Though a decade has passed, it doesn’t feel like long ago that I was thrust into the world of parenting. At the ripe old age of 22, with flu like symptoms, I took one pregnancy test. Just one. Ladies, that apparently, is all it takes. Though my mother was convinced I needed a blood test, things had changed over the 20 odd years since she had taken hers. Alas, I went to the physician and sure enough… I was growing a human! My due date: October 31, 2006. Well, it could have been November 1, I had varying doctor’s opinions. It just depends if having a “Halloween Baby” would freak you out. Not me, he would be my little pumpkin no matter what day he’d arrive. And boy did he make a grand entrance.
During my first pregnancy, I am sure I did all the stress-related things you are not supposed to do. Well, it was also my first year of marriage… 4 months in, to be exact when we had the wonderful news of pregnancy. We relocated to a different state, 7 hours from my in-laws and 22 hours from my parents. My husband and I started new jobs, got a new apartment, and started our 2nd Bible College. (We met at the first one we attended) It was during a week full of school classes and nightly conference meetings, that I began to have contractions. I ran the registration table and greeted those who walked through the front doors of the church each night, and by the end of the week… My baby was ready to be born! He came 2 weeks before his due date, on October 17, 2006 in the most wonderful delivery. (Which is another story, for another time)
This was my entrance into the beauty of Motherhood. Was I prepared? No way. Did I take classes? A few. Had I even changed a diaper before? Not one. But ladies, there is a unique quality in each one of us that is triggered during the birthing process… Nurture! This glorious ability to look at the tiny human you have grown on the inside of you for the better half of a year and see their needs first. It’s just amazing to watch the transformation in your own life and embrace a love you didn’t even know you were capable of.
Motherhood is a treasure, a gift, for some a rite of passage. It’s a revealing of your true nature, one of nurture. One of joy unspeakable combined with the most difficult thing you have ever done, revealing strength you didn’t know you possessed. If you’re pregnant or a new mom, you can do it! There are times of doubt and uncertainty, but when you rely on the Lord for strength and direction he will always guide you as you raise your children.
I have since had another baby. Worked full-time, stayed at home fill-time, worked 3 jobs at once, finished my 2nd Bible College with degree, co-founded my own Non-Profit Ministry, traveled the world, had kids attend public school, homeschooled, breastfed, bottle-fed, natural birth, had a cesarean section, became an ordained minister, volunteered with my kids, volunteered as a Hospital Chaplain, rented apartments and finally bought my first house…. My point is, that throughout all these variables and different roles I took on, the one consistent stream was my role as a Mother.
You, as a person, will always be changing, growing, evolving and so are the circumstances that surround your life. I can’t give you a perspective from a Stay-at-Home Mom, because I have also been a Full-Time Working Mom… and both are just fine! Free yourself today of any particular expectation you may have unknowingly placed on yourself. Be encouraged that no matter what vocation you find yourself in presently, you are doing what works best for your family. I think that is key, drop the comparison and competition with other Mothers and do what you were designed to do and be. God has entrusted you with these tiny lives and specifically placed them in your care; he knows that you have been equipped with everything you need to be an amazing Mother and when you have those times of self-doubt, trust Him. Today, be free to do you and do it well!
Love,
Brynn
“For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3 (Amplified)
chroniclesofgraceandglory.com 