It’s happening.
Once fixed positions are expanding.
The pain and intensity are increasing.
Is that…wait…nausea??
Should this feel like...be like... UGGGGHHH!
PUSH. BREATHE. PUSH. BREATHE. PUUUSSSSHHHHH.
Conception was an exertion of energy in the most exciting way. This sweat session ain’t that! Flashes of the future lit up the imagination like a spectacularly unprecedented celebration of newness. The sounds of promise. The vision of fulfillment. So alluring! The process for arriving at next was envisioned as dreamy assumptions of planning, co-laboring, and executing with precision until the day - this day - made its debut. There is no celebratory bouquet or balloon arch elaborate enough to overshadow these birth pangs.
Mama said there’ll be days like this
There’ll be days like this, my mama said
Mama said, Mama said
The Shirelles
She said it. Others did too, but all the calm words of caution fall short of expressing the physical, mental, and spiritual demands - the undignified grit - of birth. I suppose that’s why it’s called labor. It’s a labor of love, for sure!
PUSH. BREATHE. PUSH. BREATHE. Almost there!
What an odd sense of aloneness this is. In a space filled with experts and support, the brunt of the work still rests on one person’s shoulders. One is bringing forth life in a way that will completely, instantly alter life as she knows it. So, does that make this place an altar dedicated to the demise of what was? Behold, all things are becoming new. She is becoming new.
CATCH YOUR BREATH. NOW, PUUUSSSSHHHHH!
Never has it been more apparent that almost doesn’t count. “Almost” may as well be an invitation to retreat, bow out, throw up an anti-friendly finger and walk away, because THIS right here is crazy! But what’s stirring on the inside is life. This life was decreed by Life. The name has been spoken over and over again. The love is real. The finish line isn’t just in sight; it is within reach. There is an expectation and obligation to see it through.
This is the point of no return. One. Two. Three. PUUUSSSSSHHHH!!
Here is where the final yes is given. Through clenched teeth and with a furrowed brow, another yielding takes place. It’s not defeat, even though it is a release of control. Here is where wisdom gets strung together by three words: Lord, I surrender. Surrender is the gateway through which supernatural strength flows. The supernatural is needed because this journey extends beyond a person’s natural ability to endure. Yield to the process.
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NLT)
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1 Peter 5:10, NIV)
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:3-5, NKJV)
Conserve your energy by letting go of comparison. This journey is uniquely yours. Own the individuality of your experience. No two birth stories are the same. EVER. Our Father designed it this way - your deep inhales and forceful exhales, your pushing, the labor you endured to release light into the world.
LET IT SHINE.
LET IT SHINE.
LET. IT. SHINE.
In the Mood For by Erika Denae J.
The Healing Space Podcast by Ambi Shantay.
A soon-to-be-birthed all-in-one planner that organizes one’s schedule while watering their soul, by Ariel Lane.
We receive your labor of love, ladies. Thank you for pushing.