More from the Catholic All Year mailbag today . . .
Question:
Dear Kendra,
I have followed you for over a year now and it has been wonderful adding more liturgical traditions to our year!
I'm pregnant and it's a big shock. We have always been generally open to life, and in fact, my husband gets more excited each time, which is such a blessing! It is me who gets to doubting that I will be able to handle months of illness and another challenging delivery.
Looking for a helpful perspective,
Teresa
Answer:
Dear Teresa,
First off: Congratulations on your pregnancy!
Second: It sounds like you have real and legitimate concerns, and I hope you'll be able to enlist the help of your husband and family and friends to lighten the load for you a bit over the next few months.
But third: It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the beginning stuff . . . difficult pregnancies, difficult births, those first few weeks and months of maybe reduced sleep and almost certainly reduced productivity. Even financial challenges.
But I think it's important to remember that when you’re open to life you’re not open to “a pregnancy” or “a baby.”
You’re open to a PERSON.
You’re open to a sibling for your children. You’re open to an aunt or uncle to your grandchildren. You’re open to another loved one at your deathbed. This tiny new person will, God willing, be in your life until you die. Who knows the comfort and support one more child, one more sibling might be to you and your existing kids?
I have done difficult pregnancies, I have done uncertain futures, but it has always felt so SO worth it, when viewed with that long-term lens.
Hang in there, mama,
Kendra
P.S. My friend Monica makes this important addition . . .
Just to add: Even more than a just person for this life, it’s a person for eternal life. What an amazing thing that we, as Mothers, can do like changing eternity! We can bring souls with us to eternity. There’s nothing else on earth that we can bring with us to heaven—not all the wealth or possessions in the world. But we can bring our children. It’s such a gift God has given us.
Note: This particular reader message is an amalgamation of a few similar emails I've received.
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P.P.S. for all the dads in your life, for Father's Day coming up, I wanted to remind you of a couple things we've got in the CAY Shop.
Coasters!
Available in full color reusable coasterboard in two sets: St. Augustine Quotes and Catholic Beer Quotes
As well as a limited-edition wooden set. These sold out in days, so we've added a few more sets.
Wooden sets will ship out the week of June 6.
Plan of Life Notepad
Based on the recommendations of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, this notepad can be used by men, women, and kids to keep track of daily spiritual practices and goals. 6×4 inches. 100 single-sided sheets per pad. Printed on 70 lb. premium stationer paper with a cardboard back. See it here.