What a journey this has been! The author has really helped me to feel more connected to Mary, Elizabeth, and Anna throughout the birth of our Lord and Savior! Such a gift this has been for me, especially has life got crazy preparing for the gatherings around the holiday! I was reminded time and again what is most important, and todays questions regarding humility are really bringing things into perspective for me! Thank you, Jesu, for your humble ways, that never left you, and are always the foundation that we should build our life on! This question is the one I focus most on today:3) One definition of humility is thinking rightly of yourself-not too high, not too low. In the few verses about Anna the Prophetess, what evidence of humility can you see? What are areas in your life that tempt you to think too highly, or too lowly of yourself?  As I ponder the last question more, I do reflect on what I learned about Anna and her humble ways. Anna believed with every ounce of her body the unseen Lord and she gave her entire self to him in prayer, and fasting, and in doing this she found JOY! And it is this joy and faith that she shared with everyone she could. This is our task to love God wholly in a joyful way and lead others to this place of faith, trust and joy as well!!!

Thank you to everyone that attended the gathering on Sunday, 12/15. The discussion was awesome, very heartfelt and thought provoking just as the book seems to be! So glad you are all enjoying the book. Today's entry on friendship really hit home for me as I am meeting a friend today for coffee, one that I feel, I have not done a very good job at nurturing our friendship over the years. I am praying to Mary for her guidance to be a thoughtful listener and that the words I speak are genuine and loving!

Reading today's passage and scripture was so refreshing for me. It is this time of the year that I tend to lose perspective on what is really important. The planning, the shopping, the baking tend to cloud for me the real reason for celebration this time of year. Not to mention the anxiety and worry that go along with the planning, shopping, baking. Thank you Elizabeth for reminding us that while worry is a very present human characteristic, it is the trust and faith in our Lord that is most important and what will combat the worry,and staying closer to our Lord through prayer, thanks and adoration is how we do this! Nothing is impossible when we have faith and trust in GOD. Jesus's coming birth is a testament to this!

The scripture 2Peter1:5-7 is what sticks in my mind today, such a great reminder of the continuous work we must do along this journey of faith with the reward being so great it is unimaginable.  "For this reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love."
I think, the difference between affection and love is that love is so deep that it is present in everything you do, and affection is more superficial. Affection may be a way to show love. Looking forward to tomorrow!!

I am really enjoying reading about Mary and her journey, hearing about her hopes and dreams and reminder about how important the waiting is. I find this difficult at times, many times wishing for the next time to see someone, or the next time to relax and do nothing, but in the focus on wishing and not waiting, I lose the appreciation of the moment that I am in! Thank you, Mary, for your lessons in this.  Today I am reflecting especially on question #3 What do you do when you're waiting for the answer to an urgent prayer? What do you are waiting for weeks, months, or years?   The answer that comes to me is prayer, spending more time in prayer with our Lord whether in silent prayer at home or in shared prayer with the many faith filled Christians in our St. Mary(s) family!