Most of our time is lived in the present, as it should be. Yet, it's always hopeful to look to the future and then there's always a lesson as we look to the past.

As a mom, it's easy to stay in reflective mode. You know that mode that clicks 'on' when you watch your kids grow up before your very eyes? Or catching yourself doing something your mom did when you were young and you stop to say, "I am her!"

Well, look back at the past with me, I mean waaay back.

To the wedding in Cana in biblical days.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, obviously knows what her son is capable of, to some degree. When the wine had run out, Mary states the obvious!

(Which of us moms spend all day doing with with our kids...stating the obvious?)

"They have no wine," she says.

Jesus, who hadn't taken his miracles and ministry public yet, says, "Woman, what does that have to do with me?"

Mary, I can imagine, gave him that motherly look.

(You know. You've either been the giver or receiver of that look!)

So she then tells the wedding servers, "do whatever He says."

This moment became Jesus' first earthly miracle. He turned water into wine - the best

wine actually. (He is into doing things with excellence and perfection, isn't He?)

This wasn't a miracle where all the guests believed and were saved, but it was a miracle that opened the eyes and hearts of his closest - the disciples.

And the beautiful part of the story is that Mary wasn't just a mom who was raising the Son of God, she was a follower, too!

For Scripture says in John 1:12 that after Jesus left the wedding, his disciples joined Him in Capernaum. But guess who else came? Yes, His mom.

I am certain Mary had many proud moments as a mom. I'm also certain that on those nights she lay in bed awake, she often reflected on that encounter with the angel Gabriel. And she felt peace and joy knowing she told God, "okay, I'll do this."

Not only to raise the Light of the world, but to follow Him as well.

As a mom, how am I raising my children?

Do they know I follow Jesus?

Do they hear me talk of Him?

Let me raise my kids in such a way that they want to follow me

as I follow the Light of the world.