Blessed road births (2025)

05/12/2021

Hospitals are designed to fix problems, to cure illness and injury.
They are designed to treat, to prescribe, to intervene. Providers within this paradigm are programmed to seek out the pathology of every patient.

It’s no wonder, then, that your OB/GYN (who is a surgeon by training, by the way), looks for what is wrong instead of celebrating what is beautiful and unique in your pregnancy.
It shouldn’t come as a shock when he tries to treat, to prescribe and to intervene; it’s what he’s been conditioned to do.

You can walk into the medical model and bow to their narrative.
You can follow their trajectory of testing and interventions.
You can steep yourself in fear-driven stories of tragic complications and life-threatening moments “saved” by the OB.
You can be treated and delivered by a system that thinks you need it.
You might even start to believe them, too.

Or.

You can choose to trust birth because you trust the God who created it. You can choose to cultivate the space you need - safe, intimate, familiar, held space. You can lean on an unfailing God instead of a fallible human. You can be your own best care provider.

Sister, pregnancy isn’t a sickness you need to be cured from.
Pregnancy is healthy. Pregnancy is normal. Pregnancy is something you’re divinely designed for.

19/11/2021

This past week I’ve shared some thoughts about how community, but today I want to challenge you to take some practical steps.
I moved this past June, and am still in the infant stages of building my community here on the Oregon coast, so hear me that I am raising this challenge to myself as much as to you.

This week, I’d like us to sow into three levels of relationships.

First, connect with someone new. Maybe there’s someone you see in Bible study or at yoga class regularly, but you’ve never really gotten to know. Ask her out to coffee or to go on a rainy walk.

Second, deepen a shallow connection. That friend who you share highlight reel updates with? Try stepping out on a limb and sharing something messy and vulnerable with her.

Third, articulate your gratitude to one of your deep soul sisters, the one who you show up as that deeply authentic version of yourself with. She is a blessing from God in heaven, and could do to be reminded of it.

Building relationships is a necessary prerequisite to having relationships, so let’s take some steps today together.

📷:

17/11/2021

When the going gets tough is when we need our communities the most.
When we’re going through seasons of transition and challenge, we NEED support.
Maybe that’s preparing to birth your baby and welcome a new soul into your family.
Maybe it’s facing financial pressures from job loss or the continued economic repercussions of COVID.
Maybe it’s a family crisis, or a move, or remodeling your house (pray for every couple facing a remodel together!).
In the storm, we need our community rooting us into who and what is good.

A friendship of 10 years isn’t built in a day, however.
Even the most harmonious instant connections doesn’t replace years of walking with and supporting one another.
Building community takes time.

It’s also hard work to cultivate those authentically, mutually giving relationships we were designed for, and it’s such a vulnerable process!
To be deeply known and loved takes sharing those tender, hidden parts.
To be radically accepted by our sisters in Christ takes sharing the pieces of ourselves that aren’t always the easiest to accept.

When David was on the hillside, tending his sheep, God was preparing him to face Goliath.
When we’re in the metaphorical hillside seasons, let’s take part in cultivating what we’ll need for the battles.

Today is the best day to sow the seeds of community you want to reap tomorrow.

13/11/2021

made for community

Our triune God - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - is fundamentally relational.
When Christians say, “God is love,” we don’t just mean that God really, really likes that value.
We mean that God is, essentially and eternally, interpersonal love.

You and I were made in His image, sister.

We were made to partake in the joy of mutual love and glorification share within the trinity.
We were made to pour love, delight, and adoration into others and be poured back into.
We were designed to crave relationship in every fiber of our being.

We were made for community.

What does your community look like?
Who are you pouring into?
Who is pouring into you?
Who are you serving?
Whose feet are you washing?
Who is serving you?

25/09/2021

on this road of motherhood, we need both Faith and Hope.

“Faith is asking and believing for something specific.

Hope is the safety net that catches you if you don’t receive what you had faith for.

Hope is so confident in the goodness of God breaking into every situation that it says, ‘Wow, if that didn’t happen, then God must have something even better in store. I can’t wait to see what He does!’“
- Kierra Bl**er,

Have faith in the desires He has set on your heart, sister.
Have faith that He can provide a fast, pain-free, Spirit-saturated home birth.
Have faith that your older children will be taken care of by the Holy Spirit so you can focus on your labor.
Have faith that He will transform you for good through your birth.

And have hope that His plans are better and bigger than what you have imagined.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

Maybe your labor is long because He wants to spend more time with you.
Maybe your labor has some pain as He asks you, “Are you willing to suffer a little for my glory?”

Having hope and trust in His goodness lets us believe in transcendent births without making an idol out of one outcome.

25/09/2021

As a birth keeper, I support.

I support more than just the hours you’re experiencing contractions.
I support care before and beyond a “+” on a stick.
I support woman-centered care with that woman being YOU, not a generic female mold!

I support asking hard questions.
I support continually discovery.
I support leaning into and learning from spaces of uncertainty and challenge.
I support your journey to discover what you need during this divine process.

07/09/2021

Third prayer practice of surrender:

Surrender depends on trust.
Our survival instincts keep us on edge, on guard, protecting ourselves, and they serve us well in unsafe situations.
To release and let go, we need to know we’re safe.
We need to trust our Heavenly Father in order to surrender to Him.

Praying the Litany of Trust from the Sisters of Life has helped me realize some of my specific fears, specific areas I don’t trust God, and turn them over to him.
I’ve also leaned to declare trust, to mold my heart through my thoughts and words.

I’ve shared above four specific prayers that most challenge and comfort me. What do they bring up for you?

Where are you refusing and resisting His will?

Where are you operating our of a mentality of scarcity instead of abundance?

Where do you trust His plan, and where do you want to add your own edits?

How do you think God sees you, and how does this affect the way you trust him (or don’t)?

He hears you, sister, through your own words or someone else’s. Which of these lines most speak to your heart?

07/09/2021

I learned this weekend that I have three comments to express my wonder at God’s creation:

1. I love trees

2. This is unreal

3. This looks like Narnia

Southern Oregon coast gets three out of three🌲☺️💛

📷:

26/08/2021

Second prayer practice of surrender:

Accepting & rejoicing in God as our portion.

The dictionary defines “portion” as a person’s part of share of something.
When we serve up a meal, we put a portion on each person’s plate.
When dividing up an inheritance, each heir gets their portion.

Biblically, there are several passages that refer to the Lord as our potion.
Declaring the Lord to be our portion means that we are choosing Him as our piece of the pie, but what exactly does that entail?

It’s easy to say “the Lord is my portion” when my circumstances are sunny, to count myself “blessed” when His blessings align with my wants.
It’s a lot harder to say “the Lord is my portion” when my circumstances are stormy, when I feel the ache of unmet desires or when He calls me to hardship and suffering.

The thing about God, though, is that He’s not a seasonal fling.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches,
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” 6:24
In that particular context, Jesus was teaching that we can’t serve both God and money, but the principal applies to all the little “gods” we serve.
I can’t serve both God and popularity.
I can’t serve both God and comfort.

Declaring that the Lord is my potion means I get to share in His blessings and salvation, and it also means I take on the hardship and challenge that comes with it.
Declaring that the Lord is my portion means I am choosing the Jesus portion on the mountain top and in the valleys.

24/08/2021

As a birth keeper, I hold space.

I hold space for venting.
I hold space for processing.
I hold space for learning.
I hold space for unlearning.
I hold space for coaching.
I hold space for connecting.
I hold space for healing.
I hold space for blessing.

I hold space for the Holy Spirit.
I hold space for the Spirit to guide, to inspire, to comfort, to convict.

I hold space for you to show up authentically where you are, not where you think you ought to be.

18/08/2021

Spending time in nature is so good for my soul.

As I look up at the trees around me, and the ocean beyond, I am reminded how small I am in the world. I am humbled by the greatest around me, and I find my woes fading in the context of the vast majesty around me. Nature gives me perspective.

As I bathe myself in the richest of silence and open my soul to listen to the bird calls, the rustle of the trees, the babbling brook, I also open myself to hear the voice of God. In the quiet, I can hear. Nature helps me feel God’s presence.

As I walk through the rich landscape, I remember that the same creator who made every pine needle, every chirping bird, even the mosquitos, made me, knitting me together in my mother’s womb.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:29-31
Nature reminds me of the perfection of God’s providence.

Thank you Lord for the blessing of these spaces.

📷:

14/08/2021

First prayer practice of surrender:

Not my will, but thy will be done.

In my times of struggle and suffering, I’ve found so much comfort in praying the same structure as Jesus did, and I’d welcome you to join me.

First, lament in earnest, knowing that Jesus can handle all of your agony and grief, knowing that He understands your pain intimately and personally.
God can’t bless who we pretend to be, and He won’t remove a cup we refuse to even acknowledge we’re facing.
Let it come out as tears, as anger, as confusion, as pain. We serve a big God, and He can handle it.

Then, declare God’s sovereignty over the situation.
The enemy wants us to believe that God can’t relieve our suffering, that He can’t heal our broken marriage or our physical pain. If we let these lies take root in our heart, we stop turning to God in our times of need because we don’t trust He can do anything anyways.
Speak out the truth from God’s word, declaring God as all-powerful, sovereign, victorious.

Finally, pray surrender over those desires, pray for His will not your will to be done.

“Woah, pump the breaks, I’m just supposed to DO that?? To tell God that things are tough and I know He CAN do something about it, and then just p**f, ‘not my will but thy will’??”
- What I imagine you might be thinking currently

This brings me to a beautiful prayer I was encouraged in by a beloved mentor. She calls it the “want to want to“ prayer. When you run into a statement or Biblical truth that just doesn’t feel honest yet, pray a “want to want to” over it. For me, it might sound like,

“Father God, I want to want You more than I want my own comfort. God, I want to want You more than my own desires and plan. I want to trust Your will is better than mine. I want to trust that You are good and sovereign even in my suffering. I want to be more willing to do your will.”

I love this prayer because it both acknowledges right exactly where I am, and at the same time, where I want to be in my trust of God.

Now, take those 3 + 1 steps and pray them over your situation. He hears you, and He will respond.

▫️full blog post linked in bio▫️

Blessed road births

05/12/2021

19/11/2021

17/11/2021

13/11/2021

25/09/2021

25/09/2021

07/09/2021

07/09/2021

26/08/2021

24/08/2021

18/08/2021

14/08/2021

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