As a child, one of my memories of spending afternoons at home with my mom is about watching soap operas, hahaha. My mom liked to knit while she watched them, and I was almost always by her side, playing or doing homework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the story of the soap opera, there were times when my mom would comment on the scenes, or even the main characters’ hairstyles or outfits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The few times I paid attention, I found a common scene in several of the soap operas. That scene was very confusing to me. It turns out there was a moment when the main characters shared a passionate kiss, and a few scenes later, the lady playing the main character was on her way to the hospital to give birth to her baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, I wasn’t paying much attention, but what I noticed was that when the expectant mother was in the hospital, it was pure shouting. Not just from her, but from her bedmates as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As time went by, and a few more soap operas played, I was curious enough to ask my mom what all the screaming was about. Without stopping her knitting, my mom replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s because when a mother is going to have a baby, it hurts a lot. Those pains are called labor pains.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Hmmmm, did it hurt you, Mom?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No, my love. Your brother was born by C-section, and so were you. I did have discomfort, but I didn’t feel it because of the medicine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I received her answer, and that was enough for me at that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From what I remember, I was the first in my group of friends to get pregnant, so I had never talked to anyone close to me other than my mom about pregnancy issues, and ouch… labor pains. My only references were the dramatic screams from those soap operas I watched with my mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward to the moment I first found out I was pregnant. I was so happy, imagining myself with all the impatience in the world, holding my baby in my arms. And my impatience grew along with the size of my belly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Undoubtedly, the time came to start thinking about childbirth. Other stories came to me, and as a first-time mom, they all terrified me. The common denominator was that each mother said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s all worth it. Once you have your baby in your arms, nothing else matters. Nothing. You’ll see.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you, have you been around someone with labor pains? Or have you experienced labor pains yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I read a lot about medications during pregnancy and childbirth, and the time came when I decided not to take painkillers when my baby was born. I sought to make labor a team effort, between my baby and me, and taking very strong medications affects that joint effort. At least that’s what I understood at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, that long-awaited day arrived for me. My due date was November 30th, and on the night of the 29th, my labor pains began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I knew my baby was in my womb, but I still hadn’t seen her, I couldn’t hold her, until she was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surprisingly, Scripture tells us that creation and all of us suffer labor pains, and that salvation is already here. Fullness is what is coming, it is unfolding\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what I heard from other mothers was also true for me. That after holding my baby in my arms, all the pain vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like salvation, I already had my baby, and fullness was holding her in my arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it is through the Spirit that we long for fullness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the fullness you long for? Can you endure the pains of labor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Spirit leads you, share with Jesus the carpenter whatever your pains may be. And perhaps they may become labor pains that lead you to fulfillment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marisol<\/p>\n\n\n\n
P.S. We can hear about how the Spirit helps us in the readings for the vigil of Pentecost Sunday,\u00a0year\/cycle\u00a0C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a child, one of my memories of spending afternoons at home with my mom is about watching soap operas, hahaha. My mom liked to knit while she watched them, and I was almost always by her side, playing or doing homework. According to the story of the soap opera, there were times when my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-2-2"],"yoast_head":"\n