My husband and I are expecting our first child. Two different doctors told us after three consecutive miscarriages, in vitro fertilization (IVF) would be our only option if we wanted to have a baby. Well, here we are, four months into a healthy pregnancy without medical intervention. (Knock on wood.)
Months before I announced this pregnancy, my colleague told me that with the other losses, “it wasn’t our time.” That sentence has stuck with me. Because she is right. Timing is everything. And in life there is just no way of knowing how things will work out.
I share that advice with my friend. She is single and often dismayed because of dating drama. She wants a relationship now. I get it. We want what we want when we want it. But sometimes the timing is off. And during these down times, waiting for a pregnancy or a lasting partnership, we can only do one thing: take time to live the life we have and trust God.
[bctt tweet=”I get it. We want what we want when we want it. “]
Trusting that we are right where we are supposed to be is a gift we can give ourselves. God’s timeline may be different from ours.
I have witnessed women of age dispensing their wisdom to younger women about timing and it can be damaging. If you have a younger woman in your life, try to avoid saying things like, “You better hurry up–you are running out of time for a baby, partner, job.” Instead tell that young woman that they are right where they need to be and that they should trust God loves them.
And that’s all we can do. Have you experienced a time in your life when you found it necessary to trust God’s timing?
Elizabeth McBride is the director for intergenerational programs and editor of Café. She always seems to arrive at life stages at the perfect time. Thanks be to God.
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Photo: By Gioconda Beekman | CC BY-NC-ND