Nancy Lee-Demaw says we can all learn from the mother of Jesus.

And what Mary did in carrying the life of the Son of God in her womb for those nine months

and giving birth to that child is just a picture of what God wants to do in and through each of us.

God is placed within us as his children, the life of His Son Jesus.

And our task, our calling, our purpose here on earth is to be instruments of giving the life of Jesus to this world.

This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast for Monday, December 22, 2014.

Nancy, sometimes it takes a lot of faith to accept the surprises the Lord brings into our lives.

That's right, Leslie.

And we're going to be talking about that today.

I don't know that anyone could better understand that than Mary of Nazareth.

And during this week, when we mark the birth of Jesus, we're going to take a look at Mary.

She's one of my favorite biblical characters.

Now, I don't think that any of us will ever face a surprise

quite as dramatic as Mary's, but each of us is called to surrender to God's calling in our

lives just as she did. One Revive Our Hearts listener whose name is Jen has been learning this.

She wrote us recently and told us that two and a half years ago,

she was surprised to discover that she was carrying twins. Well, in her case, surrendering to that

calling, that high calling of being a mom, meant that she decided to leave her job so that she

could focus on raising her children. And right when she needed

encouragement as a brand new mom, the Lord led her to revive our hearts. She wrote and said to us,

I'll never be able to repay you for all that your programs have taught me over the past two and a half

years. She says, listening to your teaching helps me daily and encourages me in

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