Today I am honored to have guest writer, Ashley Brendle, mother of seven, share her heart with us about pregnancy as an act of worship. Please be sure to check out Ashley’s website at Tips4Mom.com and her journey via podcast at ChristianMommyMinute.com.
I love being pregnant. Any woman with 7 children must, right? Compared to many of the mothers I’ve spoken with, I have it easy. My pregnancies have gotten progressively better with each child. I have the occasional backache and fatigue but otherwise, my body handles carrying a baby with ease.
Okay, before you hate me, let me add this. I know pregnancy isn’t a walk in the park for many moms. For everyone, pregnancy is a sacrifice to one degree or another. Mothers lay down their comfort, appetites, bodies, energy for “the joy set before them.” The aches, pains, nausea, fatigue, numerous prenatal appointments aren’t so much fun. But all those fluttering kicks, ultra-sound views of baby and dreaming of who’s in our womb keep us going.
God loves to bless us with children. He knows and understands what we go through. (He might be the only “man” who truly does.) His own mother Mary didn’t have it easy in many regards. How many of us could handle riding hours on a donkey just before giving birth or while in labor?
In order to endure what she did, Mary probably knew this secret.
“…(P)resent your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1).
Do you know those nine months mixed with pain and pleasure are a spiritual act of worship! During pregnancy, we offer our bodies, partnering with the Lord to form and shape a child predestined for greatness in the Kingdom of God.
He can’t bring forth the next generation without us nor can we without Him!
“You knitted me in my mother’s womb…Your eyes saw my undeveloped form and in Your book are written all my destined days, when as yet there was not one of them (Psalm 139: 13b, 16).
When we lay down our lives, we find true meaning (Matthew 10:39). When we lay down our bodies in pregnancy, God receives this sacrifice as pleasing worship. When He partners in and through us during the pregnancy and throughout motherhood, we get to experience a unique degree of intimacy that perhaps only mothers know.
Maybe this is also why I love being pregnant. The Lord’s spirit seems to hover over me and my womb just as His creative spirit did when he birthed the earth (Genesis 1:2). If you are pregnant, I bless you to know God’s tangible intimacy throughout and to offer each glorious and difficult moment to Jesus as worship!
Have you considered your pregnancies as act of worship? What about an act of sacrifice? Share with us!
Ashley Brendle
Ashley is the proud Mama of 6 boys and is expecting her first baby girl in January. She and her husband love to integrate homeschooling, faith in Jesus, family, and ministry into one big happy life! She believes God wants mothers to thrive in their homes. She writes at Tips4Mom.com and shares her journey via podcast at ChristianMommyMinute.com. She recently launched a ministry called SupernaturalMothering.org. They will host their first conference March 2013.
