life. Mary had an encounter that not even Joseph believed was from God. An angel had to convince him that the Spirit of God had truly come upon her and that she would bear the Christ child. Mary bore the stigma of “mother of an illegitimate child” all her days. Interestingly, Scripture calls her highly favored. But sometimes favor from heaven causes problems on earth. I truly wondered if I would ever function as a normal human being again. It seemed like if I said yes to God in that experience, I