Right now, my gait is more like a waddle. I can no longer see my toes when I stand up, and if something drops to the ground, it’s dead to me.
The definition of love that my college Bible professor gave me has taken on new meaning during my pregnancy: Love is purposing the good of another.
Right now, everything about my body is purposing my baby’s good—regardless of my own comfort or lack thereof. During the pregnancy period, God teaches us moms to give up our interests for our baby and sets the tone for the rest of our lives as mothers.
The short version: This life is not about me. I must die to my own desires to benefit someone else.
I know this reality, and I’m grateful for this season because I know each restless night brings me one day closer to meeting my baby who is an answer to my husband’s and my prayers. Sometimes, though, it’s hard not to complain a little about:
- Waking up upwards of six times a night
- Inability to get comfortable and rest well
- Fear of the unknown
- The physical toll and discomfort of pregnancy
My baby is a love story in the making: eight months, going on the rest of my life. I have much to learn about loving sacrificially. Pregnancy has made me appreciate more God’s ultimate love story—and maybe these reminders will be helpful to you too.
Jesus’ Love Story: A Model for Our Own
God perfectly designed the woman’s body to accommodate new life (though thanks to the Fall, some things don’t always go well).
On the other hand, Jesus, God the Father’s Son, is God incarnate. In order for Him to redeem fallen humankind, He had to “put off” His true nature and take on the form of mortal man (Philippians 2:5-11). While still remaining fully God, He also became fully man.
There was no “What to Expect” book for Him and no support group to cry to when things got weird. He could only run to His Father in prayer, which He did again and again.
Sometimes, pregnancy feels lonely. Although I’ve been blessed with friends who are also pregnant at the same time as me, we all have busy lives and aren’t always free to catch-up. And though my husband is a wonderful listener, he’s never walked this road before, and sometimes, a woman just wants to know someone else understands the symptoms she’s going through.
But Jesus’ loneliness must have been off the charts. No one—not even his parents—really understood Him and His purpose. Yet He went through the humiliation of becoming human for you and for me, putting our good above His own.
- He spent many sleepless nights with the Father in prayer (Luke 6:12).
- He had no earthly home where He could rest (Matthew 8:20).
- He well knew the agony ahead of Him—and accepted it anyway (Matthew 26:39).
- The physical toll of our salvation ravaged His body from torture, ended in death, and put Him in a tomb (Matthew 27). But praise God, He didn’t stay there.
A Prayer for Loving Well
Because we’re human, we all have our complaints and our failings, regardless of our season of life. But I am so grateful for Jesus’ example that reminds us what real love looks like and challenges us to follow His example.
Dear Jesus, thank you for showing me what true love is. I will never be able to model it perfectly, but please give me the courage, wisdom, and grace to follow Your example and love those You have entrusted to me—even at my personal expense. Amen.
Kristen Hogrefe Parnell writes suspenseful fiction from a faith perspective for teens and adults. Her own suspense story involved waiting on God into her thirties to meet her husband, and she desires to keep embracing God’s plan for her life when it’s not what she expects. She also teaches English online and is an inspirational speaker for schools, churches, and podcasts. Her young adult dystopian novels, The Revisionary and The Reactionary, both won the Selah for speculative fiction, and her first romantic suspense novel with Mountain Brook Ink releases this December. Kristen and her husband live in Florida and are excited to welcome their first baby in August. Connect with her at KristenHogrefeParnell.com.
Her diploma has barely begun to collect dust when Tori Bones’ career falls apart and leaves her working three part-time jobs to pay the bills. But her latest Wizard of Oz costume party puts more Ben Franklins in her bag than she bargained for, and now, she’s tracking down who put the money there and who stole it. Can she catch the thieving duo wreaking havoc on wealthy Beech Mountain estates and find fresh purpose for herself?
