Reflection
When most people think about the meaning of reflection, they think about seeing themselves in the mirror; seeing themselves staring back at them. Which, this is a true meaning of a reflection, but there is an even deeper meaning of reflection. Taking a deep look into what has happened to you in a day, week, month, year and focusing on the why’s, how’s and what-if’s. If there was one thing that 2022 taught us, it is to take a step back, reflect on what has happened and why it has happened.
Our journey of becoming parents started out extremely rocky. Experiencing a year long worth of negative pregnancy tests, to finding out we were expecting our first blessing, then to shortly after learning we had loss the pregnancy, plus 3 more miscarriages, many medical tests ran, blood draws, tears, lack of faith, anger and “why us” moments. It took us to hit rock bottom, completely empty of everything besides a tad bit of faith in the Lord. At this level, sometimes all you have is your faith. At this point, we both were finally at a spot in our journey that we had to be okay with God’s plan for us, therefore, decided it was time for us to take a step back and reflect on what God had been telling us.
You see, we got caught up in the hustle and bustle of trying to grow a family that we lost sight of God’s plan for us. We allowed the sorrow and pain of our losses to take over every aspect of our lives and never did anything to help ourselves; more importantly, we began to lose our faith in God and His plans for us. We lacked the advice that is given to us in Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without greed; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” What we wanted and when we wanted it was not God’s plan for us. Instead, we were being greedy and only wanted what we wanted for ourselves and felt that God was not there with us through our journey.
Reflecting back on our experiences during these hard times allowed for us to see the positive things despite the sadness, anger and sorrow. We were able to grow from those murky times and come out on top more beautiful and fulfilled, just like a lotus flower (hence our logo!) In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 it states, “Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Looking back on life happenings is a humbling experience and allows for personal, spiritual and emotional growth. Reflecting allows us to see that having faith, even the size of a mustard seed, allows one to see where they came from and where they are heading.
For us, 2022 brought many emotions as we reflected on our often too common journey to parenthood. The fear of losing another pregnancy, not being able to healthily carry a child, the flashbacks to the previous four miscarriages and even the fear and angst of reading the lab results from the blood draw that had the hcg levels on it. We get it now. We have experienced the full spectrum of loss and gain of a wonderful baby. Our experiences have changed and molded us to be more loving, understanding, supportive and open minded to individuals and families going through similar situations. Without these experiences, we would not be able to reflect back on our journey and thank God for always being there when we needed Him the most. We were able to take countless lessons learned and turn them into something bigger than ourselves to help others.
Reflection is relatable to many situations in life no matter the scenario. Take a moment to sit back and reflect on what has happened and look to the future. Think about how you can make it better for yourself and others around you! Reflection allows for a moment in time where you and God have a one-on-one conversation.
So, take the time today, this week and this year to do some reflecting to realize your blessings from our God who never leaves our sides! There is no better time to start a new habit than at the start of a new year. Let’s go 2023!
Happy New Year!
XOXO
Mark and Megan