Today I love...

...my stretch marks.

I'm not kidding.

Yesterday I had a powerful experience in testimony meeting. We have a new family in the ward and she bore her testimony. She told the story of how she met her husband and then told a heartbreaking story.

For five years they have been desperately trying to have a baby. They went to doctors and specialists who told them that they would never get pregnant but time and time again in faith they persisted and kept trying. After years of infertility they went to a doctor who told them that they would have to go through invitro fertilization, a process that would cost thousands and thousands of dollars. They ended up becoming so desperate that they lost their home, their savings, and nearly their sanity...but this story has a happy ending: they are pregnant with a little girl who will arrive in February!

As I listened to this story I couldn't help but cry. Her story was not presented in a woe is me way by any means. Rather she spoke of her life as if every step was a great gift.

One year ago this week I stopped "the pill" the same week my closest friend Rosalie also stopped "the pill." One year later I have a two month old beautiful baby girl and she has two ginormous cysts. I don't understand how two 24 (almost) year old young women who have both led similar lives (even marrying within a week of each other) could have such different stories.

I don't understand WHY ME. WHY have I been so blessed. It is certainly not a matter of deserving or righteousness. There are some far more faithful than I that struggle to start a family. All I can do is live with a grateful heart and try to be humble and deserving of my great blessing.