Faith in Waiting

It was the middle of winter, and the snow was falling. A husband and wife sat in front of the fire watching the wood crackle. They had been married for a while and had been praying for a child. The woman had thick, blond hair and was fair-skinned. The man had a muscular build, he was outgoing and knew everyone in town. He was the local pastor of the small town they lived in.

They both had strong faith in the Lord and knew God would be faithful. As month after month went by, she kept praying. You could see that some months she was sad and downhearted, as she heard each announcement of another one of her sisters in Christ becoming pregnant.

Month after month, she did not give up. She continued to pray fervently and to believe that God would soon answer her prayer to become a mother. She would try not to think about it, but month after month, she was reminded.

One summer day, when the sun was shining, she decided to walk down to the park near her house. She sat on the bench and looked up at the clouds. She would catch herself daydreaming and staring into thin air, looking at the small children playing at the park. She watched the kids swinging on the swings, flying high with the wind in their hair. She watched the kids sliding down the slide or climbing across on the monkey bars. Her thoughts wandered, “Will I ever be a mama?” Then she heard a still small voice, “Trust me.” And she began to smile.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when a kid’s high-pitched voice came up to her, “Do you want to play? Can you push me on the swings?”

She said, “Sure. What is your name?”

The little girl said, “I’m Emily. What is your name?”

The woman replied, “I’m Hannah.”

In that moment, the women saw a beautiful friendship forming between them. Everyday from then on, she would come back to the park and look for Emily and her mom. This continued throughout the entire summer until Emily had to go back to school.

It had been three years of waiting, and recently she felt God was changing and preparing her heart for the season ahead. The previous year had been much different. Hannah and her husband were experiencing a lot of turmoil. They were not seeing eye to eye and could not agree on certain things.

This led them to seek wise counsel. A good friend and neighbor, Dave had always been there for them. He had come over several times for dinner with his wife and was also very involved in their church. He would be a great friend to ask for advice.

After a year of spending time with Dave. Soon, they began to notice they didn’t disagree. They spend more quality time together. Their love for each other began to rekindle and to grow deeper and stronger for one another. They began to pray every night together.

Waiting on the Lord was not easy. Hannah often wrestled with inner questions and secret doubts but kept seeking the Lord for answers.

One Sunday, after going to church, she sat down to read the bible. The Lord gave her the passage “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him” 1 John 5:14-15

Hannah began to journal, and her thoughts became a prayer.

Dear Lord,

You say you can hear what I ask. I ask you to bless us with a child. Open my womb and help me to become pregnant. I know you know the desires in my heart of wanting to become a mother. Forgive me for the doubts of not trusting you. Forgive me of having little faith. Help my unbelief. I thank you because you know the plans you have for me. You are a good God and love me. Help me to surrender myself and lay down my desires to follow what you have for me. If it is your will, let it be done. In your name I pray. Amen.

After praying that prayer everyday, she began to feel a weight lifted from her and a peace she couldn’t explain in her heart. The Lord had given her peace, and she finally could say she surrendered having a child to Him. She trusted Him, whatever the outcome.

A month or two went by, and she was feeling under the weather. She started to feel nauseous and really tired. She found herself falling asleep in the middle of the day. She couldn’t remember ever doing that!

One evening, Hannah and her husband went out to dinner. It was a small restaurant in the middle of town. They sat down and ordered her favorite dish on the menu, a cheeseburger with French fries. It wasn’t more than 3 minutes after the waitress handed them their food. She took one whiff of the cheeseburger, and she ran to the bathroom.

As she was cleaning herself up in the bathroom. She thought, “That is strange. I usually love cheeseburgers. Could I be pregnant?” She dismissed the thought “No. I’m probably nauseous from the car ride.”

After dinner they drove home. She felt so bad that she didn’t eat much at dinner, but still wasn’t feeling that great. She said to her husband, “I might call out of work tomorrow. I’m really not feeling well.”

The next day, she felt worse. The same thing happened that morning. She was cooking breakfast, her normal eggs and toast, when she took one look at the eggs and ran to the bathroom.

After she settled down, she remembered she had a pregnancy test in the cabinet. She decided to take the test. When what felt like the longest 10 minutes were up, she looked. And sure enough, she was pregnant!

She was speechless. She didn’t know what to say except to come to her knees and thank God. As soon as her husband came home, she told him!

They were finally going to have a child. After a long time of waiting and preparing, the Lord had proved to be faithful. He had in the past, is now, and will continue in the future.

It has now been a year, and our little beautiful daughter Emily is almost a year old. The snow is falling, and the fireplace is still crackling. But this time, we are holding our daughter, an unexpected gift from the Lord.