Quote of the Day: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

 

Psalm 139:13-14

[13] For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
[14] I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

This grainy image was printed from the first sonogram of my oldest daughter, taken at 13 weeks gestation. It looks to me like she’s sucking her thumb, as babies do. By 13 weeks, I had already grown used to the idea of having a child, although the initial realization came as a shock. Doesn’t it always? I had plans: graduating from law school and applying for clerkships and taking law school exams without feeling constantly nauseated.

In the first few days of pregnancy, I did everything you’re not supposed to do. I ate sushi, drank wine, and had x-rays at the dentist. But the nausea and a bit of spotting alerted me to the life-altering reality of what was already happening inside my body. I took a pregnancy test before I even missed my period. I recall very clearly the feeling of my stomach stretching, even at 10 days pregnant, when I went to a wedding. The newlyweds had a “honeymoon” baby about a week before our daughter was born (on her due date).

Instead of studying for exams in solitude, I had a constant companion. I could feel the effects of pregnancy and the child developing independently of anything I was doing. I had to revise my plans. And my husband, whose job at a big law firm was already demanding, had a  new purpose driving him to succeed.

Almost 18 years later, our baby has grown into a talented and accomplished young woman. She and her sisters are certainly the greatest work of my life. I did finish law school, but I never did a clerkship and never actually practiced law. In creating and sustaining a family, I am doing something so much better. I am working to honor the lives that God so wonderfully made.

Published in General
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 17 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Nifty. The road unexpectedly taken.

    • #1
  2. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Lilly B: She and her sisters are certainly the greatest work of my life. I did finish law school, but I never did a clerkship and never actually practiced law. In creating and sustaining a family, I am doing something so much better.

    You’re right.

    But there’s more. Healthy families are the foundation for the rule of law, so I’d say your legal career far outshines that of at least three sitting Supreme Court Justices.  Probably four.

    • #2
  3. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    Beautifully written, Lilly.  Thank you

    • #3
  4. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    Son #1 just sent a video from sonogram of his daughter #1. (that’s grand daughter #5 for anyone who is counting)

    Me: It looks like she’s talking (??)

    son #1: Sigh  Yes. appears to be so.

    • #4
  5. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Me: It looks like she’s talking (??)

    son #1: Sigh  Yes. appears to be so.

    Mwah hah ha ha!!!

    • #5
  6. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Just love this post, Lilly. How blessed you are. And your family, too.

    • #6
  7. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    When my two oldest got married I took them and their brides-to-be aside, and showed them all the books I had written (I have a shelf of them). I then asked what I had created that I was most proud of. After letting them discuss the books for a few minutes I answered by pointing at the son getting married. I then added it did not matter what you accomplished in life, nothing provided as much  satisfaction as your children and the knowledge that you had raised them right.

    (I plan to do the same thing with the third when he finds a bride. And neither of the older two have clued him into the answer.)

    • #7
  8. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Nifty. The road unexpectedly taken.

    Yes, even when it was the road I wanted to take. Until it happens, you have to plan your life and wait. And then, the presence of a child, even in the womb, changes everything.

    • #8
  9. Sandy Member
    Sandy
    @Sandy

    My life had a similar trajectory.  After my first son was born I found myself turning down a good teaching job and also the offer to work in the White House as an assistant to one of President Ford’s appointees.  But that was a time when it was perhaps easier to make the choice to give oneself over to raising a family–if people were critical they  kept it to themselves, and I had plenty of company in other educated women who were full-time mothers–so well done, Lilly. I note with some pleasure that apparently many women decided during the pandemic that staying home was better than returning to work.  If this is causing trouble in the workforce, it’s a good kind of trouble to have.

    • #9
  10. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    Sandy (View Comment):

    My life had a similar trajectory. After my first son was born I found myself turning down a good teaching job and also the offer to work in the White House as an assistant to one of President Ford’s appointees. But that was a time when it was perhaps easier to make the choice to give oneself over to raising a family–if people were critical they kept it to themselves, and I had plenty of company in other educated women who were full-time mothers–so well done, Lilly. I note with some pleasure that apparently many women decided during the pandemic that staying home was better than returning to work. If this is causing trouble in the workforce, it’s a good kind of trouble to have.

    Thank you. It’s good to hear about your experience, too. My mother was a teacher, but stayed home, tutored, and finished her master’s degree while I was very young. I have also worked full-time, part-time and stayed home at various times in my children’s lives, but I’ve been “at home” for the most part. I decided to stop even part-time work in February 2020, which turned out to be a fabulous call. 

    • #10
  11. Dotorimuk Coolidge
    Dotorimuk
    @Dotorimuk

    Momentum from my state, my governor:

    https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-health-texas-oklahoma-528aede70223d68dd5ed09160098445f

    • #11
  12. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    I wish the feminists knew that the career you chose is more important than being a lawyer or anything else. The hand that rocks the cradle and all that.  But it’s still impressive that you finished law school! I’m in awe.

    • #12
  13. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Beautifully written, Lilly. Thank you

    Yes – I second that word beautiful! Thank you and especially for including the Bible verse.

    • #13
  14. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    I wish the feminists knew that the career you chose is more important than being a lawyer or anything else. The hand that rocks the cradle and all that. But it’s still impressive that you finished law school! I’m in awe.

    I know I’m preaching to choir here, but I think those of us who see the value in motherhood should be heard saying that we are not oppressed. There’s also the view that assumes moms who don’t work outside the home are just eating bon-bons and watching soap operas all-day. It’s certainly not that, but I like being my own boss.

    • #14
  15. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Lilly B: She and her sisters are certainly the greatest work of my life. I did finish law school, but I never did a clerkship and never actually practiced law. In creating and sustaining a family, I am doing something so much better.

    You’re right.

    But there’s more. Healthy families are the foundation for the rule of law, so I’d say your legal career far outshines that of at least three sitting Supreme Court Justices. Probably four.

    Yes indeed!!

    • #15
  16. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    In recent days, my Instagram feed is full of shared memes attempting to convince me that American women will suffer from government-forced pregnancy and birth in the near future. As my OP asserts, I get how God was involved in my pregnancies, but I really don’t see how the government was. I can even understand how the government might get involved if I had attempted or succeeded in euphemistically ending said pregnancies. Also, I can imagine very clearly how the government might force the termination of pregnancy (e.g., China’s one-child policy).  But how would the “government” force the conception and the birth of any children (without rape)? If anyone can help clarify this confusion, please share your wisdom here. 

    It seems to me that the argument above is the new preferred talking point in favor of abortion from the left. Maybe it’s not terribly new, but the old tactic of arguing that the baby in the womb isn’t really a baby appears to be out of fashion. Images like the one at the top of this post probably explain the shift in the (lack of) reasoning.

    ********

    This post is part of the Quote of the Day (QOTD) Series, which is one of the group writing projects here on Ricochet. The other is the monthly group writing theme organized by @ cliffordbrown, currently open for volunteers to riff on the theme “Mother of —.” The QOTD signup sheet for May is here.

    • #16
  17. Peckish Cedar Inactive
    Peckish Cedar
    @PeckishCedar

    The most beautiful and majestic miracle from God is the creation of life in a woman’s womb.  Likewise, the most powerful and mysterious force on earth is a Mother’s Love.  The modern world would call me a misogynist or woman-hater for saying that.  I don’t get it. 

    Men can’t create new life.  We make a contribution to the process, but the best we can do after that is provide support.  A bond between a father and his children can be like steel, but the bond of a mother and her child is made of heart, mind, soul, and flesh.  There is nothing stronger.  Maybe men are trying to become women so they can gain an experience they will never know.  All in vain. 

    Along the same lines, men are told things like, “No womb, no opinion”.  True, men do not have a womb, but we did live there once.  Don’t we have a right to an opinion about our onetime home and the home of our children?  I think we do.  Even so, I am pretty sure girls in the womb have a womb at some point in their development.  Do they have an opinion?  Maybe the correct motto should be, “No voice, no opinion.”  Babies, boy and girls, have no voice until their mouth clears the birth canal.  Leaving a baby on the table to die when you go into the next room, works the same way.         

    All of what we see was foretold in Genesis 3:15.  The seed of woman was referring to the Messiah and Satan spent the rest of the Bible trying to kill the seed that lead to the Messiah (see Athalia in 2 Kings 11 for example).  Satan has always taken a broad brush to this specific mission (see Herod in Matthew 2), but he obviously took his curse as a challenge against all of the woman’s seed.  He used to just go after her seed, which is all of us, but now he has figured out a way to put enmity between the woman and her seed.  What a neat trick.  He has perverted the most powerful force on earth: Motherhood.  The women who embrace abortion as a human right are modern Athalia’s who kill their own seed for the short-sighted sake of self.  May God have mercy on their souls.     

    • #17
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.