Spiritual Scrapbooking

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."
Luke 2:19

This verse has been going over in my mind these last few days. I started asking myself some questions. First of all what exactly were "all these thing" and what exactly does the scripture mean when it says that Mary "pondered them in her heart"?

I'm guessing that maybe the "all these things" had to do with a sort of spiritual scrapbooking that started that chilly night in Bethlehem. I believe that young 14 or 15 year old teen age mother started right then tucking away little smells, smiles and sentiments that would weave the fabric of her mother's memory book for her firstborn son.

Pondering, according to the dictionary, means to "carefully consider for a period of time". I think I may have a handle on that one, too. My children range in age from 17 to 27. I have a pretty hefty supply of memories to "ponder"; grins and giggles, sandals and sneakers, band-aids and boyfriends, boxing gloves and skateboards, they're all in there tucked away safely in my mother's heart. One thing that I have recently been pondering is the distinctive smell of each of my babies' heads. To this day, no fragrance that I have ever smelled compares to the beautful scent of my children's little heads. Perhaps one of the things that Mary "pondered" the most was the smell of her boy.

I think I need to spend alot more time pondering--not just about my children although I do plenty of that. I need to do some serious pondering about my Savior.