ART & POETRY BY PAUL & KATHY BOECHER©

This year has flown swiftly by. With each day on the calendar, there comes a hope that cannot be denied. I’ve chosen this watercolor painting of Paul’s for today. It depicts a scene of a welcoming lighthouse. This beacon of hope reminds me of the promise that the angel gave to Mary when he announced the birth of the Messiah. Can you imagine what must’ve been going through this young woman’s mind? She was no more than a child herself. Her life would be turned upside down with this news. To be in the presence of an angel was one thing, but to be told that she would bear the Son of God had to be impossible to grasp. How could this be? How could she conceive in spite of being a virgin? What would her betrothed husband think? How would her family react – not to mention the wagging tongues of the village. The angel left her with this news, yet she accepted it completely by faith. Nothing about this miracle made sense to a logical mind, but isn’t that what faith entails? Isn’t that what miracles are all about? Some things we simply accept because God tells us it is so in His Holy Word. Still, what was about to happen made perfect sense to the Creator of the universe. His plan for the salvation of mankind had to come directly from Him and His unconditional love. In the days leading up to Jesus’ birth, let’s take a look at Mary’s journey and with pure faith, believe.

A child just turned a woman, became the chosen one,

To hold the Son of God within – to be her firstborn Son,

She wasn’t someone special – a lowly servant girl –

But God had special plans for her and also for the world,

Through Mary’s contemplation of this exalted state,

She knew that God would come to earth to wipe away all hate,

To bring to man forgiveness from every single sin,

Fulfill His word of promise and make us clean within.