“The test is positive!” After those brief words that confirmed my first pregnancy, everything seemed a blur. It was a total surprise — a shock. There was a life inside me.

   A smile inside and out enclosed my new, unexpected joy but quickly spread. The radiance of motherhood levitated me through the doctor’s office and into a new world. I was with child.

My life took an immediate change. I was preoccupied every waking moment with how to maintain the healthiest growing place for the little life I carried. Vitamins were essential and prescribed.

They were called prenatal. I called them horse pills. They were ginormous. Sometimes it took the third effort to wrangle the jumbo pill down my throat, but I always managed. The baby needed those vitamins.

My food intake came under major adjustments. A little or a lot of junk food never seemed to bother me. Not now. The food triangle was my daily agenda for how to eat. Whole grains, green veggies, milk, and lots of protein filled our fridge. Any food that didn’t offer healthy supplements to our baby never made it to my digestive system.

Fresh air and exercise were other essentials for a growing baby girl. She always got her quota. Late night outings were put on hold because the baby and I needed plenty of rest. I also was mindful of smoke-free zones to ward off second-hand smoke. If it was harmful for a growing baby, it was eliminated from my lifestyle.

I read multiple books on prenatal care so that I might know as much as possible about a growing baby. When I read my daily Bible devotions, I read them out loud so the baby could hear God’s Word at the earliest age. Her spiritual growth was also key.

As a Christian, I experience another “indwelling.” It’s God’s indwelling Spirit, his Holy Spirit. As a believer, I’m his mobile temple — his residing place where he directs, comforts, convicts, and counsels — to name a few of his offices.

How I need to be cognizant of his constant presence and the importance of maintaining an environment to accommodate him and his holiness. If I could perpetuate an awareness of his constant presence, my life and influence would be greatly enhanced as well as any other “Holy-carrier” with the same desire.

Letters to Camille Anding can be sent to P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS, 39602, or e-mailed to camilleanding@gmail.com.