Author: theministrymama

Q&A: Ministry, Pregnancy, and Infants Pt. 1

This article comes from some of the questions and answers that have been submitted on the Ministry Mamas Facebook page on Ask a ? Friday on the topic of: Ministry, Pregnancy, and Infants.

“I am so sick from morning sickness all day long. Sometimes it’s everything I have to make it to church, much less make it to church on time. It consumes my ability to be able to speak with other people because I am miserable. I’m not sure how to minister to others right now. Do you have any advice for me?”

  • “I had morning sickness with all four of mine and going to church was always a struggle. I had medicine with my third–and it was wonderful to only be sick 2 hours a day until labor day-but it didn’t work with my fourth at all. However, all that to say–don’t worry about ministering to others during this season. God will show you little ways you can still be a blessing, but don’t stress out about it. And last, you will discover that this season of sickness will open up so many ways for you to empathize and minister to others later on.”
  • “I know what you are going through, I’m there with you, but mine isn’t severe. People understand morning sickness and are sympathetic. Don’t stress about it.”

Q: “How do you handle visitation when it’s just you and your husband with younger children? We live in the country where you have to drive to every house (stroller is not an option). Do you get them out at every stop or is there another solution? We want them to be involved and enjoy ‘family time’ as we call it but it makes each stop so much longer to get them in and out of car seats.”

  • “My husband will go to the door first and knock and see if the person is home, then if they are he will signal to me to get the kids out of the car if they are open to a longer type of visit. This keeps me from getting the kids in and out of the car. If it is a quick visit then we will put on a special kid’s music CD and have them listen to it in the car while we are at the door within eyesight of our vehicle. We save specific CD’s for this situation so that they can still enjoy visitation even if they may not get out for very many of the visits.”

Q: “My pregnancies are really hard on me and honestly it’s hard for me to keep up with all the household work with other children as well as a busy ministry schedule. I am not the pastor’s wife but our family is very involved in our ministries. Is there a way to delegate these things in a right way so that I can focus on the last 6-8 weeks of my pregnancy? I feel like I should be nesting and resting right about now. “

  • “Speak to your husband about this. Since he is the leader of your home I would appeal to his heart about your need for rest and ask him to lighten the schedule of activities that he is in control of. Then, if help is offered, wisely delegate it to people who you know can and will help you in a right way.”
  • “You can only do so much, your growing baby needs you now more than anyone else. You don’t have to be mean or rude about your limitations, just be honest that you cannot do it all. Then, take some time to figure out if this is the time to cut back on some of the things you all may be doing in ministry and at home and come to peace with the reality that what you need to do right now is more important than what you want to do.”

Q: “I play the piano for our church services (Sunday School and the main worship service) and need to nurse my infant right around the same time I am playing for the morning service. What can I do to make sure that both responsibilities are taken care of?”

  • “Nurse your baby toward the middle to end of your Sunday School hour. This will allow you the time you need to be able to play the piano. If that is not possible then arrange your nursing schedule on Sunday’s to be able to be flexible, you may feed earlier or later than normal on other feedings to fit what you need to do.”
  • “Is it possible to pump and have a bottle ready in your diaper bag if your baby needs it? I did this for church services and it worked well if I was not able to get back to the nursery before my baby was starving for another meal.”

 

Ministry Pregnancy and Infants

Christian Affirmations and Bible Verses for Childbirth

Christian Affirmations and Bible Verses for Childbirth

Childbirth is a life-changing event in which every woman who delivers a child, no matter how that child is born, must be brought to the precipice of sorrow and brought back again to life, forever altered by the child formed in her womb by God. It is my hope to be able to encourage you during that life-changing and altering event to have Christian affirmations or things to think on before, during the process of your delivery, and afterward.  Each birth, no matter how many you have had, changes you.

Writing down affirmations and posting them at the birth is a practice that many women do. It is a way while you are going through the birth process to think positively during the pain of contractions.  Right and good thoughts open up the body to be able to allow the baby to come through the body naturally while fear and anxiety will work against the uterus holding the baby and hurting your body.  I want to encourage you if you are a Christian woman to focus on the Lord through your labor, whether you have chosen a natural labor or an epidural, or are having a c-section we all are faced with fear, unsurety, and pain.

In a matter of weeks, Lord willing, we will celebrate the birth of our fifth child, our third daughter into our family. We have decided if all goes according to plan that we will have her at home for our third homebirth. I never heard about doing this until I was introduced to homebirthing. It is a great idea and the motivation in which I created this printable.

From my experience childbirth’s sorrows (during labor and after) have been one of the most humbling experiences in my life to which I truly felt my limited ability and had to rely wholly upon God to bring me through the process. I prayed, I called and cried out to God for His help, and I thanked Him in each birth when it was over with eyes full of joyous and relief-filled tears. He had heard, He had helped, He gave us an indescribable gift of a child. I have not always gone through the past four labors with right thoughts and it is my goal this pregnancy to prepare my heart and mind to think on God more this labor than I have before.

This list of affirmations – simply, true statements to encourage during labor that are Christ-centered. I have also created a list of Bible verses to think and dwell on. These verses focus on faith, strength, prayer, the reward of the child God created being joined to our family, and can help you through each phase of your pregnancy, labor, and postpartum experience. I have included many of the verses and affirmations in this post, but have also designed a free printable to be able to print off on your computer and have with you during your birth. The printable has more verses and affirmations than are listed here.

Bible Verses for Labor

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Isaiah 40:29 “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

“Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Psalm 127:3

Isaiah 44:2a “Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee;”

“Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” Proverbs 31:25

Isaiah 65:23 “They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.”

I Samuel 1:27 “For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:”

Affirmations

God designed my body to birth naturally.

I trust God to guide my baby through the body.

Have patience, the baby will arrive in God’s timing.

Labor is good. God is good. Baby is good.

Faith allows the natural process to keep happening.

God chose this day for my baby’s birth day!

“Peace, be still.” Breathe slowly and deeply.

Rest in the Lord between contractions.

You can download Child Birth Affirmations & Bible Verses.

Please remember that these printables are for personal and church use only.

If you like this link, please link back to this page and website, do not provide this content on your own personal web page or in any other manner.

11 Ways We’ve Made Our Marriage Special

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11 Ways We've Made Our Marriage SpecialIn celebration of our eleventh anniversary I want to share eleven ways we have tried to make our marriage special through the years.

1. Our anniversary date is 9-11 so usually when we see the time is 9:11 am or pm then we will say to each other “Happy Anniversary.” This lets us know that we’re thinking of something only we share.

2. We have given our children a routine bedtime. Once things get settled down 15-20 minutes after we make the kids go to bed then we usually share our one-on-one time together for at least a couple of hours.

3. We eat late night snacks together…it’s our weakness. It’s true, one of our children (it’s a conspiracy) is always peeking or coming up with an excuse after they go to bed to see what we’re going to be eating together. While we chow down we are talking and discussing life in our adult after-kids-go-to-bed-life.

4. We follow our favorite marriage advice from my husband’s grandparents who have been married for over 50 years to “do everything together.” Okay, so maybe not EVERYTHING, but we try to do a lot together, making dinner, going on errands, and etc. My husband is very good at participating in our family even though he is tired and I think that it helps our marriage tremendously.

5. We like to play games together. Yahtzee is our latest addiction, among other games like Battleship, Checkers, Ticket to Ride, other card games and even two-player games on the tablet.

6. We bought a book about romance. One year we went to Barnes & Noble and bought a really big book of romantic ideas. It has helped us tremendously when we have needed a quick idea to get our creative juices going in our everyday love life (being sweet to each other all the time) as much as our intimate love life.

7. One of my favorite things we have done as a couple to keep ourselves dating each other is that we printed off the Passport to Love year of dates from The Dating Divas.  In the passport you pick countries you want to “visit.” When you choose a country like Mexico you will eat Mexican food, listen to mariachi music, and come up with a fun or other romantic idea to go with that country’s theme. We each took six of the dates and locations and had the responsibility to come up with the ideas for that country. It made it fun, sometimes we dressed up and had a fun home date and other times we scheduled activities on a night out.

*Note: You may not be able to visit this website if you have a strong internet filter but you could still take the idea and come up with your own passport and share the date destinations around the world for a year.

8. Before we were married we passed a small wooden red heart back and forth between each other. We would leave it on the dashboard of each other’s car, in a love note, or in a surprising place. We still pass that little heart around when we find it. Recently while we’ve packed to move we found it again and it gets keeps getting passed or put in a place for the other person to find. It’s just a fun way to think all the way back to the beginning of our relationship and continue what has become a small and meaningful tradition.

9. Going out on dates has been a treat when we are able to do it. When someone we trust offers to watch the kids and let us have some alone time then you know we are going to take it! Whether it’s for a trip to the grocery store when my in-laws are in town or going out for dinner when a lady or family in our church has volunteered to be a blessing we do it! Sometimes going out just isn’t possible, that’s why we really emphasize the one-on-one time after the kids go to bed.

10. Showing affection in front of our kids. Often my husband says out loud to our children, “Who wants to see Papa give Mama a big kiss?” The general roar of the mini crowd says “I do!” and we proceed to lip-lock in a fairly conservative way. Then, we smile at each other and applause and laughter breaks out before the next “Again, again!” We will usually indulge the kids a few rounds before they want to be close to us and give us hugs too. We hold hands, kiss, and hug regularly in public to give our children the security of knowing their parents really do love each other.

11. Helping each other with our responsibilities whether it is work/ministry related and/or home related. This was partly mentioned earlier but we blend our lives by stepping up at times to meet the needs of the other person in our daily life. I am a planner and organizer and many times my husband has been able to execute special ministry jobs better when I have been able to help him sit down and think through the planning. On the other hand, I don’t know how many times I’ve told my husband, “I don’t know why God calls me the helpmeet when you help me so much.” Putting each other first and seeing the needs of the other person can really magnetize you together if you do it in the right spirit and attitude.

We’re not perfect people and we’re certainly not the best example of marriage out there, but these are the things we have enjoyed doing together to keep our marriage special. I would encourage you if you have been married for any length of time to make a list like this, it really makes you think and it creates an endearing moment of sweetness when you realize all the love that has been passed between you through the years. It’s a blessing to say the least!

You can read about what I’ve learned from 10 years of marriage, the article that I wrote this time last year.