Today, Michelle shares her personal story of infertility, and how she learned to find joy in the midst of sorrow.
For many people, Christmas is the happiest time of the year. For others, it can be a very painful season.
For those who have just lost a loved one in the previous year, it can be a time of terrible loneliness. For those with family conflict, it can produce a lot of anxiety and stress. For many singles, they're longing for that Hallmark movie romance to blossom, but they can be left disappointed and feel displaced year after year.
In my life, I have experienced many Christmases in the framework of infertility. While stores and commercials all promoted the ideal Christmas morning with ecstatic children ripping open their Christmas gifts, my home was empty. At church, it seemed that every sermon was about Mary's pregnancy and little baby Jesus. I was heartbroken because I couldn't get pregnant.
How can your heart navigate Christmas when things in your life are less than ideal?
Let me share with you a few of the ways I’ve learned to experience joy, even in the midst of sorrow. First of all, consider the expectations that you're putting on Christmas and then inventory your feelings. What is it that your heart is experiencing? Is it loneliness or rejection? Are you feeling overlooked or insignificant? The most important thing I have learned is to invite Jesus into the middle of that experience. He understands. In fact, His first Christmas was quite messy. No one opened their guestroom for Him, He was born in a barn; there was no crib or warm receiving blanket. His first visitors were smelly shepherds, and when the king learned of His birth, he sent out a decree to massacre babies in order to try to kill Jesus. Jesus is called a Man of Sorrows, He was acquainted with grief.
Jesus understands the feelings in your heart, but He also doesn't leave you in them.
God gives us the gift of grieving in the middle of our losses, so that we can identify how great the impact is of what we've lost, and bring those feelings and that hurt to Him for healing. Let Him speak truth and plant the seed of joy in your heart that Christmas is really about God's presence with us.
Psalm 42 is a beautiful example of taking our hearts to God and letting Him speak. “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.” Psalm 42:5 (NASB) Here at Life Untangled, that's our prayer for you, that you will experience comfort and healing in God's presence this season.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Life Untangled!