The Punkin's Vine

Zy (our fetus) and I are in perfect harmony. It's the first time I've ever harmonized with anything remotely well. But with Zy it's effortless. He goes where I go, he eats what I eat, hears what I hear, does what I do, he never even complains. It's kind of amazing, and I totally take it for granted that we won't be this synced forever.

Last weekend, at the pumpkin patch, Angie went straight for all the biggest pumpkins of course, but she was most intrigued by the ones with the best "hats," her word for the stem, since you take it off and put it back on like a hat after gutting it out to carve. We ended up with this handsome fella:

We were all immediately captivated by its big, beautiful, squiggly stem! 

As we were admiring it, my mom told Angie, "that's it's umbilical cord, literally." Before this  little guy was cut from its vine, it was connected to its mama, alive and thriving. 

Angie worries very much about umbilical cords. She's asked a number of times if it will hurt me or the baby when they cut the cord, and on this particular occasion, she asked if the pumpkin felt it. After we convinced her that no one was injured, nor will be, she thought about how big the pumpkin could have grown if it hadn't been removed from its vine. Insatiably inquisitive, she wanted to know what the biggest pumpkin ever was? Turns out many claim to have the world's largest pumpkin, but it looks like in 2013 there was a 2,032-pounder grown in Rhode Island.

What it lacked in aesthetics it made up for in size, I suppose.

In a few months Zy and I will lose our connection as well. From the moment the vine, I mean cord, is cut we'll have to work at our relationship. I'll be intentional about bonding with him and guiding him well, but he will immediately start to have experiences independent of me. While now I know when he moves and he knows when I move, he'll soon start to go places without me and gain a whole new perspective on the world apart from mine.

I understand that this is completely necessary for both of our survival, as I can barely carry this little 1.5 pound punkin, let alone a 1 ton giant. For him to continue to live and thrive, unlike the pumpkin, he must be set free from our attachment. But I am reminded of the Vine he will never need to be separated from, the one that can continue to give each of us life if we remain in It.

"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with Me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from Me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with Me and My words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who He is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as My disciples." - John 15:5-8 (TM)

Consumed by pregnancy, I am mesmerized by the thought of this Vine as an umbilical cord to God. When I think about how simple it is for Zy to abide in me, I desperately want that natural relationship with our Creator. Imagine just how enormous we could grow spiritually if we didn't constantly sever our connection to the Vine. Why do we choose to make our home outside of Him when we could live so richly and organically in His love? 

Jesus continued, “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved Me. Make yourselves at home in My love. If you keep My commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in My love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made Myself at home in His love." -John 15:9-10 (TM)