GOD’S PLAN & PURPOSE
GOD’S PLAN AND PURPOSE IN LIFE’S EXPERIENCES BY FAITH STORCK Within this article Faith tells her story of the trials she faced and while difficult to go through, she is now able to utilize her hardships and pour into the lives of others.
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hris and I were married a year after we graduated from Pensacola Christian College. Chris was working in the IT department at the college and I was a graduate assistant. Other than being poor newlyweds, life was grand. Then one day my sister called to share she was pregnant. I was happy for her, but devastated for me. I had just suffered my first miscarriage a few months prior. I had told no one what had happened to me. Why is that? Because I never really heard anyone else talk about it, so I suffered in silence. I finally told my family, but I didn’t want to talk about my miscarriage. Let’s talk about my sisters pregnancy, but please don’t bring any focus as to what I was going through. Fast forward nine months later, and I found out I was pregnant. I was so excited, but so scared about having another miscarriage. Thankfully I didn’t, but this pregnancy wasn’t without complications. Chris and I were told we had to go and see a specialist. During the examination, we were told Lauren had the markers of having down syndrome, as well as kidney problems. Fourteen years later, as I write this I am crying remembering the emotions I was going though. I remember lying in bed during the middle of the night sobbing while Chris slept next to me. I remember thinking we had finally decided on the perfect name but I wasn’t having a perfect child. I realize how cruel that sounds, but no one expects to hear their child will have problems. I had the
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My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
rest of the pregnancy to deal with the reality of what we were possibly facing. I knew that God would give Chris and I the strength we needed to face whatever problems we were facing with Lauren when she was born. I remember how everyone talks about bonding with their child the moment they lay their eyes on them. That’s not exactly how it was for me. I felt nothing. I didn’t allow myself to bond with her until I knew what Chris and I were dealing with when it came to Lauren. After the doctor examined her, we were told she did not have down syndrome, however we still had the kidney problems to figure out. Lauren wasn’t exactly the easiest baby. She never stopped crying! If I got fifteen minutes of uninterrupted sleep, I felt like a new woman. I was cured of wanting to have another child for quite a while. Fast forward a few years, and I forgot the very loud first nine months of her life. We decided that Lauren shouldn’t be an only child. It was easy to get pregnant last time so it should be easy a second time. Wrong! Over the next few years we tried without results, and when it finally happened, I had another miscarriage. We tried for two years the last time I had a miscarriage. I was devastated. Even worse for me is that my sister was pregnant again with her third
LIVEOAKCHURCH | www.loumc.org | July 2019
