"Mary, did you know you could have said no?"

This year I discovered a tiny part of the Christmas story I never noticed before. As I listened to a pastor read the familiar passage in the book of Luke, something jumped out at me. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.” Luke 1:30-31

It did not say, “Guess what, Mary, you are pregnant, (and how you got that way is complicated) but this is what you are going to do.” Gabriel told her what was going to happen before it did. This meant Mary had an opportunity to say no. Wow. I never thought about that. There’s that amazing gift of free will, even in the most critical world changing moment. I wonder if God even had a backup plan if she declined. Was there a group of “Mary Runners-up?”

That was Mary’s chance to say, “No, thank you. I’m flattered but I think I’ll pass.” Instead, what Mary did was go right into the storm with nothing but tremendous blind faith and obedience - even though she had to know it was not going to be easy and she probably felt in her spirit that it would break her heart at some point. However, she knew the mission was worth the price she would pay and that there would be beautiful blessings along the way that would belong to only her.

I think this passage jumped out at me because of a question someone asked me recently. I had just described some of the intense problems we had experienced over the past year, extremely severe issues regarding the children we serve that were way beyond anything we had seen in almost twenty years. The level of trauma and resulting behavior have been staggering.

“After everything you have been through with the children you serve, has it caused you to re-think whether you should include children at Blue Monarch?”

Yikes.  My immediate response was, “Absolutely not! It makes me want to serve them better.” I couldn't help but briefly imagine what might have happened if some of those families had not come to Blue Monarch for help.

I have the amazing privilege and honor of working with some incredible women of God. Every person on our staff comes to work each day not knowing what she will face before the day is out. She may get called a “big fat (blank)” and spit on by an angry child, or she may see a mother finally reunited with her children after we have prayed and cried with her and poured countless hours through the treacherous process to restore her family. Both can potentially happen on the same day. It can feel like quite a roller coaster ride.

But our gifted team doesn’t turn away from this challenge. In fact, in many ways I feel I work with a team of fierce first responders. When the building is on fire, they are the ones to run directly into it rather than turn and run away. In fact, I don’t even think you can work at Blue Monarch and not be willing to run directly into the fire and never look back.

Heroes that serve heroes

We are about to enter our 20th year at Blue Monarch, which is a little overwhelming to even comprehend. But it is because I am surrounded by a team of first responders with hearts of Mary that I look forward to whatever the new year brings.

After all, we have yet to experience a year that is not full of God's breathtaking miracles that he graciously allows me to see from my worn-out front row seat. May it be a Happy New Year, indeed.