Brief: On Being Martha in the Last Week of Pregnancy

Count it down! One week from right now I’ll probably be up biting what’s left of my nails in an anxious fit to meet my youngest son. The night before will likely be calm and relaxing, a stark contrast to the rest of my nights around here. Making sure bills are paid, floors are mopped, cabinets purged of excess, I’ve been happily abuzz with to-dos and dedicating my whole self to preparation for our new arrival. Much of the items on my list have nothing to do with the baby himself but more with my own peace of mind; after the hospital, I’d like there to be little to no need for us to run errands or go to the store, so we’re up to our elbows in frozen foods, eggs, and flour. The essentials, you know.

This whole nesting thing, though, I gotta tell ya I LOVE IT. It’s all fun and thrilling because, secretly (or not-so-secretly), I love big deadlines. Why not use the baby’s birth to ensure that the grass gets cut or the cabinet gets fixed? Though the underlying question behind each to-do pertains to the fact that we don’t know what life will be on the other side of March 25th, it’s fun to see little parts of the house transform in the name of joyful anticipation.

Another obvious fact secret is that, in my enthusiasm, I’ve become a bit of a Martha. I don’t worry over tasks before the baby comes, but I do buzz about preoccupied and overly analytical about them. While I’d be over the moon to have every little thing checked off, my sister reminded me that it’s easy to think that freedom and ability will fly out the window once a new baby comes; but really, we’ll all still be able to function. The world won’t end if the fridge isn’t cleaned out and wiped down before Delivery Day. Though my list is pretty long and I’m sure I could think of a million things to add to it for this last week of pregnancy, the biggest priority is to be less Martha and more Mary. More than run errands, I want to read extra books to my boys and build train tracks with them, to hold Andrew’s hand out of a sense of peace and contentment, and to savor the new baby’s last few in-utero hiccups. I want to be still to let myself hear what Christ asks of me.