ZPCBlog

About the author: Jess is a Speech-Language Pathologist in Noblesville School District. She and her husband, Thomas, joined ZPC as members a few months after they got married in 2023. The Wendt Home Group quickly welcomed them into the church family. They love to serve on the Littles Team, the Donut Team, in the Young Adults Ministry, and on Great Banquet, Awakening, and/or Kairos teams when they can. They are very excited to welcome their first child in June 2026.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
Isaiah 9:6

The first few moments after getting a positive pregnancy test are pure joy. For me, it was the first time I understood that a miracle had just happened. To think, I went from living my life one day to growing a whole new life within my body the next. I couldn’t wait for a cute, fun way to reveal the news; I just walked right upstairs to tell Thomas. We hugged, we cried, we praised, and we prayed. But very soon after the initial shock and excitement wore off, I started to realize the part that moms don’t often talk about. After the positive test, you have about 8 to 9 months of waiting for the actual baby. And those 9 months aren’t just idle time, either. They’re 9 months of your body working hard to deliver God’s miracle of life.

I was often sick as a child, but nothing could have prepared me for how sick I would get during the first trimester of my pregnancy. I never expected this season to be so hard. I thought the excitement of what’s coming would overcome any trial; but if I am being honest with you, it’s been very hard to focus on the joy that’s coming. I have had many low moments these last three months, and life hasn’t stopped to accommodate my physical or mental health. Life goes on as I wait in anticipation for things to get better. We can slow down a little bit, but work continues, family and friends need to be seen, and commitments need to be met.

When I am puking my guts out for the fifth night in a row after a long day at work, I am not thinking of how this will all be worth it. All I am capable of is crying out: “Jesus.” His name has become a complete sentence that means many things I can’t say. “Jesus, carry me through this.” “Jesus, give me the strength to keep on going.” “Jesus, thank you for using this body to create and provide for this baby.” “Jesus, protect this child in all the ways I can’t, and show me how to protect them in all the ways I can.” “Jesus, forgive me for giving into despair so often.”

Mood swings and physical illnesses are not the only trials we will face before Jesus returns. Within my own close circle of friends and family, I know people who are facing this Advent season with their hearts heavy from divorce, loss of a parent, infertility, job loss, and seasonal depression. Sometimes suffering is so present it’s hard to see anything else. But it also reveals who the Prince of Peace is, and where our help comes from. Peace doesn’t come in the absence of our trials, it comes in the form of someone to call on when things get tough. Someone who will answer. It also comes in the form of hope for things yet to come, that it will get better. There will be a day when baby Dye graces our presence here at ZPC. There will be an even greater day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns and there is no more pain and no more suffering. But for this day, I can find peace in his presence at my lowest moments. He came in the form of a little miracle baby, and he grew into the man who sacrificed everything so that all we have to do is cry out: “Jesus.”

Read Isaiah 9:1-7. The prophet does not shy away from the adversity that Israel faced.

“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.”- Isaiah 9:1.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”- Isaiah 9:2.

His overall message speaks of great triumph. A king has come, and he is greater than any trial we may face.  

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” - Isaiah 9:6

It is not by the absence of trials, but by the presence of Jesus, that we find peace. 

Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus.

Share