Monday, January 13, 2014

Pregnancy test

I'm fairly done being pregnant.  Tired of being pregnant and trying to teach, clean, cuddle, discipline, wash, clean, scold, instruct.

I'm 33 weeks right now.

And how appropriate that a standard pregnancy is about 40 weeks long.

40 is the number of testing in the Bible.  40 days of rain, 40 days of fasting for Jesus in the desert, 40 years of wandering for the people of Israel.  Followed by a crisis - the 40 days of rain were followed by many days of sitting and waiting for the earth to dry, the 40 days of fasting were followed by temptation, the 40 years of wandering were followed by the battle at Jericho.

40 weeks of pregnancy, followed by labor and delivery.  Interesting.

For me, it is definitely a time of testing.  I love the end result, but I've never taken especial delight in being pregnant - at least not for the whole 9 months.  There are definitely things I'll look back on with fondness, but mostly, I'd love it if there was some sort of angelic revelation and then, maybe about 10 weeks later, a baby.

God's curse upon Eve's childbearing, heavy upon most women - especially in this third trimester.

But it helps me to think of it as an intentional time of testing.  Of course, it is one more thing intentionally planned by our Creator.  Not a coincidence.  So mirroring our time here on this earth - a time of testing, with greatly anticipated new life and joy waiting at the end.