There is a tradition at my church that moves me to tears, even when I'm not pregnant. As a baby is either dedicated or baptized, the pastor walks down the long center aisle introducing the infant to his/her church family. When they begin to walk back to the front, the congregation stands and together we raise up our hand towards the child and bless the baby with this blessing, in song.
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make his face to shine upon you,
And be gracious, gracious, to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you, give you peace.
The blessing surrounds and swirls around the child and the moment, every time, is filled with the power of God working in the child. It's beautiful.
I was moved again to tears singing the song for another child in our church, realizing that the small children within my womb are also blessed by the Lord and He is gracious to them, even now before they officially enter this world. Praise be to God.
I look back at the first 19 weeks, and ahead at 19 more weeks (or less I guess) and am amazed at hour far we've come. It's an honor to carry children, even in the midst of the aches and pains, grant me the grace to carry them as far as they need to go.
In other news, this past week, I had my first person ask me if I was ready to deliver! Oh yes. Granted I was hobbling to the bathroom after sitting for 3 hours of parent-teacher conferences, into my 12th hour of a 13 hour day (Gotta love conferences!). The parent turned to me, said "Congratulation! You must be close to your due date!" I laughed. "No, just having twins." In my mind I was thinking, seriously?!? I know I'm larger than normal, but ready to pop, I'm not even half way yet! Oh well--it could be worse.
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