I told you about my “God is like laundry” analogy yesterday. You have to admit, it’s true. You think I could copyright that? Anyway, I’ve actually been thinking about another theological analogy. Being pregnant has got me thinking about faith. You know, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”? Or a more current version says, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Go back and actually read it word for word. I know you just skipped over it because you *knew* what it said. I do it all the time.)
OK, back to my analogy…
I cannot see my baby. Obviously. In fact, there are times when I wonder if it’s really in there. I mean, yeah, I did get a positive pregnancy test. Yes, the nurse did an ultrasound (scanner still NOT working!) and I saw the baby move. Yes, my bump is growing, my body is changing slightly. But no one has asked when I’m due. I haven’t felt the baby kick or seen one of it’s elbows move my belly!
What if I’m just putting on a few pounds? What if I just have the flu? What if??!!
Why in the world does it have to take 9 long months? 40 whole weeks to see this little thing face to face? Good grief! Wouldn’t it be easier to pick her up at the hospital? Or have the stork deliver him? Or even go pick it up from the cabbage patch?
Well, yeah. It’d be easier. But what about the preparation? Oh, I know, you can paint a nursery in a day. You can stock it with one trip to Babies R Us. But the real preparation is in those 40 weeks.
I have 40 weeks to wait on this baby. I get 40 weeks to think about it’s name. I get 40 weeks to talk to God about it’s body, it’s personality, it’s desires. I have 40 weeks to get ready to lay aside my self for it. I get 40 weeks to sleep through the night before my new little person comes.
During these 40 weeks, I’m sure my emotions will run the gamut. I’ll be so excited to meet this little bundle of joy. I’ll be scared about delivery. I’ll be worried about how Lydia and our life now will change. But I also KNOW that when that little baby is in my arms, I’ll be ecstatic. My life will never be the same–in the best possible way. This baby will bring so much to my life that I will never want to go back to a time without it. In fact, I’ll probably wonder what I did before it was here.
This is how I want to be with God and His promises. I know He’s got good stuff for me–things I can’t imagine or even ask for. Not regular things like provision or even my family. I’m talking about the big miracles and the big fulfillment.
This pregnancy is reminding me to just wait for Him. The time I wait for Him to produce a miracle in my life is just preparation. It’s not punishment or withholding, it’s a time I get to use as preparation. The closer I get to my 40 weeks, the more obvious that my baby is going to arrive. The more I want to do to get ready. I want to see the preparation time with God the same. I don’t want to question or wonder, I just want to prepare myself for the amazing things God has prepared in advance for me.
There is not one specific thing I’m thinking about or preparing for. It’s just the whole process of being pregnant that has reminded me of God’s miracles that are brewing inside of me today…and inside of you. I pray you’ll prepare for them and then be overjoyed at what He brings you!
Jodi says
What a great picture! Can’t beleive I never thought of it like that in *all* the time I’ve spent pregnant in the last 4 years! Thank you π
Candace says
Loved this post, Amanda. As a self-professed can’t-wait-for-anything person, I’ve learned so much through waiting on God. Sometimes I know how long I have to wait (a pregnancy) and other times I have no idea when it will end. But God is good and so waiting for him to show himself in my life is getting easier, and even feels my life with anticipation (even the situations that aren’t something to be happy about).
annie says
Love it. Expecting a miracle. We have that in common friend. (no, I’m not pg btw… I mean iz of course π
Staci says
Love this Amanda!! You are quite the wordsmith!
Becky says
You could always take Lydia up to Cleveland to Babyland General to see a birth and adopt your own! Ha!
Heather says
Wonderful thoughts! I learned a lot about waiting on God in our 2nd pregnancy. Mostly because I was so anxious to deliver a healthy, live baby, every second spent waiting was agony. But I learned that God is even in the anxiety that I felt.
Jen @ One Moms World says
I think about this often. It truly is God’s miracle how he can form this wonderful child in us. But I am so with you, why does it have to take 40 weeks? I always got so antsy wanting to know what my girls would look like.
bee says
“The time I wait for Him to produce a miracle in my life is just preparation. Itβs not punishment or withholding, itβs a time I get to use as preparation.”
How did you get so smart?! I guess God didn’t build me to think like that? I guess that’s why he led me to your blog.
BTW, I’m glad my faith doesn’t give me indigestion or make me eat three bags of jelly beans. π
Christi says
Beautifully written, Amanda! Thank you!
Leigh says
Amen!
Kat says
What a beautiful analogy. God IS using this waiting time for preparation for you. I know He is doing that in me, too. I’m so glad that He knows what He is doing@
Debbie says
Beautiful! One correction–you will NOT get 40 weeks to sleep through the night. God prepares you for sleep deprivation, too, but don’t worry yourself about that little detail yet! π
Coach Jenny says
Great words! I can just imagine that Mary, Jesus’ mother, went through this exact same thing in her early pregnancy.
Damselfly says
I pondered the 40 week-waiting process as well. I figured God knew I needed that time to get used to the idea of being a mother.
Val says
Those 40 weeks are definitely a blessing in more ways than one.
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