Giving birth is on my mind on the eve of my daughter’s 21st birthday. She is about to become a legal adult and all I can think about is her birth. I also have two beautiful nieces who are pregnant, so they are on my mind, too. A friend at work just became a grandmother for the first time and another friend there just had her first baby sixth months ago. One of the bridesmaids in my daughter’s wedding in May just gave birth the other day and I saw the beautiful baby girl’s picture on facebook. If life can be compared to the metaphor of a game, becoming a mother is a game changer, no doubt! But it is the most wonderful game in the world even at its most challenging moments. Long ago, when it was my turn, I wrote a poem, more of a prayer, and I offer it for all the mothers I know:
Mother-To-Be, A Prayer
LIFE churns within her body.
Ever so slowly, in silence and darkness,
by God’s miraculous handiwork,
a babe forms.
Though the child is not yet whole,
waiting for tiny fingers and toes,
she knows of its presence,
of the miracle inside.
Weary, her body yearns for more sleep.
Drained, she fights for energy
to perform simple chores.
Struggling, her body changes to prepare
for the Birth of LIFE.
She succumbs to bittersweet feelings
of joy and sickness.
Deep within smolders fear,
that the strength needed
to bear the innocent will falter;
that the patience and endurance
needed to love and care for a newborn,
will waver.
At times her fear overshadows the joy of LIFE,
stealing the quiet assurance of faith,
darkening the light of hope.
Restore to her Creator of LIFE, Giver of LOVE,
strength and peace.
Help her bring forth with faith and hope
the miracle of her child,
sweet and innocent,
needing mother’s tender love.
Snippets and Snatches 