The Beauty When Fear Meets Praise in Birth

Psalms 139:13-14

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

This bible verse is one that can be seen all across different platforms, profiles, and organizations websites that relate to birth. Especially those that lean more toward natural birthing. Because of this widespread and flagrant use of this verse, it begins to hold less and less value to a lot of people, me included. This is why I decided to write about it this week. I want this verse to be understood in the strong context that it was meant to be understood in.

God created every single cell inside our bodies from the very beginning. He knitted us in our mother's womb. I saw a video circulating social media of the nervous system of a baby being formed inside the mother's womb. Now, it was probably AI and didn't have much realistic qualities to it. But watching it happen was almost literally like watching someone knit together a human body. Piece by piece and cell by cell, we are created into one.

Anyone who has struggled with miscarriages knows exactly how delicate the creation of life can truly be. It's awe-inspiring at how many things have to go "correctly" in order for us to bring forth healthy and abundant life. That alone is enough for me to praise him and know that God is in fact real, and it takes great faith in him from the very beginning.

It was through my struggles of miscarriage that I learned to fully submit and put my faith into God, especially in the aspects of becoming a mother. There are so many unknown things when it comes to creating life, bringing fourth life, and nourishing life. It can be incredibly overwhelming. I did let the emotions override my faith many times through my journey of being and becoming a mother. But my husband always re-assured me, and reminded me to praise him at all moments. Find one thing to praise him for, and to draw closer to him. That, maybe infact through my struggles, God is just trying to call me closer into our relationship with one another.

I carried my praise over into my own labor and birth, along with my husband's help. Our mantra as a family, as our second little boy was making his way into this world was "THANK YOU JESUS!" I repeated it in my head, many times and it seemed like almost every time I forgot to keep praising him, I could hear my husband behind me whispering, "thank you Jesus".

"Praise him because we are fearfully and wonderfully made". In the depths of labor, when I couldn't seem to reach my head above the waters and the waves of contractions, I praised him. Because I am WITHOUT FEAR that I am WONDERFULLY MADE!!!