LIFE

Recently I have realized how sensitized I have become to anything that has to do with people being injured, killed, etc.  Not that I was not sensitive to such things however, when I pass a car accident I am brought to tears as I pray for those involved.  I can no longer watch any horror movies and certain shows have become off limits.  Criminal Minds (I used to never miss) is on an episode by episode basis, based on how much suffering may be depicted...I cannot give it up because I love the cast so much...

Today, as I was passing one of the aforementioned wrecks, I was wondering to myself why in the heck this has happened to me.  I am not at all sorry it has happened as it drives me to pray and that is not a bad thing to happen at all...

It boils down to one thing.

Sanctity of life.

God is the ultimate Giver of life, make no mistake.  However, I was chosen to be the vessel to bring a life onto this earth.  The process of carrying and bringing a child into this world is an honor I will never take for granted and this has changed everything about me.

God is amazing and knit her together in my womb.  A process that I will never understand because the amazing speed at which a child develops into a perfect little being is beyond a miracle.  Then the process of labor and delivery and falling in love with her as she came into my world is mind boggling and I still haven't grasped how I have been deserving of such a blessing in life.

I never thought I would share what I am about to however, let me first warn you there is a picture at the bottom that not all viewers may want to see.

After I had Jewell I had the option of viewing my placenta.  Her source of life while she was inside me was wrapped up in this one bit of tissue.  Everything that she needed for 9 months was in there or fed through the umbilical chord to her...I am simply amazed by that fact alone...however, as my midwife was showing me this amazing organ she referred to the "Tree of life".  I am still in awe of this comparison, as it was the first time I had heard it, however if you Google it, apparently it is a known comparison...

So, my photo compared to Google images, in my opinion is the best image, as most in Google looked more gruesome...maybe it is because I was attached to this one. OK, sorry...anyhow...in the photo, you can see (it is more like an upside down tree) the umbilical chord is like the trunk and the limbs are the veins branching out.

As I thought about this comparison, and as I think on Scripture, I can't help but think of Adam and Eve before the fall.  When it was just God and them in the Garden...and the tree...it was perfect.  As God knit together my Jewell in the womb, it was the two of them, and the tree of LIFE.  It was perfect.

So amazed and blessed to be the carrier of my child and the vessel God used to bring her here into our lives.

For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and I know this very well.

My bones were not hidden from You
when I was made in secret
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began.

Psalm 139:13-16

I am posting two pictures, the first one is my precious Jewell...the second one will be the one I am warning you about. ;)