A Mother Wonders

Wonder:  to think or speculate curiously; to desire to know something; to feel admiration or amazement; to marvel.

During this season, there are many things about which I wonder.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be Mary, who was chosen by God to be the mother of His Son?

Over a quarter-century ago,  a young mother living in small Ohio town wondered about Mary.

It was the Christmas season.  As she held her own precious bundle and rocked her little Hannah one evening, this mother’s thoughts turned to Mary.

With her permission, I am sharing what this mother wrote.

Every time I read this, it grips my heart.  I wonder anew at the young girl-virgin who became the mother of my Savior.

I pray that, as you read this, it will grip your heart, too.

When I wonder at my baby
With eyes so bright and blue
And little button nose —
The curled-up dimpled hand
And cheeks, pink as a rose,

I wonder just what Mary thought–
I wonder if she knew . . .

How could she know His gentle eyes,
So softly closed in sleep,
Would see our pain
And pierce our thoughts,
and, oh, how they would weep.
And drops of blood spill from His brow
Which peaceful lay in slumber now.

Could Mary know – this tiny fist
Enfolded in her hand
Would touch the blind and leper
Throughout her fatherland;
Or that the feet, so wrinkly-new,
Would on the cross
Be pierced through?

And when she felt the Baby’s heart
Throb in His tiny breast
How could she know that when it broke,
Then mortals would be blessed?
Then Day would dawn
And Night would flee
Death swallowed up in victory!

I wonder, as she held her Babe . . .
I wonder if she knew?

Written by Gayle Christner Peterson

December 1989

Gayle is my friend and my husband’s first cousin.  She is a  niece of Mary Christner Bontrager, who wrote the Ellie books.  Gayle is married to Mark Peterson and they have five grown children: four daughters and a son.  She teaches piano and babysits in her home.  Gayle lives near Dayton, Ohio.