One of the obvious blessings of a pregnancy is the end result– a baby. I’d do each one all over again. But there is another odd thing that happens during pregnancy that has nothing to do with children. Some women manage to avoid it and the others who are not so lucky …don’t. I always find myself in the latter group.

I refer, of course, to the weight gain. Even with hyperemesis, after I shed an astounding amount of weight in the beginning, I make up for it in the end. Eating calms the nausea, so I tell myself to do it. But now that the baby is chunking up in her second month, it is time for me to chunk down.

It is work. Everyday I get on my cross-trainer and spend a half hour of my life wishing I were somewhere else. I sweat. I plan boring, tasteless meals in my head (the kind without cheese) and resist the urge to clean off the kids’ plates when they are done. I don’t eat dessert. I don’t eat seconds. The plan is working, as I only have 10 pounds to go, but it is an effort.

One of the things about managing a houseful of small children is that it requires effort, planning, and work. This doesn’t mean that children are not a blessing. It just means that the path to blessing isn’t always easy. God calls us to do hard things. He hasn’t given us a life of ease but a path of suffering that leads to glory. If your path is easy and smooth, perhaps you are on the wrong path. Walking uphill is more work than walking downhill with the culture. Only one path leads heavenward. Do I love what He loves? Read the Sermon on the Mount. Read Jesus’ words about taking up your cross. Read about the narrow road and the wide road. Read about God’s refining work in redemptive history. It is all about Him. The moral of the story is not about us and our comfort level.

And yet—this is the beauty of it all– He gives us good things for our enjoyment, our pleasure along the way. It is ours to love God wholly and wholly enjoy all that it entails. There is the toddler who kisses you with a chocolate mouth. There are sunsets and flowers and breezes that are perfect. There are love stories. There are homeruns. There is even food with cheese on it for our delight along the way.