Encouragement for Those New to Infertility

I wrote this little note on the Hannah's Prayer message boards last fall. As it still continues to receive comments, it seems that it is a message many need to hear. If you are realitively new to the world of infertility, this is for you.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and bewildered by all these emotions, scared by the "alaphabet soup" of infertility's medical jargon (pct, HSG, hCG, IUI, IVF, ICSI...)or simply lost in the surprising depth of grief this journey can bring, I just want to tell you that you are not alone.

Everyone's timeline for processing this experience is different, but for me it was the first 6-18 months of our journey were the most devistating. I would hear of someone who had been struggling for years to have children and panic at the thought that if my heart was already so crushed "only" a year into our wait, that I would not physically/emotionally/mentally/spiritually survive that long.

If this is where you are today, I want to encourage you to look to the Lord for your strength for this day, for the hope, help and grace to survive this moment. You do not know God's plans. He may have a long path through infertility ahead of you (and if He does, He will be faithful to walk along side you through it), or your journey through barrenness might be comparatively a rather short one.

Like Peter who called to Christ to let him walk on the water, then took His eyes off Jesus and looked instead to the crashing waves, when I tried to look/guess/worry too far into the future, I floundered and felt like I would drownd. So my encouragement is simply this:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
- Matthew 6:33-34 (NIV)

As you adjust to the shock and learn coping skills, you will not always feel the deep darkness of grief so closely suffocating in around you. Yes, as your journey continues, you will still have painful seasons, and some especially hard days, but you will also learn and grow and gain confidence in the way God calls you to walk through this grief. Jesus Himself "was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering" (Isaiah 53). We could have no better companion to hold us through this journey than Him!