There are many among us who will struggle during these next days with difficulties in their families, their communities, and even in their churches. Whether your difficulty is with idle talk among church members or with Uncle Henry’s habitual drunkenness at the Christmas party; whether your difficulty is with an unreasonable neighbor or with family expectations that cannot be met; whether your difficulty is in the memory of a Christmas that can never happen in quite the same way again or in meeting the needs of all the people in your blended family; remember today the brave and faithful young woman who accepted the impossible role of mother of the Lord.