A Bundle of Myrrh

A few weeks ago I asked if anyone would be willing to discuss a topic that isn’t easy and share the story of their fertility journey. (You can read my story HERE.) I’m grateful to the women who chose to respond.

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.

This is Mary’s story.

I didn’t grow up in the church and I don’t remember my parents ever talking about “family life” (we never ate together or spent time together), so I am not really sure where my ideas came from except the Holy Ghost and faithful Christian friends. My neighbors, a barren couple, were the first people I ever saw love and respect each other and it was with them that I first went to church.

When I chose my college, I wanted a place where this new Christian faith would grow and the professors were a big part of my reason for attending the place I did. I honestly don’t think I thought much about the future–other than desiring to have sex! I didn’t think about contraception or having babies…so I don’t know exactly what I was thinking.

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A few weeks ago I asked if anyone would be willing to discuss a topic that isn’t easy and share the story of their fertility journey. (You can read my story HERE.) I’m grateful to the women who chose to respond.

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.

This is Marie’s story.

I am the second of two children, the only daughter. As a child, I begged my mom to have more children. (I had no idea the strain it might have put on her or her marriage, as I now believe she wanted to have more children, but my father did not, and my mom also had some mental illness.) Growing up, I always wanted to have a “large” family, but never really considered what that meant. I dreamed of marrying a pastor, and being a stay-at-home mom while teaching full-time at the Christian Day School. I’m not sure I ever realized it wasn’t possible! Maybe it was the “women can have it all” culture talking!

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A few weeks ago I asked if anyone would be willing to discuss a topic that isn’t easy and share the story of their fertility journey. (You can read my story HERE.) I’m grateful to the women who chose to respond.

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.

This is Elizabeth’s story.

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A few weeks ago 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.

Our first story comes from Kelly who wrote her story on her blog Fearfully and Wonderfully Made .

When my husband and I were engaged, we talked extensively about our desire for children someday – both biological and adopted.  We knew the someday would come when we were ready for such a feat, but we knew the “someday” was not as newlyweds.

 I mean, I was in the middle of graduate school.

My husband was relocating to live with me in an apartment the size of our current living room.

My husband didn’t have a job and I was a graduate assistant.

This was not the time.  We both knew it.

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