The past seven months of pregnancy have flown by. I can hardly believe there are just a few more weeks until we get to meet our child! I am filled with thoughts about what kind of person our baby will be. Will he or she be athletic? A book worm? A class clown? Will our child look like me or more like my husband? These are all questions I ask myself every day as I feel our child kick or move.
One thing that has surprised me about this pregnancy is how we decided not to find out the gender of our child. At first I thought I would need to know as soon as possible! I need to prepare! The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that finding out the gender wasn't the most important aspect of this pregnancy. It would be fun to know to create the perfect nursery, buy the perfect clothing, and come up with the perfect name, but in reality none of that has any real significance. I tend to focus too much on perfection. In in this small way, not knowing the gender is helping me to learn to accept whatever it is that's coming my way.
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| Ultrasound Picture, Second Trimester |
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| Our baby's foot! |
When people ask us if we are having a boy or a girl I am usually met with people's opinions on our decision...
"That is so great!"
"What a fun surprise!"
"I don't know how you could not know!" And my personal favorite,
"But how will you know what clothes to buy?"
The response I receive the most though is
"Well it doesn't matter as long as it's healthy!"
I have come to cringe at that response. It's not that I don't wish for a healthy child, or grieve when I have friends who go through disease or illness with their young children. It's just that have come to resent the thought that the health of a child is what matters most. I have had the pleasure of knowing families who have wonderful children who are not "healthy" by today's standards. Some are born with disabilities, or special needs. Some are born too early, with lungs or hearts that are not fully developed or working properly. Some have even lost their children moments after they have entered our world.
I understand why people say that. Everyone wants their child to have the best chance at living life to the fullest, but I believe that God has given us children for his plans and purposes. There is nothing we can do to but to accept the life that he has entrusted into our care. Our job as parents is to love them well, regardless of any other factor. If my child doesn't have ten fingers and ten toes we will still choose to love him or her. If he or she has a disability, I will celebrate in the unique way God has made them. I will learn to lean on God no matter what he gives our child, no matter what situations surround his or her birth and young life.
This lesson has really been impressed on my heart, which is probably good to learn now, before our child enters this world. I don't know what God's plan for us or our child is, but regardless, the most important thing is that we will get through whatever comes our way through faith and reliance on Him before anything else.
"Well it doesn't matter as long as it's healthy!"
I have come to cringe at that response. It's not that I don't wish for a healthy child, or grieve when I have friends who go through disease or illness with their young children. It's just that have come to resent the thought that the health of a child is what matters most. I have had the pleasure of knowing families who have wonderful children who are not "healthy" by today's standards. Some are born with disabilities, or special needs. Some are born too early, with lungs or hearts that are not fully developed or working properly. Some have even lost their children moments after they have entered our world.
I understand why people say that. Everyone wants their child to have the best chance at living life to the fullest, but I believe that God has given us children for his plans and purposes. There is nothing we can do to but to accept the life that he has entrusted into our care. Our job as parents is to love them well, regardless of any other factor. If my child doesn't have ten fingers and ten toes we will still choose to love him or her. If he or she has a disability, I will celebrate in the unique way God has made them. I will learn to lean on God no matter what he gives our child, no matter what situations surround his or her birth and young life.
This lesson has really been impressed on my heart, which is probably good to learn now, before our child enters this world. I don't know what God's plan for us or our child is, but regardless, the most important thing is that we will get through whatever comes our way through faith and reliance on Him before anything else.
