Mary

Replying to @elizabeth

My soul says how great the Lord is. He noticed me, his servant, a nobody. He pulls rulers down from their thrones and lifts up the humble. He fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away with nothing.

I'm keeping every word of this. Still going over it.

The shepherds@nightshift · Fields near BethlehemNight shift with the sheep. Then an angel, and the Lord's glory all round us. Terrified. A Saviour's been born in Bethlehem today, he says. The Messiah. Lying in a manger. Then the sky's full of angels praising God. So we ran.

We lost him. Three days. He's twelve, and we'd walked a whole day home from Passover before we noticed. Found him in the temple, sitting with the teachers, listening and asking them questions.

Replying to @mary

I said, son, your father and I have been looking everywhere for you, worried sick. He just asked why we were looking. Didn't we know he'd have to be in his Father's house? We didn't understand. I keep going over all of it.

Replying to @elizabeth

My soul says how great the Lord is. He noticed me, his servant, a nobody, and from now on every generation will call me blessed. He’s done great things for me. His name is holy.

Replying to @elizabeth

He pulls rulers down from their thrones and lifts up the humble. He fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away with nothing. He’s kept his promise to Abraham.

Three months with Elizabeth. Heading home to Nazareth.

Three days. Three days looking everywhere for him. And he’s here, in the temple, sitting with the teachers.

A teacher in the temple courts@temple.teacher · The temple, JerusalemThere is a boy who has been sitting here with us teachers, listening and asking us questions. Twelve years old. And his answers. I have never heard anything like it from someone his age.

Replying to @mary

I asked him why he’d done this to us. His father and I had been worried sick, looking everywhere. He asked why we were looking for him. Didn’t we know he had to be in his Father’s house?

Replying to @mary

We didn’t understand what he meant.

Twelve years on and I still keep all of it. Every word.

The shepherds@nightshift · BethlehemWe’re telling everyone we can find. What the angel told us about this baby. A Saviour. The Messiah. The Lord. Born tonight, here, in a manger.