Is there really a baby in there?!

Well it's been an exciting week. Getting to announce the news about "baby Mc7ey" was such a joy. Jamie and I were truly overwhelmed by all the support and encouragement we received. I can still hardly believe it. I look at my growing bump, morning sickness, loss of appetite, remember the 3 positive pregnancy tests, chat to the midwife, yet am still in disbelief. You can ask my husband. Most days I am not convinced. Is there really a baby in there?! I find myself  asking this several times a day.I am simply too excited. But what a joy! What excitement. A new life, and God is allowing ME to carry it and bring it into this world?! What an incredible and humbling privilege.

I must admit, I have found the Christmas story to be extra exciting this year. All of a sudden, I can relate to Mary the mother of Jesus?! What?! I catch myself reading and wondering. What that must have felt like for Mary to carry God in her womb!? I wonder the emotions and feelings of joy, anxiety, and excitement she must of had. Instead of asking, "Is there really a baby in there?", I can imagine her asking, "Is God really the baby that is inside of me!?" Wow. What an amazing miracle. The divine invasion: Christ coming to earth as a baby. A helpless baby. Coming in the womb of a teenage girl. I stand amazed. I stand in awe. How could this be?

Yet, I look down at my bump, and yet again, I stand amazed. How could this be?! How could He choose me, for this?

What an honour. What a joy. What a wonderful Saviour.

Reading earlier in Luke's Gospel, we read of Zechariah's encounter with the Angel Gabriel. He has just found out that him and his wife Elizabeth, though quite far along in years, will be expecting a child! My response to the news I received is similar to Zechariah's response over 2,000 years ago: disbelief.

"Do not be afraid , Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God." -Luke 1: 13-16

I can't help but read this and softly pray: Lord, may this precious child you have given to us point to the one who has come, Christ Jesus our Lord. May he or she find favour in the sight of the Lord; yet, I pray that most of all, he or she might bring many people back to God, bringing glory to His name.

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard." I love that...

All my life I have dreamt of being two things: a wife and a mom. In 2011, the first of those dreams came true. And now, here we are in 2012, my life-long dreams have both been fulfilled. It is as though, God has heard the cry of my heart, and has answered the prayer that I have prayed since being a young girl.

We have always wanted to be parents; those of you who know us well will know that we are beyond overjoyed for what lies ahead, we praise God that He has given us this incredible life so anxiously awaited. We know we have a lot to learn, but for now we say: what a joy, what a privilege, what a Saviour!