It was a brisk spring morning and Anna’s aging bones were reminding her of her advanced years. After her daily ritual bath at the temple, required by all who wanted to enter the temple courts to worship, she ascended the steps toward the Court of Women. She caught herself grinning and almost skipping with some […]
Who was the first person to know of the coming birth of the Messiah? Who was the first person to request a miracle from Jesus? Would you be surprised to know that the same woman is the answer to both of those questions? Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the first person to know of […]
What is the most joyful thing you’ve ever experienced? For Elizabeth, it was the experience of finally being pregnant after a lifetime of barrenness. Sure, pregnancy is a common enough occurrence, but not for everyone. She was well past childbearing years, and yet God chose Elizabeth to be the recipient of one of the birthing […]
Expectant hope was the motherly motivation that produced one of the greatest prophets in biblical history—Samuel. His mother, Hannah, left us a legacy of hope which had a tremendous influence not only on her son Samuel, but also on Mary, the mother of Jesus, 1,000 years later. During these next four weeks of Advent, I’ll […]