Teacup

I heard a lovely story this evening:

A man went into an antique shop and saw a teacup on the shelf. He noticed it right away and commented on how lovely it was. The teacup said, "I did not always look like this. I started out as a lump of clay, and then my maker spun me around and shaped me. I was so dizzy and the stretching hurt. Then he placed me in an oven. It was so hot, I thought I was going to die. Then my maker took me out of the oven, and he smeared a glaze all over me. It smelled so much that I gagged. And then again he put me back in the oven. This time it was three times hotter than the last time. Finally, my maker took me out of the oven and placed me on the shelf. He put a mirror in front of me. I said, 'That is not me! That teacup is beautiful. I am just a lump of clay.' My maker said, 'Yes, the teacup is you. I made you into the teacup and knew from the beginning that this is who you were meant to be.'"

We are all teacups. The trials and struggles of life shape us into who we are meant to be. I can't tell you how many times infertility has made me feel inferior and flawed. The pain of the journey has already scarred me for life. I will never be the same.

But maybe the scars I now carry with me are what is shaping me into the person I was always meant to be. Maybe this pain is making me strong and beautiful.

I can only hope and pray that I will make it through this and become the woman I was always meant to be. I have always dreamed that I would be a mother. I pray that my dream comes true. One thing is for sure: if I do become a mother, I will be eternally grateful. I can imagine no greater love in the whole world.