When God Jellies Your Belly

 

I was 8 years old, and it was one of the biggest days of my young life.

I remember when my mom had the ultrasound. They let my brother and I watch the monitor as they put the jelly on her belly. We were giddy with excitement at the tender ages of 8 and 7. Then came the shocker: “You do know it’s twins, right?

I recall, ever so clearly, the look on Mom and Dad’s faces—bewilderment. I didn’t know the exact meaning of that word at age 8, but I learned exactly what it looked like that day smeared in green jelly. And while my brother and I locked arms and began jumping up and down while screaming with glee, their faces never changed. They stared blankly for what seemed like an eternity.

This must have, at some point, been a relief for my mother. She’d had a few complications with the pregnancy and they were worrying her. She feared the health of the baby might be in jeopardy. But, lo and behold, there weren’t truly any complications at all. She simply had two babies in her belly. So, once the shock (and the jelly) wore off, I suppose she was relieved. Assuming it ever wore off (the shock that is, not the jelly, I’m sure the jelly wore off. I mean, can you imagine?).

Jump ahead 19 years.

I was 28, and it was one of the biggest days of my not-so-young-anymore-life.

I remember when my wife had the ultrasound. They let me watch the monitor as they jellied her belly. I immediately saw two tiny circles on the screen. Then came the familiar shocker: “You do know it’s twins, right?”

This time I did not jump around the room with glee, but to be honest, my heart kinda did. And just like my parents before me, my face never changed. Once the room stopped spinning, I stared at the screen blankly for what felt like an eternity, and I faintly remember seeing my wife staring back at me just as blankly. Our blank stares once again defined by only one word—bewilderment. Well, maybe two words–jellied bewilderment.

I had learned from my parents’ faces what this word looked like, but now I knew what it felt like (the bewilderment, not the jelly). It’s mind numbing, speech silencing, tongue swelling, pupil dilating, toe tingling, fearexcitementadrenalinefilledpurejoyemotion. That’s how Merriam defines it.

Jump back about 3,000 years.

I wasn’t even born yet, but something awfully similar happened in Genesis 25, long before jelly on the belly was even an option. But as I recently read the following, I could almost see God rubbing the jelly on Rebekah’s belly:

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:21, 22, NIV).

I can only imagine that Rebekah must have had a similar reaction to ours when God gave her this spiritual jelly belly. When she was worried about the baby, God revealed to her that it was twins. The Bible does not reveal to us what her reaction was, but I have no doubt it was complete with mind numbing, speech silencing, tongue swelling, pupil dilating, toe tingling, fearexcitementadrenalinefilledpurejoyemotionjellybellied bewilderment.

That word must not translate into Hebrew because otherwise, I’m sure it would have been in this story–smeared in green jelly.

 

Keep Reading:

God, an Etch-a-Sketch, and Reasons I Hate My Brother

The Day We Chased Nessie Up Mt. Everest

God is Great and so are Underoos

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