Being a Woman

Today my sister posted to Facebook a clip from an email she received from her husband.  I'll call him Joe.

Just got this email from Joe. Lol!
"I had a horrible and very long nightmare that I was pregnant. The fertilized egg traveled into me, which the doctor told me can happen on rare cases. They would need to cut the baby out of me when it was viable. Since my body wasn’t designed for it I was in constant pain and weak from the lack of blood since the baby didn’t get a placenta and whatnot. 
You couldn’t have been happier “Get a taste of what it’s like! Hahahahaha!” and most of the women I met in my dream felt the same.
It wasn’t very nice of you you know."

I laughed because honestly, it's hysterical. However I've been thinking on it and the fact that a lot of women have the attitude portrayed above.  It's true that carrying a child for 40 weeks and going through labor and deliver is a very difficult process.  There were times during my pregnancies that I wondered why God designed it the way He did, but never once did I wish that it were different.  Not once did I say to my husband, "You did this to me" or "You could never endure the pain that I went through", or "Why can't YOU have the baby?" I guess in my mind, it's pointless.  Why should they have to endure it?  It's not their burden to bear. It's mine, and every woman's.
I'm so glad I'm a woman and all that involves.  My second child just turned seven yesterday and in keeping with tradition we sat on the couch looking through her birth album together. It brought about a lot more questions this year.  Questions about how a baby grows inside of a Mama. Questions about labor and delivery and the way God designed our bodies.  Questions from a little girl to her Mama about the beauty of the female anatomy and the reason it does what it does.  It was a truly beautiful conversation. Her wisdom regarding our role in this world is precious. She spoke in stride about the father's role and how it was so important for the Daddy to be there to take care of the baby.  Not once did she question the "fairness" of the scene depicted before her of her Mama clearly working through a contraction and her Dad watching on in awe.

 I hope it stays that way.
 I pray she embraces her womanhood and the joy that we get in bearing such a beautiful burden.