Emotional: Brian and I both look forward to meeting Bennett so much. We get awed and moved and thrilled at the very thought of it.
Spiritual: I’ve been in prayer for Bennett over the grim reality that he’s being born into a broken world. One of the areas where I am naturally strongest in showing love is my fiercely defensive and protective nature. Our family has displayed this quality for as long as I can remember and it’s well engrained in my blood.
As much as I want to protect him from the more obvious pitfalls of this world, I also worry about the subtle ones. I mean… who would have ever thought that my greatest temptation to wander away from Christ wouldn’t have been carnal relationships or drug abuse, etc., but my disappointment with the Christians with whom I had surrounded myself? And not just me, but I’ve seen so many wounded souls turn from Christ with the intention of protecting themselves from pain they’ve experienced within the church community. So this morning, I prayed against that for Bennett.
Not only do I want to protect him from that, but I pray that I can have the self-control to guard my own words and actions so that I might never be the catalyst for Bennett to become jaded to the love of Christ. What a terrifying thought and weight!
Mental: Once again I’m recalculating my predicted due date. I have a feeling that many mothers-to-be go through this (especially if they know when conception occurred). A friend told me that she had her own secret due date in the back of her head for all three of her pregnancies; so I feel like I’ve been given “permission” to do the same. It’s not that I expect Bennett to arrive on a particular day; I’d just like to be able to observe my body’s handling of this pregnancy with a greater understanding of how early is early and how late is late. My midwives have comfortably settled on Halloween as the due date. We shall see.
Physical: While I thought that my tummy sleeping days were over, I was actually quite wrong. It’s hard to explain, but with the generous use of pillows, I’m kinda a side/tummy sleeper… mostly.
Another pair of pants bit the dust this week as I realized that they seemed unflatteringly snug in the hips/thighs. Thank goodness for friends who have passed their maternity clothes on for me to pillage.
Bennett moves a lot (especially in church). Not only is it distracting and lovely to feel him, but more and more I’m SEEING my belly bump around. (I wish you could have witnessed Brian’s face the first time that he noticed. Let’s just say that I think he’s seen too many alien movies.) The television screen is mostly never on as we’ve just taken to watching my belly instead. (Much fewer commercials anyhow.)
And we took this pic last Friday. July has been an explosive month. I’m told he’s the size of an eggplant. š
You are adorable and your excitement, fear and confusion are all totally natural. Cherish these moments for they are beautiful and magical blessings from our Father. Have a great day an I will see you tomorrow š
You look beautiful and the love, awe, amazement and adoration on Brian’s face is beautiful to behold.
Love the look on Brian’s face. š
Your haircut is very flattering. š
I have my own date in mind. š
I have a date in mind too. Hint: my Sept 29 appointment will probably be one of your last before Bennett arrives.
We need to have a date pool.
Your tummy is just so cute! I can’t believe how much it has grown in two weeks!
You won’t be able to protect Bennett from people who are hurtful of any race or religion. You will give him the substantive upbringing to have a strong sense of self and this trait will carry him through much pain and suffering.
You make me remember so well those days of lying on my back and just watching my tummy look like a rowboat, rocking and rolling to and fro. Even though I had two girls, they were VERY entertaining!
A date pool would be fun!
I agree a date pool would be fun. Also, Melody in case I forgot to say it earlier, I enjoyed meeting you several weeks ago.
Looooove that pic of Brian looking at Bennett move.