For over 10 years after they were married, Bethel Music's Jason and Amy Miller struggled with infertility.
"I always had an expectation in my heart that when I was ready, getting pregnant and starting a family would happen without difficulty. However, it wasn't that simple," Amy wrote in the Bethel Music blog.
Try as they did, pregnancy was just not happening for the couple. They pursued natural means of boosting fertility, physical checkups, and just plain waiting. Amy even talked to her chiropracter, who told her that a severe car accident Amy had when she was 26 years old might have been a contributing factor as to why she was having difficulty conceiving.
"So, we prayed about pursuing more intensive fertility treatments, but our insurance would not cover this and the cost felt unreachable. I began to wonder if I'd ever get to experience motherhood through pregnancy, and my heart grieved for my husband, who longed to be a father," she said.
As painful as their struggle was, Amy said they did not give up hope. They prayed to God about their situation. Friends and family would pray for them too, but the couple really wanted to start a family so they turned their thoughts to adoption.
"We feel adoption is one of the most beautiful examples of the gospel – giving the orphan a home. So we pursued foster care and private adoption," she said. "We learned so much about the need for adoptive parents to bring kids out of tough situations, and I grew more and more excited at the opportunity to welcome a child into our family."
Come 2014, they were finalising adoption paperwork and had even raised over $6,500 to pay for the initial steps of private adoption. They had been scheduled for final home inspection and interview with the state in January of 2015.
But two weeks after our final interview with the state, Amy realised that she needed to take a pregnancy test. "Every sign pointed to the potential of pregnancy, but I couldn't let my heart go there one more time for the fear of disappointment," she said.
But after the test, Amy was in disbelief - the pregnancy test showed a "positive" sign. Her husband rushed towards her after she screamed, and together they wept with joy.
"It was unbelievable," she recalled. "The feeling of a promise fulfilled that we'd almost let go of. At times it felt we had let go and God was the One still holding on. In a moment, everything changed, and it was totally unexpected."
Amy is now passing on that feeling of hope and inspiration to other couples who are struggling with the same issues as they did. It can all change, she said, but it's important to remain faithful to God in the midst of unexpected ordeals.
