I woke up last night. Something was different.

    I lay motionless, wondering.

    Then a gentle wave rippled across my belly.

    I pressed my fingers against it and felt the flesh move again like a quiet, full swell on a summer lake. The kind that gently rocks an anchored boat.

    Somehow in that moment my baby became real to me.

    With my other hand I reached over to run my fingers through my husband’s hair.

    “Hmmm?”

    “Guess what?” I guided his hand to the top of mine. We lay in the dark, quiet, waiting. After what seemed like a very long time there was another faint ripple and then a sudden movement that startled my husband.

    He chuckled. “He’ll make a good football player,” he said contentedly and rolled over to sleep.

    I was too excited to sleep. The awe of bringing another human being into the world captivated me.

    To create is a basic human need.

    We busy ourselves with arts and crafts and other skills.

    We build houses, churches, bridges, and freeways.

    We cook, bake, and decorate our homes.

To create is a basic human need.

    We design and sew, knit and crochet.

    We paint and sculpt.

    We compose music.

    But to be a co-creator with God of a human being who will breathe and move, walk and talk, express emotions — and know God! What could compare with that?

    I think about what our child will be like. He or she will be part me, part my husband, part of many who have gone before us, and yet a unique person.

    God, thank you for allowing us to share with you the joy and wonder of a new life. As our child grows, help us to remember this little one is not only ours but yours.

    Enable us to give our child the freedom to become the distinct person you desire him or her to be. We have dreams for our child, but we want them to be sanctified by you. Perfect your work. You are the great, the all-wise Creator.

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Excerpted from: Devotions for a New Mother by Mildred Tengbom. Copyright © 1977, 1983, 2002, Mildred Tengbom. ISBN 0764225987. Published by Bethany House Publishers. Used by permission. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.

Title: "The First Stirrings of My Baby Within Me"
Author: Mildred Tengbom
Publication Date: May 8, 2002

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