Sara: Recently, I’ve been reflecting on my personal strengths and weaknesses and how this will affect me as a mother. With less than two weeks until our due date, Baby could come any time now!

The further along I’ve gotten throughout pregnancy, the more help I’ve had to accept from others. Accepting and asking for help is not something that has ever come easily for me. However, it has (and will continue) to be very necessary as Justin and I have an infant.

Simple things, like carrying boxes, climbing on ladders, and even walking up the stairs aren’t as easy as they once were. This time of pregnancy has definitely made me more humble as I ask for help with so many things – especially from Justin. Sometimes, it’s especially hard when a short trip of errands can wear me out so easily. I hope this gets better once Baby is born!

Honestly, I can’t really picture what life will be like once our baby is born. I hear about the nighttime feedings, lack of sleep, and joy that comes from a child, but I honestly can’t imagine what life will be like. I suppose it’s kind of like being married – I knew life was going to change in an indescribable way, but I had no idea how much joy it would bring. I pray our baby brings us as much joy as our first year of marriage!

Sometimes, I worry about the sacrifices parenting will require of Justin and I. Although I know that sacrifice is good, I really don’t want to sacrifice.

Justin: I also worry about the sacrifices parenting will require. I often hear people say that it is easier when it is your child. I hope they are right! I often watch many of my friends with their children and all I can think is, “that sure looks like a lot of work.”

I am counting on the fact that it does get easier when the child is your own because you love them. I try to keep it in perspective by comparing it to my experience of the thousand little sacrifices I have to make for Sara. Generally, they feel like no burden at all.

I am also counting on a change in my relationship with Baby after the birth. Right now I am excited for our baby to come, but I know I don’t have the same connection to our baby that Sara does. For me, it is still sometimes a little bit unreal. I know there is a baby inside Sara, but I have to experience Baby from the outside. The experience is as much an experience of an idea as of a person. Sara is intimately connected. She knows our baby person to person already. I can see it in the way she speaks to Baby!

Sara: Many times, I think I don’t have the strength to make some of the sacrifices that being a mother entails, including the pain of childbirth. Then, this weekend, I heard the second reading from 1 Corinthians, where Paul says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

Through this verse, I heard God telling me that, just as in the past, He will give both Justin and I the strength to get through anything He puts in front of us. I may be weak in so many respects, but God will give both of us the grace to get through anything – including sickness, financial situations, and any other difficult situations God can place us in.