A Bundle of Myrrh

In this series women with different experiences will share the pain and blessings that the gift of procreation carries with it, in the hope of bringing out God’s grace and promise to those couples struggling to welcome this gift when it is not known how it will turn out in a sinful world. 

Whether the result be a healthy child, a child who goes almost immediately to be with Christ, or there is no gift of life, all women of child-bearing age wrestle with the unforeseen works of God that are to come.

 To desire to please God in this sinful world will entail suffering. But there is comfort in knowing we are not alone. There is value in hearing each other stories, that while our paths are different, it is still a struggle of faith, which all God’s children share. 

And it is a great comfort to know that God’s love is not found in how many children we are given or have taken from us, but in the saving sacrifice of Christ on the cross and in His glorious resurrection.

This is Jane One’s story.

I grew up the second of three living children. I’m the half sister to a fourth child (the oldest) who never got to see the light of day. She/He was killed in the womb shortly before my oldest sister was conceived. My father had gotten his girlfriend pregnant and she chose to end the pregnancy through abortion- much to his dismay. Shortly after that he was in another relationship with my mother that resulted in a wanted pregnancy. My parents married before she was born and after that my mother gave birth to two more children. After I was born, my parents started attending church and did so throughout my childhood. I was raised in a home that was adamantly opposed to abortion due to past scars and new beliefs. But I think the connection between biblical love and a Christian marriage somehow never connected. A few years into dating my mother pulled me aside and told me I should try not to have sex but if I do, to use protection. So, their beliefs on sex in a nutshell.

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I asked if anyone would be willing to discuss a topic that isn’t easy and share the story of their fertility journey. I have had a very good response from many of you and I’m honored to finally begin presenting some of the stories that have graciously been provided by some wonderful women.  

In this series women with different experiences will share the pain and blessings that the gift of fertility carries with it, in the hope of bringing out God’s grace and promise to those couples struggling to welcome this gift when it is not known how it will turn out in a sinful world. 

Whether the result be a healthy child, a child who goes almost immediately to be with Christ, or there is no gift of life, all women of child-bearing age wrestle with this cross and the unforeseen works of God that are to come.

While we might envy God’s work in another woman or couple, Christ alone designs the cross appropriately for each. To desire to please God in this sinful world will entail suffering. But there is comfort in knowing we are not alone. There is value in hearing each other stories, that while our paths are different, it is still a struggle of faith, which all God’s children share. 

And it is a great comfort to know that God’s love is not found in how many children we are given or have taken from us, but in the saving sacrifice of Christ on the cross and in His glorious resurrection.

This is Andrea’s story.

I was born into a family of 2 children. In a way this did affect my decision on how many children I wanted to have. My sister and I were 6 years apart and I was lonely when I was little and always wanted more siblings. We had very few cousins as well.

There was not really a time in my girlhood or teen years that I was taught anything about marriage and children. I’m pretty sure that my mom and I would talk about things here and there but no sit downs, etc. Just in passing.

At the time my husband and I decided to marry we did want children but the number was undefined.

My parents would have preferred us to wait because we were 18 and 20 when we got married. My in-laws were all for children right away. In the little bit of premarital counseling we received, we touched on the topic of children but since we both wanted children and were on the same page, we didn’t focus on it much.

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 I asked if anyone would be willing to discuss a topic that isn’t easy and share the story of their fertility journey. I have had a very good response from many of you and I’m honored to finally begin presenting some of the stories that have graciously been provided by some wonderful women.  

In this series women with different experiences will share the pain and blessings that the gift of fruitfulness carries with it, in the hope of bringing out God’s grace and promise to those couples struggling to welcome this gift when it is not known how it will turn out in a sinful world. 

Whether the result be a healthy child, a child who goes almost immediately to be with Christ, or there is no gift of life, all women of child-bearing age wrestle with this cross and the unforeseen works of God that are to come.

While we might envy God’s work in another woman or couple, Christ alone designs the cross appropriately for each. To desire to please God in this sinful world will entail suffering. But there is comfort in knowing we are not alone. There is value in hearing each other stories, that while our paths are different, it is still a struggle of faith, which all God’s children share. 

And it is a great comfort to know that God’s love is not found in how many children we are given or have taken from us, but in the saving sacrifice of Christ on the cross and in His glorious resurrection.

This is Sarah’s story.

I come from a tricky background. I have three brothers, only one of whom I really knew, and two sisters, again, only one of whom I really knew.   Each of us, also had the pleasure of having a different father. Told you it was tricky. My brother and sister that I knew, were 20 and 16 years older than me, so I was pretty much an only child, just the three of us. Step dad, mom, and myself.

Unfortunately, my mother has been through 6 marriages and I was her last baby. She never really discussed ‘when you have children’ or ‘when you get married’. And she was really the only one that would have talked to me about it and didn’t. Personally, I didn’t see myself being a mother until motherhood happened. After that, there was no way I could think otherwise.

My husband and I were brought together in marriage because we were having our oldest child. I was a strapping 18 years old when we got married, we were both super nervous and glad we had support from some of our family members. In the beginning of our marriage, between children, I would get on ‘the pill’, but after our third, after we started getting more biblical views on the gift of childbearing, I stopped using it all together.

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