This is Day Five in our 31 Days series: Going from Mama to Mimi - Stories of Hope, Joy, & Transition...
Grace! Grace!
Yesterday we talked a bit about Getting the News... whether it was all joy and celebration, or a little tainted with confusion and fear.
So of course today we will tackle a bit about:
Grace!
Oh how we all need it --in any given situation!
It seems when new life is being formed in us, --physically or spiritually speaking, we need it even more!
I'm not sure about you and your story --but I know for me, when I got the news that we were expecting our own baby, I felt elated and terrified at the same exact moment.
Because, who feels confident and ready and fully capable from the very beginning?
Maybe some people.
But not me.
It did me well to remember this when we got the news of becoming Papa and Mimi earlier this year!
I have said it before and I will state it here again:
While Lil Miss was not planned for, there was not one single moment that she wasn't wanted and loved!
Grace. Grace.
This world is full of heavy and hard.
I know it always has been, and trust me when I say we are a glass half full kind of family. But my girlie was not one to long for the day that she could have babies and raise them up in this fallen world. I mean - she is only 22... so she wasn't ruling it out, but it was not even in her peripheral when the lines turned pink.
Obviously - we know how babies are made and that is a whole other thing (--that requires all kinds of Grace! Grace! too.)
But whether a saturation of Grace is needed in the embryo stages of pregnancy surrounded by shock and confusion and fear of the unknown, or simply through the trimesters and the hormones and the growing and stretching and making room --both in the womb, and in the world...
...what we all need is Grace.
Grace for the new parents as their world enlarges and their vision of the future shifts and adjusts.
Grace for the new/soon-to-be grands as they let go a little more while offering support and help and (when asked!) advice in this transition!
What I found begin to shift in me was this unexpected gift of Legacy brewing.
Let's just say it plain: I'm unusually close to my Girlie!
We are Gilmore Girls close (but slightly less dysfunctional!) and I love her with all of my heart.
I am for her... she has never doubted that.
But the knowledge of a new generation being formed in her stirred up pride and love and protection in me in a surprising fierce devotion kind of way and I realized that was the beginning of the growing of a new role deep within me.
That was the moment I felt a shift in going from Mama to Mimi.
Because the gift and the prize of Mimi-hood is that all the experience and knowledge and wisdom and Grace you have learned to operate in while growing up your own tiny humans is now immediately available!
All the Mama that you have grown into is offered to this tiny human that is still a piece of you but is not costing you the morning sickness, achy body, or sleepless nights.
While you pray for the new Mama, it's a win-win for the Mimi-to-be!
You get the full benefits of new life and new hope and new love, without the work of carrying him or her within your womb... while you still get the happy of carrying them within your heart!
So - no matter how Getting the News comes for you... no matter the circumstances that unfold over the next nine months, what is needed most for all involved is a bit of Radical Love and Unending Grace!
Yesterday we talked a bit about Getting the News... whether it was all joy and celebration, or a little tainted with confusion and fear.
So of course today we will tackle a bit about:
Grace!
Oh how we all need it --in any given situation!
It seems when new life is being formed in us, --physically or spiritually speaking, we need it even more!
I'm not sure about you and your story --but I know for me, when I got the news that we were expecting our own baby, I felt elated and terrified at the same exact moment.
Because, who feels confident and ready and fully capable from the very beginning?
Maybe some people.
But not me.
It did me well to remember this when we got the news of becoming Papa and Mimi earlier this year!
I have said it before and I will state it here again:
While Lil Miss was not planned for, there was not one single moment that she wasn't wanted and loved!
Grace. Grace.
This world is full of heavy and hard.
I know it always has been, and trust me when I say we are a glass half full kind of family. But my girlie was not one to long for the day that she could have babies and raise them up in this fallen world. I mean - she is only 22... so she wasn't ruling it out, but it was not even in her peripheral when the lines turned pink.
Obviously - we know how babies are made and that is a whole other thing (--that requires all kinds of Grace! Grace! too.)
But whether a saturation of Grace is needed in the embryo stages of pregnancy surrounded by shock and confusion and fear of the unknown, or simply through the trimesters and the hormones and the growing and stretching and making room --both in the womb, and in the world...
...what we all need is Grace.
Grace for the new parents as their world enlarges and their vision of the future shifts and adjusts.
Grace for the new/soon-to-be grands as they let go a little more while offering support and help and (when asked!) advice in this transition!
What I found begin to shift in me was this unexpected gift of Legacy brewing.
Let's just say it plain: I'm unusually close to my Girlie!
We are Gilmore Girls close (but slightly less dysfunctional!) and I love her with all of my heart.
I am for her... she has never doubted that.
But the knowledge of a new generation being formed in her stirred up pride and love and protection in me in a surprising fierce devotion kind of way and I realized that was the beginning of the growing of a new role deep within me.
That was the moment I felt a shift in going from Mama to Mimi.
Because the gift and the prize of Mimi-hood is that all the experience and knowledge and wisdom and Grace you have learned to operate in while growing up your own tiny humans is now immediately available!
All the Mama that you have grown into is offered to this tiny human that is still a piece of you but is not costing you the morning sickness, achy body, or sleepless nights.
While you pray for the new Mama, it's a win-win for the Mimi-to-be!
You get the full benefits of new life and new hope and new love, without the work of carrying him or her within your womb... while you still get the happy of carrying them within your heart!
So - no matter how Getting the News comes for you... no matter the circumstances that unfold over the next nine months, what is needed most for all involved is a bit of Radical Love and Unending Grace!
Check in tomorrow... it will be Friday and around here that means a Five Minute Friday (One Word Prompt) post.
Let's just see how we make the word fit nicely within this series!
I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:
You have some wise words here, my friend! Especially the part about only offering advice if it's solicited. So hard to do when you're a know-it-all like me ;). But respecting our children's decisions is so important to continuing our healthy adult relationship with them!
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard, right? I mean - WE HAVE SO MUCH WISDOM! ;) LOL!
DeleteThanks for joining me on this journey, friend!
Grace! Grace! Grace! :)
ReplyDeleteAmen!
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