Diary of a Pregnant Virgin #12

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Dear Diary,

The first thing Elizabeth did when we got inside after my little spontaneous Psalm was sit me down on a chair with a cushion and bustle around to get me some food and a drink. We sat down together and over bread and fruit I explained the whole story, about the angel and the Messiah and the virgin in Isaiah. When I said that the angel said my baby is the “holy Son of God,” Elizabeth startled me by laughing out loud and tilting her head back with her eyes closed. I couldn’t help laughing with her. She rested like that for a few moments with a little smile, then looked back at me and said, “Well, go on, dear.” I told her about what happened in the field. She just smiled softly, and I realized I didn’t have to explain what it was like… somehow, she already knew.

I told her about how my parents reacted. I got choked up when I told her about Joseph. She moved over next to me and gave me a big, long hug. I started crying for real. Surprisingly, it wasn’t even awkward. She just held me until the tears stopped.

Then she brought me a tissue box, and as I blew my nose, she told me her story. It’s almost as crazy as mine.

About seven months ago, it was Zacharias’ turn to burn incense in the temple, in the Holy Place—the room just outside the Holy of Holies, the most sacred room of all. He went inside to perform the ritual, and he didn’t come out for a long time. The other priests were getting worried. They were debating over how illegal it would be to send someone in after him, when he finally came out. He seemed to be in shock. He was gesturing and moving his mouth, but no sound was coming out. The other priests eventually realized that he had seen a vision.

When Zacharias came home, he gave Elizabeth a kiss, then immediately sat down and wrote a long note explaining what had happened. He said that he had seen an angel and that Elizabeth was going to have a baby, with some sort of special mission from God. His voice had been taken away because he didn’t believe the angel at first. He hasn’t said a word since.

Sure enough, Elizabeth got pregnant soon after that. She was well past fifty but had never had a baby before. All the other women used to feel sorry for her, to be so old and never a mother. She laughed when she told me that now she loves to parade her fat, round belly around town! What a pair we make, the two impossible mothers-to-be! It’s so good to be able to talk to someone who understands, who will be able to share pregnancy with me and also help me sort through some of my spiritual questions.



Luke 1:5-25

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