Holy Labor

"Should Christians view childbirth as a 'curse' on women? is it merely a medical condition they must endure? Through scriptural exploration and personal experience, Aubry G. Smith challenges cultural assumptions about childbirth and motherhood. Holy Labor helps mothers and soon-to-be mothers understand how to think biblically about birth, while also showing them how to practiced the ideas in their own lives. Along the way, all readers will delve into God's experience of birth and creation--and see how childbirth leads back to the gospel and its role in the world"--Back cover.
Women are valued for their ability to bear children in many cultures. The birth process, though supposedly the most painful experience of a woman's life, is seen as a necessary evil to achieve the end goal of children and motherhood.And yet, in the face of a typically masculinized Christianity that nevertheless professes that women are equally created in the image of God, shouldn't childbirth--a uniquely feminine experience--itself shape Christian women's souls and teach them about the heart of the God they love and follow?Drawing on her own experience of giving birth and motherhood--and the conflicting assumptions attached to them, by Christians and the culture at large--Aubry G. Smith presents a richly scriptural exploration of common conceptions about pregnancy and childbirth that will not only help mothers and soon-to-be mothers understand how to think biblically about birth, but also walks them through how to put the ideas into practice in their own lives. Along the way, she shows all readers how to see God's own experience of the birth process--and how childbirth leads to a deeper understanding of the gospel overall.