The holidays take up so much space that while this week can be awkward, it is also very welcomed. It is done for another year.
For Mary the long trail leading up to the birth of her child was over. She wrapped the baby and placed him in straw. The star that beckoned the change of the world, also shone over her. There had been so much drama around this birth, and yet she sat and looked out and found treasure – X 
marked the spot and it was held it deep inside.
Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (NIV)
Years later, when Jesus stretches His young wings toward independence He opts to secretly stay behind his vacationing family, while they travel on. Mary and Joseph return to search for their lost boy. She cries out, as many of us do, when their teenage kid acts out, “Why have you treated us this way?” (Luke 2:48 NIV) She is human. She is stern. She was worried and was cross but she also managed to “treasured all these things in her heart ” (Luke 2:50 NIV). Mary loves her son whether he is obedient or disobedient. It isn’t because he is God, but just because he is. She see’s the gold hidden behind tarnish.
Mary sees the miracle of life around her, she only has to look. Spring follows winter, rain follows drought, Trump follows Obama – life is a miracle and all we need to do is embrace it turn.
During this week, I have only one wish, only one real resolution, that I may learn from her during the year. That I may treasure the good times and the ill, because they are Gods gifts. Today’s misbehavior will be tomorrow’s dinner time tale. Today’s struggle will be a future lesson of endurance.
Oh and to be honest, I also want to lose weight.