So I have already started my month of thanks and praise one day late... but better late than never I guess :-)
My goal is to post each day about things I am thankful for and praising God for. My hope is that it might encourage you to look for blessings in your life and give thanks and praise back to God. Obviously I can start by saying I am so thankful for my husband and my son. They are the biggest blessings I have on earth. But I would like to dig a bit deeper this month though and look for unexpected blessings and things I am thankful for.
Since I am one day late already, I will kick off with something that is definitely unexpected. I have wanted to write about this one for a while to encourage any Mamas out there who may be going through the same thing or are about to go through it. (If you are not in that category you may or may not want to continue reading)
Today I am thankful for every stretchmark, every bit of baby weight, every scar and every part of me that has changed since Peter was born.
Let me tell you a little bit about my pregnant self: I thought I had hit the jackpot. I thought I was going to escape pregnancy without any of the dreaded battle scars, afterall I had made it to 37 weeks without any! And then it literally happened OVER NIGHT at 38 weeks. THIRTY EIGHT WEEKS! And a pity party may or may not have ensued. (Side Note: Don't get me wrong... I am not encouraging pity parties. We should not be wallowing in our circumstances. God wants us to look to Him for our joy, worth, and hope. But I am a sinful being and appearance has been something I have struggled with for a majority of my life.)
Peter finally came at 41 weeks and it certainly didn't get easier right there. I may have dropped 10 lbs right off the bat (having a 9.6 lb baby will do that) and breast feeding helped me lose the majority of my baby weight (though it doesn't help for everyone). But this was not just about losing the weight. If you've had a baby you know that weight is not necessarily the end all be all because you can also be left with stretch marks, scars, and in general you may just be a different shape (think hour glass vs. pear, etc.). You are different. I know for me this resulted in poor self-esteem and many tears. Let me just say I was trying to find my identity and worth in my appearance and when I didn't like what I saw, I had a very hard time with it.
I remember being at church and one of the sweet ladies at my church came up to ask me how I was doing. I told her I was "Fine" and then after a little more conversation, I finally admitted that I was really struggling with body image now that Peter was here. She looked at me with genuine empathy and said "I know what you are going through but someone told me this once and it is true: Our bodies have been used by God for wonderful things." You can insert a MAJOR internal eye roll here because that was my exact response on the inside. On the outside I smiled and looked at Peter and agreed, but on the inside I think my eyes had rolled all the way to outer space. I was trying to find myself in my appearance and in doing so, I was dooming myself to failure. I no longer looked in the mirror and thought I measured up to society's definition of beautiful. In my selfishness and sinfulness I was forgetting to look to My Lord and Creator for my worth, my hope, my joy. And when you don't look to Him for those things, You will never find them.
So to all those Mamas out there I want you to know that this is true: Your body has been used by God for wonderful things! I mean look at your precious child! God chose you to be the vessel to bring His creation into the world! You can't tell me that that is not a blessing!
So for my first day of thanks and praise I am thanking and praising God for every stretch mark, every bit of baby weight and every part of me that has been changed through preganacy/childbirth. I am thanking and praising Him because He has chosen to use me for His purposes. I am thanking and praising Him because He is my Creator and He has created me in His image and that truth does not change despite how my appearance may change in this earthly body. Thank you Jesus! Please use me for Your Glory!
Love,
Carly
My goal is to post each day about things I am thankful for and praising God for. My hope is that it might encourage you to look for blessings in your life and give thanks and praise back to God. Obviously I can start by saying I am so thankful for my husband and my son. They are the biggest blessings I have on earth. But I would like to dig a bit deeper this month though and look for unexpected blessings and things I am thankful for.
Since I am one day late already, I will kick off with something that is definitely unexpected. I have wanted to write about this one for a while to encourage any Mamas out there who may be going through the same thing or are about to go through it. (If you are not in that category you may or may not want to continue reading)
Today I am thankful for every stretchmark, every bit of baby weight, every scar and every part of me that has changed since Peter was born.
Let me tell you a little bit about my pregnant self: I thought I had hit the jackpot. I thought I was going to escape pregnancy without any of the dreaded battle scars, afterall I had made it to 37 weeks without any! And then it literally happened OVER NIGHT at 38 weeks. THIRTY EIGHT WEEKS! And a pity party may or may not have ensued. (Side Note: Don't get me wrong... I am not encouraging pity parties. We should not be wallowing in our circumstances. God wants us to look to Him for our joy, worth, and hope. But I am a sinful being and appearance has been something I have struggled with for a majority of my life.)
Peter finally came at 41 weeks and it certainly didn't get easier right there. I may have dropped 10 lbs right off the bat (having a 9.6 lb baby will do that) and breast feeding helped me lose the majority of my baby weight (though it doesn't help for everyone). But this was not just about losing the weight. If you've had a baby you know that weight is not necessarily the end all be all because you can also be left with stretch marks, scars, and in general you may just be a different shape (think hour glass vs. pear, etc.). You are different. I know for me this resulted in poor self-esteem and many tears. Let me just say I was trying to find my identity and worth in my appearance and when I didn't like what I saw, I had a very hard time with it.
I remember being at church and one of the sweet ladies at my church came up to ask me how I was doing. I told her I was "Fine" and then after a little more conversation, I finally admitted that I was really struggling with body image now that Peter was here. She looked at me with genuine empathy and said "I know what you are going through but someone told me this once and it is true: Our bodies have been used by God for wonderful things." You can insert a MAJOR internal eye roll here because that was my exact response on the inside. On the outside I smiled and looked at Peter and agreed, but on the inside I think my eyes had rolled all the way to outer space. I was trying to find myself in my appearance and in doing so, I was dooming myself to failure. I no longer looked in the mirror and thought I measured up to society's definition of beautiful. In my selfishness and sinfulness I was forgetting to look to My Lord and Creator for my worth, my hope, my joy. And when you don't look to Him for those things, You will never find them.
So to all those Mamas out there I want you to know that this is true: Your body has been used by God for wonderful things! I mean look at your precious child! God chose you to be the vessel to bring His creation into the world! You can't tell me that that is not a blessing!
So for my first day of thanks and praise I am thanking and praising God for every stretch mark, every bit of baby weight and every part of me that has been changed through preganacy/childbirth. I am thanking and praising Him because He has chosen to use me for His purposes. I am thanking and praising Him because He is my Creator and He has created me in His image and that truth does not change despite how my appearance may change in this earthly body. Thank you Jesus! Please use me for Your Glory!
Love,
Carly
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