A New Years' Resolution...

I am resolved to womanhood!

I am resolved to enjoy the position of parent - to delight in my children. I am committed to romping with them, getting on the floor and rolling around with them, taking them on walks to pick flowers, seek out earthworms, cloud gaze, and grass roll. I am persistent in enjoying every mignight feeding with my babe, taking the time to trace his chubby cheeks with my fingertips, smell his newborn scent, and cherish his warm body against mine - understanding too well that it will pass too soon. I am resolved to view my children as a blessing!

I am resolved to help every woman to be fully trusting and knowledgable in her bodies ability to birth and the risks that the medical model of care can introduce. I am committed to loving the woman, regardless of her choices in childbirth, knowing that she will feel the impact of her decisions and need permission to grieve if her choice is in err. I am persistent in spreading advocacy and informed consent, even at the detriment to my pocketbook. I am resolved to love women!

I am resolved to love my body.My breasts are not as perky, they have a slight sag, because I have nourished my children from my body. My midsection is slightly softer because it has carried life within it and my babies were born at healthy weights. My arms are sore because I hug too tight, carry too long, and massage too much. My feet are flat because I pace their rooms at night praying over them and because we take long walks in the fields wondering over the beauty and perfection of nature. My hair is loosing its luster because of the few silver hairs that have been threaded into my crown of glory - all because of my blessings. I am resolved to love my beautiful body.

I am resolved to get callouses on my hands for kneeding laboring women's backs, pressing on busy coccyx', and massaging swollen appendages. I am committed to serving the rite of passage to motherhood as a bond-slave, tirelessly pressing forward and inward, loving women through birth. I am dedicated to standing up for her body and her baby when she is humbled into silence at the awe of her creation. I am resolved to serve!

I am resolved to love my husband - knowing that I was created to perfectly fit his innermost needs - I am his opus in life's performance. I am committed to making his house a castle, and giving him a place of refuge and revitalization in my arms. I will rise first in the mornings and lastly at night, looking well to the household so that he can be called blessed. I will put his needs firstly above my own, so that he does not worry about himself, but is freed to fulfill all my needs! I am resolved to my marriage!

2007 will see my children a little older, my marrige a little stronger, my body a little more gracious, my heart a little larger, and my doulaed births a little lovelier. I am resolved to womanhood!