Lessons From My Infertility Experience

I've been taught, and I believe, that trials are important because we learn and grow from them. Today I had a couple of things occur that made me grateful for some of the ways our experience with infertility helped me grow, and I thought I might share them with you.

 1. I met my new visiting teachers today, and as chance would have it, one of them has also struggled with infertility. In fact, I'd say her experiences with it sound much worse than my own, especially since she's still dealing with it. And I realized that our own experience gave me two very valuable gifts. I am now much more aware of just how prevalent infertility is, and I can now understand, relate to and support those in the infertility community in a way you never can unless you've been there in those shoes. I'm sure that this will play a role in future relationships in my life and create opportunities for friendships that might not have been there otherwise.

 2. I've had a couple of compliments lately on my ability to be honest and sincere in my communications and my willingness to be open about my trials. I like to think that I was this way to some extent before dealing with infertility, but I do know that my experience with infertility made me more aware of why I want to be that way and less afraid of it. I learned that talking about your trials doesn't mean your weak but that you're willing to trust others to be able to help you. I learned that it is good to be honest about the fact that you're not doing okay. Unfortunately, there may be people who will judge you and think you should be stronger. But I promise you that there will be even more people who are grateful that you are willing to share with them what is really going on so that they can try and find some way to support you and help lift your burdens. And just knowing how many people care about you and are praying for you goes a long way to making your burdens feel lighter. But if they don't know you need that support, they can't offer it. And that is something I really hope I always remember as we face whatever trials the future holds for us.

Infertility isn't easy, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But, I do know that it also brought blessings and learning experiences to my life, and I'm grateful that I've been given the ability to recognize them.

Everyone faces trials, whether they're seen or unseen. So if you're dealing with something right now, (and let's be honest, you probably are, even if it's just something small), I want to bear my testimony to you that one day, somehow, there will be blessings that come from it. And if you need someone to talk to,  a shoulder to cry on, or just some extra prayers on your behalf in the meantime, please know that I'm here. So many of you were there for me while we dealt with infertility, even if was just by keeping me in your prayers, and I would be honored to have the chance to return the favor.