It’s not that the Old Testament hasn’t been meaningful and challenging to me every time I have encountered it. I started reading it because I was auditing a course in which, every week, we made our way through a few chapters or a whole book, and, although I have read it before, I have been struck this time around by how certain stories seem more precious to me now than in the past. I am sure there is wisdom to be found in all of these, but mostly I have been reading the Old Testament. All that is to say nothing of the wilderness of Web sites that will track your baby’s size relative to various foods, from grape to mango to cauliflower help you pick a first name or middle name or a pediatrician tell you how to sleep and how not to be so sleepy. Karp and the economist Emily Oster to the advice columns of Miss Manners and the birth stories of the midwife Ina May Gaskin. The recommended reading ranges from books by the pediatrician Dr. I’ve been thinking about why we read what we do because I am pregnant, and women who are expecting a child are told to read a great many things. I suppose what we read is shaped by geography, too-so much so that we pick up Joan Didion or Wallace Stegner if we are headed West, and copies of Jesmyn Ward or William Faulkner if we are headed South. Lewis’s “ A Grief Observed,” and give newlyweds Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s “ Gift from the Sea.” Certain books are associated with certain ages, others with certain life events. But I do know that we tell teen-agers to read “ Romeo and Juliet” and “ Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” direct new medical students to “ The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,” send someone who has lost a spouse a copy of C. I don’t know why you are reading this and not something else, or why the other day I finally read Montaigne’s essay on thumbs, which had been recommended to me months ago. Why do we read anything? I can’t really answer that question. God’s Plan for Pregnancy: From Conception to Childbirth and Beyond by Nerida Walkerġ0.A nineteenth-century engraving of Hagar with her son, Ishmael. The Pregnancy Companion: A Faith Filled Guide for Your Journey to Motherhood by Jessica Wolstenholm and Heather Rupeĩ. The Christian Mama’s Guide to Having a Baby: Everything You Need to Know to Survive (and Love) Your Pregnancy by Erin MacPhersonĨ. The Lord of Birth: Devotional Bible Study for Pregnancy by Jennifer Vanderlaanħ. Praying Through Your Pregnancy: An Inspirational Week-by-Week Guide for Moms-to-Be by Jennifer Polimino & Carolyn WarrenĦ.

40 Weeks: Devotional Guide to Pregnancy by Jennifer Vanderlaanĥ. Supernatural Childbirth: Experiencing the Promises of God Concerning Conception and Delivery by Jackie MizeĤ.

Christ Centered Childbirth by Kelly Townsendģ. Redeeming Childbirth: Experiencing His Presence in Pregnancy, Labor, Childbirth, and Beyond by Angie TolpinĢ. To help you do that I’ve put together a list of 10 Christian Pregnancy & Birth Books – some of them have helped me out tremendously to attain the Christ-centered pregnancy and birth I longed for, some of them were recommended to me, and some of them are still on my wishlist.ġ. If you are looking for a different pregnancy and birthing experience – one that gives glory and honor to God, one that gives you peace by handing the reigns over to Him – I would highly recommend putting those worldly pregnancy and birth books aside and finding ones that will help you trust and have complete faith in Him when it comes to your pregnancy and birth.

Amazing is all I can really say to describe it.įor my fifth pregnancy we were blessed with twins and it was only by grace, mercy, and strength from the Lord that I was able to carry them to term (39 weeks, 6 days) without any complications and experience complete peace when there were complications during the delivery.ĭuring my first two pregnancies I had read many pregnancy books and what to expect books, but by the time our fourth child was on the way I wanted something different – something that would help me to put the Lord at the center of it all. When I was pregnant with my fourth child, I turned my pregnancy completely over to Him and what a difference I experienced with that pregnancy, labor, and birth. From my third pregnancy and birth, I learned that He is in control and that all my planning was in vain. And it wasn’t until after my third child was born that I realized I needed to include Him in my pregnancy and birth process. It wasn’t until after my first child was born that I found Christ.

Pregnancy bible study for couples