It's all part of the process

">I had to post this cartoon. I found this great site with some very funny prego cartoons - one for each week of the pregnancy. I'll try to get one up each week until little Micah shows up!

This is the fourth time I have sat down to try to type this post. One time yesterday, I started to type and my 1 year old came up with a book and closed the lid to the laptop...hmmm....point taken.

So - they are now building a house out of pillows and blankets and chairs and who knows what else - so I should have a couple minutes. Hopefully I'll be able to get some coherent thoughts down!?!?!

I am officially in my 31st week of this, my fourth, pregnancy. I think I have finally come to the point of giving in to the "process." Let me explain...

This baby is the most "planned" of our four, though "family planning" is quite an oxymoron if you ask me. But I think I have spent most of this pregnancy struggling against the natural side-effects of the whole prego process. I mean - who really welcomes aching joints, and spreading hips, and stretch marks on top of stretch marks and all sorts of other crazy stuff? But as I was walking with a good friend yesterday, she asked if I had been able to keep up with my workout schedule (again - "workout" and "schedule" are very funny words to put in the same sentence when you have little kids)? I told her that I had to a certain extent, but as the nausea came and went and came and went again, and I as I had weeks where the thought of getting out of bed caused panic and tears, I haven't quite been as consistent as I've wanted...and boy have I been feeling, not to mention seeing, the effects. She responded with something to the effect of "you can't really stress about that in pregnancy, it's kind of just part of the process." Very true, and it got me thinking.

I have always thought metaphorically - since I was pretty little. And sometimes, I know, I tend to over-metaphor or over spiritualize things, but God really started to point to some things out to me about the correlation between physical and spiritual pregnancy/birthing. Here are just a couple that really stood out --

* There will be aches and pains and stretching and growing in pregnancy. It hurts, it's uncomfortable, and you REALLY want it to stop - but they are all signs of growth and that the baby is healthy and developing. But in the midst of all the discomfort, when you feel a kick or a squirm or a stretch from within - it is an amazing reminder of the promise that is growing and coming soon!

* Your lifestyle HAS to change if you want a healthy baby...maybe not dramatically, but there are things you will do differently to keep yourself in shape and to ensure the safety of the little one inside. Spiritually, I think you need to act different and prepare differently when you are pregnant with the things of God.

* Toward the end of the pregnancy, you really, really, really, want to be done - and NOW! But, the best thing for the baby and mom is for the baby to be in the womb until the appropriate time. Premature babies can survive, but generally are not as healthy. Even thought there is an excitement and anxiousness to the coming birth - it needs to happen at the due time.

* Then, of course, there is the whole labor analogy - it hurts, it's uncomfortable, it's a bit scary, but sooooo worth it!

* I was also thinking about after the new little one is born - you don't just plop them down and say "grow." There is a lot of nurturing and helping and feeding and watching that happens to get them to the point where they are mature. And, oh, how nice it is when older siblings help and jealousy does not set in. As Tom says, God likes it when His kids play nice together.

So - there are my musings about pregnancy and birth and the whole (or at least part of) the spiritual aspects. I think I'm ready to give in to the process and ride this thing out for remaining 9 weeks - like I had a choice!!!! Bring it on!

From the Mouths of Babes (or just little kids)!

I just had to share this story - it was pretty cute. I think I laughed myself into some minor contractions!

So - last night we were sitting down to dinner - all 5 of us. No small feat in itself. We really try to make a habit/rule of praying before we eat, but when the kids are hungry and the food is in front of them, it's hard to restrain them. So, after a few "pre" meal bites, we were ready to pray. We usually let the kids pray if they want to.

They got a good start in learning to pray in pre-school, "Thank you, God, for juice and snacks. Amen." For quite a while the dinner prayers would mimic that. Something like "Thank you, God, for potatoes and turkey and gravy and - mommy, what's that - oh - thank you, God, for carrots too. Amen" Kinda cute, huh?!

Well, last night, they shook things up a bit. Caleb started - Dear God, thank you for pasta, and I don't want to eat carrots, Amen." Short and sweet and to the point - kind of like him! Not to be outdone, Kylie proceeded. I kid you not, she sat on her knees, lifted her arms into the air, looked skyward, and proceeded in a very noble voice - Dear God, thank you for the food, thank you for everything, please let it rain so all the things will grow, help all the poor, and let us watch some movies." I about died. It wasn't so much the words, but the posture - cracked me up!

All the while, Macey is mumbling under her breath - baby prayers - and sneaking bites of pasta. I think they have definitely crossed over to their own styles! Gotta love it!

To bring it around to a more serious note - I really was very blessed by the purity of their prayers. I know that I, way too often, pray only what I think God wants to hear, or only what I think needs to be said to bring about what I want. If I am blessed by hearing simply what is on the heart and mind of my children, then how much more is God blessed by their simple prayers and how much more, even, would it bless Him if I were real with Him in the same way. It seems a difficult task to wrap my mind around the fact that the creator, the omnipotent, holy One, wants to commune in such a free and intimate manner with me. It's something I have been taught since I can remember, but I don't think I have ever really made a practice of living it; praying it. What a wonder, what a marvel that He loves us so!

Blessings --

Danni

Baby Josiah

Hey Everyone. This will be a short post. I have been following the story of a little guy in Canada that is having a pretty rough go of it in his first few weeks of life. I linked to his dad's page off of someone who reads Nadine's blog. Anyway - God has really stirred my heart concerning this family. Could be because I have the mommy hormones on overload right now, but I think it has more to do with God's involvement and passion for this young family. I have been especially blessed by his dad's (Andrew) faith and trust in God despite everything that has happened.

If you have a chance, please check out his sight and pray, pray, pray. I actually posted the link to his blog on my site (I know, I know...going high tech)! If I have time later, I'll try to get the baby's pic up.

Thanks everyone!

Danni