How Painful Are Labor Pains?

So we had a baby a couple months ago (thus the shortage of blog posts lately) and while preparing for labor I asked God to give me a word of encouragement that I could meditate/focus on during the delivery process.  I expected a standard "I can do all things through Christ" verse or a great quote about strength or peace etc. But what He gave me was Romans 8. And I prayed about it a lot and it was very clear: memorize and think on Romans 8:18-25.  So these are those verses:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Now I will spare you the long drawn out birth story, but I was in non-medicated labor for 30 hours. And believe it or not, there were actually a couple times where I was lucid enough to call these verses to mind and in those moments God gave me such insight into these truths which I thought I would share.


So think that God tells us "all of creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now". Flowers that fade and mountains that crumble... parched deserts and weary lands... animals that starve and humans that hurt. Creation feels PAIN, the kind of pain as a woman giving birth. That is how much we need and are longing for Christ.

Being in labor is extremely painful, yes. There came a point where contractions were every five minutes and we were 24 hours into it and I seriously wanted to give up. It was too much pain for too long and it hadn't produced any results: still not dilated, still no baby.  However, call me crazy,I would say I have had migraines that have been worse pain and this is why: Labor pains never made me cry. It never created pain that brought me to tears because I KNEW it had a purpose.  It wasn't just a straight miserable pain like a migraine or what I imagine breaking a leg would be, but it was working towards *something* (an adorable baby!) Unlike when I have had really bad migraines, migraines HAVE brought me to tears, because they seem purposeless and I feel beyond miserable, seriously have thought I might die, wretchedly unhappy and pretty much hopeless. [Note: I now know the best medicine to take and when to take it so migraines are not this severe for me anymore in case you were worried about me ;-) ] So what does this teach me about God?

 Well, I think it has application when we think of cancer and hurricanes and genocide-these are horrible and painful and it is helpful to think they are serving a purpose. These are labor pains needed to produce a New Heaven and New Earth.  But one step further-think about it in context of good things! All this time where we live here on earth in our happy little lives thinking what a great job or house or family or hobby we have-this is birth pangs too. All the breathtaking sunsets and beautiful snowfalls-this is groaning! Isn't that crazy to think?  Because really, if you dig deep into these things, aren't they all broken on some level? A great job has it's crappy days, a beautiful house deteriorates, a family has strife, a sunset fades and the glistening snow melts. They are evidences of aching...teaching us to hope for what we do not see.

  And at the end of the day what is so great about this analogy is that it's saying life is not a purposeless pain but rather purposeFUL. We are not being tormented and suffering needlessly, but our suffering is producing perseverance and hope (Romans 5) and at the end, like the reward of a newborn baby produced from labor, our reward will be adoption into God's family and the redemption of our body. 

I've just never thought about life on earth as the equivalent of groaning and birth pangs. I tend to see the bright side of things and I get caught up in the idolatry of loving my life on earth sometimes.  And now that I've experienced birth pangs, it's kind of amazing to contemplate.  I know that not everyone will experience childbirth in their lives so I wanted to try to put this in words to hopefully share an insight that helps you see something new and cool about God's amazing plan.  

And here's a gratuitous baby picture to remind you of God's purposes :)

The Gaps

More and more studies are coming out that social media status updates give us a distorted, unrealistically positive view of our friends' lives and this in turn negatively affects how we feel about our own lives.

(this photo cracks me up by the way...profile pic anyone? hahaha)

When all we see are posts about engagements, job promotions, babies, new houses and new cars, it can definitely leave us feeling depressed, jealous and/or unsatisfied after just a few minutes on Facebook. (see full article here at http://news.menshealth.com/facebook-self-esteem/2012/02/12/)

But I guarantee if you were to pick up the phone and talk to that friend or co-worker, a new puppy and a tropical vacation are not the only things going on in his/her life. They have crappy stuff going on just like you and I do.

But "Headache all day. My cat puked on my couch and I got a speeding ticket for $200"  just doesn't tend to make for a great status update that people will "like" or want to keep in touch with you about.

Photos and status updates can skew our perspectives of our own reality and our friends realities. There's a quote from the movie Just Married that says "You never see the hard times in a photo album, but those are the ones that get you from one happy snapshot to the next." THIS IS SO TRUE.

While you are conetmplating this, I want to share with you about "The Gaps".

(this is the Gap logo and I altered it just for this blog article, original photo credit goes to GAP.)

 I attended a conference a couple years ago where the speaker ( I can't remember her name unfortunately) put forth the idea of "The Gaps" of life and it has stuck with me ever since. The premise is this:

We have a plan for our lives... a "script"...full of expectations and goals for ourselves that we think are surely the way things should be.  We tend to treat God like an actor in the script we've written and tell Him how we think He should act and what He should do to fulfill His part in our story. (Dear God, Please do "abc" and make "xyz" happen. Amen) Our script, more often than not, is based on a collaboration of movies, fairy tales and unrealistic expectations and Jesus is an extra as needed. (You know the idea- college degree at 22, perfectly in shape and happily married at 25, at the top of my career in a job I love at 27, amazing house and dream car at 28, beautiful brilliant children and dog by 30 etc.)

(from The Joneses movie)

  When God doesn't stick to our script a.k.a. life doesn't go as planned, we tend to not understand and be angry, depressed etc. We find ourselves stuck in the space between our desires and our reality and thus we are living in the GAP. And the thing that struck me most about this is...
The Gaps of our lives are Holy Places.
 God is in the Gaps and His Grace is sufficient for us, His power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, rather than trying to push through or avoid the Gaps, if we embrace living in this place then Jesus can become our Hero...not just an "extra" in the Script of your life. For truly, He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith in the first place.  He is writing the greatest story ever told.

So with all this in mind, I have been hesitant to post much on Facebook lately, and specifically I have held off on our pregnancy announcement because I wanted to share all these thoughts here first.  

I know so many of us are living in The Gaps. I have friends that thought they would be married by now and aren't, that wan't to have children and can't, that had a career all planned out and are sitting home unemployed.  We get lost in status updates about vacations, marriages, promotions and pregnancies while living in the GAPS of divorce, infertility, unemployment and loneliness.  We have financial burdens, emotional heartaches and physical ailments that are hard, and real, and I just want to acknowledge these realities to you my friends that I know our lives ARE hard and they ARE real.  My life is not perfect. I have been in scary, horrible Gaps of life and I thank God everyday He DID meet me in those places and carry me through.  And Husband and I are grateful to be in a sweet chapter of our lives where by the grace of God we are healthy and our marriage is strong and we are expecting our first baby in the fall.  But just know that if this is bittersweet for you because as much as you are happy for your friends joys, you feel so alone in a Gap that you never wanted to be your reality, my heart is with you, and my prayers are with you, and I can promise you, it won't always be this hard.  Your story may end up looking different than you planned, but it has been filtered through God's hands

and He TRULY does work all things together for good for those who are the called according to His purpose.  Trust in His goodness and His purposes and may you have new perspective as you walk in this chapter of your life. I pray that you will find living in the Gaps to be Holy Ground for you.

My New Friend Victor

This video was the most beautiful showing of grace I experienced this week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvP_SPw7Mwo It is 12 minutes that I think you will find more than worth your time. Victor went to my church. I never had the privilege to meet Victor in person but I look forward to getting to know him in heaven.  I think we will be fast friends.  I love his calm, strong presence in the face of adversity. I love the freckles on his nose and his big grin.  I love his heart for his friends and family.  What a beautiful soul he has. Thank you God for showing us a glimpse of the beauty of Christ and all that it means to Hope in the Lord in the young life of Victor. I hope Victor and I get to be friends someday.  I hope you will get to meet him someday too. Love and prayers to the Watters family.

Introductions

So what’s with “Grace Gallery”? What does that mean? Well, Grace can be a couple things: elegance and beauty of movement, form, expression, or proportion, as well as, the free and unmerited favour of God shown towards man. A gallery, generally,  is an art display.


I wanted to create a place to display the abundant grace I see in my life-both the day to day beauty of the art that is life as well as the spiritual grace God gives (which is pretty much the same thing in my book anyway).

I love quotes, as you will quickly discover. Here is a compilation of the thoughts and quotes that came together to create “The Grace Gallery”.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain”-Paul, in a letter to the Corinthians

God is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in Him.-John Piper, (my pastor!)

Let’s live on purpose.-John, my husband

People see God everyday, they just don’t recognize Him.-Pearl Bailey

Add some sugar and spice and everything nice, mix well, let it sit overnight and ta-da! The Grace Gallery.