Overshadowed

Overshadowed. Sometimes it is the only way. Sometimes the only way through it is to surrender fully to the Holy Spirit and let God do what is not possible otherwise.
 Mary, like Zechariah, had involuntarily entered into a storyline in history that no one would forget.
 She asks questions, good questions, but she believes.
The Holy Spirit will overshadow you, Mary. That is how it is possible. 

I unpacked our luggage. All twelve pieces had held all we had left in this world, our lives bundled up into those twelve bags. We had moved into our home in the ger district of Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar, also famous for being the world's coldest capital. There was no running water in the ger district, no indoor toilet, and those early January temperatures were pushing negative fifty degrees. It would have been one thing to be there on my own, but I was also mothering four shell-shocked children.
 
As I unpacked our life from those bags, I needed overshadowing. All of us did.
How do we get water, take a bath, buy toilet paper?
 What if we get sick?
 What if the car won't start?
 Who do we call? 
Ignorance breeds fear, and I was ignorant. It took great courage to bundle the kids up and walk down the hill to buy a few groceries. It took a fierce release of pride to learn new systems, words, and manners for everything, to unlearn a life. Overshadow me, Lord ...overshadow me. 

And He did.
 

To pass courage to Mary, Gabriel points to another woman, Elizabeth, and the miracle she too was experiencing. "People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For the word of God will never fail" 

People used to say I was fearful.
 People used to say I had no self-confidence. 
People used to say I was afraid of change. 
But after the overshadowing, they can't say that anymore. There is something profoundly humbling about having nothing to do with your victory.