One of the sweetest ways God has shone light into darkness in my life is through Christian friends. Brett and I moved to Georgia a few weeks after we got married and only knew a few friends from college in the area. God blessed us with a wonderful church that provided a small group of newlyweds and a mentor couple that became family. One of those mentors actually baptized Brett.

They became even more dear as Brett and I started our journey to parenthood. When we had been married two years, we decided to have a baby. Only we discovered I had health problems that would make that difficult and we began a two-year struggle before I was pregnant. Another couple in our small group also struggled with unexplained secondary infertility during the same time. Maren was a dear friend before, but she became a lifeline. It was so special to have someone who understood exactly what we were going through and got me through really dark days. We actually got pregnant with sweet boys only a few months apart. We shared in this journey so much that when her husband who was working out of town didn't answer the phone, I was the first person to find out she was pregnant!  

Another darkness during this time was Brett moving back to Mississippi for a new job. We were in different states for four months! I was in a very dark place with big emotions that were exacerbated by fertility medicines and the stress of moving and missing Brett. Another dear friend from small group, Kelley, surprised me early one morning so I didn't have to take a pregnancy test alone. It was a negative test and I still remember the tears and uncertainty shared with a wonderful, thoughtful friend. It was a sad day that would have been much worse to go through alone.