Advent is a season of strange stories and wonder-full waiting. Angels. Dreams. Miraculous pregnancies. Surprising visitors. But in a season of powerful Scripture and symbols - light, darkness, watching, waiting - we can forget that the first Advent was embodied, too. Without pregnancy and birth - messy, physical experiences - Christmas could not have happened. What can bearing, birthing, and caring for babies teach us about the Incarnation? How might pregnancy, labor, and nursing shape our understanding of God becoming human? A few of my favorite questions. Turns out I can't stop thinking about them this time of year. . . . For ten years now, I've been pregnant or nursing during December. (That realization alone was enough to startle me.) A decade of Advents spent in changed relationship to my body as it expanded and contracted, filled and emptied, nourished and nurtured new life into being. Becoming a mother through these biological experiences changed my spiritual … [Read more...] about a decade of waiting: Advent in the body
pregnancy
crusts & crumbs: bounded by birth
Crusts & Crumbs is a new reflection for Sunday evenings: thoughts on today's Scripture from parenting's perspective. If you're hungry to connect faith and family, let’s chew here together. Crusts & Crumbs "For this I was born," Jesus says (John 18:37). We think his birth attracts attention, coming at the end of Christmas countdown and Advent anticipation. But how much do we meditate on who God was before and after birth? This week we whiplash from Christ the King to Christ the Child. Alpha and Omega, end and beginning, the turning point of the church year. But this is no slow shift from Ordinary Time to Advent. Suddenly God is bounded by bodies - Jesus' own and his mother's. A shrinking that expands, a growing that surrenders. Pregnancy's paradoxes made divine. All of us were once held within another. Womb surrounded for months of darkness. Stretched within skin, carried by muscle, buoyed with water. Strength and nourishment, the place of preparation. Pregnancy … [Read more...] about crusts & crumbs: bounded by birth
the year in review (and what comes next)
Dusts off blog. Tap tap, is this thing on? What better way to round out a year of writing than to share a few favorites? I love a good listicle, and I bet you do, too. Even though other writing projects (like this book) took time away from blogging this year, I vow to frequent this place more regularly in 2018. I've got a few surprises up my sleeve that I can't wait to share. More importantly, I always love the rhythm of reflecting on life and grace and God in this space with you. The best readers of the Internet. So without further ado... Top 10 Posts from 2017 Prayers for Pregnancy - still the most popular read on Mothering Spirit. This year I launched two new e-books of Prayers for Pregnancy and Prayers for Birth that gather all these prayers plus lots of new content in a beautiful format for expectant moms. (Yes, you can buy as a gift for a baby shower, too!) The World Is Never Ready - My announcement of our pregnancy after loss. "What I tried to tell her was … [Read more...] about the year in review (and what comes next)
announcing…
Here's the big announcement I've been saving. (Coming in at a distant second after Benjamin's birth, of course!) In case you missed it in the brand-new Mothering Spirit newsletter, I have two new e-books available for you and yours: Prayers for Pregnancy was born from the prayers that bring so many to Mothering Spirit. I never expected how the prayers I wrote (when I couldn't find pregnancy prayers that I loved) would resonate with readers, but it has been such a humbling gift to journey with expectant parents through their hopes and fears of welcoming a child. I've always dreamed of writing a bigger book of prayers for pregnancy and birth, but I decided it was time to create something that could be shared right now with those of you who have asked for more resources for pregnancy. Now you can get all the prayers together - plus lots of brand-new additions - in one e-book! This new collection of Prayers for Pregnancy includes: prayers for each month of … [Read more...] about announcing…