Creekside Garden

Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise – a time to pray wrapped up in a ribbon of patience because is the Lord ever late?

Ann Voskamp

Anticipation builds as we wait for baby to arrive. I am currently 38 weeks pregnant and counting the days until we can finally hold our precious little boy. The house has been cleaned, newborn clothes folded, and baby’s bassinet all freshly made. We have chosen a name, made a plan for Caleb, and talked about this event until there is nothing left to do but…. wait.

The space in the last few weeks of pregnancy is beautiful. Excitement builds as the hour approaches, but let’s be honest, these weeks also hurt like nothing else. My body has melted into an unrecognizable piece of flesh, joints don’t work the same as they used to, the strain of carrying a belly makes mundane tasks a 1000x harder. My emotions have been all over the map, and I feel like baby has eaten my brain.

There is ample space for anxious thoughts in this period of waiting, especially when my body feels like Jello and sleep is almost impossible. The “what ifs” hang over my head, ready to drive me crazy at any minute. Birth is a wild event even when it goes perfectly. Going from one to two kids is a whole other can of worms. How in the world am I going to get my toddler to nap when I have a newborn as well? These and many more anxious thoughts wait for a weak moment and then attack out of nowhere.

Yet, despite the struggles, this time of waiting is beautiful. Bringing a new baby into the world is a sacred privilege, and I believe anticipation is the first stage of labor. In all my research for birth, I can tell you one thing rings true – the most important part of labor is your mindset. When a woman knows what her body is capable of and she trusts it to do the job, birth isn’t as scary. When she focuses on the reason for the pain, it makes it more tolerable.

Here in the beginning stage of labor, the waiting, I have a choice about how I move through it. Will I embrace this time and allow waiting to prepare me for the arrival of a whole new baby? Or will I allow the suffering to make me more miserable than I am?

Perhaps we are designed to turn inward and carefully consider the events ahead as we allow excitement to build. I think of a warrior preparing for battle, anticipating the fear and the pain. He would prepare himself mentally, physically, and spiritually before going into the fight. I can only imagine how tense those moments were before the first enemy came into view.

Birth is a much happier event than war, but there are some similarities. It’s physical. Painful. Life changing. Bloody.

I would be foolish not to prepare for it.

I want to use these moments, hours, and days of waiting to be still and allow my heart and mind to find peace in the tension. To enjoy this sacred space and allow God to use it to shape who I am. To remember that this first stage of labor builds the scene for the main event… the birth of a newborn baby. 💙