Waiting for a baby

We try to comprehend what it was like to wait for a king.  For thousands of years.
How Israel was given a promise of God who would be with them.  But then it seemed the promise was void.
How this person would be from Bethlehem.
His given names were powerful like Mighty.
They were waiting perhaps at times patiently for a King that would bring Peace.

And then He came as a fragile baby.  What irony!

I wait for babies with mothers.  There are hopes in the eyes of each mother and father to be.  They have dreams for their child.  They know where the baby will be born.  It seems like the waiting is years and not months.

And then the day arrives.  Usually not when expected.   We marvel at the health of the baby and yet the child's frailty is evident.

We pause to relish in the joy of a new born baby.  This Christmas will be different for the families I have shared a first birth with in this past year of 2011.  It's different for me for me too.  Perhaps mothers and fathers will begin to see Christmas in a different light.

The wonder of a child's birth has been a stepping stone to the wonder of the baby in the manger.

Baby love

I am always on the lookout for a good movie about birth.  In 2008 The Business of Being Born documentary by Ricki Lake was a success.  I've watched it at least three times.

But hidden in that same year was another documentary about birth in America.  Consider watching Pregnant in America.  It's a great watch.  It has many of the same great supporters of better outcomes in the US sharing research statistics.  I liked following the producers story he and his wifes first child's birth. He also includes some random "on the street" interviews like Ricki did.

  

I'll be there for you....musings number one

The sky is dark.  The kind of darkness that comes when no one is awake.  I see the moon sometimes.  Other nights I find there are stars to guide my way.

I've been slipping away in the darkness for several years.  I often return home before my family is awake again.  Other times I find myself living in this focused zone for hours and hours and hours.

I perhaps have the chance to live like Mary did when she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  I wait for weeks, days, moments for the time when a mother will want my presence.

The anticipation can seep into every breath I take.  It's a different kind of hope.  Perhaps similiar to what Mary felt as she waited to support her living relative.  I never know when a call will really come.  We have some kinds of dates, but they are just estimated.

And so I wait and I pray.  I'm ready.  I'll be there for you.



This momma blogger has some insight on it too.