Birthdays

So today is my birthday.........and I love birthdays.  My own and other people's.  I love to spoil people on their special day---I guess I learned it from my mom.  Being so close to Christmas I am often asked if I got the raw end of the deal.  But I really didn't.  My parents did an AMAZING job of separating my birthday and Christmas.  My family came over on the 23rd and then again on the 24th.  Presents were never lumped together.  I never even had red or green on my birthday cake.  And I am so appreciative to them that they didn't take the easy route and combine the two events.  Maybe that's why I love my birthday so much.

This morning I emailed my mom at (unknowingly) 8:23 am.......the moment I was born.  She replied that she "heard" from at the same time she first HEARD me 34 years ago.  Wow----how cool is that?  I remember hearing my girls cry for the first time.  It really is indescribable to hear the cry of your child for the first time.  It still can bring tears to my eyes.  Those were two of the most important days of my life. 

I wonder what Mary thought...........what was it like when she heard her son cry for the first time?  Did she feel the same joy we do?  Or was it even a stronger sense knowing that this baby had a very important task ahead?  Sometimes I get so caught up in the "routine" of the Christmas story that I think I am guilty of forgetting that Mary was a plain old mom just like me.....having a baby and walking through parenthood just like me.  (just not sure Jesus took ornaments and threw them across the room like someone in my life!)