On Waiting

I remembered as I was trying to get comfortable in bed last night that, at this time in my pregnancy with D.L.F., the weather was in the 90's and 100's (it was late August). At least being sticky-sweaty-hot is not something I have had to deal with this time around! The weather has been typical spring weather around here...cloudy, rainy, warm and sunny, hailing, and today I think I even saw a bit of snow mixed in with the rain. I am happy about having a late-spring baby this time, just at the time when flowers begin blooming in earnest and the weather starts warming up. I'm planning to take it easy and rest for the first few weeks after Baby Girl is born, but after that, I'm looking forward to taking D.L.F. and Baby Girl out in our new-to-us double stroller and walking off some of this baby weight!

I keep saying I'm soooo ready to be done with this pregnancy, but this evening I read some words in a book called The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy, by Shonda Parker, that were encouraging and convicting:

"Mental, or emotional, preparation coincides with spiritual preparation. We cannot be emotionally at peace if our focus is not on trusting our Divine Creator in His wisdom and plan for this child, this pregnancy, this birth. We delight in our husband's washing us with the Word of God, allowing the Scriptures to bring us peace, comfort, and BOLDNESS in the approaching birth. Joy is found in trusting the Lord, sacrificial trusting that surrenders our own plans, even our own hopes, to the Will of God.

"As the time of our birth draws near, may our spirits be cleansed and renewed in our trust in the grace of the Lord, may our hearts be gladdened with the assurance of His mercy, may our bodies open in the fullness of time under His pillar of strength, may our hearts be turned to our babies in the perfection of His love." [emphasis is the author's]

And so I wait. It's hard not knowing exactly when I will go into labor, how long it will take, how hard it will be, or at what moment Baby Girl will take her first breath, but the Lord knows all those details and has a plan and purpose for the way things will unfold.