Thank you to my Elizabeths'

“Friendship arises out of mere companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure or burden. The typical expression of opening friendship would be something like, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.” –C.S. Lewis: The Four Loves

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." Luke 1: 35-45

I absolutely, and unashamedly love Jesus and LOVE his Word. I would say that I began to come to know and love God through His Word in such a real and deep way about 3 years ago when I was going through probably one of the most difficult seasons of my life. I was defiantly in what I like to call a “wilderness season.” God’s Word began to LEAP off the page, not just into  my mind, but into my heart and I fell even more HEAD OVER HEELS in love with Jesus, and I pray to never recover! 

One of the 100 reason why I love the Word of God is because as it says in Heb 4:12 “The Word of God is alive and active…” & in 1 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is God breathed….”Because God is alive His Word is alive. Scripture is not just words on a page, but the breath of God on the page. You want to hear from God…read his Word. Just like if you want to know what a friend thinks about something you call them and talk to them. As you get to  know your friend better you begin to know and better understand how they would react to things. Our relationship with God works the same way. God speaks through his Word. He will use other means to confirm the Word he has spoken, but he number one always speaks through the Scriptures. It is a living Word all by itself.

I share all that with you to encourage you during this Christmas season take the time to read the books or Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the four Gospels, and read the story of the Messiah Jesus Christ’s birth with new eyes…even everything that lead up to it like the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth and the miraculous birth of their son John the Baptist.  Because I truly believe that the Lord may speak a fresh word to you through a story maybe you have heard or read maybe 30 times or more in your life.

This happened to me as I was watching the movie “The Nativity Story”  in preparation for teaching Sunday School tomorrow. As I was watching it the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth jumped off the screen and encourage my heart with the beauty of friendship. But not just any friendship, the friendships I have with women who are older than me, and who understand my passion for reaching this generation, especially girls, with the Gospel. 

As I watched “The Nativity Story” the conversation that Mary and Elizabeth were having struck me as how comforting it must have been for Mary to have someone who understood.  It made me think of all the amazing women God has been putting in my life who understand the frustration, the patience, the joy, the FAITH that I am walking by. They don’t discourage, but encourage, because they have the same passions.They have been there, or are there. They get it. 

I can’t imagine how great it must have felt for sweet, young Mary to feel Elizabeth wrap her arms around her and hear the warm voice of her cousin say: “The moment you spoke the child in my womb leaped.” She also was with child and it could not be explained any other way than the work of the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth understood. What a relief. I know I would have let out a big sigh of relief the moment she grabbed my hands and spoke those words. I didn't even have to tell her...she knew. 

I am sure Mary faced rejection, ridicule, people didn’t believe her, you know she was probably gossiped about; she knew that back lash that would come once she was showing and...not married. When she became pregnant she as not married to Joseph yet (Matt 1:18). She was engaged which during that time was basically the same thing as marriage you just did not live or sleep together yet. You were to honor that engagement (if only people still did that today). So Mary knew that she was going to come face-to-face with some opposition, but she wanted to be obedient more than she wanted to have a good reputation among men. What a women!!!! 

But, in knowing all she was going to face how nice it must have been to sit with Elizabeth during the beginning of this journey and have someone who was also with a miracle child, a child who by “human reasoning” should not be, but because nothing is impossible with God was growing within her womb; and who was a little further along than she was and who not only would encourage her, but believed her.

I love that in vs. 36 of Chapter 1 in the book of Luke the angel tells speaks a word of encouragement to Mary “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.For nothing will be impossible with God."

God knew that Mary was going to need someone talk with. Not only was John going to prepare the way for the Lord, but also the friendship between his mother and the Lord’s was also ,in a way, maybe preparing the way for the Lord…preparing Mary for what was to come.

I love God's timing; there is a good chance that Mary saw the birth of John because when the angel came to Mary, Elizabeth was in her sixth month, and Mary stayed with them 3 months; that gives you a grand total of 9 months. I doesn’t say it in Scripture, but I believe that God used Elizabeth to be great help to Mary in encouraging, and preparing her for what was to come. 

I am so thankful today for the Elizabeth’s in my life: Candace, Kim, Nidia,Jenna, Natalie, Sarah, Ms. Penny, Heather, Melanie, Jen, and LeeAnn. Grateful for these women who are not just great friends who I laugh with, cry with, who challenged me, but who also GET IT! They understand the season that I am in, my calling, and the faith I am stepping out in. Words cannot convey how humbled I am and how blessed I feel these days. With tears in my eyes I told LeeAnn just last night “I don’t deserve any of what God is pouring out.”

So grateful for my Elizabeth's, the women in my life who in so many different ways say have taken my hands and said: “Blessed is she who believes what the Lord has said will be accomplished.” This is my LONG winded way of saying I love you and THANK YOU! 

For His Glory,

Brittney