God's Hidden Gifts

In a recent podcast I listened about difficult times that God puts before us. A comment in the show mentioned how each struggle one faces results in a "lesson" or "gift" for us in the end if we are willing to watch and wait for it. Sometimes it is really difficult to see these lessons... especially to see them as gifts, don't you think? And sometimes they feel as though the gifts are a loooong time in coming.

I've heard of many women who say they don't ever forget the loss and will remember and memorialize the loss(es) in different ways. These women, however, once they finally have a subsequent living child, come to recognize all the pain and suffering from the miscarriage as a gift, for if they had not gone through it, they would not have the particular child they were blessed with later that they love so much.

The comments in this podcast allowed me to reflect directly on our miscarriage now that we have had significantly more time to consider and remember our loss. Here are the few lessons and gifts I can recognize so far:

• I learned (and am still learning) how to talk about my loss with other people, giving a greater voice to this type of loss that has been so silent for centuries
• I am able to be a sounding board for other women who suffer a pregnancy loss because I "get it."
• Knowledge is power. I have become empowered researching miscarriages and fertility, and interpreting and recognizing my own fertility signs.
• I've learned patience and to trust God's timing (still working on these!).
• A strengthened relationship with Jason.

And I trust God that many more are to come!