“I’m in labor!” one of my friends recently texted me. And as I started to pray for her, I immediately had the thought, Why do we call it labor? What if we called it co-labor instead?
Like what if she texted me and said; “I’m in co-labor!” Because truly that’s what God created it to be. And that’s the frame of mind we want to have as we enter the wild journey birth.
Labor is what came after the fall; a labor and toil that God never intended us to experience. But co-laboring is what we were truly designed for; what the Garden of Eden was all about. God gave Adam and Eve work to do but it was to be done in a joyful, intimate co-laboring with Him.
TOGETHER they named the animals. In perfect fellowship with Him, they tended the garden and ruled over the earth. In Holy partnership with Him, they would be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. As Adam co-labored with God while tending the ground, there was joyful fellowship and fulfillment. As Eve would co-labor with God in bringing forth children, there was to be a similar joyful fellowship and fulfillment.
In co-laboring there’s no striving. No fear. No toiling. No pressure. No lack.
It was only after the fall that Adam and Eve experienced separation from God and suddenly found themselves “laboring” in their work instead of the peaceful “co-laboring” they were created for.
But Jesus bridged that separation for us and restored God’s original intent for perfect fellowship and co-laboring. So that can now be our experience once again! But we can miss it if we still see ourselves in a season of needing to “labor, toil, and strive.”
So what if we changed our language to reflect the truth of what’s available to us now?
What if we said, “I’m going into co-labor!” And as we said it, it served as a powerful reminder to us that we are not alone in this beautiful journey of birth.
What if we used it as a declaration that we are going to peacefully co-labor with God, our husband, our baby, and with peace, rest, surrender, and trust.
What if served as a reminder that we will end up co-laboring with something and that we have already made a decision that…
We refuse to co-labor with fear. We refuse to partner with control. We refuse to co-labor with discouragement or worry.
That with all our heart, mind, and body, we choose to co-labor with God. With joy. With peace. With our baby. With excitement. And with Heaven.
I’ve already decided that with our next birth, I’m going to call it “co-labor.” I’m going to ask my husband, friends, and birth team to use that word as well.
If a friend calls me, I want her to ask “Are you in co-labor yet?”
I want to call my husband at work and say “I think I’m in early co-labor!”
I want my midwife to say “Looks like you’re in active co-labor!”
And I’m excited to see how that word and the frame of mind it puts us in will impact the “co-labor” and birth!
I encourage you to embrace and use this word too! Our words are extremely powerful and this one word could radically impact your pregnancy and birth experience!
Proverbs 18:1 says “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.” So let’s use our tongues and the language we use surrounding our birth to bring forth abundant life, the Kingdom of Heaven and all that’s available to us!
To your beautiful “co-labor” and birth,
Kierra
p.s. If you want more tools to transform your mindset and prepare you for a beautiful birth with God, come join my online Kingdom Childbirth Class! You’ll be empowered to truly enjoy the gift that God created childbirth to be and learn how to birth your baby in His joy and presence! Plus, you get to connect with amazing moms all over the world who going after the same thing! Come join us!