Does anyone else out there feel the pressure our culture has put on pregnancy and preparing for a baby?
From the perfect social media picture to announce your pregnancy to the gender reveal parties. From the pottery barn impeccable nursery to designer diaper bags. From the perfect stroller car seat duo to the best bump pictures. From looking and feeling beautiful the whole 9 months to the best birth story, the best way to feed your child, and I could go on and on and on.
Now don’t get me wrong–some of these we have to address and know about, but overall our culture has made an idol over the way we look on the outside as we prepare and bring a baby into this world.
Why aren’t we focusing on the fact that, although we may not be looking the best or have everything together, God is knitting together a precious SOUL for us to nurture–someone that has great eternal significance? Why not focus on the fact that everything which has value in life takes really hard work, including the building of a little human being?
Why aren’t we focusing on preparing ourselves in prayer and godly wisdom on how to prepare our hearts, our prayer lives and our marriages?
Why aren’t we asking more older women how they did it–how they raised godly children that are making an impact for Christ? I guarantee you they aren’t going to say it’s because they breastfeed or had a gorgeous nursery, but because they constantly sought the Lord for wisdom and depended on Him to give them abundant life in the process.
In fact, I’ve heard from many older women who have say they wouldn’t want to have raised kids in this Pinterest-pressured world of motherhood.
It all boils down to our hearts. We can have everything prepared on the outside, but if we aren’t taking more effort and time to prepare for the life that we are responsible to nurture and grow then we have lost our priorities.
A baby, a pregnancy, an adoption, it’s about a precious life.
Lord, change ME to desire more of your life in me than how I portray the way I look on the outside.
