Advent and Infertility: Waiting on a Baby

We all have longings and desires. We pray for God to save us, to rescue us, to heal us, to give us the desires of our hearts. And we wait.

Sometimes we wait a long time. Sometimes we aren’t sure we will make it if we don’t receive what we long for. Sometimes it’s hard to trust.

Advent reminds us that we are all waiting. During Advent, we wait for Jesus. We recall the hundreds of years the people of God waited for a Messiah. They longed for redemption and for God to make things right. It often felt like God was silent.

God provided the long-awaited Messiah—his son, born as a baby. During Advent we wait to celebrate the birth of that baby. And we also wait for his return. We believe Jesus is coming back, but we have no idea when. We believe that the kingdom of God has already broken into this world with Jesus’ first coming, but we know that the world awaits complete redemption. This fulfillment of the kingdom will only happen when Jesus comes again.

And so we wait. And in the meantime, some of us are waiting on a different baby. We are waiting for God to answer our desires for a child to call our own.  We long to feel the flutter of a child inside us. We long to grow our family.

And God seems silent.

After the waiting of Advent, Christmas comes and we rejoice: Jesus is born! We remember his birth long ago, and we celebrate his birth in our hearts. God was listening even when he seemed silent. God is at work redeeming us and bringing healing to the world.

And even now, God sees you and hears you. God knows your unfulfilled longings and desires. God hears your cry for a baby. You are not alone. As you wait for a baby, we wait with you. We are all waiting on a baby this Advent.

* Today is the release date for Not Alone: A Literary and Spiritual Companion for Those Confronted with Infertility and Miscarriage, a new essay collection of which I’m a part. If you find yourself waiting on a baby, I hope this resource will give you comfort and hope.