Dear Grace Community,
On August 17, I shared with the Session that I am expecting a child. John and I are excited about this and glad to share this news with you. You were part of our wedding three years ago, and we look forward to you being part of our child’s life.
While pregnancy is a fairly personal matter, I have a pretty public life in this congregation. So, you might think of this letter as, “What to Expect When Your Pastor is Expecting: Part I.”
Our approximate due date is February 21. This is during Lent, not a particularly slow season at Grace. The personnel team and I are meeting to begin conversation about how things are covered while I’m on maternity leave.
My first trimester was fair. I was fortunate not to be horribly sick, but I’ve been quite tired and haven’t felt too hot. My general practitioner told me that one of the great things about pregnancy is that you can do most anything during pregnancy that you did before. She should have said, “in theory,” you can do anything you did before, as my evening trips to the Y have been replaced by much earlier bedtimes and naps. With that said, other than taking the occasional nap here at church I haven’t found pregnancy to impact my work too much. Perhaps you’ve noticed me yawning a bit more since I’ve cut back on the caffeine.
Pregnancy is a whole new world for me, and a pregnant pastor is a whole new world for you. I’m sure we’ll figure it out together. For now I ask for your prayers for me and John and for a healthy pregnancy.
In Christ,
Catherine
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