Difficult Bible Passages: Exodus 21:22-25

This passage is difficult in the sense that it is a contentious passage, partly because of the way different English translations render it, and how we understand certain Hebrew terms that are used. The real difficulty is the way this passage is used in modern-day debates over abortion.

The NIV rendering of the text is as follows: “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

The Treasure Box

Written by Kristi Huseby

“[B]ut Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” (Luke 2:19, NLT)

Did you have a treasure box growing up? I did. In my treasure box I had a very old dollar coin that my Mom had given to me, some chapstick, and various other items that you might have considered junk but to me they were valued possessions.

In Luke 2:19 (NLT) we get the idea that Mary had a treasure box of sorts, only her treasures were memories of Jesus and how his life intersected with hers. Look at what it says, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

What were those things she stored in her “treasure box”? Could it have been the time when the Angel came to tell her that she would bear a child even though she was a virgin? Or what about when she visited with Elizabeth who was old, wrinkled and very pregnant? Did she treasure watching God’s miracle growing within her?

Who Thinks Pregnant Women Are Sexy?

It's possible to predict which men are especially turned on by pregnancy

by Jena Pincott in Love, Sex, and Babies

One evening at the end of my second trimester, I was standing in the dairy aisle of the grocery store, with one hand on my back and the other over the kicking baby in my distended belly. A young man approached me, initiated a conversation about the World Cup, and, casually, asked me if I'd like watch the game with him that weekend. "You're pretty!" he whispered. I was shocked.

Chemicals to Avoid During Pregnancy Post 3: Retinol

by Jessica Kellner, Editor

As we pregnant women keep in mind what is entering our babies' bodies through our mouths and avoiding alcohol, processed foods, mercury in fish and food additives, we should also keep in mind what could be entering our babies' bodies through our skin. When we slather creams, lotions, moisturizers and sunscreens onto our bodies, they are absorbed into our bodies via our largest organ, where they are able to impact developing babies. 

Can pregnant women become infected with STDs?

STDs & Pregnancy - CDC Fact Sheet

Can pregnant women become infected with STDs?
Yes, women who are pregnant can become infected with the same sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as women who are not pregnant. Pregnancy does not provide women or their babies any protection against STDs. The consequences of an STD can be significantly more serious, even life threatening, for a woman and her baby if the woman becomes infected with an STD while pregnant. It is important that women be aware of the harmful effects of STDs and know how to protect themselves and their children against infection.

Is it true that having sex can make a full-term pregnant mom go into labor?

The BabyCenter Editorial Team

No – but this is a powerful myth.

Over the years, some pregnant women, midwives, and doctors have suggested that having sex near the end of pregnancy might help bring about the onset of labor. One theory was that the hormones present in semen (prostaglandins) and the contractions of orgasm would stimulate the cervix. But studies have shown no such link.

Why Men Like Pregnant Women

10 reasons why he wants sex during pregnancy

by Dara Pettinelli  

If any of you watched Bethenny Getting Married? on Bravo, there’s no way you missed how horny Bethenny’s pregnancy made her husband, Jason. But Jason isn’t the only guy out there who thinks pregnant women are the equivalent of love potion #9. 

A lot of men find their knocked-up partner to have a certain je ne sais quoi. Here are 10 reasons why: 

http://www.babble.com/pregnancy/my-pregnancy/men-like-pregnant-women-sex-during-pregnancy/

My Wife Won't Have Sex with Me. What Can I Do?

By Babble.com | Love + Sex

In the beginning, there was sex. And it was good. And there was more sex. And it too was good… 


My wife and I began our relationship as any two relatively awesome people do… We were friends for a while, long distance. Then we met and got into a relationship and had some awesome sex. Pretty much every day. We got married and this sex continued. 

As an aside, know this: 1. My wife loves me very much, and I her. 2. I'll try to be the least pornographic I can in writing this post. But that will be hard. Wait. There's probably a pun in there… 

HER EGGO WAS PREGGO 

Then my wife got pregnant as the result of this awesome, great sex. I definitely had my "I don't want to bruise the baby" thinking cap and underwear on, which probably contributed to our general feeling about sex falling off the to-do list of our lives. We were all about the baby and our sex lives were made even more unavailable by my booking tons of work as an actor that year. I worked my ass off. We tried to be intimate and physical but it wasn't the same. Simultaneously, I was feeling like the most masculine guy I've ever been. I impregnated a woman. I am man. Boom. 

And she was even more beautiful to me, so it was difficult keeping my hands to myself. Pregnant women don't glow. They radiate, like stellar objects. There was definitely a trimester where things picked up, but things always felt really tentative and a bit disconnected. To be honest, I think we were both so excited about our future son, that our future and present sex took the hit, falling victim to our best laid plans. I really have to stop with the entendres… 

AFTER THE FLOOD 

After Finn's birth, I gave my wife time to recover from natural delivery before diving back into things. You know, two days. Joking…. 

I knew it was probably smarter to let her come to me after her recovery. But that's where it got funny. She didn't. I could tell that the pregnancy/birth experience was one of those "this changes everything" deals. So we carried on. She tried her best to breastfeed and stay awake, and I just kept eating. 

I gained a total of 30-40 pounds from the beginning of her pregnancy to Finn's first three months of life. So I wasn't looking my sportiest, manliest best, whatever. And this won't sound good, writing it now, but I was transforming into a woman: soft and curvy. 

WORK IT OUT 

So, as I stated in "Pregnancy Weight Is Ugly", I worked my ass off again, but literally. I quit sugar, I dieted, I worked out again. I tried to shove my physical life back into this new fathering life and it was hell. I would workout at home in front of Finn in his little swing contraption. I took him on hikes. I went to the gym without any sleep. The worst part was: When you don't sleep, your body doesn't change as fast. So it took double the work. 

But I did it. 

I worked for hours and days on my body to get fit, mostly for myself and my career, but I'd be lying if I said those were the only reasons. I really wanted to do it so my wife would find me attractive enough to want to have constant, ridiculous, while-Finn-was-asleep-in-the-other-room monkeysex with me. 

But I didn't get that. 

I mean we had sex, and it happened more often, I guess. But the change was even more evident. Maybe my awesome foreplay needed help… Walking around bottomless in our room used to do it, but it barely raised an eyebrow now. My patented phrase "Jump on it!" didn't seem to fire things up anymore, either. Doing naked jumping jacks? No dice. Maybe it was the fact that sex meant something else now, it meant a means to a painful end. 

So now I don't know what to do. I love my wife. I just want her to rock my socks off a little more, ya know? 

Can someone email her about this post and tell her I'm ready for her. Anytime. Any place. Thanks. Email her here: Vote4Sex@howtobeadad.com 

PS: Not even kidding, this will go to her. 
- By Charlie Capen 

http://shine.yahoo.com/love-sex/wife-wont-sex-204700783.html#more-id