Mary did you know

How painful it is to ride that long on a horse's back?

Ok, ok, I know... It was a donkey. But. Seriously! The Bible tells us she was very pregnant AND had a 70 mile trip ahead of her. Not in a train, not in the passenger seat of a plush Buick, and not even in the back of a bumpy carriage...but on the top of a donkey's bony back.

For some reason this struck me last Sunday as my pastor was reading through the birth of Christ. Now you may know, but I grew up with horses my whole life. Love 'em. Great animals. Rode a lot, even climbed mountains with them, but never, never did I even come close to riding 70 miles on Ginger's back. Longest I ever rode was 14 miles, I think. I specifically remember that the dog couldn't even catch up to us on the way back home from that ride.

So what's my point? Well, sorry to bum you out, but I guess I don't really have one. Just thought I'd write down the realization and share it with you. I enjoyed for a moment in church letting my mind wander to what that might have been like. According to my map in the back of my Bible, it looked like their treck might have been through some mountains. As mentioned earlier, I've been on horseback up some pretty steep hills, but can't imagine what that might be like if I was at all pregnant. I wonder how long it took them to get to their destination. What sort of creatures crossed their paths? How many times did Mary yell at Joseph and want to just turn back? How bad did Joseph hurt to see his young lover have to climb up on that donkey every time they started on their way again?

Ah, what a wonderful story. What wonderful truth it is that God had such great plans for you and for I, and orchestrated such crazy details to make all the events gel together so that one day we can join Him for eternity.