Serving our Father God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Holy Spirit filled ministry since 1997!

January 2026

Life is full of “firsts.” Indeed, the saying, “there’s a first time for everything,” rings true for all of us. It doesn’t matter how many years you live or how far you travel, life will always hold experiences you’ve never tried, people you’ve never met, challenges you’ve not overcome, and so many other firsts.

Those approaching first-time experiences of any kind are commonly called “virgins.” For example, the Merriam-Webster definition of virgin is “a person who is inexperienced in a usually specified sphere of activity.” Applying this definition makes us all “virgins” to the many first-time activities we have not encountered. As virgins, we have something in common with Mary, who conceived and gave birth to our Lord Jesus. She has little to no experience in nearly everything when we first meet her in the gospels. In fact, she was likely around 15 years old when the angel Gabriel arrived to announce that she had been chosen to get pregnant and give birth to the Christ child.

In Luke chapter 1, we see Mary progress from fear (“greatly troubled at his words,” vs. 29) to faith (“May your word to me be fulfilled,” vs. 38). In just nine verses, Mary received God’s word and accepted a first-time pregnancy experience as her new reality. I wish we could all be virgins like Mary. When facing a new year, new people, greater responsibilities, innovations, or any challenge that God brings us, can we readily conceive and prepare for birth in just nine verses? Sadly, we are all virgins, but few are like Mary. Mary received God’s word and immediately declared her desire that God’s word be fulfilled in her life. Her declaration shows that she had faith in God’s ability to do the impossible with her first experience.

We may fear that the expectations for our first experiences are too high or too much, and that there is no way we can ever meet them. But before we decide to abort the plan and cancel all hope of giving birth to something new, we should remember Gabriel’s reassuring message to Mary, “The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’” (Luke 1:35.) The angel calmed Mary’s fears by telling her that God was going to take care of everything. And she believed it.

How can we conceive ideas and witness God’s life-renewing power and presence in new ways? The same way Mary did. Say yes when God presents new experiences and have faith that God will take care of everything in unlikely and unexpected ways. When God is with us, all the preparations are made so that we can give birth to something wonderful, even if it’s our first time.