STORIES

Mary's Diary – Osato Asabor

osatoI woke up to the sound of one of king David’s songs blasting from my alarm and was immediately engulfed by the common “butterflies in the tummy” sensation. I had my devotion, showered, had breakfast, played candy crush, read the scrolls but I still couldn’t shake off the butterflies. Only one man can be responsible for this; Joseph. He has been away for a month now attending a free carpentry workshop in a town 5hrs away. I had managed not to miss him too much by throwing myself into the wedding planning but with the wedding two weeks away, most of the planning has been done and with today being the day I get to see him again, I couldn’t push thoughts of him to the back of my mind anymore. In a bid to focus on something else, I went down to the basement (which I converted to my tailoring workshop) to add the finishing touches to my wedding dress. While I was at it, my mind began to wonder…

You see, I spent most of my years in “The Law of Moses” boarding school which is a public school here in Nazareth. In my final year I met my now fiancé Joseph through my mentor the priest and soon after we got engaged. Joseph (who was once a priest himself but is now a carpenter) is the most righteous and loving man I have ever met (that was before the saviour was born) and the fact that he is a lot older than I am was a bit of a concern for me but sharing said concerns with my mentor coupled with me actually getting to know him cleared all my doubt.

Just as I was making a mental note to call Sister Elizabeth seeing as today marked the 6th month of her pregnancy I heard someone call my name. I whipped my head around frantically, immediately being overcome with fear because last I checked, I was home alone. My eyes fell on a beautiful man with wings; an angel. “Rejoice, favoured one! The Lord is with you!” he said. I was confused by his words but he went on to say “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honouring you. You will have a Son and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of The Most High, He will rule over Jacob’s house forever and there will be no end to his kingdom”. By now I was no longer afraid but I was still confused. “How will this happen since I am a virgin?” I asked and the angel replied saying “The Holy Spirit will come over you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be called holy and God’s Son”. Still a little baffled but believing, I said “I am the Lord’s servant, let it be to me as you said” and as I finished saying these words, the angel was gone just as suddenly as he arrived. I looked around the basement and all was the same, there was no hint that an angel had just been here. As if on cue, the doorbell rang; Joseph was here.  My mouth turned bitter, no man no matter how spiritual would believe I am to get pregnant but remain a virgin… or will he? I walked slowly to the door praying in my heart that the angel would appear to Joseph before I get to the door so I would not have to break the news to him myself. I opened the door and immediately Joseph picked me off the floor and twirled me around. Obviously he had missed me too and obviously the angel didn’t appear to him. I welcomed him in and decided to break the news to him over his favourite meal; porridge, hoping that would soften the blow. It did not. As I was telling him the prophecy, the various expressions that crossed his face was proof enough that he did not believe me and probably assumed I had cheated on him while he was away and was trying to cover up for it with an elaborate story. When I was done, the hurt in his eyes was so evident it broke my heart. He was disappointed. Without giving him a chance to express his emotions in words, I grabbed my purse from the table and dashed out of the house straight to Sister Elizabeth’s.

3 MONTHS LATER

I know what you’re thinking, No, Joseph did not call off our engagement like I feared. He called me the next day actually and explained what happened to him that night. Apparently, he WAS considering breaking up with me (who can blame him) without publicly humiliating me (such a nice guy) but when he went to sleep that night an angel appeared to him (finally, lol) and told him not to break up with me explaining what was to happen. Why then am I still at Sister Elizabeth’s? You ask, well when I got there, I realized she really needed someone to talk to who could talk back since her husband was temporarily dumb but since she gave birth a few days ago and her husband is able to talk again, today I return to be with the one I love.

6 MONTHS LATER

I am currently “very” pregnant and I’ll be due any day now… I’m pretty excited. I turned the TV on and changed the channel to Nazareth News. Our president Caesar Augustus was on saying something about the census; we were all required to be counted in our various home towns which meant a full day’s journey by road all the way to Bethlehem in Judea. Thankfully Joseph and I are from the same place so we get to go together.

The journey was long and a little uncomfortable because I was worried my water would break on the train. Thankfully we arrived Bethlehem with baby Jesus still in my womb but once we got to the gate of Joseph’s elder sister’s house (where we were going to stay for the duration of the census) my water broke. I immediately squeezed Joseph’s arm (he was busy checking his email for any updates on when the census officials will be in our neighbourhood so he missed the whole water breaking incident) and when he looked up and his eyes met mine, he knew it was time, baby Jesus was on his way. He began to panic, shouting over the gate for his sister to hurry.  A few seconds later, the gate opened and she peered at us immediately understanding what all the fuss was about and began to get frantic, helping me into the compound. At this point, my contractions began and I started focusing on my breathing to calm down so I couldn’t really assimilate what Joseph and his sister were talking about but I heard her say all the other family members had arrived and since the house was full, the only available room was the basement where her pets slept but she fixed it up a bit for us. I wouldn’t have cared if it was a stable, all I could think of at the time was giving birth. The rest of the day was a blur, I remember a lot of pushing and after what seemed to be like a month (I exaggerate) baby Jesus was born. I remember gazing into baby Jesus’ eyes and just beginning to cry tears of joy and admiration, here in my arms was the Son of God! I was overcome with all kinds of emotions especially excitement for what this Son of God was prophesied to achieve.

 ***

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About author

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Tolulope Oludapo is a young Christian who lends his voice through the media by sharing practical wisdom for everyday living in the most experiential and simplified fashion. This has fetched him the direct followership of over 30,000 users on his blog, lifegiva.com. A blog he founded. He loves to write on varying subjects that affect life, faith, relationship...everyday living.
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