What were you doing 20 years ago? I know we weren’t shopping in Cyber Monday, because that didn’t start until 2005. I know exactly what I was doing. I was a first grade teacher in Waverly, Pennsylvania, and I was an expectant mother the size of a Volkswagen. When I pressed my fingers in my ankles, I left deep impressions. I was 34 weeks pregnant and determined to make it until Christmas break. I did, but on the morning of New Years Day, my pregnancy and my expectations came to a screeching halt. Because of God’s miraculous intervention, we came home sometime in January with our beautiful first child JoHanna.
Motherhood turned out to be a lot different than I expected, but so much more than I hoped for.
Becoming a mother changes who you are. Even though you long for it and generations of women went before you, it’s not necessarily an easy transition. One of the first things to fall away are the expectations. Long before stretch marks fade or a good night’s sleep returns, reality sets in. From then on, a mother crawls prayerfully along the road of raising a child. I am a better woman because God has tutored me in the school of motherhood.
Jeff and I spent a season with a sweet group of young couples who were just building around the cornerstones of their lives together. As the older, more experienced couple in the group, we loved listening to their stories unfolding as they learned to live as one. Eventually, their desires to grow their families took root. One by one, they looked towards parenting. Every one was expectant. No one had any idea what lie ahead. We remembered, and so as their singular stories were written, we rejoiced, prayed, cried, and waited with them. As each family took their own path, the moms-to-be asked questions, shared needs, and chatted over coffees. They grew, personally and physically, and babies were born and fostered and lost and adopted and hoped for.
Every mother knows what it is to be expectant.
Devotions for Expectant mothers
Today my collection of devotions, inspired by and written for real moms, is finally being delivered. You may remember it was released as an eBook in May of 2013. Now EXPECTANT has been modified, given a new look, and brought into the world by Hallway Publishing. As with most new arrivals, it is slightly overdue, but so welcome!
Features EXPECTANT still includes:
- 40 Devotions
- Sections about You, Other Grown-Ups, the Baby, and Your New Normal
- Help & encouragement about physical, spiritual, & relational changes
- Scripture and Biblical wisdom for every new mom’s real needs
- Questions to use with a friend, partner, or small group
EXPECTANT is now available on Amazon (as a new eBook or paperback) and Barnes & Noble in paperback. I hope it will find its way onto the nightstands, diaper bags, and small group tables of many new moms and expectant mothers. I’m praying it will be an encouragement to those anticipating motherhood, and those getting their groove on in the baby and toddler years.
I feel like you’re meeting my new baby! I hope you love her. Dear readers, please meet EXPECTANT.
Julie, I am so very excited for you. God is going to do an amazing work in the lives of young Mom’s through Expectant! So happy for you my friend!
Thank you so much Mary. I’m praying God will do exactly that. I’m so grateful for your support and encouragement!