On Power, On Womanhood, On Thankfulness

I am a nurse. I have been a labor & delivery nurse... I have seen hundreds (thousands?) of births. They are all different, all special, all moving on a certain level. But I find that I struggle to "get into" the births hidden inside the whirling medical world of elective c-sections, epidurals, and doctor-focused care. The births that move me, inspire me, fill me with awe are those where the woman knows she has wrestled with God and, walking on the very edge of the abyss, she has won another life to join the ranks of the human race. I have seen nothing more powerful then a woman who has just given birth... who knows she has tested the limits of her strength, her resolve, her very life... who knows what a great miracle she holds triumphant in her arms. Those are the births that bring me to my knees in tears, in awe of the mystery that is womanhood, in awe of the greatness of our God, in awe of the incredible gift of life.

Last night and this morning, it was my great honor and privilege to walk with a dear friend as she circled the abyss to the brink of despair and beyond it, up the mountain of exaltation as she pulled her son onto her chest. You rock, P. You are so strong, so powerful...and in your weakness He is made strong. I am in awe.

As I watched and waited and prayed through the birth process with one close to me, my mind wandered to two women who I did not stand with, who I could not support. I can only begin to imagine what those births were like... and likely this side of Heaven I will never know... one already knowing that the child she carried, labored, bore would not remain with her. The other certainly had no comfort of hospital, pain medicine, or even assurance of life, I pray that she had the comfort of other women. How do I thank them for their pain? For giving life to two of the most beautiful, wonderful children on this earth? I don't know... other than to honor them to those children... other then to given them the title they deserve... Mother.