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God's Plan and Purpose in Life's Experiences
GOD’S PLAN AND PURPOSE IN LIFE’S EXPERIENCES
BY FAITH STORCK
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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.
Chris 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 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 child. Why would God allow me to try to have a child for so long, only to end up losing the baby? After testing, it was determined I would need medical help to ensure I didn’t have another miscarriage should I get pregnant again. My heart and mental health couldn’t go through it again because I couldn’t be guaranteed it wouldn’t end in another miscarriage. Five miscarriages were enough for me.
It has taken me many years to get over those five miscarriages, but what I’ve learned throughout the years is that God had a purpose for each and every miscarriage I had. Was it easy and could I understand why God would allow me to go through that? It most certainly wasn’t, but the lessons I’ve learned throughout those trials were worth every tear that was shed.
Second Corinthians 12:9-10 shows me exactly that each and every trial has been worth the pain. “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
You see, those miscarriages have allowed me the opportunity to know how to talk to those that are also going through it. No one knows what to say to someone that has a miscarriage so they say nothing when that is the worst thing possible for that couple. The fertility problems have allowed me to talk to those that are having those same problems I did to have testing done and to allow them to talk to me. The heart wrenching medical diagnosis of a child has given me the ability to know how to minister to those anxious and scared parents. For those moms and dads that are so very tired from lack of sleep because nothing will soothe their child, it has allowed me to tell them it will get better. You will get sleep some day. It has also allowed me to be there emotionally for those moms that have babies that are needing surgery. To lend a shoulder to cry on or an ear for them to talk to.
Each and every person here at Live Oak has experienced something in their life that has the ability to make a great impact on another individual. The events that take place in your life won’t always be smooth sailing. The bumps and turns that you’ve encountered along the road of life has given you the ability to pour into the lives of others. We may not understand the pain and suffering that we are going through as it is happening, but when we look back, we can see that God had a plan and purpose for each event that took place. Those situations have given us the opportunity to show that in our weakness, He is strong. They have molded us and made us into who we are today and that has given us the ability to share with others what God has done through us in those events. Never feel like you don’t have anything to share with those around you. Your life experience is waiting to be shared to boast about the power of Christ.
Faith Storck and her daughter
