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| My Bennett Belly |
Belly buttons are amazing. No, seriously. They are a scar of life that every human shares. A reminder that we all grew and were formed in the same way. Currently, with my growing belly, I am able to see the inside of my belly button. For those who are or have been pregnant out there, you know what I'm talking about. For hairy-bellied men like my husband, they will never see the inside of their belly button (and probably never get all the lint out)! For those of us who have seen our belly buttons "up close," you'll notice just how much it really looks like a scar. The skin in there is kind of bunched up and shiny looking. Like an old scar. Just for reminiscing's sake, I'll sometimes examine an old scar on my body and remember the way in which I obtained it. What I was doing. How much it hurt. How long it took to heal. I have a small scar on my cheek where I scratched at my chicken pox when I was six. There's a very thin white line on my shin where I slipped on a rock walking across a river sometime in grade school. I also have a scar on my wrist where a hot biscuit pan got me while I was waitressing in college. While scars may hurt at the time, it can be fun to have them as reminders.
So, I found myself doing the same thing while admiring my belly button the other day! Okay, so I didn't sit down on the couch just to stare specifically at my belly button, but I was having fun watching my belly jump as baby boy kicked and flipped in there. That's when I thought, "Hmm, I can see my belly button again." This happened with my last pregnancy, so it's not like it was a surprise. But this time I got to thinking about what a belly button really is and was reminded of seeing my first baby boy for the first time. Seeing that umbilical cord attached to his belly - his lifeline to me that had kept him nourished and growing for nine months. I remember watching Jeff cut the cord. He said it was tough! That was a serious connection Bennett and I had. Then I remembered watching that cord turn black and start to wither away over the next few days and weeks. Bennett's little belly button must have taken some time to heal because I swear the kid had a little black scar in there until he was at least a year old. I often wondered if it ever bothered him. Sometimes scars hurt or are sore during the healing process. He never seemed bothered by it and of course he couldn't tell me anything about it, but I still wondered.
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| Toddler Belly |
Then I got to thinking back a little further. Almost 30 years further. Of course I can't remember my life as a new human being, but I know that my belly button went through the same thing. At one point, it is what connected me to my mother and how I grew in her belly. I'm also reminded by the fact that I was a complete surprise for two teenagers back in the 80s and how grateful I am that my mother allowed that bond between us to grow and loved me even before she met me. For a woman who said she would never have any kids, I was blessed with one great mother (and now a great Gammy). She isn't perfect and she was not the perfect parent, but she was perfect for me and my siblings. Thank goodness there is no such thing as a perfect parent, because it takes just a bit of the worry away. And I'm thankful for this little scar on my belly that proves, no matter how crazy things may get between us or how we might bicker at times, that we once shared a bond so strong and important that it was what kept me alive and growing. I may be a grown adult now, but I was once dependent on her and relied on my parents for everything. Even as a child, it was their food, shelter, and love that kept me alive and growing.
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| Current Growing Belly! |
And that's why I love belly buttons... They are a reminder of connections. That obvious connection from your belly to your mother in the womb, but also that connection to your parents, to your children, and ultimately, to all other humans. Plus, baby belly buttons are just so dang adorable... how could you not love them?!
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| Baby Belly! |
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
~ Psalm 139:13-16
