Toby, it hurts so bad!

Probably gives me the most hopeless feeling EVER.

Watching your wife give birth is probably the most amazing moment a man can have…..and the worst.

We men like to be the protectors…..the suppliers of every need…..the fixers.  But in these moments, we are truly irrelevant.  There is absolutely NOTHING we can do to make the pain she is feeling go away.

The amount of time has grown shorter with my 3 kids.  With Gabriel, I stood there during 36 hours of labor….BAWLING through most of it…..as she suffered.  With Chaya, it was a mere 12 hours that I was a blubbering idiot…..and with Elijah, it was a little over 90 minutes.

There are two totally opposite sides of the coin in these moments.  Total elation on one hand.  Watching God’s work before my own eyes.  The life that He created 10 months prior is being delivered into this world for us to love and care for.

Then there is the craziness.  Hearing her yell out in pain, looking at me, wanting me to “fix” it.  All I can do is pray, but my mind won’t stop spinning long enough for me to do that.  I like to think I’m pretty decent in pressure moments, but not those.  I’m totally useless…..Sometimes I can manage to count when the pushing begins….I can get a rag wet to try and cool her off….I can set up a camera like no one’s business…..But the whole process cannot possibly be over soon enough.

Yeah, I don’t have any miraculous ways for us to be useful during these times.  This post won’t end with a solution.

All I know is my “respect cup” has overflowed 3 times during our marriage.  I have witnessed, 3 times, pain that I KNOW I couldn’t handle…..Yet, the baby is born and she forgets all about the pain.  I know that I would have to complain about that pain for weeks to come.  Not her!  Not once!  My wife rocks my world!

Face it men, God uses childbirth to put us in check….to show us we’re not nearly as tough as we’d like to think we are…..to show us when it comes to strength, there’s more to it than lifting grocery bags into the house or picking up couches…..there’s an inner strength in every woman that we can only dream about.

Thank God for my wife!!

YOU should thank Him for yours!!