I wonder...how I wonder every time she brings her baby to her breast if God is using this ancient act to heal her.
Born in what has been called "one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the world" now her life is lived for a baby boy, inseparable...her body and soul deeply connected with this child.
As I watch these simple, beautiful interactions I wonder...each time she responds to her child if this love that has been nurtured by something so natural and consistent has reached down, through layer upon layer of fossilized fear, anger, rejection, abuse, and violence and made those rough, hard places soft...alive...restored...new.
Perhaps it's not simply breastfeeding.
What if every time she has brought her baby near, shared her body...felt gentle human touch...God has used this earthy dance between mother and child to loosen the enemy's grasp on her...to undo her devastating past...like sweet salve on a gaping wound.
She thought she was simply feeding her baby. Little did she know God was nourishing her own soul as she has learned to trust...to touch...to love again, or maybe for the first time.
In that way, this isn't merely breastfeeding. It's therapy. It's God making all things new with a medicine as old as time itself.
Maybe that's why watching them is such a gift. As Kenny stares into Djenie's eyes...their faces close...their bodies closer...we have the privilege of seeing something holy...something not entirely of this earth. We see grace that is sufficient.
You can find more of Kenny and Djenie's incredible story here.
9 comments:
Um, awesome. Awe-some. I looove the way his little hand is holding onto hers. Thanks for sharing, Heather.
how beautiful!! i was actually nursing my three month old baby boy as i read your post this morning. i looked at that picture and then down at my son. it was pretty amazing - i felt connected in some way to that woman so far away. what a gift God has given us as mothers to feed our children! thank you for the reminder and inspiration! blessings, lora
This photograph, these words...all so beautiful. And so true. I believe that God uses His design (in breastfeeding, nourishment, parenting, marriage, seasons, you name it) to teach us about Him. To point back to Him. To remind us of His love, His goodness, the hardness of being His yet being in this world...all of it is spiritual.
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing with us.
Yes, yes, yes! Recently heard a female pastor speak about this truth. She was talking about providing support of all kinds to teen mothers & other families in crisis in our area. Then she said something like, "If women only knew that God's design is for them to find healing for their own hearts as they nurse & nurture their own babies..."
This is a truth which needs to be published far and wide. Thanks for writing about it
Ann!
so maybe it's the early pregnancy hormones acting up on me... but this made me cry!
beautiful.
my word this is beautiful. i know i'm postpartum and breastfeeding, but wow.
i love you. and i love seeing these beautiful pictures of these ladies breastfeeding too!
This is an absolutely beautiful post Heather.
lovely!
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