Holy Labor
HOW CHILDBIRTH SHAPES A WOMAN’S SOUL
AUBRY G. SMITH
Holy Labor: How Childbirth Shapes A Woman’s Soul
Copyright 2016 Aubry G. Smith
Kirkdale Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
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Print ISBN 9781577997382
Digital ISBN 9781577997399
Kirkdale Editorial: Abigail Stocker
Cover Design: Christine Gerhart
For my children—Breckon, Kian, and Eden—in
whose births I’ve seen the glory of God.
And in memory of my mother, Pamela Grace Lambert,
who labored with God to bring me life.
Contents
A Biblical Perspective of Childbirth
Eve’s Curse and Our Narrative of God
Image-Bearers of the God Who Gives Birth
The Glory and the Gory in the Incarnation
New Birth into the Kingdom of God
Pain, Suffering, and Resurrection in Childbirth
God’s Providence over Pregnancy and Childbirth
A Biblical Perspective of Childbirth
“The Most Painful Experience in the World”
A strange feeling came over me during my Cell Biology lecture one October afternoon during my final semester of college. I hadn’t missed my period yet—it was due to come in four days—but somehow I knew it wasn’t going to come this month. When the lecture ended, I hurried to the nearest store to buy a pregnancy test. A few minutes later, the strange feeling was confirmed: I was pregnant.
I felt I was shifting—not just in the newly joined cells implanting in my uterus but in everything that made up my life. I was growing a new life in my body and preparing to bring it into the world. I could sense the significance, but I had no words for the experience. I was finishing my undergraduate degree in biology, but the scientific language I had learned about pregnancy and birth wasn’t quite sufficient. I was double majoring in Christian studies, but none of the theology books I had read discussed pregnancy or childbirth in depth. Searching for vocabulary and meaning, I spent those months in deep introspection, my hand on my growing belly in wonder. Despite my nausea, sciatica, and insomnia, the pregnancy was full of excitement and anticipation for both my ...
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About Holy Labor: How Childbirth Shapes a Woman’s SoulDrawing on her own experience of giving birth and motherhood—and the conflicting assumptions attached to them, by Christians and the culture at large—Aubry G. Smith presents a richly scriptural exploration of common conceptions about pregnancy and childbirth that will not only help mothers and soon-to-be mothers understand how to think biblically about birth, but also walks them through how to put the ideas into practice in their own lives. Along the way, she shows all readers how to see God’s own experience of the birth process—and how childbirth leads to a deeper understanding of the gospel overall. |
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