I came across my first book the other day, A Precious Bit of Forever, published by Zondervan in 1976. It’s a beautifully illustrated gift book written for expectant and new mothers, penned during the happy days of pregnancy and birth of my firstborn, a baby girl named Melinda Leigh. She’s grown now, my adventurous one, a natural leader who loves and trusts God with all her heart, and probably doesn’t realize how proud I am of her. She told me once that she planned to travel around the world twice by the time she reached age 27. And sure enough, she accomplished her goal, adding a backpacking trip through South America to her adventures. That’s the kind of young woman she’s become.

For the next couple of days, in honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I would post excerpts from this little gift book that was written especially for mothers. Though long out of print, its message is timeless. Here are the first two excerpts. Feel free to forward them to friends who are expectant moms or new mothers. Tell them “Happy Mother’s Day,” from me with loving blessings included!

ENTERING THE CIRCLE OF CREATION

I am Eve.

I am woman.

I am created.

I am creation.

I am as old as creation itself — yet as young as the child within me.  I step into the circle of creation as part of its beginning and part of its continuum, for I am the door through which another unique life shall enter the circle.

I stand in the center of an intense spectrum of God’s love. At this moment, I am the most precious jewel of all His humanity. The warmth of His love fills every corner of my being, chasing out all traces of apprehension and fear. For you see… my time has begun.

I rest my hands lightly across my stomach, spreading my fingers to feel the ripened bones of my child. Soon this house will be empty, and my child will have a new home in my arms. I can’t help but give those bumps of elbows and knees a loving little pat, for I know that within minutes I will touch them again — without a wall of flesh between. I will know that what is an elbow is really an elbow — not the maybes of a foot or knees as in the guessing games of recent weeks.

Another contraction begins. The intensity of it shakes my calm resolutions.  Yet, I am not afraid. Rather than fear, I feel a breath of excitement and a keen sense of anticipation. With each billowing wave I rejoice, knowing am that much close to holding the reality of God’s creation in my arms — the warm body of my newborn child.

TO BE INTERTWINED THERE FOREVER

The discomfort of the past hours disappears and pushes itself past my consciousness to be forgotten forever. I lie back limp and totally exhausted. Yet somehow I am encompassed by exhilaration and great pride. I have stepped over the threshold of motherhood.

My child is born! My child. My child! I whisper the words again and again to my swelling heart. During these first precious moment of her life she begins to wrap herself around my soul — to be intertwined there forever. I gaze at her with fascination — her little fists waving so indignantly in the air — her pink pixie brow wrinkling in preparation for a loud and gusty cry — her tiny round toes wiggling as she kicks.

Mere words cannot express her newborn beauty. It’s a beauty completely alien to the word as I have always known it. A beauty that does not rest on comeliness, but in the nucleus of the entire being. A beauty that reflects the very face of God.

She is His creation.

His image.

This is the absolute of her life — the whole of her being. What total worth He has given his helpless infant! What a blanket of binding love He has tenderly wrapped around her!

I reach out to touch her for the first time. As I feel the soft, wet warmth of her skin, it seems I am touching the very breath of God. I am touching a tiny miracle of life — and the center of creation.

All of this is my child . . . my child . . .

my child!

Blessings of love, joy, and peace to you this day …