“Life is tough enough
without having someone kick you from the inside.”
—Rita Rudner
Ah, pregnancy—that wonderful time of life when your memory goes and your nausea stays. When you need a crane in the morning to get up and catheter at night to actually sleep. And, of course, that wonderfully cumbersome time you have no earthly idea what your feet look like anymore.
Let’s face it, giving birth is no picnic. And, yes, it’s true—once that baby slides down the old canal, you actually do forget all about the stretch marks and the foggy mind and the midnight raids of the refrigerator for pickles and peanut butter. Because the truth is it’s ALL worth it, even the forty pounds you were sure you would drop along with the baby.
Yeah, right. Maybe not that. When I had my first child, I remember being ticked that they didn’t have full-length mirrors in the hospital room because come on—after nine months carrying an exercise ball under my shirt, I wanted to see how svelte I looked in my brand-new pink wrap-around robe I bought for the hospital. I actually had the nerve to whisper to my husband after we passed another new mother in the hall days after I gave birth, saying,“Hey, Babe, would you believe she had her baby a few days ago and she still looks pregnant??” Wow … talk about ignorance being bliss! After I got home, I saw pictures friends took of me at the hospital with this great, big grin on my face because I felt so thin and cute. Only, it wasn’t me in the picture, but some thick-armed, thick-waisted suma wrestler who looked like a stuffed sausage with pink casing. I cried for days over that, let me tell you, but let’s just blame that on post partum, shall we?
Now, here I am some thirty years later with my babies all grown up, but I am still going through pregnancy and labor most of the time. Giving birth to a new series, a new diet, a new exercise program that stretches my patience like my babies once stretched my skin. My youngest baby, Amy, is now 24 and pushing me to do yoga with her, so we’re talking MAJOR stretching going on here—not only with my body, but with our relationship as we evolve from mother and daughter to mother and friend. It is a time of stretching that is painful at times, but OH, so rewarding! Especially when you realize the type of woman your baby has become. That tearful moment when you finally see how God has not only shaped and molded her in your womb, but shaped and molded her as a woman of God.
Last week that baby of mine wrote something on Facebook that really touched me, and I asked her if I could reprint it here. Not only because I am SO very proud of her, but because it deals with the subject of giving birth—not to our babies, but to our dreams and the future that God has for each of us. I hope it will bless you as much as it blessed me. Without further ado, my daughter Amy Lessman:
Lately, due to the fact that I’ll soon be graduating, taking the bar, moving out, and (hopefully) getting a job, I’ve been feeling like my life is ANALOGOUS to the process of pregnancy:
I came to the realization that I’m expecting, and God is planning to birth change in my life in the coming months…
But then right after the excitement of this realization, the morning sickness hit. And for the last three months, I’ve felt a whole lot of “morning sickness.”
Now, I finally feel like I’ve made it past the “first trimester,” and I’m able to see some of these changes begin to manifest without feeling so nauseous.
In the next 6 months, I anticipate a lot more change in my life. And, I know that much like the pregnant woman who gets to the point where she’s just ready for the child to be out of her body—I too will get to the point of impatience where I’m just ready to be done with school, licensed as an attorney, living on my own, and working as a lawyer.
And in those moments, I will do my best to remember that just like pregnancy is a preparation period for parents, this figurative “pregnancy period” for me is also preparation for the future that God has for me.
And I need to allow God the ability to prepare me for the major life changes that will, before I know it, be staring me straight in the eyes, expecting me to know how to respond.
Until then, I’m going to do my best to enjoy this process… even with all its cravings, aches, and pains.
I’m not normally one to write deep, introspective, Facebook posts, but I needed to get this off my chest, and honestly, I’m just hoping that it might inspire some of you as you are in your own processes where you feel like God is preparing you for major change as well.
WINTER NEWSLETTER HAS BEEN SENT!!!
If you signed up for my newsletter and have not received it yet, please let me know through my website or through Facebook. You won’t want to miss it because it contains both an excerpt and the cover for A Love Surrendered. And if you don’t get the newsletter and want to, all you have to do is sign up for it at http://www.julielessman.com/sign-up-for-newsletter/, and I will send it to you.
NEW NEWSLETTER CONTEST … VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS!
Don’t forget to VOTE for your favorite authors across all genres to be entered in my new newsletter contest to win a signed copy of A Love Surrendered PLUS a $25 Amazon.com or CBD.com gift card. All you have to do is sign up for my newsletter at http://www.julielessman.com/sign-up-for-newsletter/, then take the time to VOTE for your favorite authors in Family Fiction Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards and let me know via e-mail or through my website, and you will be entered in my new contest. PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT have to vote for me to be entered in this contest NOR tell me who you voted for, so take advantage of this opportunity to support your favorite Christian authors across all genres!!!
Here’s the link:
http://www.familyfiction.com/news/vote-in-the-2012-familyfiction-readers-choice-awards/
GIVEAWAYS!!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2012:
Join me at Overcoming Through Time for a “bibliotherapy analysis” of A Heart Revealed and win a signed copy of one of my books at:
FEBRUARY 21 – MARCH 3, 2012:
READ A “NEW” EXCERPT from A Love Surrendered and win your choice of any of my books including A Love Surrendered on my special guest day of SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH PLUS giveaways ALL WEEK LONG by other authors for a blogaversary celebration from FEBRUARY 21-25!!! Check it out here at Hardcover Feedback blog at:
http://hardcoverfeedback.blogspot.com/search/label/1st%20Blogoversary
***SUPER GIVEAWAY!! Super popular Christian thriller author Creston Mapes’ new thriller NOBODY is FREE at Amazon Friday, Feb. 17 to Sunday, Feb. 19 at midnight (PST), so TAKE ADVANTAGE!! I DID! 🙂 Here’s the link:
That’s it for this week—go and give birth to your dreams!! But rememeber—they won’t happen overnight, your self-image will be stretched considerably and you will definitely experience nausea. But don’t worry—it’s all worth it in the end! Have a GREAT weekend!!
Hugs, Julie
