A Letter to Expectant Parents

Dear Expectant Parents,

People naturally feel the need to tell you that having children will change your life forever.  Don't let it get to you.  You see, before Baylor came into our world three years ago, I figured these people with advice were  talking about the lack of sleep Brantley and I would soon experience with a newborn in the house.  Or maybe they were warning me, the neat freak, to let go of the idea that my house must always be presentable, much less spotless.  I also figured they were gently letting Brantley and me know that our leisure days of doing and going as we pleased were going to become less frequent... much less frequent.  With those assumptions, I'd smile, nod my head, and agree with those people who gave the advice.  (Boy, was I naive!)

While all of these changes are certain to come your way, please allow me attempt to explain what it is these people with advice are REALLY trying to say to you.  These people with advice are telling the truth about the changes coming your way.  Your life (as one person and your life as a couple) is definitely going to be different, but in more ways than those I mentioned earlier.  Those are changes in your routine.  It won't take long, and you'll have to strain to remember what life was like pre-child(ren).  The real changes are bigger.  In fact, they do more than change your routines, they alter your ways of thinking, your ways of feeling, and your ways of doing.  

Will you allow me to give you an example?   To celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary two years ago, Brantley and I were thrilled to "get away" to the mountains of North Carolina.  We were invited to stay in a friend's cabin, practically free of charge.  We both used vacation days from work and headed to the hills early that Friday morning.  We didn't have to be back home until Sunday night!  It was a little pitiful.  We were both so excited to get away that it didn't matter where we ate or what we did.  A leisurely lunch at Cracker Barrel felt like we were dining at a five-star establishment.  Renting DVDs from the local Ingles felt like a night on the town. (I'm almost ashamed to say that two hours of that trip, and more importantly my life, was wasted by watching "Twilight."  I should've known better.  In order to redeem those two hours, we cruised through and around the mountains making a couple of quick hiking stops here and there.)  During our downtown excursions we even found a chocolate shop that sold chocolate covered strawberries.  Now, that WAS something to get excited over! (http://www.thechocolatebears.com/site.php?pid=3)  We savored them as if they were delicacies.  That was all within the first 30 hours of our mountain trip.  It wasn't long before I was longing for home.  Come to find out, Brantley was, as well.  What in the world was there at home in Calhoun Falls that could interrupt our time away?  A certain little one-year-old boy with big blue eyes and little brown curls.  We were both ready to go home to be with our Baylor.  So, after a true five-star dining experience (check out the Sweet Onion Restaurant in Waynesboro, NC at  http://www.sweetonionrestaurant.com/ ), we quickly went back to the cabin to pack our bags and hit the road for home.  That was late on Saturday night.  We had an entire day left to enjoy our freedom, but we chose to go back to that we had thought we wanted a break from.  

Yeah. And??  Well, I share that story as an example of the changes in thinking that occur once a child becomes a part of your world.  No longer is it about me.  No longer is it  about the two of us. There's another life to consider.  There's a person to mold.  With those life-altering changes comes sacrifice.  Things that may have once seemed important no longer hold the same urgency.  Things that were priorities are now worth waiting for.  Children will do that to you.  Sometimes the sacrifices seem easy.  (Really, what's one less chicken nugget?) Sometimes they hurt a little, but it isn't long before the weight of the sacrifice is a distant memory.  Perhaps God orchestrates this change in our thinking to bring us one step closer to knowing a fraction of the depth of sacrifice in the death of his Son on the cross. 

I pray with you as you anticipate the joys that a child will bring.  I pray with you as you consider the changes that will come to your life.  And I will celebrate with you as God sheds a brighter light on a deeper appreciation for the Sacrifice who paid the ultimate price.  I can't wait to meet all of these precious children that will make their appearances before we know it!

Much Love,
A Mama Who Still Has So Much to Learn But Just Gave You Some Advice :)