little bit on math. She wasn't very good at take-away problems unless they were talking about food, so there were some gummy bears on the table... as a study aide, of course.
When the math was finished, it was time for dinner to be prepared and her baby boy was reaching up for a hug while she dug through the cabinets. When she reached down to pat his hair reassuringly, he caught her hand and laid a wet, sticky kiss on the palm of her hand. She glanced down at him, and he smiled a smile just like hers up into her eyes.
He who is mighty hath done great things.
He was giving their daughter a bath, and she was trying to figure out the easiest thing to make. She settled on mac and cheese and peas and some chicken nuggets. It was perhaps not sophisticated grown-up cuisine, but she knew she could make it well and that it would be delicious.
Her honey was still on bath duty with their little girl, and her little boy was singing “You Are My Sunshine” to her in the sweetest voice she'd ever heard – since her daughter's – and her husband's before that. Her heart was all sorts of warm as her little one sang her a genuine song about how much he genuinely loved her and the chicken nuggets came out of the fryer beautifully.
He who is mighty hath done great things.
Once dinner was on plates for the kids and it was cooling, her sweet little girl came out of the bathroom in her princess nightgown. She joined in on her little brother's song, and it was the prettiest sound she'd ever heard. Her kids were so much like her man, and honestly, she didn't mind at all.
All that was missing for dinner was her young man, so she set her baby boy in his booster seat and served up a big plate of food for him as her husband changed into his sweats. He snuck up behind her, smelling like himself and feeling even better. He wrapped an arm tightly around her waist as she spooned a hefty helping of macaroni onto his plate and he murmured something intimate in her ear.
He who is mighty hath done great things.
They all sat down to dinner together, the little one in the high chair beside her and their daughter seated primly next to her papa. He talked to her about school and her friends, and she was entirely in awe of the way her man and her little girl interacted like best friends.
They were best friends.
These were the loves of her life, and even though she wasn't the Virgin Mary...
He who is mighty hath done great things...
From henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.
YOU ARE READING
moments ♡
RomanceThese are the stories of him and her. Or him and me. Or you and her. Or you and him. If you see yourself or someone you recognize, you're probably right. Life is made up entirely of moments. These are theirs. ♡
