Your Labor of Love

I have been throwing a pity party for myself for at least the last few weeks, if not several months. It is incredibly difficult to remain concentrated on anything but myself or to be cheerful or even content when pregnancy makes me feel poorly all the time. My hands are now numb most of the time from pregnancy-induced carpel tunnel syndrome and my hands have swollen up such that most days my last and biggest ring does not fit on my wedding ring finger. My feet have swollen up such that I'm wearing slippers most of the time and am wondering how uncouth it would be to wear them out of the house. I won't get into details, but I am in pain whether eating a meal or in between meals, and whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. That pretty much covers all moments of the day. Much of my thinking is repeating the phrase or variants of it, "Are you kidding me?" which fosters a rebellious, self-pitying attitude that truly doesn't help me or anyone around me.

Therefore, I am reading again "Your Labor of Love: A Spiritual Companion for Expectant Mothers" by Agnes Penny. This book is truly excellent and I wish I could give it to all my pregnant Catholic friends. This slim volume contains 36 short chapters of two to three pages each covering seemingly every negative emotion or bodily experience one could have with pregnancy, whether it be a first pregnancy or a fifteenth. The author is a devout, orthodox Catholic mother who both addresses the reader with empathetic tenderness but also points to Catholic doctrine, examples of the saints, and asks the reader to pull herself up by her bootstraps. I think it is a good one-two punch.

While reading it, I thought during every chapter that I wanted to type out such-and-such a quotation for the blog because it was so good, but that's not possible! I will type out something from the final chapter that struck me last night:

"But nothing will really help unless you realize that your vocation is not primarily to be a housekeeper, although that is part of it. No, primarily your vocation is to help your husband and your children to become as much like Christ as they possibly can. The best way to achieve this is by acting like Christ yourself--not by running your household perfectly, but by dealing with the imperfections in a Christ-like way--cheerfully, prayerfully, gently, lovingly. Reflect on this, and allow it to permeate your day. Remind yourself every morning, 'My only job today is to love my husband and children as Christ loves them.' Say this every morning. It will take a huge burden off of your shoulders. It will change your whole perspective on your vocation."

I hope my mother-friends will get as much out of meditating on that as I have been getting since last night. Just think, even a mother reduced by being on full bed rest or by illness or disability can still fulfill the primary mission of her vocation! God doesn't give us missions that we are incapable of fulfilling!