"In this moment, know you are held"

Plus the ultimate Easter gift idea guide - ready for your input!

This week on Mothering Spirit

Simeiqi He shares her experience with preeclampsia and the spiritual transformation that traumatic birth unexpectedly brought her:

“It has been over three years since I had the emergency cesarean section due to severe preeclampsia. Over time, I did regain a sense of what happened—some of it slowly came back to me, and some memories were reconstructed from Andrew’s accounts and pictures. Yet the facts of what happened matter less than the reality that, for the rest of my life, I shall live in its aftermath…

While traumatic indeed, what I suffered did not necessarily lead to a disorder, but the implication of a hidden, yet higher, order—the order of divine love. I did not only give birth. I was also born, into a foreign and strange world, where I am destined to be continuously transformed.”

Read the rest here: Mother of One, Mother of All.

Lauren Nizol offers a prayer for processing a difficult birth experience, even years (or decades) later:

In this moment, you feel out of control,
More desperately than you ever had.
And you’re scared.

This isn’t what you thought it would be like.

God knows your sadness–
And he’s sad too.

But know this:
You are
His love,
His joy,
His peace.

Read the whole prayer here: For When You Relive a Traumatic Birth.

Bonus prayer! We’ve received so many prayers from readers that we’re grateful to share an extra Prayer for Traumatic Birth this week.

Elizabeth Burtman from

Good News for New Moms

speaks to every mom who’s struggled emotionally after labor and delivery:

Hold me in your love as I begin to heal. 
    Tell me a better story of birth and new life, 
for the sake of your resurrected Son. 

Pray with her words here.

Want to read more?

“Motherhood has taught me more about the abundant compassion of God than anything else.” (Samantha Aguinaldo-Wetterholm on anxiety)

We know medical trauma can happen any time, in childhood or motherhood. Shauna'h Fuegen helps us make sense of God's fingerprints on the hardest days.

Even as we look toward Easter hope, we are still praying these words in impossible times: Prayer for A Country Called War by

Cameron Bellm

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Let's crowd-source for Easter!

Whether you're a planner who already has your baskets done or an 11th-hour shopper (raises hand), we can all help each other out. What are your Easter ideas for kids of all ages? Here are some favorites from us, suggestions from social media, and a few extra freebies for you. Add your ideas in comments & bookmark this list for next year!

Babies:

• Board books: Easter, Let There Be Light: An Opposites Primer, Holy Week: An Emotions Primer

• Teether or plush Jesus rattle doll

• Free contrast cards for babies (to print from Baby Devotions in English or Spanish)

• Cheerios or puffs hidden in plastic eggs (a classic!)

Toddlers:

• Board books: God's Dream, Our Father, Found: Psalm 23; My Little Library: Stories of Jesus (12 Board Books)

• Puzzles or a Jesus, Mary, or Joseph doll

• A Good Shepherd block or Risen Savior block

• Free Breath Prayers for Toddlers (to print from Baby Devotions in English or Spanish)

Preschoolers:

• Children's books: Let The Whole Earth Sing Praise, Jesus is Risen!: An Easter Pop-Up Book, The Tiny Seed: A Parable, Children of God Storybook Bible

• Resurrection Eggs

• Jesus Heals bandaids

• Free road trip activity book: Viajeros Spring: Easter & Jesus' Journey (to print from Baby Devotions)

Grade-school kids:

• Read-alouds or easy readers: The Tale of the Three Trees, 'Twas the Morning of Easter, Simon & The Easter Miracle, Psalm 23, The Jesus Storybook Bible

• Tiny Bible scrolls to tuck in Easter eggs

• Magic Grow capsules

• Temporary tattoos

Tweens & middle-schoolers:

• Middle-grade books: The World Jesus Knew: A Curious Kid's Guide to Life in the First Century, The Action Bible, The Totally True Book of Strange and Surprising Bible Lists

• A punch needle kit or paint-your-own-Jesus kit

• Water bottle stickers

Teens & college students:

• A Give Us This Day subscription for daily Scripture readings (grab a free issue here)

• Verily Magazine

• Scrunchie or Holy Spirit trinket dish

• Gift cards, movie tickets, candle, socks (true story: my 12 year-old found these "Jesus Griddy" socks & insisted I buy them for him & his older brother for Easter)

How to share your own words

We’ve loved publishing readers’ prayers on themes related to each week’s essay. Want to put your own experiences into words? Here are the topics we’re looking for:

• Parenting teens or young adults - due 4/1

• Struggles in sharing faith with children or grandchildren - due 4/8

• Parenting kids with disabilities - due 4/15

Original prayers are accepted (previously published on your social media, blog, or other personal site are fine). We’ll give you full credit and copyright, and tag you on our social media when we publish. You can send us your prayer at newsletter@motheringspirit.com.

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