While even the Protestants tend to venerate Mary during the Christmas season, we also seem to forget the fact that she had no real choice in the matter. It’s likely her marriage to Joseph–an older man–would have been an arranged marriage. Therefore, according to the prophecy that the Messiah would be born to a virgin of the lineage of David, it suggests that all of this that happened was out of Mary’s control and had been in the works for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Moreover, her function as the theotokos (God vessel) means that even the changes her body were going through and the painful delivery she would experience were out of her control. So did Mary really have a choice in all this?

While Mary could not change the circumstances of how her life was unfolding, she did have a choice about her attitude as she went through these circumstances.

Rather than being a begrudging participant in God’s redemptive plan, she managed to find peace. She accepted that life was not going to be as she planned, but also she discovered great joy in the unexpected.

“And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed’”(Luke 1:46-48).

How can you change your attitude this Christmas in order to discover the unexpected joy Mary found in the disruption of this child?