Noonday Notes, Issue 13

Issue No. 13

August 29th, 2025

Pregnancies, Proposals, & Preparations

This past Sunday at church I learned more families (like 4!) are pregnant right now, and my heart is so full thinking about the new crop of babies for me to hold in the nursery! New life is growing all around us. Wedding announcements were made in the Swiftie Universe. And we made some garden beds this week.

All of that had me thinking about things that take time: pregnancies, engagements, and farm seasons. They all share the hidden and steady work of preparation. With pregnancy, there’s the unseen work that is often exhausting and nauseating as new life is growing. With an engagement, there’s counseling, planning and building a foundation. And on the farm? It’s the quiet work of making beds, suppressing weeds with mulch, and laying irrigation lines. Nothing showing yet, but it’s essential groundwork—the “first trimester” of the season, you could say.

I love digging into the roots of words, so I looked up the Latin prefix pre-, from prae, which literally means “in front of.” Duh right? But it’s more than that, it’s this sense of moving forward, getting ready, laying the cornerstone before what’s visible arrives. That’s how life works. Prenatal care. Premarital counseling. Preparing the fields. All invisible until the harvest or the wedding day or the baby arrives. But the “pre” matters. It’s what sustains the fruit to come.

Scripture reminds us of the rhythm of preparation:

“Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house” (Proverbs 24:27 ESV).

Before the harvest, there’s the work below the surface. Before the joy, there’s the planting and nurturing.

So whether you’re waiting for a baby, planning a wedding, or laying irrigation lines here’s to honoring the preparation. It may not always be seen, but it’s never wasted.

Read the rest of the newsletter here.