Well, February is here! The Truck is not, yet, but I am happily counting down to my parents’ arrival on Thursday 
There is a lovely sense of calm in my days, making short lists of small projects to work away at with lots of rest in between. There is also an ongoing sense of preparation (tomorrow’s list includes making soup, and I’ll freeze at least some of it for easy food once the baby arrives), but without pressure – everything that MUST be done is done.
There was a youth retreat over the weekend with the theme of Breathe. One of the main messages was how important it is in our relationship with God (and in life) to breath in AND out, to do things that energize and revitalize us but also to give and invest in others. What we read in the Bible should change how we live, but if we only read the Bible, or if we only try to make changes, we’ll stifle our faith or burn out. Anyways, this was a very helpful concept for me in journalling because it is so simple, so I have been enjoying feeling slightly less inadequate at spending time with God lately: if I read something that strikes me, I copy it down as a breath in; the “so what” of whatever God says is what I write as a breath out. Like I said, it helps me focus without overcomplicating.
While I was journalling at this retreat, I was skimming through some verses in John, and then THIS verse caught my eye, which I’ve read before and enjoyed, but it is too timely not to share now.
John 16:21: When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
Jesus speaks these words as an illustration for his disciples, but I am happy to take them at face value: sorrow and anguish will not be the final word of my birth, whatever happens along the way.