I have about a month left to go in this pregnancy and I'm at that point where I'm feeling very ready to be delivered. You know... it's a small feat just to find a comfortable position, roll over, tie my shoes, get up from sitting, eat anything without feeling heartburn, etc. But at the same time, I'm trying to savor the beautiful aspects of pregnancy (especially since this will likely be my last one); it truly is an incomparable experience, and such a gift.
I think my favorite thing is feeling the babe move inside. From the first gentle quickenings to the more forceful rollings and proddings that come late in pregnancy, I'm just amazed. We look forward to the day of birth to meet our little girl, but I'm also faintly aware that in some ways, I will never know her more intimately than I do right now. We are connected more closely than we ever will be again. It is something to relish and enjoy.
I've been thinking about how these stirrings are so like the dreams that we dream. When a vision begins in our hearts, often it is so real to us, so felt by us, that we can't get away from it. Though those around us cannot see it and feel it as we do (although they may see signs of it's growth in us), it is a part of us that is very much alive.
And our dreams of the kingdom of God are very much like this, I think. The kingdom has been inaugurated, but not yet fully consummated in our lives. We walk in full knowledge of its existence, and yet we know that there is so much yet to experience, so much that we wait and long for. We will ever be slightly (or at times greatly) unsettled until we see it come in fullness. Until we meet the King face to face. But just perhaps, in our waiting, there are ways in which we are more intimately connected to Jesus than we ever again will be. I don't want to neglect savoring His stirrings because of my impatience. They really are an incredible thing.
"All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy." Romans 8:22-25 (The Message)
What a beautiful comparison. You wrote it so well.
Posted by: Andrea | October 04, 2006 at 10:38 AM