Skip to main content

That Squeezed Feeling




While speaking with my very pregnant daughter on the phone the other day, she reminded me of the discomfort I felt when, like her, I was 37 weeks along and she was in my tummy!  Oh, yeah, a baby pressing against my bladder, I remember.  Feeling elbows and knees kicking me and wondering if I was black and blue on the inside.  I thought of my little granddaughter growing bigger and getting ready to make her debut into the world.  How uncomfortable the squeeze must be for her.  I spoke out loud: “She’s in that too tight place!  Imagine her displeasure too.”

That too tight place.  When I got off the phone I thought about a message I once heard about that place that’s too tight – a place of nuisance.  It’s temporary.  It’s horrible!  I found my journal notes and revived my spirit.  Here’s what I read:

A tight place is a place when you are not there yet.   You’re getting closer, but you have not yet embraced the answer, or the result or arrived in some way.  You may look okay on the outside, but people do not know how miserable you are on the inside.  Change is coming.  It will be good, but right now you feel uncomfortable.  It’s the middle place, and that’s stressful.  You have to wait; waiting means pressure.

The teacher cited Jesus in the Garden.  Gethsemane was the place of temptation.  It was His too tight place.  He prayed, alone.  His friends slept.  He was afraid.  His emotions were raw.  The Father strengthened Him.  He was able to go on.  Jesus understands the too tight place.

I’ve experienced the too tight place many times.  Things don’t always make sense.  So what’s the best way to get through it?  I read further in the journal.   Jesus is right there in it.  His Name, Savior, means peace!  I close with this encouragement:

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:32

This post links to Tell Me A True Story.

Comments

  1. Your post about tight places reminded me of the caterpillar who pushes and bends until he escapes his cocoon and emerges as a butterfly. Our old earth suit will one day be shed and we shall at once appear in our glorified body. In the mean while we know these tight places in life are only temporary and the light shines at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for sharing with us here at "Tell Me a Story" Oh yes, congratulations on your new granddaughter!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so happy I stopped by...your post explained exactly how I have felt lately...in a tight place....it is encouraging to be reminded that Jesus is right there....My tight place is not so cramped anymore and soon I will have wiggle around room :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so happy I stopped by...your post explained exactly how I have felt lately...in a tight place....it is encouraging to be reminded that Jesus is right there....My tight place is not so cramped anymore and soon I will have wiggle around room :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great lesson, Mary. This made me think of the caterpillar, having to endure the cocoon on its journey to become a butterfly.

    It's a girl?!? Yea!!! I'm so thrilled for you all, especially Susana. Can't wait to see pictures and learn her name!

    Hugs,
    Myra

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Memorial Day Reflection

  Memorial Day is always noteworthy for me and my girls.  Next Thursday marks the third year of missing their father, my husband. So many thoughts  run through my mind.  The journey of loss takes on various emotions.  The strongest feeling, at first, was emptiness.  In a split second, I would forget he departed forever.  I imagined things I needed to talk to him about when he got back home.  My mind is realistic now.  He's not coming back.  There will be no more times of sitting on the porch swing together on the front deck staring at the moon and the stars.  He would tell me all he knew about the majestic night sky. I have so much I wish I could tell him, like the excitement of seeing our oldest grandchild make a decision to follow Jesus and get baptized on Mother's Day!  And our little Amy, 11 years old, I wish he could have seen her on stage receiving her induction to the National Honor Society. Our daughters have their own ...

Abba's Lap

I noticed a behavior pattern in little Amy, twenty months old, that I want to imitate.  She moves fast engaging in one toddler activity after another spinning like a whirlwind from one room to another.  Yet, she pauses,  intermittently , long enough to get refreshed.   I want to be like this grandchild of mine because she knows where to go and how to get comforted. Amy moves at record speed, putting more miles on a pedometer in one hour than my accumulated weekly workouts at the gym.  She can build a skyscraper so tall, I wonder why those bright pink Lego’s don’t topple to the ground as she continues to stack just one more piece on top. I learned never to leave the room to get another cup of coffee.  Once, when I returned, I found her climbing past the couch with hands and feet reaching for the living room drapes. She has a consistent habit that I admire.  In the midst of her activities, as she moves robustly from one play...

Holiday Movie Comes to Life

It’s uncanny when a new holiday movie comes out and resembles your personal life.   I came clean to my husband on that drive to the Harkins in Sedona confessing that the movie got bad ratings.   It isn’t the type of movie that he would choose to see in the first place.   Rotten Tomatoes gave it one star.   My prince charming replied:   “ Let’s see what we think of it and rate it ourselves.”   Yes!   High five to his palm! It started out as a fun afternoon date.   It would have been perfect if the lady directly in front of me didn’t have on super-strength perfume.   Smells can be troublesome when you’re prone to headaches.   I stuck my head in a big bucket of buttered popcorn; you know-- to alleviate her fragrance, because popcorn smell is less offensive.   What else is a girl like me to do? We named the genre “drama with comedy.”   Cast of characters acted like the typical family scene at Christmas tim...