She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”
-Proverbs 31:25-29
I sat by the shady playscape with a dear friend. We talked summer plans, parenting, and adoption.
Somehow, this conversation pulled my mind back to the days when my belly swelled with life, unplanned and overwhelming. I never expected to have three boys in twenty-seven months, but God had His plans and my life swirled in the tide of His lordship.
For some reason, people feel like it’s some sort of joke to see you pregnant like that, pushing a shopping cart with a little one in an infant carrier and a toddler squawking for more Cheerios. Strangers and acquaintances wryly ask things like “Don’t you know how this works yet?”
Or they act like being pregnant without planning to be is something you shouldn’t admit to; as if there is a curse on a baby that came simply as a result of marital love and God’s own holy will.
If being pregnant *again*, or *too soon*, or *at a bad time* is weighing you down under the waves of life, you aren’t the first woman to feel that way.
Even though there may be some hard days, some complications, or some confusing and exhausting consequences in your path, a great number of unexpected babies have come and brought a deeper joy, blessing, and beauty to the world than can be documented in any book.
Embracing the scary storms of life doesn’t mean you stay there in the throws of darkness.
This battle of hoping, trusting, and enduring in faith comes in many different forms in life, and learning its lessons now is the best course of action.
Sitting at the park, all these years later, brothers who are best friends play and run, yell and laugh, fight and delight in the life God has given them. And here on this bench sits their mama, who is better because the grace of their lives has opened her heart up to a deep and tender love.
She works to embrace the trials and joys of today, and laughs at the days to come. There is a great deal planned, and most of it will be beautifully unexpected….
