People ¢ Ashley Ho is the Social Media Executive at MCS Comms. / Photo courtesy of Ashley Ho
Am I ready for motherhood? However, on the flipside, I also hear about the joy, spiritual growth and faith journey of parenthood, leading to greater dependence on God, and understanding the unconditional love that our Heavenly Father has for all of us, his children. When I first discovered I was pregnant, my husband, Daryl, and I were actually unprepared. “Are we ready to be parents? What do we do next?” We were thankful to have church mentors guide us and talk with us. As the parent carrying a miraculous new life in my body, hearing the heartbeat of my baby for the first time changed my perspective on being a mother. I embraced the fact that God has given me a great gift and is slowly preparing me for motherhood. During the tough and vulnerable first trimester, I learnt to depend a lot more on him, to pray more, especially for my baby, claiming the verses in Psalm 139. God told me, “It is not about what you do or don’t, but I am the one who gives life.”
Daryl and Ashley
I
There are so many things to think about, to prepare ’ve always had mixed feelings about parenthood.
for, to decide and to learn about as parents-to-be—
I’ve heard from friends about the sleepless nights
I’ve decided to take things one step at a time as I am
of looking after their newborns, the “terrible twos
assured that God will somehow give my husband, Daryl,
and threes”, navigating the education landscape in
and I the wisdom to go through each hurdle. We are also
Singapore, and the challenges of communicating
thankful for friends who are already parents, who have
with sullen or rebellious teens. These are
given us practical advice and shared their experiences
real struggles of parenthood, and parents
with us.
now have to raise their children in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex
Being an expectant mother during a pandemic has been
and Ambiguous (VUCA)
quite stressful, but God has been good and protected
also
me from the virus, despite being in close contact with
heard parents talk
family members who contracted Covid-19. I still attend
about the lack of
church services and meet with small groups of friends,
world.
I’ve
personal time.
but I have been vigilant about who I meet and avoid crowded places. Now that I am in my third trimester, Daryl and I continue to pray for our baby to be healthy and for her (yes, we are having a girl!) safe and smooth delivery. Most importantly, besides preparing physically for her arrival, we also have to prepare ourselves to be spiritual parents!
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METHODIST MESSAGE May 2022
