December 12 - Mary - Part 1

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Luke 1:26-38 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.For with God nothing shall be impossible.And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

God could have sent His Son to Earth in an infinite number of ways, but He chose to do so by causing a virgin to conceive. In His wisdom, out of all of the honorable young women of Israel, He chose Mary. When the angel said she was highly favored of God and that she was blessed above all women, it was simply a statement of fact. She was not favored by God because of what she had done or because she had never sinned - She was favored by God and blessed above all women because she had been chosen by God for the privilege of carrying His son within her womb.
I'm sure there are many considerations that went into that choice - she was virgin betrothed to a godly man of good character who would have to means to provide a decent living and upbringing for Jesus. But, I have to wonder if there weren't many more who fulfilled that criteria? Ultimately it boils down to the fact that Mary was blessed because God chose her bear His son and that choice was what provided God's favor and blessings.