Speak life

I'm taking a little break from the "gallery" series, as I recently read a post that stirred my heart. The author, a singer/songwriter and book author, is preparing for the birth of her first child. She wrote this post while reflecting on her pregnancy.

As a mom, I do tend to read articles and posts on the subject of motherhood. However, her words struck a cord much deeper than just thinking about my own pregnancy with Levi.

Her message? Speak LIFE. In a world where, generally speaking, women strive to be pretty and thin and well-thought of, we are quick to criticize ourselves. We are easily duped into believing lies about our value, our worth, and what we have to offer. And when we criticize ourselves, even in self-depricating humor, we can indirectly criticize those we love, too.

I've been posting quite a bit of Scripture in the last few posts. The Truth within it not only speaks about life, but it gives life like no other words in existence. I'm so thankful for that. John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." The devil is pretty good at that. He comes only to do that. He brings fear and deceit and insecurity. And I think a lot of times, unknowingly, we agree with him.

But the verse doesn't end there. It continues, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Jesus gives LIFE. Abundant life. He paid the price for all of the darkness, all of the negativity, all of the lies, all of the sin. And then He defeated the thief. His resurrection brought life for you, for me, for every other woman (and man), for every child.

Our words are a choice, you know? We choose to speak words of life or words of death, over ourselves and over other people.

I want my son to know that he is loved by his parents and family, and by His Heavenly Father, who knit him together (Psalm 139), who takes great delight in him and rejoices over him with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). And not only are those things true for Levi, they're true for me, too. And they're true for you.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve overheard a mom speaking death over her body and her baby.  ”This thing inside of me is making me fat….” or “I’m a heifer because of this dang pregnancy…” or “If I can just get this thing out of me…”  

Your baby feels, hears, and responds to every single thing you do as a mother.  Talk about massive accountability and responsibility.  The babies know when they’re unwanted…they know when you’re depressed.  They hear when you blame them for feeling ugly or fat…even though you think they might not understand…their spirits hear and feel EVERYTHING.  

Even if I had a moment of panic when my jeans didn’t fit anymore, or when my ankles started to swell, or the 3 months I laid in bed because of morning sickness…I held myself accountable to what I chose to SPEAK over my body and my child…and I NEVER agreed with negative emotions.  Ever.  I never wanted my beautiful boy to hear that it was his fault that I felt a certain way, or that I was disappointed or angry…or just wanted it all to be over with.

I think these things are important to remember while pregnant, yes, but I don't think it starts or stops there. Speaking life is really a lifetime decision. Our words have power and they count… so let's make them count.