Nearly five years ago, Clint and I had our sweet Hannah-Bug. We hoped to conceive a few months after she was born. Years passed, and we settled in our hearts that Hannah was probably our last baby. Then we suddenly conceived and started hoping. The pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Our course changed again. We accepted it and started making goals and plans in another direction. Then we conceived again. We lost twins. We resolved in our hearts that was our last pregnancy, considered ourselves blessed, and started considering adoption. Time passed. Then, suddenly and very unexpectedly, we found ourselves expecting again. Our course changed again. We tried not to let dread in and tried to trust the Lord. Then, we lost a baby. Life changed again. Weeks passed, and I still I grew very sick with the hyperemesis gravidarum. This is when we learned there had been twins, and one was still living. Our heads were spinning! WOW! We dared not to hope, but hope crept into our hearts anyway. We fell head over heels in love with baby Isaac. We talked to him, called him by name, and loved feeling him move. When the HG became so severe it tore my stomach and sent me to the ER vomiting blood, the doctor felt the very high hormone levels and healthy heartbeat indicated good things ahead. Weeks later, an ultrasound showed Isaac's still form in my womb. It was another sudden course change. After that crazy roller coaster of a journey, life put us right back to where we were accepting Hannah was our last baby.
Life happens. Circumstances can change like the wind. Our feelings can change along with them Thankfully, God never changes. His love is constant. His goodness abounds even in the hardships we face. He isn't thrown by our circumstances. Instead, He's there ready to catch us and help us work through them.
All of us have had those sudden life direction changes that have left us gasping for breath. No one's life is untouched. Relationships fall apart. People fail us. Loved ones die. Enemies plot. Jobs are lost. Weather destroys. Health fades. Injuries happen. Disasters lay waste. Life for all of us can suddenly change in the blink of an eye at any given moment.
We can either take God at His Word that all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, or we can stumble around in confusion, frustration, anger, resentment, hurt, and so forth. In life's crazy ups and downs, it is up to us to find these course changes to be either barriers or opportunities for serving the Lord and reaching out to help others.
In my own life, I find the things that have challenged me the most, the very things that have hurt me the deepest, are the very things others can relate to the easiest. Don't take your story and bury it. Use it for God's glory instead.
