One night a long time ago, Mary was staring out her window daydreaming of her life with Joseph, her future husband.
All of a sudden, a shining light startled her. An angel of God appeared and spoke to Mary, "I am the angel Gabriel sent by God to tell you that God loves you very much and is very happy with you. He has chosen you to be a mother of boy Jesus. Jesus will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest."
Mary said, " I will be the handmaiden of the Lord, I will yield to His Will; let it be."
And then the angel Gabriel disappeared.
Mary suddenly felt great peace and the Holy Ghost came to visit her.
The powers of the Highest overshadow her and she became pregnant.
When Mary awoke the next morning, she felt happy. Yet she was wondering if everything was true...
"Oh I know the angel told me that my cousin Elisabeth is pregnant, I think I will go visit her"
She got dressed, ate, let her Mom know where she was going and why; and off she went on a journey to Juda where her cousin lived.
It took Mary a few days, so when she arrived at Zacharias and Elisabeth' s home she was tired and weary from the long journey;
Elisabeth hurried to share her news with her about what the Lord had done, but as she saw Mary and heard her voice the baby in her tummy jumped with joy!
At that moment, Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and she started saying
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the baby you carry. It is such a blessing that you came to visit me the mother of my Lord.
Look Mary! The baby in my tummy leaps for joy, feel him jump. He is happy, it is as if he knows the child you carry is special. Mary said, "Oh Elisabeth, I feel so loved. It is amazing that He has chosen me a simple maiden to be the mother of His Holy Child.
Mary stayed with her for about three months helping and learning many precious lessons. She wanted to be there when Elisabeth gave birth to the baby.
When baby John was born Mary knew it was time for her to go home and tell Joseph all that had happen. She worried about how Joseph would receive this news, so she asked Elisabeth and Zacharias to keep her in their prayers.
Joseph loved Mary very much but when he heard the news of her pregnancy, he was very saddened and confused.
He did not know what to do, but God did
As Joseph slept, the angel appeared to him in his dreams saying, " Joseph, God wants you take Mary as your wife.
She is carrying God's child and He wants you to take care of her. This baby is very special! You are to call him Jesus; he shall save his people from their sins.
God has found you faithful and worthy of raising His child. This is a great blessing from Him! So fear not to take Mary as your wife, everything will work out, God is in control."
Joseph woke up and ran to Mary's house. " Mary, Mary! I just had a dream! You are to be my wife. An angel told me."
Mary was so happy, they hugged and praised God together.
Caesar Augustus, the ruler at that time, ordered everyone to pay their taxes in the city they were born in.
This was distressing news for Joseph and Mary.
It meant they would have to travel a long ways to go to Joseph' s home in Bethlehem and the baby was due soon.
He was not pleased with the news but then he remembered a scripture, a prophecy he was taught about the birth of the Messiah. Joseph marveled at " God's Mysterious Ways"...
Joseph did everything possible to make the trip easy for Mary.
When they arrived in Joseph's hometown, there was nowhere for them to stay, all the rooms in the inns where full...
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