Lessons from Margie

As some of you may know, BJ and I have elected to use a midwife to deliver our baby, rather than a traditional OB. We are working with a great group of three women at MCV and meet with a different one at each prenatal appointment. Yesterday we met Margie Rickell for the first time. Imagine a sweet, white haired, British Mother Goose delivering babies…that’s her.

Upon meeting us and hearing that we are both college students, she turned to me, smiled and said, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I laughed a little and said something about counseling. She then calmly turned to BJ and said, “and what do you want to be when you grow up?” He talked about working ministry in something music related and then she moved on to tell us a story. I walked away from that appointment with two thoughts burning on my mind...

1….As I sat on the table and listened to her talk and answered her questions, I was acutely aware of just how young and inexperienced I actually am. Just the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”…some people may think I should have been offended by such a question, but I was humbled. She wasn’t discrediting anything about my life, maturity or experiences. On the contrary, she was incredibly encouraging and she has the life experience to ask me such a question.

I need moments like this…moments when the humble spirit of another person acts as a mirror to my own immaturity, self-centeredness, ego, and foolishness. People like Pastor Fred Spivey, Peyton & Clover Harris, and Sara Groves are those (like Margie) whose humble and joyful presence has been both encouraging and convicting all in one moment.

2…I brought a laundry list of questions for Margie and most of them started with, “well I was reading this and I’ve heard about such and such, so I just wasn’t sure if that was something I needed to worry about…” Smiling, she lifting my hands in hers and paused (while slightly shaking her head). “You need to get out of your head” she told me.

Welcome to my world Margie! I plan, organize, analyze and get things done (aka – I like to be in control). Before I even know what I’m doing I pull apart of every piece of information and draw conclusions. I’m a psychology major who wants to go into counseling. That’s what I do! And at times, that’s a wonderful thing. I love that I see the world in this way, but sometimes I can’t turn it off. I’m beginning to see the beautiful opportunity I have in pregnancy to get out of my head and stop thinking so much…to practice being instead of always doing.

So I’m choosing to slow down, enjoy this time more fully, and rest in messiness of my life…because I have a suspicion that January will be here before I can blink and then everything I think I know will change.