Today's blog post was written by my talented and amazing wife Caroline. She is a gifted birth photographer whose work you would almost certainly enjoy. So read the post and then check out her photography!
When I tell people that I am a birth photographer,
they usually think it is strange and,
probably,
a little gross.
It's hard to make people understand why
I love what I do so much.
I spend a lot of time in delivery rooms, be it in hospitals or homes,
hiding in corners,
listening to the sounds of birth.
Mothers, fathers, doctors, midwives,
coaxing babies into this world.
I love everything about it -
watching a new mom and dad go through the hard work of labor,
partnering together, sharing strength.
Capturing their faces the moment they meet their loves.
The joy of hearing the first cry, counting fingers and toes,
aquatinting themselves with the person they've known in their hearts for months.
There is a moment, right before the baby takes that first breath,
when I hold mine,
marveling that moments ago there were just a few people in the room,
but now there is one more
and the world will never be the same
as it was.
To think that the Savior of the world
came to be born from his mother's belly, into her arms and love,
just exactly the way I was,
it is almost unfathomable.
More-so, for me, to think that Mary,
a girl in her teens, went through the same uncomfortable months
of worry and wonder that I did in pregnancy,
then gave birth to a son through sweat, and pain, and fear,
through courage, and strength, and determination,
just as I did.
It is a phenomenal moment when you become a parent,
and know that nothing will ever compare to
the visceral love that worries and cares,
shelters and comforts,
carries and lays itself down.
How could Mary know that her baby
would do the same for all of humanity?
That when Jesus was born,
nothing would ever be the same
as it was?
It's no wonder that the Christmas season
turns me into a walking mess of tears and joy.
The idea of birth that I am already so passionate about
colliding with the ultimate gift of grace
pierces my heart.
The carols I've sung my whole life have new meaning to me as a mother.
Each one right down to "Away in a Manger" reduces me to a blubbering sap.
Don't even get me started with "Mary did you know" or "Breath of Heaven".
I'm more convinced than ever that birth is the perfect picture of Salvation -
God, in all his mercy, coming to this earth as a baby,
like any other baby,
to love me as much as I love my own children.
that we participate in the story of Christ through bringing lives into the world, into our families,
and teaching them to live
and love
like Him.
What a great honor and what a humbling calling.
"Today in the town of David
a Savior has been born to you;
he is the Messiah,
the Lord."