Baby hunger and old ladies.

As a woman who is now a great-grandmother, I have come to realise that for most of us women, there is a deep desire to one day becoming a mother. It is how God created us.

Indeed, one sees this inherent virtue in young girls from the time they tenderly place blankets around their dollies or clasp a dolly to their breast in the first bloom of maternal love.

As is natural, after this first blooming, other factors come into play as they learn about the world, books and life. But the seed of maternal desire has been sowed and will spring up in later years.

Nurture of new life is a characteristic of womanhood and that nurturing endures for a lifetime. Ask any aged woman who has reared a family and she will tell you that it still presents itself. It presents itself in memories of her own children now grown, and later in her children's children. And if she is fortunate, in her grandchildren's children.

The ache for a baby to hold is still strong, even though the years for becoming a mother are well and truly gone. Each baby will be scrutinised, exclaimed over and rocked and the wonder of new life and a baby's sweet smell will transport a woman to earlier years and the time she first welcomed each new child of her own into her arms and life.

I remember once when we were at a wedding, my aged aunt begged me to allow her to hold my baby daughter, eagerly holding her arms out to receive her. At the time, I didn't realise how strong baby hunger is, until the last grandchild was born and my arms became empty.

There seem to be less babies these days, in part to feminism trying to tell us that a career is better than wiping little noses and bottoms and advise control of our fertility by having abortions. However, wherever there is a baby, you can be sure of two things- there will be other children and old ladies.

For the young ones, it brings a fascination born of that same inbuilt desire to love and nurture. But why old ladies? you ask. Because most times the God created desire to nurture and the love of new life remains long after the ability to beget children. A newborn brings back the memories of younger fertile years and the children born in that time. It makes her feel young again. Reborn. 

Enjoy your children and grandchildren and always get plenty of cuddles. Baby hunger will be easier to cope with if you get a full diet of infant cuddles while you are still young.... 

I promise, you will feel that longing to fill your empty arms with a baby one day as baby hunger is very real. 

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, [and to be] a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 113:9

An unborn baby's prayer

I love being so close to you Mummy,
I was lulled to sleep when you were walking today, the gentle warm waters rocked me so.

Did you feel me kick today Mummy?
I have been practicing so long for you to feel me, I want you to know I am well and growing.

I have hiccups tonight,
I just can't stop them coming and it feels so strange-I hope they don't keep you awake too.

I did a somersault for you Mummy,
I turned over and back again cos I found I can still do it, I won't be able to soon but I s'pose that will make you glad!

Today I heard for the first time, Mummy-
I heard your heart beating slow and steady next to mine; will your heart always be close to me?

You have a lovely voice
that I will recognise at once, for I woke and heard you singing-will you sing to me when I'm cradled in your arms?

You must have been in sunshine today,
for I saw red colours shining through my fused eyelids. I want so much to see you and the colours you wear.

O how I wish I could always be this close, Mummy,
protected and stretching and growing under your heart, but I know you tire easily so I must be in your arms!

I want you to love me forever, Mummy-
I've prayed God will make my skin really velvety soft, so you will want to touch me and cover me in kisses.

God's told me He's preparing me as a gift for you,
He's shaping me in a secret place known to just us three…

I've asked God to help you love me, Mummy,
to make me the best baby just for you- He whispered," Just relax and be yourself, that's all you have to do"

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

"The Work Of His Hands" © 2004 Gary B Clark www.garybclark.com Used With Permission

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest out of the womb I sanctified thee.." Jeremiah 1:5a 

Letter to a mother-to-be

Congratulations on the impending arrival of your child. Since I had my last baby 41 years ago, there have been a lot of studies regarding the world of the unborn and how we can influence it. It has been found that an unborn child can hear quite well from about 23 weeks gestation and that what it hears can influence its thoughts and reactions- even after birth!

These days it is not considered silly to talk to your unborn child or to play music or even to read to it! In light of my observations of my grandchildren when they were first born, I think that this is true. How else does one account for the fact that a crying newborn can immediately recognise its own mother's or father's voice and stop crying?

I have experienced this myself with my 13 year old grandson Mitchell. He was born by caesarean section and I was present in the operating theatre (his father didn't make it in time) As his Mother had a general anaesthetic, she was of course unable to hold him or talk to him. He was born screaming and inconsolable! The nurses cleaned him up and cut his cord and then placed him in my arms! I said to him, "Hello Nanna's little boy!" and immediately he opened his eyes and stopped crying! It was awesome and my heart just burst with love for him!

Why did he recognise my voice? you ask. His Mother had had a very problematic pregnancy and I had nursed her through the entire 9 months. With permission, I had laid hands on his Mum's stomach and prayed for him. I had talked to him on a daily basis and encouraged his Mum to as well. She had not bonded with my first grandchild and I tried to encourage her with the beauty of pregnancy and to bond with this child before it was born. It worked- she mothered him well.

Now to the reason of this article. Our children have a spirit before birth as we find in Luke 1:39-45 where the pregnant Mary visited Elizabeth and the sixth month fetus, John the Baptist, leapt in her womb when he heard Mary's salutation! I believe that we can minister to our unborn children by praying for them whilst in utero, playing worship music, reading the Word or having the Word played. As the brain records memories from before birth, I believe that a love for the LORD and His Word and worship can be fostered from pre-natal days.

As a study showed, new mothers were asked if they watched a particular soap opera throughout their pregnancy. Of those that did, they were asked to join in a simple experiment. When their babies went through that fussy part of the day where they play up, their Mothers played the theme song of that soapie. Without fail, all the babies settled!

If worldly things can influence our unborn children, what a wonderful opportunity we have in instilling a love for the things of God in them right from the womb. I believe it starts in the womb...science tells us the unborn do respond to outside stimuli, I have experienced it with Mitchell....what a wonderful start to a new life!

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

"Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:4-5

A bitter pill swallowed in sadness

First the General Practitioner’s was sold. It had been a house that was revamped for him. We waited eagerly to see if a medical service would take its place…we sorely need dental surgeries and physiotherapy, rehabilitation centres or pain management clinics in our area.

There were months of extensions and electrical works. Concretors made ramps for the front entrance and a car park was enlarged from a small parking area to room for about 20 cars. Over the next few months, we saw medical equipment and treatment couches and trolleys brought in. Our excitement and curiosity mounted.

What was this wonderful service for us? The sign post had long been stripped of its sold sign but no new sign was forthcoming. Finally, the place was finished! But no news in the local paper or no new sign gave us a clue to our new service! During the week the place was not busy at all…sometimes deserted. Very strange. Saturdays were extremely busy with the carpark full. Still there was no word what the building was.

I did a google search of the area….you guessed it. Our taxes are funding an abortion clinic! I am so upset! I know that abortion will always be a sad fact of life- but it is vexing that one should be built so close to our home! A service that will line the pockets of the abortionists, funded by tax payers money and serving only one small facet of the community!It is so very sad and disappointing!

I will always feel a sense of sadness for the little innocents’ lives that are taken and the lives messed up for women who will have to live with their decision for the rest of their lives! As I wait for a place in a pain management clinic, I swallow the bitter pill of anger and disappointment in the spiraling sin of our hedonistic society. And I shed a tear for the little ones sucked viciously from the warmth of their mother’s womb. And I pray “Maranatha, Lord Jesus!”…and shiver as I pass.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

"Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward". Psalm 127:3

What God thinks of children: a study

How many times have we heard disbelief and dismay of relatives and friends when it is discovered that a new life is on the way? And worse still, how many people have (hopefully only for a moment), thought  or worse still,  actually voiced  that they may very well terminate it?  It’s a fact that quite a large  percentage of  babies weren’t actually planned, but that  is only in  our thinking.  There are no accidents or unwanted children in God’s sight. Do you know that God blesses us with conception and withholds conception as a punishment?

Genesis 49:25 [Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:  That is not to say that women trying to conceive are being punished, of course. But in scripture, God encourages us to be fruitful vines and says we will be saved in childbearing.

Exodus 1:7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Leviticus 26:9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you Psalm 128:3 Thy wife [shall be] as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. 1Timothy 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. 

And again when the house of Abimelech had Sarah, Abraham’s wife in his harem posing as Abraham’s sister, God closed all the wombs in the palace. That was how Abimelech knew something was amiss in his house! Why? Because the blessing of conception was withheld!

Genesis 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She [is] my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou [art but] a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man's wife. Genesis 20:4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Genesis 20:8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. Genesis 20:9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. Genesis 20:10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? Genesis 20:14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave [them] unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. Genesis 20:15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land [is] before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. Genesis 20:17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare [children]. Genesis 20:18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

God has formed us in the secret place and knits our bodies together.

Isaiah 44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, [which] will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. Isaiah 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I [am] the LORD that maketh all [things]; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; He saw our form before we had one- He knows us before we are born! Genesis 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations [are] in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and [the one] people shall be stronger than [the other] people; and the elder shall serve the younger. Genesis 25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, [there were] twins in her womb. Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

We are all unique- even identical twins are not identical in every sense. I know that with a certainty, for I am a mirror image twin. Yet we are different. Each person conceived is special in the LORD’S sight! How it must grieve Him when we express shock and dismay at His wonderful gift of conception! The godly woman will understand that she is being blessed when she discovers a new life is coming- she will welcome children as a gift from the LORD.

Psalms 127:3 Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward. And again we see a blessing! Genesis 29:31 And when the LORD saw that Leah [was] hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel [was] barren.

But the ungodly often will react quite differently, spurning the blessing and often taking means to reject it! My heart grieves for those blessings disposed of heartlessly when many a woman desperate for a child would be more than willing to bring it up. God has a purpose and plan for our lives- even known before we are born. To reject the great gift of conception is to reject one of the greatest gifts and blessings that God can bestow on us. For although a child may not fit in with our plans, God can undertake to provide both materially and emotionally for that child. There are absolutely no accidents, no mistakes in timing, no inconveniences in God’s plan!

I have seen women who vowed to reject the gift of conception by terminating it, bond so intensely with the child when it is in their arms, that they give praise to God for the “inconvenience” and bless Him for their child. I also have known countless couples reject their gift of conception by submitting to sterilisation- only to regret it at a later date. Often a reversal does not repair that which was “fixed” when it was not broken.

They pay a high price often, for trying to play a role of life-giver or rejecter- a role that is God’s alone! How precious indeed is the gift of a child, and indeed the gift of conception. May we never take this gift lightly, or reject it or be dismayed! God’s plans and thoughts are so much higher than ours!

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

How our rejection of Gods' greatest gift to us after salvation, must hurt Him! For God, there are no unwanted children. If only all people would understand that!

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

But Jesus called them [unto him], and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.Luke 18:16

Even Jesus served meals!

All of us Christian wives who are seeking to live life according to God’s Word, are bombarded by feminist teaching and other unscriptural advice. We are further alienated from our sisters who work part-time because society sees them as contributing whereas it portrays us as parasitic!

So great is the attack on us, that often we sit scratching our heads and wondering if they could be right. As in all things, we would do well to seek what the Word of God says.

I have compiled some feminist and ungodly views and I have answered them with the Word. As always, we see the Truth of a housewife’s value in God’s sight is revealed in His Word. I am sure you can find other verses such as Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 that show how God feels about our work in the home.

Feminist and worldly view

“A parasite sucking out the living strength of another organism…the housewife’s labor does not even tend toward the creation of anything durable…. Woman’s work within the home is not directly useful to society, produces nothing. The housewife is subordinate, secondary, and parasitic. It is for their common welfare that the situation must be altered by prohibiting marriage as a ‘career’ for woman.” The Second Sex, 1949 by Simone de Beauvoir
Isaiah 3:11-13 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

“[The] housewife is a nobody, and [housework] is a dead-end job. It may actually have a deteriorating effect on her mind…rendering her incapable of prolonged concentration on any single task. [She] comes to seem dumb as well as dull. [B]eing a housewife makes women sick.” — Sociologist Jessie Bernard in The Future of Marriage, 1982.
Proverbs 31:27 “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat of the bread of idleness.”

“[As long as the woman] is the primary caretaker of childhood, she is prevented from being a free human being.” — Kate Millett, Sexual Politics, 1969.
Proverbs 31:28 “Her children arise and call her blessed…”

“[Housewives] are dependent creatures who are still children…parasites.” — Gloria Steinham, “What It Would Be Like If Women Win,” Time, August 31, 1970.
Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes

“[Housewives] are mindless and thing-hungry…not people. [Housework] is peculiarly suited to the capacities of feeble-minded girls. [It] arrests their development at an infantile level, short of personal identity with an inevitably weak core of self…. [Housewives] are in as much danger as the millions who walked to their own death in the concentration camps. [The] conditions which destroyed the human identity of so many prisoners were not the torture and brutality, but conditions similar to those which destroy the identity of the American housewife.” — Betty Frieden, The Feminine Mystique, 1963.
Psalm 127: 3-5 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

“[A]s long as the family and the myth of the family and the myth of maternity and the maternal instinct are not destroyed, women will still be oppressed…. No woman should be authorized to stay at home and raise her children. Society should be totally different. Women should not have that choice, precisely because if there is such a choice, too many women will make that one. It is a way of forcing women in a certain direction.” — Simone de Beauvoir, “Sex, Society, and the Female Dilemma,” Saturday Review, June 14, 1975
Titus 2:4-5 “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

[I]f even 10 percent of American women remain full-time homemakers, this will reinforce traditional views of what women ought to do and encourage other women to become full-time homemakers at least while their children are very young…. If women disproportionately take time off from their careers to have children, or if they work less hard than men at their careers while their children are young, this will put them at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis men, particularly men whose wives do all the homemaking and child care…. This means that no matter how any individual feminist might feel about child care and housework, the movement as a whole had reasons to discourage full-time homemaking.” — Jane J. Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA, 1986.
1 Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

We who make marriage and home our career usually do so at great personal expense. It is much more difficult to make ends meet on one wage and it is often made more difficult because of society’s general view of the stay at home wife and mother.  We become unwise when we look at our life's work in service to God and family through the world's eyes, not God's.  We must bring our thoughts into captivity of Christ.... Who not only came to die, but came to serve. Even in the miracles of the fish and later in cooking breakfast for the disciples. Jesus saw meal making and feeding hungry people as service of great price!

In order to grasp the freedom and beauty of being a full time homemaker, we must come back periodically to the Word. Only in doing so will we see the true value of our calling in Christ, Who Himself came as a Servant to redeem us...


© Glenys Robyn Hicks

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philippians 2: 7