A beloved baby.
Our family is elated to share that we are expecting! My sweet McKaela is going to be a big sister. We are in the throes of packing and moving into a new home and are quite excited for the new season and adventures ahead of us.
There are so many ways I have grown and stretched since I had McKaela almost 2 years ago. It hasn’t all been butterflies and rainbows. In fact, I have had some really dark moments and days, but I also have had some of the wildest, freest highs I could have imagined. She has been a gift to our family in dozens of ways and taught me lessons I never knew I needed to learn. McKaela has given me joy beyond what I could have imagined. I know that our new little one will do the same.
As the weeks have unfolded during this first trimester, I have reminisced and thought through ups, downs, changes, what I would do differently, joys and the journey our family has walked. Two years later, I am a very different person, probably because I know myself even better and know my Father much more intimately. Interestingly, I have sacrificed more than I ever wanted, but have found a richer, more authentic self.
As my family celebrates new life and the blessing of children, I would love to share how this thing called ‘motherhood’ has sprouted new fruit in my own life and how I am watering these unexpected ‘buds’. My garden may not look like I envisioned, but as each day passes, I am seeing more beauty and valuing every tiny bloom.
Love, the Father’s Unconditional Love
Growing up in a loving home, being surrounded by warm, caring individuals, and reading about love through scripture all my life, I really thought I understood love. Then, I had a baby. The richness of love expands exponentially when you have children. It is unexplainable! I never knew it ran so deep. I never knew what unconditional meant until I had a little one. More authentic and intimate than any feeling could ever be is pure, unadulterated love. Our Heavenly Father gave us such a gift to be able to feel, express and experience this love on earth. I am amazed, perplexed and ready to continue learning.
Adaptability, Absolutely Necessary and Highly Undervalued
This ‘gift’ has stretched me far beyond my comfort level. I have resisted, moped, created some miserable days for myself, all because I wouldn’t adapt. But the times I allowed myself to be flexible, those moments when I chose to make lemonade out of my lemons, those thoughts I chose to sweep out of my mind so I could create a new solution, those were monumental growth moments for me. Simply learning to assess, change my plan, and adapt has helped me not get stuck in unhealthy thought patterns, pity parties, and resentment. My ability to believe that veering from my well-laid plans could not only be good but had the potential to be great, helped me avoid ‘mommy funk’ and see beauty on my cloudy days.
Forgiveness, Simple and Complete
Oh, how many times I have messed up, yelled at my daughter or overreacted. How many times I have lost my patience in utter frustration. Yet, I have come to her, often tearfully, despising my actions or behavior, and she loves me. She hugs me, kisses me and still wants to be with me. Sure, maybe she doesn’t fully understand everything that happened, but she knows tone, facial expressions, and actions. She reminds me of the freedom of forgiveness and the value of connection. She gives this beautiful, free gift to me. How can I not gift it to others?
The Awe of a Moment
Sometimes we talk about words like ‘joy’ without the slightest inkling of what they truly mean. What does it look like to live a life of joy? Those moments when my daughter looks at me with gleaming eyes and a smiling face fill me with joy. Those moments when she is silly and mimics what she saw to get my attention make me laugh with delight. Those sweet minutes when she snuggles close warms my heart unlike anything else. Our children can bring us out of planning, doing, and serving mode and bring us into the present. They help us remember to take a breath, enjoy a moment, and capture a beautiful memory. What a gift to be able to live more moments present, delighted, content and captivated!
Our children are such a gift. Yes, they require unmeasurable sacrifice, attention, finances, and care, but they gift us with the ability to be people of better character, the ability to understand ourselves more completely and maybe most importantly, the necessity of depending our Heavenly Father more intimately.
Thank you for celebrating our special gifts! Blessings as you unwrap, enjoy and cherish the gifts in your life!
TRUTH: Children are a gift from God; they are his reward.
Psalm 127:3 (TLB)