Chapter 1

About 10 minutes later, Katie and Jason returned with armloads of snacks. Monica picked up the note and capsule from the table as the other 2 crowded it with popcorn, Sprite, candy, potato chips, corn chips, and salsa, everyone's favorite.

"May I have the paper now?" Katie stuck her arm toward Monica. Monica sighed and gave it to her. "Thank you," she said as she started reading.

"'It wall started when I was in my teens.'" Katie moved the paper away from her at arm length. "In her teens? How did she get engaged in her teens?"

"It was the way things were back then," Mom said. "They always married young."

"Fine. 'It all started when I was in my teens…

(A/N: Okay, I'm gonna stop with the quotation marks because this is like Mary's writing it now. The only time you'll see quotes is if she'll quote someone or if the Barbosa's interrupt for a short sec. So whenever you see these stars, it's Mary's POV. P.S.: This would be the time you start imagining. P.S.S.: All the Bible verses that are in here are from the Contemporary English Version, and of course I had to make up some dialogue as well as I thought some places back then. So review if you want me to get the history or something straight.)

I was still living with Mother back then. At the end of end of July, I think, when I was visited by Gabriel, the arc-angel. I just came from a garden near-by after getting water from the well. Mom was out visiting some elderly women from the synagogue. I was already engaged to Joseph. When I just came in and set down my jug of water, there was this big flash of light; it almost blinded me. Then, when I could see again, there was this angel in front of me, just floating. There was light all around him, it was a beautiful sight. An angel, I thought, why me? While I was pondering, he said with a big voice, "You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you."

"Wha…?" I stumbled backwards.

"Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end."

I closed my mouth and started to shake my head. "But how?" I sputtered. "How can this happen? I'm not married! I'm a virgin!"

His smile got even wider. "The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. Nothing is impossible for God!"

I immediately fell on my knees. "I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said." Another big flash and he was gone. I stood on my feet and looked around. Was that a dream? I rubbed my eyes and looked around again. Nope, I'm awake. I started to pace around and think about what happened. The angel said, "Your child will be called the holy Son of God." Wait a minute, the Son of God? Wow! "I gotta tell Mom," I thought aloud. I was about to rush off, but then I thought, If Mom was supposed to know, Why didn't he come when Mom was here? It must be a secret. I flopped down on the floor with my legs crossed. What am I to do? Once I start showing, everyone will think I've been sleeping around, including Joseph. I suddenly remembered Elizabeth. I shot straight up off my feet when the words of the angel rang in my head, "No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son." But she never had a baby before! I gotta help her. I packed up some clothes and wrote Mom a short letter that said,

Dear Mom,

I'm going to stay with Cousin Elizabeth for a few months. If you want to know why, I suggest you visit. You won't believe me if I told you. Bye.

Love,

Mary

I put down the letter next to the jug of water, and I was off.

Jason had a box of gummy worms in his hand. "Want some?" he offered as he held out the box to Katie.

"Thanks." She took the whole box and put it on her lap. "'I walked to Elizabeth's house, where she lived with her husband, Zachariah,'" Katie read, occasionally stuffing gummy worms in her mouth.

Oh boy, it was tiring. I had to remember that I was providing for 2 now. After some time, I finally made it. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and knocked on her door. In 2 seconds she came out and squeezed me to death! As soon as she let me go, I gasped for air. "Hello, Elizabeth."

Her eyes suddenly went wide as she gripped her belly sticking out in front of her.

"What happened, Liz? Are you okay?"

Out of the blue she said, "God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise."

Oh, I needed to breathe. I opened my mouth and I couldn't stop myself. "With all my heart I praise the Lord, and I am glad because of God my Savior." Elizabeth ushered me inside the house and I was so grateful that words kept flowing out of my mouth. "He cares for me, his humble servant. From now on, all people will say God has blessed me."

We sat down at the center table and Liz got up to get some water. "God All-Powerful has done great things for me, and his name is holy. He always shows mercy to everyone who worships him." She returned with cups and went to get the jug. "The Lord has used his powerful arm to scatter those who are proud. He drags strong rulers from their thrones and puts humble people in places of power."

She came back with the jug and poured water in our cups. I looked down at my cup filled with water and said, "God gives the hungry good things to eat, and sends the rich away with nothing. He helps his servant Israel and is always merciful to his people." Elizabeth nodded her head as I concluded, "The Lord made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his family forever!" After that we sat down and talked about how God so richly blessed us.