Guest post by Jessica Fisher at Life as Mom.
Fifteen years ago I was a young wife dreaming of the day we would turn two into three. Even though I had helped my mom with my four younger siblings, I had no clue what motherhood really entailed. I know that – now.
What a surprise I was in for!
Six children later I have a learned a few things about adding a baby to the family. Thanks to generous family and friends I’ve discovered some amazingly helpful ways to bless a new mom – because they blessed me so abundantly.
Taking my cues from them, I offer these suggestions for you as you help friends and family greet their new little bundles of joy:
Bring a meal.
Food is a great way to bless others, especially those who’ve just had a baby. My newborn days were always ravenous ones. With breastfeeding, baby duties, and a healing body, I found it hard to find time or motivation to cook, but it seems like I was always hungry. I loved it when others brought us a meal.
Consider bringing a meal or two, preferably early in the day so that the family can eat when their schedules – and sleeping baby – allow.
Some tips for meals on wheels?
:: Bring kid-friendly foods for families with older children. Meals that can be served “not touching” are always appreciated. Offering meat, starch, and vegetables as separate dishes allows picky eaters to fill up on what they like. (Tired moms with new babies don’t need to fight food battles in the early days.)
:: Consider bringing a few extras like muffins, scones, or even an egg dish that can serve as a quick breakfast the next day.
:: Use dishes that you don’t need back so that the family has fewer dishes to keep track of and return.
:: Observe food preferences and allergies.
:: If your budget allows, bring two meals, one to eat and one to freeze and enjoy later.
Offer childcare.
As I added to my new family, I was very conscious of not neglecting my older children. I didn’t want them to feel left out or ignored. Yet, sometimes I was just too exhausted for much play. It was so nice when friends fill in the gap. If the new baby has older siblings, offer to come play or even take the bigger children to your house for the afternoon. In this way, Mama can rest (providing that Baby cooperates) and not worry about the older kids.
A caveat: Please be mindful of exposing Baby’s family to illness. Worried about offending others, new moms may be hesitant to say, “Keep your cooties to yourself.” However, it’s no service to your friend if her kids all get sick. Even if it’s “just the sniffles” steer clear of the new baby’s home for the first few weeks.
Clean house.
An offer to mop floors or scrub a bathroom is sometimes hard to extend – or accept. But the newborn days are ones during which Mom should be enjoying her baby and resting in stead of cleaning house. Offer to fill in the gap.Something as simple as vacuuming or pulling a few weeds can help the new mom rest more easily, knowing that there aren’t nagging tasks to tackle.
Just hang out.
While rest and seclusion from outside illnesses are important during the early weeks, fellowship with the outside world is vital to combating a new mom’s cabin fever. I have great memories of friends coming to visit — with food in hand. Their (healthy) kids played in my backyard with my older children while we moms chatted and caught up. And in many cases, I had a clean bathroom when they left!
It doesn’t take much time or money to bless a new mom. It takes effort and love, though. But the results are well worth it. You and your friend will both be blessed.
What do YOU do to bless a new mom?
Mother of six, Jessica Fisher writes about parenting hacks at LifeasMOM and posts delicious ways to act your wage at Good Cheap Eats. She is also the author of Organizing Life as MOM – a 125+ page e-guide complete with customizable planning pages and inspiration for home management.
Aaron and I had a blast hosting our first ice cream social this past Sunday evening as a way to reach out and befriend co-workers and other folks we’ve been getting to know in the area. I didn’t want to take on too much this summer while being late in my pregnancy (37 weeks!), but still wanted to take advantage of the lovely backyard we’ve been blessed with and all the sweet friends the Lord is sending our way! So we decided to host an ice cream social. It was a great success and was relatively simple to coordinate. If you don’t have a lot of time or energy or financial resources, but still want to reach out and be hospitable this summer, I highly recommend this idea!
Stumptown Coffee Ice Cream
Banana Ice Cream
Our Philippines experience comes to a close today. It is a bittersweet moment, for I have truly seen the love of Christ in action and don’t want to forget the beauty of this work. Since the age of sixteen, I have dreamed of coming to the Philippines after reading my first missionary account of a nineteen year old girl who served here. One door opened after graduation only to be quickly shut. And now, this week, that dream was fulfilled and I got to witness firsthand the dreams of others being fulfilled.
I have witnessed extreme poverty, simple faith, joyful worship and abundant laughter.
I have seen numerous volunteers within the church who tirelessly serve (the majority of which are unpaid) to serve for the benefit of these children. They are passionate for the well-being of these children and willingly give numerous hours per week to their care.
I have seen empowered young people flourish through their youth and into their adulthood who want to love Jesus and in turn pass on the gift to other children. Four beautiful girls that graduated from the sponsorship program and currently students in the Leadership Development Program who are on fire for the Lord partner together to sponsor another and volunteer in the program. It is the gift that keeps on giving.
and Florence and Rosa…
…all of which exhibited a glorious beauty, a peacefulness, a joy amidst their obvious poverty.
I have seen Jesus as I have danced, played games, sang, and worshiped alongside these precious people.
These children are not removed from their poverty situation, but rather given a fresh perspective. They are given the tools to be instruments for change and transformation within their community. Ultimately, it is all Jesus!
I am blessed that this child in my womb was able to come along and be blessed by so many hands.
My life is changed. Why? Because I want to make a difference. I want my life to count for something. I want to be a blessing to the nations with my time, money, and resources. I don’t want to waste this precious life that I have been given. I have been entrusted with a gift – the ability to love and be loved. I want to live simply in order that I might give generously.
Who would imagine the power of a written letter? When I was preparing to move a few months back, I remember digging out my memory box. I uncovered all the letters from my childhood received from my father, mother, and friends. They were so special to me. I had stored them all in a manila folder for years. I had kept these cards for a reason. Why? Here is a glimpse into their contents:
Day 3 in the Philippines sees us riding upon a pedicab being escorted down the narrow streets of a community in a large wet marshland with ponds of water scattered about on either side. It is an area succumb to frequent flooding in the rainy season. Houses all around lie a foot deep in dirty slim water with tires and strips of wood to provide stepping stones into their homes. Clothes hang to dry over the water by thin strands of rope.
We come to a small wooden tin roofed house built upon two foot high stilts. Underneath lays a sludge of wet marsh. Outside their door is a pile of paper trash of receipts from which the children sort and recycle for supplementary income.
Upon entering the approximately 12 foot by 15 foot home, divided into three small rooms, we are warmly greeted by a vibrant mother and her three young children. There is no furniture besides a bunk bed, dresser and kitchen counter with one office chair for seating.
Mary Rose is the oldest daughter at fourteen who thrilled us with her love for singing earlier in the day. Her love for Jesus was clearly displayed on her countenance. She entered the 
This family could offer us no more than a simple wood floor or old office chair to sit upon and yet they gave it so freely. They have nothing to give beyond their love and welcoming smiles. How can I ever again be intimidated by the thought of extending hospitality to others in my own home when I see such joyful love extended amidst such poverty? We reside in a culture with such abundance and yet we shrink back at the thought of the uncomfortable nature of opening our homes and lives to others. Here are families that greatly anticipate our arrival and thank us repeatedly for visiting their homes while I stand as one who stresses over the fear and details of welcoming in another.
Before us stand nearly 20 different young mothers, on Day 2 in the Philippines, with a wealth of small children that come weekly to participate in the 
These precious mothers have no knowledge as to the impact of lovingly touching and holding their babies, to the hands on experience of developing hand and eye coordination through drawing and other creative play to basic health knowledge of nutrition. I was dumbfounded to hear that in some countries, mothers will not even name their babies for the first year, nor look them in the eye, or really love on them in the likely event that they will die within that time period. Fear of health is so consuming to them and understandably so.
At this program we witnessed mothers learning basic health and nutrition skills. They were given hands on instruction on how to prepare a healthy meal and the gift of the raw materials to take home to prepare it for their family. Homemade clay was assembled to give them opportunity to sit down and play with their little children in their basic development. Mothers are taught how to start income generating skills of opening their own little storefront at the entrance of their homes to sell snacks, small sanitary supplies, and other cheap items. Through this means they can help support their families. They also have access to health services with regular child check-ups and vaccinations.
