I am so happy to be back from Colorado!!! I have tons of blog posts and vlogs coming up on my journey with IVF #4 in Colorado. I asked my fellow infertility blogger Chelsea from www.trialsbringjoy.com to guest post this week! I know her post will give you hope and encouragement with your challenging infertility journey. I am so grateful to have connected with other Christian women showing their faith and strength through this struggle.
Hi, new friends! I’m Chelsea and I blog over at Trials Bring Joy. I have gotten to know Nikol over the last several months and am honored at her invitation to guest blog today! Thanks, Nikol!
I too am no stranger to the struggles of infertility. Over the last several years, my husband Josh and I have gone through my own PCOS diagnosis, several medicated cycles + IUI’S, 4 IVF cycles, 3 miscarriages, an emergency D&C, a laparoscopy surgery and just about every other kind of test and procedure in between. Our hearts ache as we work to start our family and yet in it, we have grown for the good in so many ways.
Waiting is hard, isn’t it? I know I am not alone in wondering when it will end. The patience needed while struggling with infertility seems nearly impossible to perfect. Truthfully, I think this journey would have swallowed me whole if it weren’t for my faith. I have gone through seasons wondering where God is in it all, crying out in desperation for this struggle to end, waiting for our answer. You’ve been there too, haven’t you? Engulfed in a wait that seems too big for you to carry.
In the devotional, Jesus Calling, there was a sentence that stuck out to me several months ago, one I haven’t been able to shake. It said simply: Wait patiently with Me while I bless you. Did you catch that? It said “with Me”. I for far too long got caught up thinking I was waiting for God, but have come to realize that instead, I have been given a really special opportunity to wait with God.
Can I offer you some words today to help alleviate the heaviness your heart may feel? What if, instead of waiting for the wait to be over, you started embracing the wait? If Jesus were walking this earth today and invited you to come and sit with Him, to wait together, wouldn’t that time together be so special? But don’t we have that opportunity anyways? He may not be here physically, but we do have the chance to sit with Him and to bring our pain, exhaustion, and questions to His feet where He meets us.
Waiting with God to me means spending time with Him each day. I figure if I have time to binge watch TV shows or squeeze in a last minute blood work exam or ultrasound appointment, I can certainly carve out 10-20 minutes of daily quiet time. For me, it starts with reading a couple of pages in a good book or devotional, then reading His Word. Scriptures bring such comfort to my heart, especially in difficult seasons. I spend some time praying (journaling my prayers helps keep me more focused, especially while on hormones!) and then I take a few minutes to just be silent. To be with Him, to wait together. Those few minutes each day replenish my soul in a way that few words can describe. Not only does He meet me there, but He grows me.
Friends, our life doesn’t start AFTER our wait, when our baby is here. Our life is happening now, today, right in this moment. We can lose such precious, sweet seasons of life by wishing them away. Embracing infertility and waiting? Embracing this unique time of struggles and pain, wonderment and anticipation? It sounds really hard, and it certainly takes a daily effort, for me almost always an attitude adjustment. But, what if we decided right now not to let today pass without trying to better ourselves as a result of our questions?
Micah 7:7 says: As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. (NLT) I love the Message version of it too – But me, I’m not giving up. I’m sticking around to see what God will do. I’m waiting for God to make things right. I’m counting on God to listen to me.
Waiting does not mean giving up. God hears us. Be confident in that today. In the meantime, invite Him into your wait. It will be so worth it.
Interested in learning more about how to live life fully in the wait? Chelsea recently helped co-author the devotional In The Wait, for sale now at Holly Holt Design. While it’s not a devotionally specifically on infertility, her journey is talked about, as are the lessons she’s learning while waiting. Click here to learn more.