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expectant
I’m not a mother myself, though I still hope to be someday. Even without the benefit of personal experience, I can never separate the word “expectant” from the adventure of childbirth. To me, it’s the perfect picture of all that word entails. Everything from joyful anticipation to anxious apprehension; the bliss and the discomfort; the excitement, pain, inconvenience, and hope; all of it is rolled up into that precious, holy season. Of course, this idea is not original to me. It’s woven into the story of Scripture from beginning to end. Over and over, God speaks to His people in terms of the cycle of life: growth and death, rebirth…
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From Barrenness to Birth
I feel a deep affinity for the barren women Scripture holds up to the light. While their childless state was obvious to all, the weight of unmet longing in their hearts could be fully shared by no one. Surely they tried to be content, knowing themselves to be loved by their husbands, cherished by their God … or believing themselves to be, if not quite feeling it. What they felt instead was surely inadequacy, unworthiness, an inability to participate successfully in this vital female role. After all, their value in society was determined by their ability to bear children. Without an understanding of biological processes such as we have today,…
