“The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147:11
One of the greatest consolations in the world is getting a glimpse of God making lemonade out of your lemons (or limoncello, paisan).
I finally know why I have MRKH/infertility. It’s because of the Fall of Man and the general evil and sin existing in the world from the beginning. That’s it. That’s all. That’s why.
What has recently become therapeutic for me is exploring the what now.
I’ve been dealt a lemon, thanks to the existing evil in the natural world. How am I going to give this lemon to God and let Him create something beautiful with it?
I’m coming to believe that this is what “hope” means for those dealing with suffering or grief. We get so hung up on “hope” meaning waiting for a baby, a miraculous cure, or whatever kind of candy we can get from the miracle store. But that’s not how it works. Hope means believing that there will be something beautiful to come. God will turn our lemons to lemonade, and our limes into Key Lime Pie. If we place our hope in Him, God will make sure that our suffering is used to create a greater good.
The best part is when you being to sense the wonderful things coming from His kitchen.
Tales from the Valley 
Mmmmm, key lime pie! Actually, I’m so glad you wrote this little reflection. Realizing that God didn’t will my infertility (because God doesn’t will evil) was a game changer for me. And then going on to further realize that God makes good out of bad situations was even more comforting. It happened about a year into my IF journey and completely changed my relationship with Him. Instead of being mad at Him and feeling forgotten all the time, I was able to lean on Him. It was a beautiful shift! And is why I now hate the phrase, “Everything happens for a reason!” As though God plans the bad stuff to teach us lessons. I see why people think that way. I was that way once upon a time! But no longer!! God is so good, always good, no matter what’s going on in our lives.
PS – Here’s where my original inspiration came from: http://infertileminnesota.blogspot.com/2013/11/everything-happens-for-reason-not.html
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A beautiful shift indeed!! I feel like my whole life has changed. And I hate “Everything happens for a reason” too!! Once when I was a kid the priest at Mass said, “The beauty of Christianity isn’t that everything happens for a reason. No. The beauty of Christianity is that God can bring beauty out of the chaos.” Thank you so much for reading!!
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I happened over here from another blog and I just love this post! I was talking to another friend today about this very thing, the whole “everything happens for a reason” thing. We’re both single but feel very strongly called to marriage, and we were saying the same thing about how if this was God’s plan, then what the heck?! How can God’s plan lead to the kind of pain that happens with the terrible things that happen in life? But, yes, these things happen due to the fallen world, and God’s plan is to redeem these terrible things and make them into something wonderful. So, yes, I just repeated everything you said, but that’s how much I liked it. 🙂
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I am so happy you liked my post! I can imagine that being single and yet called to marriage is such a difficult cross. I really do identify with that, even though our situations are different. I hope that God can make something absolutely wonderful out of the pain you’re dealing with. I’ll keep you in my prayers. Thank you so much for reading!
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I love this so much, its such an inspiration to me! Thanks for the push forward to accepting the why and moving on to the what now. I’ll take some limoncello please!
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I’m so glad you liked this, Tomato! Next time you’re in my neck of the woods, we’ll definitely get some limoncello!
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So so true. I’ve had to learn (and am still learning) to stop myself from telling God what my hope is and then expecting Him to fulfill my plan. Hope has more to do with abandonment to His Will without always knowing what that Will is.
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Absolutely. There is no hope without trust.
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