I’ve been fighting the stomach bug for the last two days, but I think it has passed. It came on suddenly Monday afternoon. For the first hours, I could tell something wasn’t right. I knew something was coming, so I was waiting for the virus to hit with full force. And then it did. One piece of toast, a small cup of applesauce, and cups of room temp 7-Up later, I think I’m on the other side of it.
To wait for something bad is “dread,” but to wait with excitement and anticipation of something wonderful is to be “expectant.”
“Expectant” calls to mind a mom-to-be waiting anxiously for nine months while God grows a baby inside of her, but moms enter motherhood in other ways too. Some wait for years in hopeful expectation of an adopted child they have prayed and prepared for. Others enter in through foster care, sacrificing certainty for loving. When a woman is expectant, it says as much about her heart as it does about her body.
Several years ago, Jeff and I were serving with a group of young couples we called “Honeymooners.” None of them had children at the time, but all had expectant hearts about their lives together and their future families. One by one they began their journeys of parenting, each couple finding their own path laid out for them by a loving heavenly Father who knows them best. For a while, it seemed like every week was an announcement of new birth or new plans. Pain and disappointment and grief found their way in, and we walked through those hard times together, still expectant that all things work together for good and that the God who makes life also heals hearts. Two-door college vehicles began to be traded in for mini-vans, conversations started to shift to talk about hopes, meals took on new requirements, and bodies began to change. As babies and children grew, so did the moms.
In that season together, I began to write devotions to give to “my girls,” inspirations they can read in the middle of the night, in the doctor’s office, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, or back in the office. They invited me in to answer questions, share their hearts, pray together, and anticipate with them. I want to encourage and uplift them with God’s truth for the “something wonderful” that is coming along with their arrival into motherhood. 40 Devotions were born out of my heart for them, and as the devotions grew, my own heart became Expectant.
Those sweet moms-to-be inspired me, and Expectant was born.
In honor of Mother’s Day I will be releasing my very first eBook, a collection of devotions for new and expectant moms of all kinds, called Expectant.
As if I’m waiting for labor to begin or an adoption call to come, my own writer-mom’s heart is nervously awaiting seeing my “baby” and sharing her with the world. I hope you’ll love her! I hope you’ll love her name! I hope you’ll embrace her and welcome her. After all, whether we have children of our own or not, every woman knows what it is to be Expectant.
Expectant is due to be released on Sunday, May 5th … but you know how due dates can be 😉
See what other moms and authors are saying with a sneak peek at the still growing page for Expectant. I’ll share more next week during a Launch Week, and there will be a fun contest to enter (details tomorrow!). And if you would, please introduce Expectant to your friends and family.
From a heart waiting with excitement and anticipation of something wonderful,
