Last night, while out with the girls, I had a woman stop me and say “You must get this all the time, but are you over due?“.

When I say no, she back pedaled as if her life depended on it. Then, when Julia and Hannah walked up to me, the lady’s eyes got really big, her mouth dropped and she said ::

“Oh my G-d. Are they both yours? How close together are they?”

I smiled and doled out the facts she requested, ordered our Chick-fil-A meal and walked away.

And when I walked away, I was hurt. Yesterday was a pretty ridiculously hard and emotional day. Then to top it off with a poorly thought out comment/conversation, it just sent me past any remaining good humor.

As I sat drowning my sorrows in a chocolate shake, watching the girls play, I wondered ::

What should be my response when people say stupid things?

I hear my fair share of stupid comments. Perhaps it’s the expansive belly. Or the children just too close in age for other people’s comfort. Or the fact that sometimes {just sometimes} I don’t look quite as put together as the world might like. For any number of reasons, I feel like a magnet for the thoughtless, stupid comments people make.

Typically, I can take them in stride and laugh it off. But every now and again, once pierces my heart. And it hurts.



Yes, I am pregnant.

Yes, I do have a big belly.

Yes, my girls are only 18 months apart.

Yes, their spacing was intentional.

Yes, I did leave my house without make up and my hair a complete mess.

Yes, I am fully aware I shatter your neat little view of the world.



So what should be my response when people say stupid AND hurtful things?

Love them and rejoice.

I didn’t really want to love that lady after her comment, but I knew I had to. I knew I had to make a choice to forgive her. I knew I had to hand over the pride she’d crush, the wound she’d made, the hurt she’d given. Slowly {very, very slowly}, I let God start whispering to me. Telling me the truth.



Yes, you are pregnant. Rejoice, for I have given you a son.

Yes, you do have a big belly. Rejoice, for I have made you to give life.

Yes, those girls are 18 months apart. Rejoice, for I have given them to you as a gift.

Yes, their spacing was intentional. Rejoice, for I planned it.

Yes, you did leave the house without make up and your hair a complete mess. Rejoice, for I know your beauty.

Yes, you did shatter their neat little view of the world. Rejoice, for Jesus did too.



I can’t stop people from saying something hurtful. But, I can stop it from hurting me. What people say, and even what I say to others when I’m being stupid, does not change what God says about me and my family.

So when people say stupid things, I will rejoice in the Lord and what He has said about me.