Being Brave by Finishing Well

By Amy Odland

God's Brave Women - Amy's Story

I was almost to the pushing stage. After a week of on and off labor and a day of Pitocin to help things move along (with no epidural), I was an exhausted 37-year-old on the verge of having my fourth kid. I think I’d pushed a couple times before a nurse said we needed to get me onto my side. I certainly didn’t have the energy or strength left to do it myself, but with the help of my husband and a few nurses, I was somehow able to flip to my right side. I’d barely gotten situated when someone said, “Ok, now let’s flip to the other side.” I don’t remember specifics, but I’m pretty sure my response was “WHAT???” Flipping over from side to side is not easy for anyone who’s 9 months pregnant, much less for someone who’s dilated to 10cm and about to pass a watermelon between her hips.

Remember when Jesus was praying in the garden the night before his crucifixion, praying so earnestly he was “sweating blood?” Apparently, this is a condition called hematohidrosis - it is extremely rare and supposedly caused by stress and an involuntary nervous system reaction. His prayer that night was for God to take the “cup” away - he wanted to follow through with the plan of redemption through crucifixion, aka being the sacrifice God had planned for His people, but his body was sabotaging him. The emotional load he was carrying was so heavy he was at risk of his body failing before he made it to the cross. Luke’s gospel mentions an angel appeared and ministered to him during this time. Maybe because of that He was able to follow through with the plan? Whatever the case, he stayed the course and John 19:30 tells us what he said as he committed his spirit into His Father’s hands while hanging on the cross: “It is finished.”

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"Sometimes people think finishing well only equates to “dying without regrets” or completing a marathon in order to get that coveted 26.2 sticker for your car. It’s much more. It’s not something we accomplish and cross off a list to never think about again. It’s an on-going and ever-evolving process... just like our daily faith and sanctification."

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Sometimes people think finishing well only equates to “dying without regrets” or completing a marathon in order to get that coveted 26.2 sticker for your car. It’s much more. It’s not something we accomplish and cross off a list to never think about again. It’s an on-going and ever-evolving process... just like our daily faith and sanctification. God plants each of us where we should be; He also gives us specific gifts and abilities to use to tend the place we’re planted, our “gardens.” Aka, we have multiple tasks to complete and interactions with others facing us every day. What we can sometimes easily miss are the opportunities to finish well hidden among our daily minutiae. And when we feel like we can’t continue or do something hard, we forget we have more in us than our limited vision and thoughts usually lead us to believe. We forget so easily that the God who created the whole world dwells within us and helps us in our times of weakness by His power which is working within us. (Eph 3:20; John 14:26)

I was amazingly able to flip to my other side and finish the task of birthing my sweet girl that day 9 years ago... thanks to the human angels who were there