Love, Belief, and Joy as Mommies

Good morning! I feel the urging today to encourage pregnant mommies. A woman from church just emailed to ask if she could join our mommy group, even though she's still pregnant and "not technically a mommy." What?!? Oh my...I think your first Mom-of-the-Year award should be given the day you find out you are pregnant. I was already bent over the toilet praying for the flu bug to pass as I stared in unbelief at the two pink lines. Happily for us, that flu bug morphed into our sweet little Caleb! Honestly, some of my hardest days of mommyhood would have to be enduring pregnancy misery. I know that some women love being pregnant, so just know that I have a healthy amount of envy for each and every one of you. As we consider having another baby, I feel like I'm praying for God to ramp up my excitement level for the symptoms that will ensue. But really, what a small price to pay for a precious child. You just have to keep repeating that over, and over, and over :-)

I came across a verse this morning that is meant to speak to us about our sweet Jesus, and then God opened up my mind to a whole new angle on the verse! 1 Peter 1:8 says,

"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy..."

When I first read that, I nodded my head as I thought about my faith in Christ. Then, when I was thinking about the many pregnant mommies whom I know of right now, this verse seemed beautifully applicable to their situation, or maybe even to some of you reading this post! Think about how you feel about your sweet baby (him or her!) growing inside your belly. You haven't seen that child with your own eyes (okay, maybe on an ultrasound...), but you love that child, you believe in that child, and you have an inexpressible and glorious joy for that child. Already! Before he/she is even born! Simply put, that is, at the very least, what our Father in heaven wants us to feel for Him.

There are so many examples in scripture of Christ relating to us as His children. When God chooses to bless us with the gift of motherhood, I know that it is meant, in part, to give us a new revelation into the many relationship facets we share with the God of the universe. I feel like I understand the Lord in a completely new way, after becoming a mother. Every time you read a passage about how He does what He does because of His love for us as His daughters, think about how we do what we do out of our love for our children. It is absolutely beautiful. It's truly amazing how He uses worldly relationships to show visible, emotional, and tangible proof of how He relates to us. So cool!

Be blessed today, mommies. And, enjoy this picture/quote from Kristin Merwin Photography showing the love between a mother and son :-)