Nutrients

I shared recently that my blood work showed that I’ve been anemic during this pregnancy. I’m thankful for a few things. My numbers were lower than recommended, but not at a dangerous level so I’m praying there will be no effect on the baby. I’m also thankful that I now know why I’ve been so tired lately. I felt bad that Tommy was having to help out with so many things around the house that I thought I should have the energy to do. At least now I know it wasn’t completely in my head.

I’ve seen a significant difference in my energy level since starting an iron supplement. I haven’t had to drag myself out of bed each morning and while naps are still welcome, I haven’t felt like I need one at 10 a.m.

Just as we can be missing nutrients physically, are we missing necessary nutrients in our spiritual lives? I’ve been thinking about the difference one mineral can make and then last week the pastor preached on almost the same thing. Do we drag through life not even aware that we’re missing out? What would happen to your relationship with God if you spent more time in prayer? How would your days improve by forming deeper connections to other Christians? Would shining the light God has given you not only drive out some of the darkness around you, but light up your own life too? Does your day flow differently when you start it with reading scripture? What happens when we fill up with junk food with no nutritional value? Do we sometimes do the same thing spiritually?

I’d brushed my symptoms off, attributing them to a number of things, all of which the doctors agreed with when I told them about my lack of energy.

1. I’m no longer a young mother- this time around with pregnancy I got to meet with the genetic counselor due to my age.
2. This is pregnancy (and will be c-section) number 4. I can see the physical tolls taken on my body, so there was no shock that the energy level would be different too.
3. I have two other children to attend to at home. Even before pregnancy it was a battle and balancing act keeping up with everything.
4. Pregnancy does weird things to you and most any symptom can be viewed as normal.

Each of these reasons seemed to explain things. I’m glad the doctor ordered the blood work because otherwise I wouldn’t have known. I needed someone else to assess things. Sometimes spiritually I think we’re scared to let others know how we might be dragging. We don’t want them to help us critically (but lovingly) assess the place we might be. Sometimes though we might have so much static and white noise that we can’t hear the still small voice telling us we’re dehydrated. We need to drink of His living water. We don’t hear the voice saying we need to stop and rest in His presence and feast at His table. We might need someone else who might be able to see the changes in us and gently point us in the right direction. We might not get the right diagnosis and turn to the Great Physician who knows the exact remedy we need.