The Birth

It's not easy giving birth. Actually it's downright terrifying the first time around. Thankfully, I was born in the 20th century, and even in the developing country where I gave birth to my first child, modern medicine was available and an epidural was an option. I availed myself of all options.

To be fair, it's not easy for the one being born either. My firstborn had a hard time. He was posterior, facing the wrong way, and got stuck. Poor thing. I could have felt sorry for him, if I wasn't concentrating so hard myself.

(Disclaimer: Shut your eyes if you're the squeamish type.) The nurses actually had to climb up on the table, grab my stomach, and turn him over. I'm sure that technique hasn't been practiced in U.S. hospitals for a while, but it worked. He had a few dents and bumps and a cute little conehead for a few weeks, but none the worse for wear. It's amazing how resilient babies are.

Yet it was almost as if he didn't want to be born. He might have been thinking, "Why can't you just leave me alone?? I'm FINE in here! It's warm and cozy, I have all I need--a place to call my own, food-- I'm fine, really!" When I put myself in his shoes, so to speak, I get it. He couldn't possibly have imagined that there were people on the other side, literally a few inches away, who loved him and couldn't wait to meet him and take him out of that hospital to his real home where his life would really begin.

But he couldn't fathom anything outside the womb...which would have become a tomb if he hadn't gotten out of there! He had to leave that world to experience all that this world had to offer. His first breath was a scream because it was terrifying to step out into the unknown.

When I think of what it will be like to die, I think of what it's like to be born. Scary. . . terrifying really. . . Unless you know that there is Someone waiting for you, only inches away, Who has loved you from the beginning of time and can't wait to welcome you home--so you can start living.

And that's not a scary thought at all.

“Do not let your heart be troubled. You have put your trust in God, put your trust in Me also. There are many rooms in My Father’s house. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going away to make a place for you. After I go and make a place for you, I will come back and take you with Me. Then you may be where I am." John 14: 1-3