Waiting for
Maggie
Couple overcomes infertility through adoption by LORI ARNOLD
T
he phone rang and Rebekah Kennedy braced herself for or the he he nthl nt hly hl y message on the other end. Three years of near-monthly nd turbulence, ongoing processing sessions with a therapist, an and spiritual wrangling with her Creator led her to this moment. l-With the receiver expectantly to her ear, Rebekah heard the alltoo-familiar refrain: Motherhood eluded—again. o “I felt that hope had died,” Rebekah said of their failed in vitro fertilization treatment. Her next comment, though, prompted an audio double-take. “That was a good thing!” she said. “I felt crushed and defeated. I just wanted to give up. The good thing was, though, that I was able to express my feelings and pour them out to God. I didn’t feel like I had to hide them. I truly believe that God met me then; when I was brutally honest and held up my hands in surrender.” For Rebekah and her husband, Shawn, the three-year journey through infertility stretched them as never before. “For a while I lost sight of God’s goodness and I felt utterly defeated,” she said. As the couple tried desperately to make sense of their inabil-ity to conceive, they spent time with a Christian therapist, read ad books—and the Bible—together, and prayed. “It took me a little while, but I regained sight of God’s goodness and ness ne ss a nd n d held tight to that,” she said. “My hope is in Christ’s ultimate goodness odne od dne ness ss and and d plan. It is my hope to bring Him glory in all circumstances.” One of the things Rebekah learned to do was approach God d openly ope penl nly y about ab bou out her pain. “I felt very little emotion or anger towards God, but was simply overcome mply mp ly o ly ve erc r om o e January 2014 5 RUDYANTO WIJAYA| | REFRESHED THINKSTOCK IMAGES