My second grandchild, a girl, is due in only seven weeks! To say I am excited is an understatement. Having enjoyed nearly nine months of being a grandmother for the first time, my list of things to anticipate is much longer than this time last year.
My daughter-in-love, aptly named Valentina, texted me a picture of her pregnant belly at thirty weeks. As her abdomen grows with the baby inside, she’s begun to feel movements that indicate life. Sometimes the baby seems to be stretching out and she leans back, gently rubbing the baby bump in order to take a breath. I remember doing the exact same thing during my last trimester carrying my youngest, now her husband, Jacob.
Pregnancy is not for the faint of heart. The joy that follows the birth of a precious infant is beyond compare, but getting there is another story. My three pregnancies were fairly easy and much of the discomfort forgotten the moment that sweet baby was in my arms, but the stretch marks that remain nearly thirty years later tell their own tale. Some things return to normal after delivery, but others are forever changed.
So it is with the heart. My capacity to love has been enlarged with every child born into my family. More than that, every person by whom I’ve been loved or had the opportunity to love in the different stages of my life has left an impression. Some have loved me in return. Still others have been indifferent and I’ve needed to choose love, at least for a time. No other love has impacted my heart or my life more than the love of God in Christ Jesus.
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.
Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”
1 John 4:7-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.4.9.NLT
“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.
So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.
If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
We love each other because he loved us first.”
1 John 4:16-19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.4.16-19.NLT
God’s love is an extension of Himself because God is love. His unconditional love is proved by His actions. Our own love, fleshed out in our thoughts, grows to become words and actions. We are, in a sense, pregnant with it. God’s love begins in us as a tiny seed which grows over time, stretching us, expanding our idea of it and our ability to experience it and extend it. In The Passion Translation of Ephesians 4:2, the word “generous” describing love literally translated from the Aramaic means *stretching. Like a mother’s body must expand to accommodate the baby growing inside, so the generous love of God requires pliable tissue in which to grow.
“With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous* love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience.”
Ephesians 4:2 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/eph.4.2.TPT
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.
Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.
For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.
And always be thankful.”
Colossians 3:12-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.12-15.NLT
Maternity clothes are made for expectant mothers. The bands in the belly region are meant to offer stretch and support for the life growing inside. In eager anticipation, the parents watch this amazing expansion project until the time is right and the baby enters their world. No less a miracle is the new heart that is formed in each person who takes Jesus at His word. Our hearts of flesh would burst under the strain of a love as wide, long, high, and deep as the love of God, but our new hearts have the capacity to grow and grow and grow until they’re Jesus-sized!
“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.
Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Ephesians 3:17-19 NLT
A Fitting Reply 