Giving Birth -

So this pregnancy has been a very significant one for me. While they were all special in their own way, this one is different. I have felt from early on that this physical pregnancy and birth was spiritually paralleled. I feel, and have been given more than one word, that I am pregnant with ministry. The thing about being pregnant (with anything) is that you can't rush it. You have to wait until everything is developed. Being pregnant with ministry is the same way. You can't rush it. It will not come to pass until everything, (your character, integrity, etc.) is ready. Just like with a baby, if it comes too early there are things that could not be developed fully and the baby may mature at a slower rate, trying to catch up.

I have more to do at my home that I ever have. I have more kids, more laundry, more love to give out, etc. I have more to do at church than I ever have. More with prayer, more with women's ministry, more with life groups, more with BFW, more with writing etc. I have been more tired and stretched than ever. My faith is being stretched, my capacity to hold is being stretched. So, I am at the end of this and this is what I have found.

Being stretch, both physically and spiritually is hard. But if you want to contain something that will live past you it is necessary.

Pregnancy is the easy part, both physically and spiritually. It doesn't feel like it at the time, but there is an end to pregnancy. There is no end to growing up children or ministry.

I remember with every baby wanting so bad to go into labor and then it would start and I would remember how bad it would hurt and I wondered why I was in such a hurry.

After all the labor and crying and pushing is done, you realize you would do it again in a heartbeat.

What I have seen the most is that this isn't just for me. I have seen a stretching and a wrestling in a lot of people. It has made me want to hold up the arms of the women around me but i have found myself to be so totally self involved in my stretching that I haven't done it. But I will say this.

Brandi - You are not forgotten. God sees you and loves you and Miles. You are being stretched and pulled at. Go to the high place with the Lord, everything looks different from up there.

Jennifer - I don't know what is going on with you but God loves you and has not forsaken you. You are not a disappointment or a failure. You can rely on God and the people He has put around you.

Trish - God is bringing you to a new place. You have been stretched and pulled on. Embrace this new birth.

Monica - You are at the end of your own decade long pregnancy. You can finish strong. You are doing what you were created to do. Don't be overwhelmed.

Becky - You are right where God wants you. Throw yourself into this process. God is good and He wants the very best for you and for Bryan.

Ashlee - You are having your own labor pains far away from this body. You were created to give birth. You were created to be fruitful and to multiply. And you will, both physically and spiritually.

Cherith - You are pregnant with a new baby and lots of responsibility. You can do it. You won't be overwhelmed. You will rise to the occasion. You were designed to hold a lot.

Pam - You are also about to birth a 39 year old man out of your house and into His studio. It won't be long and it will all have been worth it.

Rachel - God is birthing ministry ideas, but more importantly He is stretching you in the area of your family. You will respond yes Lord. You will not resist. You will find at the end of the labor, you would do it again.

Mom - You are pregnant with ministry and art. At just the right time it will come. You are in the preparation phase right now. It won't be long.

Anyone else I didn't name specifically, sorry. Just know that whatever God is putting in you or calling out of you, He won't leave you. He is good and that is all I know to say. We all have something of value that needs to be birthed out of us. Let's see the big picture.


Romans 8:18 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.