"Mary set out

and traveled to the hill country in haste

to a town of Judah,

where she entered the house of Zechariah

and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,

the infant leaped in her womb,

and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,

cried out in a loud voice and said,

'Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And how does this happen to me,

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,

the infant in the womb leaped for joy.

Blessed are you who believed

that what has spoken to you by the Lord

would be fulfilled.'"

How does God work? He starts small. It is an unknown young virgin alone in a room in the middle of nowhere to whom Gabriel appears. Mary had no status, power, or influence. Hers was a small town in an occupied nation with little value to the larger powers. To the world, she was insignificant. She did, however, have faith to move mountains. She believed that the word spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled. She said yes to God, and God's plan began to manifest. Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'" A seed was planted with Mary and began to grow.

Mary then set out in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. This was an arduous journey, between 90 and 100 miles. Although well traveled, it was a dangerous road known for robbers. Joseph would have likely arranged passage for Mary with a caravan and may have even accompanied her as far as Jerusalem. Elizabeth and Zechariah's home was in the hill country, likely about five miles south of Jerusalem. Mary may have made the journey on foot, or rented a donkey for travel. Although Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, was a priest, she would have also been an historically insignificant woman. This was not a grand reception in a seat of power, but a family meeting at a home. One cousin with another. But in this encounter, the seed God had planted grew.

Two vulnerable babies in the womb met. John, who would become the Baptist, leaped for joy at the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah. In the eyes of the world, there can hardly be a less significant encounter, yet the seed God had planted grew again. Yet, this is how God works. He starts small, plants a seed, and it grows heart to heart. This growing seed will become, in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the salvation of all the world and, through the Holy Spirit, will bear much fruit. God always starts small and plants seeds, but the growth moves mountains . As we approach Christmas and God's plan continues to grow in the birth of his Son, another worldly insignificant event in a small far away place, what seed is God planting in you? Will you say yes? How will it grow?