Now is the time

* written June 10, 2013

I am reading a book review—about one woman’s yearlong adventure in Iceland—in the Sunday paper’s Variety section as if I’m going to have time to not only check the book out next time I’m casually strolling through Barnes & Noble, but to actually purchase the book and read it! I know instinctively this is not going to happen. I still have a couple books to read about how to survive labor which is now a mere eight weeks away, and then a book about breastfeeding, a book about keeping God and your faith front and center in the midst of a new baby, a book about healthy sleeping habits for babies, a book about how to make your own baby food, a book about the best books about surviving the first year of motherhood—and the list goes on. And from what I understand, all this reading better be done before my cervix dilates to 10 because after that, it’s all over.

Supposedly I won’t have time (or energy) to even go to the bathroom let alone do any sort of pleasure reading. There will be no more going out to eat (scrounging for crumbs at home will be hard enough), no more sleeping in, no more caring what you look like or when you look like it, no more quiet, no more peace, no more sex. But congratulations on the forthcoming arrival of your baby boy!

The warnings of many have been somewhat daunting for me and my husband! To be fair, they’re usually quickly followed up with assurances about how wonderful parenting is, that kids are pretty much the best thing ever, and that we will be fantastic parents. Thanks, but…

In one way or another all of the warnings seem to do with time—lack thereof or how it’s spent or where it goes. And I get it—I will likely not get to read about one woman’s yearlong adventure in Iceland…just for the heck of it.

But I can’t help but think that there’s actually plenty of time. Amazingly God creates a baby between husband and wife. And amazingly, He has created my body to build this baby without me really having to do a thing for 9 months! He will soon prepare my body to push this baby out. And if all of this is any indication, He has built in the appropriate and necessary time to enjoy and be present as compassionate parents during this special time. It’s me who will—I know I will—clutter my time with earthly things and wonder where it’s gone once this baby arrives.

So, as I worry about how quickly time is running out—only eight more weeks!—I am praying that my husband and I prepare to honor God’s timing. Clearly, now is the time He has called us to be parents. Now is our time to have and nurture a baby.