Self-Relection Sundays: Embracing Your Stripes
This week I learned a lesson that hopefully can encourage you no matter who you are. It's not just for pregnant woman!
When you're pregnant, you experience many changes - physical changes are probably the most obvious. A common physical change that occurs is the development of stretch marks on your stomach. I have had the pleasure of gaining my dark tiger stripes during this most recent pregnancy. Some woman are able to go full term without getting any stretch marks at all. In spite of all efforts including using shea butter stretch mark cream everyday, my marks are very visible, and I no longer look at it as something negative. It's beautiful in it's own way, so I embrace them:
Being pregnant means you have something in you that your current body doesn't even have room to carry. Your body has to expand in order to make room for it to grow; and not just once, but many times throughout the process. It's not just your outside appearance that changes. There is also a change in your appetite, your emotions and hormones, your tolerance, your sleep pattern, etc.
So let's look at it metaphorically: when you are pregnant with something, an idea, a project, a business, a goal, whatever it is, sometimes it seems so much bigger than what you can accomplish in the moment. To achieve it, you're going to have to make some changes. You're going to have to expand to make room for it to grow. While there may be a change in your outside appearance, it's not just about looking like you are doing something great. It's not just about setting up your social media so that you look a certain part. You have to also change other things and actually put in the work...
Change in appetite: If my goal is weight loss, I have to change my diet. If I want to get closer to God, I might change some of the things I'm taking in. Going after greater things might mean you won't hang around the same people anymore.
Change in emotions and tolerance: You are pregnant with so much purpose and in order for it to come to fruition, your thought process and actions may have to alter so you can make room for what you're trying to bring forth.
Change in sleep pattern: having a baby changes the hours you are used to sleeping. You may get up more frequently, go to bed later, take naps earlier. When you're pregnant with purpose, you might find yourself waking up at 1am with ideas on your mind. You may have to go to bed earlier so that you can wake up early and get to work on your dreams.
Although change is inevitable, it's not always comfortable for you nor others, some stretching is involved. My stretch marks may not be beautiful to some, but they are a reminder that my body was stretched to make room for life. You have some lifegiving opportunities that are waiting for you to make some changes to make room for them to grow. And after labor and giving birth, don't expect everything to just go back to how it used to be. I may not have the same cravings that I did before pregnancy. I may not be able to fit my pre-pregnancy clothes the same way I did before, and even if I can, my taste in fashion may have changed. It may take a while to get back to a comfortable sleeping pattern. It's the same with your purpose. Be willing to be uncomfortable, and be willing to embrace the marks that remind you of your stretching.
Being pregnant means you have something in you that your current body doesn't even have room to carry. Your body has to expand in order to make room for it to grow; and not just once, but many times throughout the process. It's not just your outside appearance that changes. There is also a change in your appetite, your emotions and hormones, your tolerance, your sleep pattern, etc.
So let's look at it metaphorically: when you are pregnant with something, an idea, a project, a business, a goal, whatever it is, sometimes it seems so much bigger than what you can accomplish in the moment. To achieve it, you're going to have to make some changes. You're going to have to expand to make room for it to grow. While there may be a change in your outside appearance, it's not just about looking like you are doing something great. It's not just about setting up your social media so that you look a certain part. You have to also change other things and actually put in the work...
Change in appetite: If my goal is weight loss, I have to change my diet. If I want to get closer to God, I might change some of the things I'm taking in. Going after greater things might mean you won't hang around the same people anymore.
Change in emotions and tolerance: You are pregnant with so much purpose and in order for it to come to fruition, your thought process and actions may have to alter so you can make room for what you're trying to bring forth.
Change in sleep pattern: having a baby changes the hours you are used to sleeping. You may get up more frequently, go to bed later, take naps earlier. When you're pregnant with purpose, you might find yourself waking up at 1am with ideas on your mind. You may have to go to bed earlier so that you can wake up early and get to work on your dreams.
Although change is inevitable, it's not always comfortable for you nor others, some stretching is involved. My stretch marks may not be beautiful to some, but they are a reminder that my body was stretched to make room for life. You have some lifegiving opportunities that are waiting for you to make some changes to make room for them to grow. And after labor and giving birth, don't expect everything to just go back to how it used to be. I may not have the same cravings that I did before pregnancy. I may not be able to fit my pre-pregnancy clothes the same way I did before, and even if I can, my taste in fashion may have changed. It may take a while to get back to a comfortable sleeping pattern. It's the same with your purpose. Be willing to be uncomfortable, and be willing to embrace the marks that remind you of your stretching.
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