7.22.2009

Puttin' on the Ritz

I read this today, and wondered...Do I flaunt my pregnancy? I know that because I am very happy and love to see my belly growing, and it's all I've ever wanted, I tend to talk about it a lot. I seriously hope that I have never "Put on the Ritz" or in other words "ostentatiously or pretentiously displayed" my pregnant belly to the point where I am snubbing others who aren't pregnant? Have I?



Have you ever known someone who totally flaunts their pregnancy? Only once have I had someone say to me (without knowing that I was struggling with infertility and multiple miscarriage) something like, "Oh, you won't understand because you've never been pregnant."

I know that I haven't run around the city dancing with my belly hanging out, but please tell me that I am not guilty of "Puttin on the Ritz"... :(

7.20.2009

Grace

Just a little warning to some of you out there: I am talking about pregnancy a little in this post, so bear with me, or, if you'd like...exit immediately.

Someone dear I know, recently talked about being at a full term pregnancy. This is her 2nd one, however her first was born premature and spent weeks in an incubator surrounded by tubes and IV's... not very fun to say the least. She wrote how blessed she felt to have Heavenly Father listen to her many prayers for her little one who is now on the way and blessing her and her pregnancy to have come as far as she has.

As I read, I was reminded that we all have our own trials that we go through. I was also reminded that Heavenly Father listens and ANSWERS our prayers.

We all have our own anxieties and fears and WHAT-IF's that run through our head constantly.

When I think someone complaining about how she was up for hours last night with 4 kids is lucky because she doesn't have any problems getting pregnant and has 4 kids under the age of 6...

When I wonder if so and so who is complaining about her messy kids leaving things around that house, knows how lucky she is to actually live in a house when there are so many others out there that have lost theirs, not to mention to actually have children to yell at about cleaning it up...

...I have to remember not to be judgmental, I have to remember that Heavenly Father cares about even the LITTLE THINGS that we are concerned over.

Which then reminds me that he is concerned for those women that I so quickly dismissed.

What I may not know, is that the woman with 4 children is in a constantly stressed out state, because it's not easy taking care of 4 kids under the age of 6 and maybe she is hiding that she is suffering a little bit of depression.

I may not know that the women complaining about her home being messy is trying to sell it and so it needs to be clean for prospective buyers, not to mention, what is really bothering her are not her children's cleaning habits, but that she just found out her son is getting into trouble with drugs and her daughter is dating some questionable boys.

But, HE knows their concerns. He knows ours. As long as we PRAY.

I'm not saying that if we don't pray, he's not going to know. After all, he is all knowing. But, he wants to know that we know he will attend to our needs.

Yesterday as I read the sacrament hymn (Reverently and Meekly Now), I read the words, "In the solemn faith of PRAYER, cast upon me all thy care, and my Spirit's grace shall be, Like a fountain unto thee."

Even if it doesn't come swiftly, even if it takes all of the patience and trust that we can muster, our Heavenly Father and our Savior are who we can trust to help us.

Yesterday morning I woke up at about 4 AM thinking that I had been sleeping on my stomach and in a HUGE state of panic. "Had I been squishing my baby?" I went back to sleep, but all during church, I felt a small sense of anxiety that I had squished my baby to death. Because I couldn't feel any movement. When I got home I ran a bath to settle my nerves, when I hopped in I said a quick and quiet little prayer that I would be able to feel my baby move and know they were movements. A few minutes past I began to feel a little settled. Then, I felt a movement, and then another one, and another one...

I wondered why He had cared to answer such a simple prayer as that? Of course he cared...because I cared, small concern as it seemed, it was big to me and so, "his grace was like a fountain."

------

P.S. I feel really bad that I have not had much to say lately.

So, I am going to direct you to some of my favorites that I have been reading lately. They all offer, when needed, a great pick me up...or sometimes, just a great perspective. Plus, they write way better than I do!

Feigning Fertility
We Are All Mothers
Moosh in Indy (especially her post about being a panda in a rabbit world)


But, I am still here, so please don't give up on me! Even if I am a little slacker!

7.04.2009

Hope

To me, hope is usually hard to explain. I know what faith is, I know that faith and hope intertwine somehow, but I have always found it hard to understand hope. I was looking through a website that I love (find it here) and she posted a quote by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that said this:

"Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill his promise to us."

Just like that. It makes perfect sense. Faith is belief. Hope is trust.