I went to my first Mommy and Me class the other night with my son and he absolutely loved it. I have lower back problems so I had a hard time because the activities involved hurling him through the air. The pain was endured however because I loved seeing his excitement. As I played with my son, I noticed the other babies sitting or flying with absolute joy as drool flowed freely. They were so enthralled that when one of them puked on themselves it only added to the collective excitement in the group. We definitely couldn't take ourselves seriously while there. We were grown women flinging our children around while dancing in circles to songs about spoons and pigs. It could've easily been mistaken for some sort of middle class mommy/baby cult. The only cult where half the members show up strapped to another human. Welcome.
My son has blessed my life in so many ways. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he is a gift from God. My husband and I went down a long road to get him here too. Not long after Evan and I married, he had to close the company he and his father started. Like a lot of people, things got so tough financially that we had to sell our home. Around this time we found out that I was pregnant. We were so excited and even though we were broke we were so happy.
Since we married, Evan and I hadn't been going to Church regularly. Our relationship with Jesus was increasingly distant. When I got pregnant, my faith was greatly encouraged and I knew I needed to get my heart right with the Lord. Unfortunately, as I started my second trimester, we found out that not only was there no heartbeat but there were two babies with no heartbeat. To say that we were devastated is an understatement. I felt like a part of my heart had died. I also felt like God was punishing me. This lie from the pit didn't help matters. While we were dealing with our loss, we were moving from a large home to a much smaller house. I can now see that home as a blessing but at the time I was very sad and very overwhelmed. Evan was working on our new place while dealing with kidney stones as well. I know! It's like a Greek tragedy! But don't worry, no one had their liver eaten by a vulture (Prometheus...anyone?). Be encouraged! I love my Lord Jesus and I praise Him. There is more and it does get worse before it's gets better but it's important to know two things: 1) everyones liver is safe and 2) "The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. " I forgot this for a season but thankfully God is on His throne and always keeps watch over His children and their livers.
I read a book recently and the writer made such an encouraging and convicting comment. He said that we have so many blessings that surround us that if we didn't have them we would pay millions for them. Because these blessings are given freely however, they go unnoticed. My prayer is to be more like those happy, drooling babies; when things get messy there is still so much joy to take in. Even when my sciatic nerve is pinched mercilessly and my shrieks frighten the other mothers, I will be grateful for my Lord, my son, and for my Ibuprofen. God gives so freely in His gifts and His greatest gift is by far the love and sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. For the good, the bad, and the ugly, I pray my King is glorified.
