Scriptures for labor

i haven't decided exactly how i am going to utilize these in actual labor, but for now i am using them to keep anxiety down and help keep my focus on Christ as i wait and plan for this little baby to make her appearance. i might print them onto index cards or colored paper and focus on them, or use them in between contractions to remind me of where my help and strength come from.

for those of you who've been there, did you use scripture during your labor experience and if so, how?

any suggestions and scriptures to add are welcome!

Psalm 139:14

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

Isaiah 26:3

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Isaiah 40:29-31

"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Psalm 18:6

“In my distress I called to the Lord, I cried to God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.”

Isaiah 41:10

“So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

2 Samuel 22:33

“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”

Isaiah 43:1-7

“1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."”

Philippians 4:4-9

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:12-13

12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Psalm 119:165

“Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”

Isaiah 54:10

"'For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,' says the LORD, who has compassion on you."

Isaiah 54:13

“All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.”

Joshua 1:9

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

2 Chronicles 15:7

"But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded."

Exodus 15:2

"The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will exalt him."

psalm 28:7

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him."

Psalm 121

"1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore."

Nehemiah 8:10b

"Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Philippians 1:6

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Psalm 22:9-10

"Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God."

Psalm 71:5-6

"For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you."

Matthew 17:20b

"For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'move from here to there', and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you."

Psalm 56:11a

"In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid."

Philippians 4:6-7

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

1 john 5:14-15

"And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of Him."

Matthew 11:28

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

Psalm 37:4-5

"Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it."

Psalm 34:3

"I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears."

Psalm 37:7b

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."

Hebrews 4:16

"Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."

2 Timothy 1:7

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound judgment."

Psalm 46:1-3

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam though the mountains quake at its swelling pride."

Psalm 105:4-5

"Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,"

Psalm 29:10-11

"The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!"

Ephesians 1:3

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,"

2 Corinthians 4:7-10

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies."

John 14:26

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

1 Samuel 7:12

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, "Till now the LORD has helped us."

Lamentations 3:21-26

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.' The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

33 weeks. 5-9 weeks to go!

i suppose the last baby update here was when i found out our little one is a girl. now its over 3 months later!

I'm feeling pretty good. some aches when i wake up in the middle of the night, but most of the day i feel great. Dr. visits are every two weeks now, and my 32 weeks sonogram fell between two visits, so it feels like i'm already down to weeklys!

we've taken our childbirth class, breastfeeding class, and hospital tour. All of those fell between my 27 week appointment and my 31 week appointment. i was so nervous and full of questions from everything that i'd been reminded to think about at the childbirth class! i asked a huge list of questions at my last dr visit and somehow i feel amazingly more calm now than i did two weeks ago. i'm sure that feeling of calm will come and go a few more times between now and when i get to hold our daughter.

baby showers are both this saturday. one here with ladies from our care group at church, and another in Augusta with ladies from Lake Park Church. my mom will be the guest of honor at the Augusta event, since i wont be able to attend. After showers, i'll start baby laundry and stuff.

I'm wishing that i'd magically start cleaning the house right about now. i know the nesting thing may or may not kick in. i feel that i shouldn't just wait on it to be automatic, and set little cleaning goals for each day. part of me says i can just wait till i am done with work (april 1) and use those free afternoons to get organized, but part of me thinks that our little girl might make her appearance early, and i would like to be able to bring her home to a little bit of organization.

work is going great, though i am starting to notice the pregnancy more than before. i don't even know if i posted anything in here about having a job. mid-november i started working part time as a preschool teacher to 12-24 month olds. i had originally interviewed for a full-time position and was hired for it, but after talking with the director about childcare options at the school, i quickly confirmed that it just wouldn't be worth it for me to pay for the in-school childcare and work, or to have someone 20 miles away keeping her at home while i worked all day long. i am so very glad to have made the decision to stay home with her! i agreed to work part time till i couldn't work anymore, and completely believe that full-time with those kids would have been too much. 3rd trimester has meant taking in 9-10 hrs of sleep a night, plus not sleeping as well, so going to work after lunch is perfect for this time in my life.

mike is working part time during class season and will be allowed up to full time during the summer, so we will have the summer months of full time working daddy and stay at home mommy before we get to see how else God will provide our family income for the fall. we're hoping that provision will come in the form of a church job for mike which he could begin during the summer so he wouldn't have to adjust to a new church situation in the midst of fall classes.

i feel as though this became long rather quickly, with adding work updates and all....news from 3 months ago. maybe i'll be better at keeping this thing fresh. (though likely not!)

specific ways to pray for us:
1. praise God that we've come this far without any complications in baby and mommy health. praise for God's provision of very affordable baby classes through the on-campus clinic nurse. pray for continued health for jennifer mikaela and myself as we approach her arrival. also pray for mike and myself as we turn our anxieties into trust in God's plan and power.
2. praise God for his provision financially through work that we both enjoy and a few scholarships. pray that mike and i would continue to trust God with these financial and family unknowns.
3. praise God for the church family we've been able to be a part of since moving here. the community and encouragement through the body of Christ at Redeemer church has been awesome. pray for our hope that God will provide a church job beginning this summer, in which to minister, grow, and be provided for through.