Borrowed Goods

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."   I Corinthians 6: 19-20.

My entry today is inspired from a sermon I heard yesterday about the gift of our physical bodies. The message that our bodies are a God given gift hit particularly close to home because of my pregnancy (34 weeks today). Being pregnant has been the most challenging thing my body has ever done, and from what I understand this has all just been a grand prelude to labor. I hear many women speak with awe and reverence when reflecting on their pregnancies. Statements like, "It was the best time of my life," "I loved being pregnant," "Its the most amazing thing to ever happen to you" are not uncommon. I must confess that I've felt a bit odd that my own emotions about my pregnancy have not been similar to these joyous overtones. My pregnancy has been very easy and smooth - I have no complaints. But the changes that have occurred to my body have been so dramatic, I more often feel shocked by pregnancy than amazed and I certainly would not call it the best time of my life.

Let's be honest, going from this...

to this in 23 weeks is dramatic.

Being reminded that my physical body is a gift, that its not even really my own, but just borrowed goods was very encouraging. It helped me to put this whole process in perspective. So pregnancy has left my body stretched and pulled in ways I never would have believed, but its OK because this is God's body anyways. He designed it to be able to endure pregnancy and even if I never look just like I did, it doesn't make my body any less valuable to God. I haven't loved everything that pregnancy has done to my body but I'm not going to beat myself up over my physical appearance, and I'm not going to beat myself up over not being overjoyed about pregnancy. But I will give praise and respect to God as my maker and creator because of what he has enabled my physical body to do.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139: 14