Noelle's Blessing Day
I wish I remember all the holy things Evan said in his blessing to Noelle- but I don't. What I do remember is what I bore my testimony about during the meeting afterwards which I think is important for her to know as well. In order to embrace my unexpected pregnancy I started reading a book called The Gift of Giving Life: Rediscovering the Divine Nature of Pregnancy and Birth. It had several beautiful essays in it but here is a quote from my favorite and the one that empowered me for the rest of my pregnancy:
"Our Savior also knew these difficult days would come. Some of His last words spoken in mortality were to women. As He was led by His crucifiers to Golgotha’s hill, crowds of people gathered to follow after Him. Among them were many women, weeping in despair. We read: But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. (Luke 23: 27–30) Christ told His women friends to weep for our day. He had just endured the agonies of the Garden of Gethsemane and had felt deeply all the suffering and grief that women would shoulder on the earth through Satan’s potent onslaught. He had seen our day—and even beyond our day—where modern women are more and more inclined to leave their wombs empty. Society’s attitudes are gradually coming to resemble Christ’s description: blessed are the women who don’t have to endure the physical, spiritual, and emotional pains that come with being a mother. However, Christ’s words are not an indication that we should refuse the call of motherhood. Just as Christ walked willingly into His loving sacrifice, He calls us to follow Him. We follow in His footsteps as we become saviors for our waiting spirit children by creating bodies for, raising, nurturing, and teaching them."
"Our Savior also knew these difficult days would come. Some of His last words spoken in mortality were to women. As He was led by His crucifiers to Golgotha’s hill, crowds of people gathered to follow after Him. Among them were many women, weeping in despair. We read: But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. (Luke 23: 27–30) Christ told His women friends to weep for our day. He had just endured the agonies of the Garden of Gethsemane and had felt deeply all the suffering and grief that women would shoulder on the earth through Satan’s potent onslaught. He had seen our day—and even beyond our day—where modern women are more and more inclined to leave their wombs empty. Society’s attitudes are gradually coming to resemble Christ’s description: blessed are the women who don’t have to endure the physical, spiritual, and emotional pains that come with being a mother. However, Christ’s words are not an indication that we should refuse the call of motherhood. Just as Christ walked willingly into His loving sacrifice, He calls us to follow Him. We follow in His footsteps as we become saviors for our waiting spirit children by creating bodies for, raising, nurturing, and teaching them."
Maybe I had read that scripture before sometime in my life but to me it seemed like I had never heard of it until that moment. I will always be thankful for Noelle and how my pregnancy with her allowed me to experience the divine-ness of child bearing so profoundly.
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