Giving Life in Every Season

Art often captures the beautiful alchemy of the soul in ways words cannot. When I saw Katie Garner’s piece “Giver of Life,” I had a transcendent experience. It was an origami moment where different parts of my life folded together past present and future with resonant meaning. 

I was pregnant and gave birth five times, and I’m a witness that much of the experience was messy, awkward, painful, and exhausting. At the same time I still get tingles when I remember the sensation of new life moving within me. I felt moments with each child where heaven touched earth through my womb. 

The first fold…past…It was a sacred gift to be a divine partner in giving life as a mother of my children.

I am well past my child-bearing season now. In fact, my two oldest children are now fathers themselves. While it was my daughters-in-laws’ swollen bellies that gave life, there is something magical about seeing my baby holding his baby and being such a loving, playful daddy. I recently printed a picture to hang on my wall of my second son with his tiny baby girl. His gaze is fully engaged with hers in a sacred moment of connection and attunement. They are both smiling so wide at each other, and the corners of his eyes are creased with joy, just like his own Dad’s eyes do when he smiles like that. 

The second fold…present…It is a sacred gift to be a link in the generative life and love of family.

This week I got to meet with a young woman who shares the same name as my baby granddaughter. She lives in The Gambia and is being mentored by a Big Ocean Women WAVE leader. Because of our connection through this amazing global organization, I became aware of the need for financial support for this young woman to begin her schooling as a hairdresser. 

Her mentor had the vision, the desire, and the commitment, but she did not have the resources. We gathered six women who wanted to help give life to that dream, and together, as a global sisterhood, made it happen. This educational opportunity provides hope and gives new life to this young woman’s future. It is especially meaningful to me that Africa is prominent in the image of the gestational world.

The third fold…future…it is a sacred gift to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and work as a global sisterhood to give life to the future dreams of young women in the rising generation.

As I reflect on the artwork of Katie Garner, I am reawakened to and grateful for the gift of womanhood and motherhood and our perennial opportunity to keep being life givers in every season of our lives, past, present, and future.

Consider giving life to someone else’s future by donating to Big Ocean Women today!

Image attribution, Katie Garrer