Pregnancy

reflection pregnancy church

Reflections of a Pregnant Church

By Kelly Sankowski | November 15, 2023

I can feel myself stretching. There is tension in my skin, and soreness in my breasts as they usher life in. I am enlarging the space inside of myself; This Body made up of so many parts. They were all comfortable, all had their roles; An eye as an eye and an ear as an…

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how to pray through birth

Want to Pray through Birth?

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | January 13, 2023

At Mothering Spirit, we believe mothers need more resources for pregnancy and birth, both the beautiful and painful parts of bringing new life into the world. Here are a few of our favorites: 1. When you’re preparing for birth Get a copy of our e-books: Prayers for Pregnancy & Prayers for Birth. The collections feature prayers for pregnancy…

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Prayer for Birth and Racial Trauma

Prayer for Birth and Racial Trauma

By Jessica Mathisen | January 11, 2023

Heavenly Father, I thank You for the honor of being a mother. Thank You for entrusting me with this precious gift. As I bring my children into the world, my heart is heavy. I wonder what people will think of me as a Black mother. Will I meet their expectations? Or will I disappoint them?…

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birth racial trauma

Fighting For Our Lives

By Justina Kopp | January 9, 2023

“I am very frustrated. I don’t understand why you can’t just be confident in our care!” My perinatal specialist yelled these words to me when I was around 24 weeks pregnant with quadruplets. Why? Because I was asking her questions about what my children’s birth might look like. Up to this point, no one had…

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Time, transitions, and beginnings: your turn

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | September 9, 2022

This week on Mothering Spirit Vanesa’s essay invited us to reflect on the shifting experience of time through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Kayla’s prayer helped us to bless the beginnings and transitions in our callings as parents. Resources to keep reflecting For prayer during pregnancy, check out our e-books of Prayers for Pregnancy and Prayers for Birth. Exciting news: we’ve got…

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As A Mother Comforts Her Child

By Vanesa Zuleta Goldberg | September 5, 2022

I was not excited when I found out I was pregnant. In fact, I remember staring at the five pregnancy tests in our tiny apartment in Texas trying very unsuccessfully to not fall in a panic attack. All I could think as I saw that plus sign in front of me was, “I can’t do…

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A Prayer for Infertility

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | August 8, 2022

God of Abraham and Sarah, wait with us and help us to believe. God of Rebecca and Isaac, hear our prayers and speak to our struggles. God of Jacob and Rachel, forgive us our envy and free us from jealousy. God of Hannah and Elkanah, hold our anger and weep with us. God of Elizabeth and Zechariah,…

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motherhood as Eucharist

To Be Vessel And Passage

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | July 7, 2017

Right now are the waning days of pregnancy. Contractions come and go. Intense, then subsiding. I can’t walk without waddling. Sleep is fitful, restless. Comfort is elusive. I wake a hundred times. Every morning the kids ask if the baby will be born today. No one knows. These are my last days to carry. To…

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a prayer for morning sickness

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | December 7, 2015

Morning sickness is awful. At best it’s a nuisance for a few weeks; at worst it’s debilitating for months. I’ve had both scenarios, so my sympathies leap out to any expectant mother who suffers – and longs for a prayer during these hardest times. I’ve written ad nauseam (ha) about morning sickness: “In Which We Are All…

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in which we are all (begrudgingly) images of God

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | January 21, 2014

I do not like the experience of pregnancy. There. I said it. I like the fact of being pregnant. I love the gift of life, the sheer blessedness of getting to bring a child into this world. I love the answer to prayer brought by pregnancy after infertility and miscarriage, the undeserved grace that this…

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on carrying and missing

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | August 12, 2013

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We’d planned it perfectly. A baby in early spring, before work got too busy and the summer too hot. The worst of the morning sickness would be passed in time for the holidays, and I could curl up on the couch for football season in the fall when…

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seeing stars in sunlight

By Laura Kelly Fanucci | February 24, 2013

“The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision…He brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (from…

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