THE MIRACLE

DO NOT BE AFRAID !!!

"I'm pregnant".

I say for the hundredth time today.  I've only heard of miracles like the barren convincing, old women giving birth, but a pregnant virgin, now that is unheard of. I couldn't quite think of a reasonable excuse, but what part of my life this past week has been reasonable.  I lift the pregnancy test on my hand up, staring at it, waiting for it to change and tell me this was all just a prank, and a mere figment of my imagination. I think back to the beginning of this whole thing, choking on breath when I realized I also thought it was a figment of my imagination

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"Geez, I'm beat," Elizabeth said to me, rubbing her somewhat noticable bump, making me feel bad for asking her to drop me to my house. I had just gone to the grocery store near by when her car pulled over and offered to drop me home. Though I felt bad, my aching head couldn't agree more, so I jumped in, escaping the death rays of the sun.

"You never told me how Zechariah was doing. Any improvement?"  I asked, cutting through the silence. She heaved a sign before she answered

"We're waiting on God. The doctors say it's due to a tumor in the brain and they're advising us to perform an operation on him. I would have agreed if it were up to me, but Zeke is not having it, you'd think being mute would calm him down."

"I guess we'll continue to wait on God. I imagine his stubbornness would have multiplied. Just make sure you take care of the baby." I say, seeing my house in sight.

I got down and watched her drive off, saying a word of prayer. Six months of not seeing her have made me become paranoid, fearing for her safety. I grabbed the keys from under the foot mat and unlocked the doors, my heels being the first thing of my body. ' God bless sandals' I thought and a walked into my room. I jumped on the bed, the days exhaustion coming to me and fell asleep within minutes

"Mary, Mary", Joseph calls from the background. 'Doesn't he know I'm sleeping? I left the doors unlocked, didn't I?' Why doesn't he just come in? I say in the back of my mind.

"Mary!" and I'm leaping from my bed.
" I'm so going to beat the hell out of him when I open..." There's no one at the door

'Ahahah, very funny Joseph', I thought, grabbing the first thing I could find, a lamp stand, talk about classic. I walked back into my room, being as silent as a ninja.
"It's okay Mary, it's just your kid of a fiance playing a prank on you". I was just at the entrance of my room when a heard a voice from behind me

"Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you".
Say what!!? First of all, who greets like that in this century. Second, why are you in my house? Those were the questions in my mind as I turned to see the jester who dared come into my house uninvited, but the sight before me made me lose my speech. In a split second, my fight and flight response kicks in, and no way am I fighting this... this thing.
"Do not be afraid", the thing spoke
Wow, what!! ? Did that bird eye octopus thing just ask me to chill?

'Move you stupid things' I plead to my legs, for they have decided that this is the perfect time to go numb. I was face to face with what you would call a modern piece of art. At first I thought it was made of only wings, but the more I looked the more the features became clear, I don't know how I missed the four distinct heads. This creature shouldn't even exist unless...unless!!

"Are you an angel?", I ask, my tone slightly distorted
"Yes I am." He replied, flapping his wings, the sound of rushing waters following suite
"I am a messenger of The I Am That I Am, here to give a goodness meant for the whole world. For you have been chosen among many to carry the saviour of the world."
I stared at the angel, dumbfounded, my words caught in my throat.
'Me?'  'conceive?' ' savior?'
"But I'm a virgin you see, and I'm going to be married in like a few months. My family has a strict rule of not getting pregnant before marriage, I'm not sure why I'm even telling you this, since you're an angel and all and you'd probably know about all this. My mum would kill me, probably Joseph too, and the poor guy didn't even do anything. Speaking about Joseph, how's he going to react when he finds out about all this. He might think I cheated on him. I'm rambling aren't I? I stop now." I say , a little blush of embarrassment forming on my face. I expect the angel to be frustrated, but the fact that he listened to all my self-conscious rambling made me more comfortable
"Mary, nothing is impossible for Jehovah. The Holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and you shall surely conceive. And in the case of Joseph, do not worry for God is at work, and everything will run smoothly according to his will. Do not fret and do not be afraid. For as long as I, Gabriel, am a messenger of the Lord, and He is still seated on the throne, all this things I say will undoubtedly come to pass.

I instantly feel secure, my raging heart finally calming down.
"I am God's servant and may his will be done". I say as I bow down, hearing the sounds of rushing waters fade away.

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I pushed myself off the couch, kicking my feet on the ground. It's been three months since that day, and true to what the angel said, I have conceived.  Joseph will be back from his trip next week, and he'll see my bump. I wonder what he'll do first. Would he give me a chance to explain? I guess we'll have to wait and see.