03 March: Lent, Advent, pregnancy, and weighting. (Jen)

Now that we're a good way through Lent, I'll finally write down some of what I've been thinking about: Lent, Advent, and Pregnancy are (lengthy!) times for preparation, learning to wait, and strengthening our desire for deliverance. In them, we realize that we cannot and do not will to do what we ought. We are too weak. In short, we need to be delivered. That word, delivery, is pregnant with meaning. Forgive the puns, but the more I read these words, the more I love them -- how fruitful their usage might be, if we only knew them! I used to think of "being delivered" only in the sense of needing "to be delivered from our sins." This limited understanding has really impoverished my readings of Scripture, of poetry, and what happens in human reproduction. In September, when I (hopefully!) deliver, I will not only be delivered of a heavy burden, but I will deliver to my eager husband and family another one of them. I will deliver to the earth its priest. As Creation moans to be delivered, I will deliver one to it whose vocation is to voice Creation's praise of its Creator. My prayer is that our son (yes, we both want a son really badly!!) or daughter will grow in love of our Deliverer, that his life will be a long Advent in which he prepares himself and Christ's bride, learns faithful patience, and desires more than anything else to behold the beauty of the Lord. Ben and I (and our family and friends!) are now one-third of the way through the waiting, and there are clues all over and in me that our waiting is not in vain -- there will be a child. Father, make us ready for our delivery. Make these next 6 months fruitful. And may Your kingdom come soon! Amen.  

 

A week after we found out we were pregnant, I started weighing myself every two weeks. That was Week 6. Now that we're into Week 12, I decided to weigh myself this morning. I've lost half a pound. How is this possible?! My body is, in all ways, larger than it has ever been before. And Ben and I have started taking long evening strolls together at least 5 nights a week. I don't think the walks can account for my weight loss, but at least they might mean that my weight loss isn't due to muscle loss...? For the first time in... well, at least ten years, I've stared eating buttered toast every morning; I've been consuming at least one avocado per day; I just finished a 750-gram container of "Mediterranean" style yogurt (18g of fat/serving); we eat homemade pizza at least once a week; and I try to eat not only when I'm hungry, but when I think I should be hungry! I guess I am doing a lot of work making this baby, and making my body bigger...? Maybe it's all the water I've been drinking lately...