October 2011
Dear Beautiful & Amazing Momma,
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
(Psalms 139:14)
To begin to embrace your pregnancy and the upcoming birth of your new little blessing you must first realize the significance of your own creation. Our Heavenly Father, whom is the creator of all, created you. Yes…you! “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27) The Bible does not say God only created those that would believe in Him. It declares He is the author of everything! “Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” (Nehemiah 9:6) “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31) You are amazing; you are beautiful, you are important! No matter what lies have been fed to you throughout your lifetime you must receive the truth! “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19) Pray and ask God to forgive you for not viewing yourself as the amazing creation that He has formed you to be. Then ask God to help you embrace the truth of your beauty in Him.
Momma, did you know that the first command God gave to man was to have children. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Gen 1:28) Again, God gave this same command after the flood, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” (Genesis 9:1) “And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb,” (Deuteronomy 7:13) God was clear in what he wanted us to do. At that time they did not question God or his direct command, they had walked with God, heard His voice, and survived the destruction of every living thing upon the Earth. In the times we live in today, sadly, most people do not know God enough to rest in these commands. Well, not only did He create you, command you to bring forth children for His glory, but He wants you to understand that He is in control of your womb. Here are some scriptures verifying this truth. Please read them with an open heart! Pray and ask God to reveal the truth to you. “And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.” (Genesis 29:31) “And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.” (Genesis 30:22) Next is one of my favorite scriptures relating to childbearing, it speaks clearly of how intimate the miracle of conception is “And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.” (Gen 21:1)
Not only does God open and close the womb at His discretion, He is like the skillful hands that knit together a spectacular garment. It is beyond our comprehension how a life with mind, body, and soul can be created in the womb. Not long ago in our history we knew nothing scientifically about conception, a baby’s growth in the uterus, and the miracle of birth compared to now. Even still with all the technology that the world has, scientists remain unable to completely figure it all out. Which might I add that I truly love! “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.” (Ecclesiastes 11:5) “Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;” (Isaiah 44:24) “Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?” (Job 31:15) Some things we do know however. Such as the moment one sperm cell from your husband and one tiny egg traveling through your fallopian tube came into contact, your unborn child was conceived. Hormones at this same time began preparing your uterus to be a soft, nourishing environment for the ball of life to nestle and continue to grow. Miraculously, each new cell knows exactly what to do. Some will divide and become the placenta, others the amniotic sac, and each tiny part of your baby. At just forty days from the time of conception, brain waves can be detected. At two months your baby has everything formed and will just continue to grow in size. From the eight week on your little blessing can respond to touch thanks to the wonderful relationship God gave us between our nervous system and muscles. Around three months it will be clear what you are expecting, boy or girl? He or she will even have primitive egg or sperm cells. Your baby sleeps, wakes, breathes, drinks, digests, & secretes amniotic fluid. Amazingly, the vocal cords are complete now and your baby would cry if she could.
“Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:” (Genesis 49:25)
Not only is God the one that opens and closes the womb, it is he that crafted the woman’s body to grow a life within her. There are so many changes in your body that take place while you are pregnant. From the hormones that are released to speak to every part of your being, body systems that restructure their cycles, to the bony structures that know to relax to accommodate the life within you. Like a perfectly engineered masterpiece! If that is not incredible enough God also orchestrates labor and birthing. “But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.” (Psalms 22:9) “I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.” (Psalms 22:10) “By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.” (Psalms 71:6) “Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:” (Isa 46:3) “Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.” (Isa 66:9) “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,” (Gal 1:15)
Your Heavenly Father does not want His child to be tormented with fear. As you seek the best for your child God too desires the best for you. “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) You might not be able to grasp this wonderful promise yet. Pray and ask God to help you rest in his word! “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” (Romans 8:16) “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26) There is no place for fear in childbirth it actually can hinder the birthing process. Think about what you know of the animal kingdom, if there is an impending danger the laboring animal such as the deer will stop labor until it can get to a safer place or the threat passes. Fear can prevent your labor from progressing as it should. How, you might ask? It is similar to the Fight-or-Flight Response in that your sympathetic nervous system controls your bodily functions. Such as increased heart rate, paleness or flushing, slowed digestion, loss of hearing, tunnel vision, effects on the sphincters, inhibited erections in men, relaxation of the bladder, and shakiness to name a few. We must eliminate our fears and there is only so much we can do on our own. It is humanly impossible to overcome them all on our own. We must rely on God to help us! “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18) The birth of your child is just that, your birth, how you experience it will be just as unique as you are. However, there is one thing that will always be true. God is in control! “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Believe in the promises that your birth experience will be exactly as God has intended. “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” (Mark 9:23) “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27) “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mark 14:36)
I pray you will embrace the truth that you are such a beautiful and amazing woman, perfectly created to be a vessel God can use to bring forth children, bringing glory to His name!
God Bless,
Nancy F. Prevatt, RN
