Both my mother and mother-in-law's favorite scripture. "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
Be Still!? Can I be still? I don't think I can. Women, we multitask. That's the way I'm wired, and I can say the same for nearly all my friends as well. Heck, even men these days are multi-tasking-it.
I think it may be our generation - what are we? Generation X? Or do we as a generation have ADD? I mean it. In this multimedia first-world, do we know what it means to "be still?" When was the last time you were still? That vacation a few months ago, that feels like years ago now, and even then there was still a toddler, or two or three. And when I do sit still, my i-Phone calls my name with facebook, e-mail, and calendar alerts. Even on my commute, where I continually vow to be better at praying, or at least at singing worship songs, I find I must catch up on current events - it is an election year and I want to do my civic duty and vote - or phone calls to friends and family. And again, prayer and worship are pushed aside.
I, for one, am undereducated on how to "be still." Generational or choice, I know I need to take a cue from my mother's generation and sit down and pray.
Or, maybe even get down on my knees, and give it to God.
Dear Lord of all creation, you've blessed us with abundance in our fast paced world of comforts, technology and family. Help us count and appreciate those blessings. We come to you today, however, asking that you teach us how to take pause. Help me "be still." Help me to know you. Sometimes, I can't hear you because of the noise of this world. I can't see you in the glare of my i-Phone. I need you to redirect me to you. Especially now, as I am carrying your precious creation. The work that is going on inside me is nothing short of a miracle. Help me to be still and know that you are God of all, especially me, in my attention-deficit world.
(--ME, written August 2012 prior to my second miscarriage)
As someone who's dealt with infertility, miscarriages, and did carry one child to full term,(now in college) I'd like to comment on this. I'm also an RN (retired) and wife of a doctor. First of all, my MIL had dh at 19 and said "you're meant to have kids when you're young and dumb. I didn't know anything, so I didn't worry about it". This is after watching 3 DIL's obsess over their pregnancies and newborns. (7 grandkids). The worst one was my SIL, a L&D nurse. After reading What to Expect When You're Expecting (no internet in 1992), and listening to the latest recommendations from my doctor and husband, I decided to use common sense. Women have been having babies since Eve, and we are overpopulated (according to some people) God has given us innate abilities of survival. After watching my dog give birth to 3 puppies, and seeing how she instinctively knew what to do, God can do much more with humans.
ReplyDeleteSo, I don't drink or smoke. I eat healthy. Japanese women eat sushi throughout their pregnancies, so enjoy the sushi. My first caffeine free check up, the doctor worried about the babies heartbeat being too slow. I drank a diet coke before every check up and the heart beat was WNL. It also helped with the specimen. And regarding artificial sweetners, she's fine. I just watched the amount of diet soda, and drank unsweet tea, and didn't add any to my sugar free cereal. I've read that advil is fine, but in 1992/1993, I stuck to Tylenol for migraines, and suffered through it. I ended up with a C-section due to her getting stuck in the birth canal. Not doing well with morphine, I stuck to Tylenol for pain afterwards, and we did fine.
As for subsequent children, 2 miscarriages, the 2nd one at 40. Turns out hormones are the reasons. We elected not to continue due to maternal age. We also elected not to pursue another infertility workup. Nothing was found wrong at the first one, and we conceived twice on our own. I've been happy with one child. Its not for lack of trying, we used the same birth control as the Duggars. So, God's plan was for us to have one. Raising an only child is for another blog.
Thanks so much for sharing all this. I appreciate your thoughts and support! My OB said the same thing you did about the Sushi, he actually supported it... I just haven't been brave enough! The time factor/biological clock is definitely there too making this all even more complex, so thank you for sharing on that side of things too. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on an 'only' child too some other time. That's one of the many things that gets under my skin... when folks say with a tone about him being an "only", as you said, it is not for lack of trying ;) and we're trying to accept God's plan.
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