The responsibility of growing a human

Yesterday I was talking to a friend about being pregnant, and what a joy/responsibility it is. What a huge, huge, blessing of a responsibility. 

Think about it:

You start by growing a human. I mean, literally, right now my body is growing a human being. A person, created by God, to do...who knows what? And as women, when we are pregnant, we obviously want healthy little humans, so we do all the things the doctor says to do, and avoid what we need to avoid. For me, that means no margaritas for 9 months (sad face inserted here), heating up my lunch meat every time I want a sandwich, no jumping off Waimea rock into the ocean this summer (very sad about this one), no bleu or feta cheese, (and I really, really, really, [really] love these), and of course, remember to take those vitamins! The list goes on ... and on ... and on ...

Now I'm definitely not the type of person to follow every single 'rule', some of which I feel are loosely suggested and widely debated anyhow. I'll admit, I did eat bleu cheese last week, just a little, because what are the odds that my particular patch of bleu cheese is infested with listeria? (don't worry, I am not planning on doing this very often!)

Anywho, my point is, growing a baby can be hard work! What a blessing, but hard work! 

And then after that, there's obviously the fact of raising a child. You are responsible for this little human, day and night. For its every single need. Feeding it, cleansing it, soothing it, keeping it happy, you rock them, play with them, sing to them, burp them, change them...and then, the next hour, do it all again. 

And then they get older. And you have to teach your little human about life. About right and wrong. How to deal with the ups and the downs. How to make wise decisions. To cope with loss. To survive in this big, bad world. So instead of providing their every single need, you eventually teach them to take care of those needs by themselves. 

All of this. Is my responsibility. 

No pressure though.

This is why I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant. All this and more ran through my head. I wasn't am still not ready! I don't think I'LL EVER BE READY for my human, that I grew inside my body, to have to one day mourn the loss of a loved one. 

I don't think I'll ever be ready to teach my child the difference between right and wrong, or to teach them to make the right decision, when some days, I don't even know myself what the right decision is. 

I guess that's why we don't do this thing alone. I guess that's why we have parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and countless others who have done this before us. Not to mention my husband. 

Oh, and we'll probably need a little help from God, too. After all, wasn't this whole thing His idea?

My dear friend shared a wonderful scripture that I will keep at the front of my mind:

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
~ Psalm 127:3 from NLT

In fact, it might even go on the wall of the room of our little reward.