Sandra Drescher-Lehman - Meditations for new moms: reflections, scripture, and wisdom for mommys first year

Copyright 2016 by Sandra Drescher-Lehman

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Laura Klynstra

Cover photo courtesy of iStock/gianliguori

Print ISBN: 978-1-68099-129-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68099-140-6

Printed in China

Dedicated to Maria Dawn and Jonathan Brooks, our children, who have given me new definitions for birth, life, and love.

About This Book

W hen I became a new mother, I learned to know many new sides of myself. I discovered new coping skills, new limits, new definitions for love and anger, new companionship with God. During the first year of my daughter Marias life, and then again after my son Jonathan was born, I experienced joy that soared to new heights and emotional dips that went lower than I had previously known. I was grateful for the friends who continually assured me of my worth as a mother by listening to my various emotions without condemnation.

My hope is that you will find a friend who validates your experiences in the first year of motherhood, whether its with your first child or your sixth. The agony of a hard day or week decreases as you admit how bad it feels, and joy is multiplied as you share it.

These meditations are short, in keeping with the amount of time you have to yourself as a new mother. They also offer a prayer, an action, or a suggestion for thought that you can take with you into the living of your day. My hope is that we will all be better mothers and women as we listen to ourselves, each other, and God.

Sandra Drescher-Lehman

Sensual Nourishment

T he world has never felt or looked, sounded, smelled, or tasted so wonderful as it does today. Im in it like the newborn I hold, and everything is refreshing, invigorating!

Did the birds just start to sing outside my bedroom window? Where did the yellow dandelions get their brilliance? Have strawberries always tasted this sweet? The air itself smells new, as if it were blown in special delivery to welcome my baby and her now mother. It nudges me gently with a shy kiss before its off to play in the old maple tree. The arrival of my baby has renewed my senses, as if it is I whos just been born!

Join your baby by
taking the invitation to a new life.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth.

Psalm 8:1

Amazing

H is fingers are so tiny!

My hand covers half his body.

I can hardly imagine that he has all the parts of an adult body in his tiny parcel!

His skin is liquid soft.

Im vaguely aware that I am babbling all those obvious things that sound so silly when other people say them! At the same time, I cant quit. Its as if I must announce the profundity of this event and this baby to the worldand even to myself.

This baby is a true miracle.

Let your babbling
be your prayer.

I praise you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:14

Power

I feel incredibly powerful.

My body still aches from the labor of bringing this child to her first view of the world. I move slowly, and I sleep whenever possible, but in my mind I have suddenly leaped to a position of power. I have entered a new realm of womanhooda woman who is also Mother.

This fragile child depends on me for everything. I am responsible for all her needs. I am her most natural connection with her Creator. She will know Gods love through mine. She will experience Gods tenderness through my touch. And I will regain the physical part of my power as God carries both of us.

God, help me to enjoy the power
you have given me, without abusing it.

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Commitment

B efore I was out of the recovery room, I called my parents. Before I was able to stand alone, they were kissing my weary smile. Before I was back home, they were fixing my meals and bed. I am thirty-six years old and just as much their child as ever.

This little one in my arms is mine forever, too! I wont quit being her mother when she turns eighteen or leaves home or has her own family or ever for the rest of my life!

What have I done?

Thank God,
I am not alone.

You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.

Psalm 16:2

Changing Lifestyle

I never dreamed my world could be so revolutionized! Last month I did whatever I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it, for the most part. I could follow through on my plans. I was dependable.

This month I am controlled by this squirming, demanding eight-pounder. I am late for everything. I no longer go out for coffee on a whim. It takes me all day to get myself into the shower, and then its a quickie. Sometimes I cant even get to the phone on time!

I had decided this baby would not change my life. That was definitely a pre-birth luxury decision. Why didnt somebody warn me about this lifestyle modification?

Well, Im learning it now. Actually, change can be intriguing. My attitude determines whether I resist it or welcome it.

God, help me to accept my new limitations
and receive this as new stimulation.

the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever!

Psalm 117:2

Storytelling

M y poor mother. Im suddenly pounding her with questions about what happened over thirty years ago.

Alter I had been at work all day, my nameless baby kept me up all night before he finally made his debut at 6 a.m. Now I want to know when I was born and how long we were in labor.

He was a huge eight pounds, four ounces, a fact I continue to be reminded of every time I sit down. I want to know how big I was, and what I looked like, and how soon she knew what my personality would be, and what my doctor was like, and how much Dad was involved with my birth, and on and on.

Strange how oblivious I was to all those things before and how important they suddenly are now. Stories are the connection to my past and my present, and they will prepare me for the future. Storytelling will have to be my next vocation!

Ask to hear the stories
from your baby days.

And [Jesus] told them many things in parables,
saying, Listen I.

Matthew 13:3

Memories

M y mother was wise. She didnt give me any of my baby memoirsbooks, pictures, clothes, blankets, or cardsuntil my baby was born. She knew I wouldnt have appreciated them before. In fact, I never missed them!