Waiting: A Labor of the Mind, Body, & Soul

“We all know that labor hurts. But what most people don’t know is: infertility hurts too. It’s not the loud, screaming kind of pain. It’s long, and slow, and quiet. It’s a different kind of labor altogether. A labor of the soul.” - Polly and Rachel of Thriving Home

This is from a blog posted over a decade ago, but truly, it hits home for all who have waited for a family or even a spouse for an extended period of time. It’s truly a labor of the soul. A painstaking time of long, slow, and quiet pain. You never quite know when it’s going to end unlike childbirth which promises a precious child at the end of 9 months.

I wouldn’t just call it a labor of the soul - it’s a labor of the mind, body, and soul. Some days there’s relief and peace. Other days you’re searing in emotional pain from the wait. It may even manifest in physical pain from the stress, longing, and loneliness. Spiritual pain is also part of the experience. There’s plenty of prayer experiences in a time of waiting where you feel doubting as well as abandoned and forsaken by God by the extended wait and silence.

I’ve sat with many women in waiting who think that their labor for a spouse or child will never end. Hope is hard. I was there too at multiple times of my life - waiting of my husband and waiting even longer for a child.

But I’m here to tell you that in time, and no one can tell you exactly when, that desire of your’s will in fact be fulfilled and redeemed some way, somehow. That desire was planted in your heart purposefully by our Lord.

The labor DOES come to an end. Fulfillment DOES come to all who seek.