Congratulations!

Recently, at our small group meeting, during a lull in parenting war stories, one of the couples announced that they are expecting their first child.  As one of the last members of the group to embark on the journey of parenting, they accepted our congratulations with something of a shell-shocked expression, possessed no doubt by the vauge suspicion that their lives a being hurtled into a realm unknown.

Congratulations! I always, (or at leaste after I became a parent) thought this was an odd and inadaquate sentiment for the scope of the situation.  But then, what else do you say? Congratulations! You now get to push something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a pea; though lucky for you it will stretch to the size of a grapefruit first, for the reward of....sleeping, and doing just about everything else, in windows of 2 hours or less.  You will develop new skill sets, such as clipping fingernails on someone who is flailing wildly, and expand your knowledge base to become an expert on things including but not limited to: poop frequency and consistancy, cry type distinguishment, and soothing methods, and just when you have it figured out, it will change and you will once again know nothing. Yet, with all this will come a love that you can not now fathom, that will make all this rewarding and interesting, and will prevent you from wanting to throttle the little sleep disturber the way you would anyone else who woke you up every 2 hours.

Congratulations!  You will be trading in your spontaneity, any semblance of abdominal musculature you now have, and many other parts of yourself, for things like a profound glimpse into God's love for us, the grace to endure things you never thought possible, and the discipline of selflessness.

Congratulations! It's true, right? But it's sort of like saying, "God is good." It just  totally misses the epic scope of the reality.

After I had Morgan, I remember thinking, "Congratulations? Of all the wealth of things you could have said to give me an incling of what was comming, you, ALL OF YOU, chose congratulations? Thanks a load."

Isn't there something we could come up with that would say more? Brace yourself, perhaps? But no, that fails to express the sheer wonder of it all. In the end, congratulations is, I suppose, as good as anything, because there are no words big enough to embrace motherhood.  If you've already been there, you know what I mean, and if you haven't, you wouldn't understand even if I told you... but you will, soon.  Congratulations, welcome to the club.