Monday, June 10, 2013

tools not treasures.


In the last post I shared how I have been tempted to be 
concerned with my outward appearance after the birth of Owen. 
There are many things you will never fully realize 
(even though people may tell you a million times) 
until after your baby is born. 
I thought I would go crazy if someone told me to 
"Rest while you can!" one more time.
But boy were they right. 
Because this morning I was on cloud nine rejoicing that I was able to sleep in until 6:30. 
This was after Owen woke up at 12:20, 3:15, 4:00, and 5:00AM
The point of my saying that is not to have you feel sorry for me, 
it's to let you know that those people were right! 
And they were trying to do me a favor,
I should've gotten rest when I could.

Another thing people tell you when you're pregnant is
"Your body will never be the same."
I don't think I believed that either. 
But I do now.

Recently I read a book by Rachel Jankovic called 'Loving the Little Years' 
and I cannot recommend it enough for my fellow mommies.
I've read several blog posts of Rachel's via Desiring God and
 have several friends who loved this book so I gave it a go. 
The book is short, the chapters are only a few pages long,
 but it is full of Godly insights into mothering. 
She has an easygoing style of writing that I enjoy 
and I find myself caught up in her stories. 
Owen is just two months old so I cannot relate to a lot of the book just yet. 
But there is one chapter that gripped my heart and it deals with outward appearance.
I can't sum it up it up in words that could make the same impact 
that it had on me so I'm posting it below. 
I don't know the legality of posting a quote this long on a blog 
but I do know if you're pregnant, 
hope to be pregnant, 
or if you have any influence on a woman who will one day be pregnant, 
it would benefit you to read this.

The following quote is an excerpt from 
'Loving the Little Years' by Rachel Jankovic, in Chapter 12: Me Time
"Motherhood is a demanding job. It is is so demanding and intrusive, in fact, that it takes over your body. It  uses your body,oftentimes rather roughly. This can start to bother us. You may have some weight to lose, and you might start to resent that. You might have permanently damaged something during a pregnancy. You may have big scars, stretch marks, and loose skin that bothers you You might not have time to exercise the way you used to. All of these things can be seen as an offense against us--against our bodies...
First of all, our bodies are tools, not treasures. You should not spend your days trying to preserve your body in its eighteen-year-old form. Let it be used. By the time you die, you want to have a very dinged and dinted body. Motherhood uses your body in the way that God designed it to be used. Those are the right kind of damages. There are of course ways to hurt your body that are outside of God's design for it and disobedient. But motherhood is what your stomach was made for--and any wear and tear that it shows is simply the sign of a well-used tool. We are not to treat our bodies like museum pieces. They were not given to us to preserve, the were given to us to use. So use it cheerfully, and maintain it cheerfully. When you are working hard to lose the baby weight (as you may need to), think of it as tool maintenance. You want to fix your body up in order to be able to use it some more. It might be used for more children, or it might be used to take care of the children you have. We should not be trying to fix it up to put it back on the shelf out of harm's way or to try to make ourselves look like nothing ever happened. Your body is a tool. Use it...
Scars and stretch marks and muffin tops are all part of your kingdom work. One of the greatest testimonies Christian women can have in our world today is the testimony of joyfully giving your body to another. While so many women choose to not have children or abort the children that they were given, the testimony of women who know the cost and joyfully pay it is profound. So make sure that you aren't buying into the world's propaganda. While there are a great many rewards, the sacrifice is very real. The reason so many women don't want to do it is because it is very hard and has very real costs. But the answer to these obstacles is not to run away in fear as the world does, but to meet it with joy, and in faith."


1 comment:

Kate Elyse said...

Janaye thank you for sharing this. This is wonderful! And thank you for being so honest and giving us a glimpse into your world - I think we all benefit!

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