Longing for Children Doesn't Mean I'm Alone

Thinking this morning about my desire for a child, there is some comfort in seeing myself as a member of a long line of women who have faced this struggle, stretching back throughout history. 

Infertility is isolating because we fall prey to the illusion that only I have experienced this. We look around and it seems that everyone else has children. When I see all of the children at church, I fall prey to this notion even though I could easily look and also see the other couples (and as-yet-unmarried women) who don't have children, or I could remember the stories of those who I know had to wait a long time for the children they do have.

The reality is that there are so many women who have shared this struggle with me. In biblical times, there were Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Anna (the mother of the Virgin Mary), and Elizabeth. In recent times, I am blessed to have the public examples of writers like Sara Hagerty, Christie Purifoy, and Lauren Casper, along with other women who have told me their stories. 

The fact is that God isn't surprised by anything I am thinking or feeling about my struggle, because I am not the first to think or feel those things! When I am able to remember the "cloud of witnesses" who understand my struggle because they've faced it, I can find a little more strength. I can not be afraid to accept how I'm feeling and to tell God about it, because, really, nothing I'm experiencing will shock Him! 

I think part of the reason we women long to have children is to have fellowship with other women through that shared experience, so it really makes a difference to know that the struggle of infertility is also a gateway to fellowship with other women--the many other women who have spent years longing for children.