The 21-year Wait for Mother’s Day

Carrie Olson originally told this story about her renewed marriage
and then a 21-year wait for motherhood in Amazing Grace for Mothers.
Here is an adaptation of it.

When Carrie Olson played baby dolls as a little girl, she never doubted
that one day it would be for real. But shortly after her marriage to Bob,
she stopped thinking about having children. Instead, she wondered, “What have I
done?”

Married at eighteen to a 23-year-old alcoholic, her life became a
nightmare. Many nights were spent home alone since she was not old enough to
accompany him to the bar. After four years, she finally left him.

But several months later, Bob came by her apartment and they had a big
argument. He left promising to kill himself. A couple of friends found Bob after he had shot himself in the chest, but he was still alive. They put him in the back seat of their car and asked Carrie to take him to the
hospital.  The friends could not drive because their
licenses were suspended for drunk driving.

At the emergency room, the doctor said Bob would unlikely make it through
the night. But by morning, when Carrie visited him, Bob was still alive and
remarkably, doing well.  

Renewed in Christ

“Bob told me that while he lay on the table in the emergency
room, he prayed to God to take away his alcoholism,” Carrie said.  Later,
he asked for a Bible. For perhaps the first time in his life, Bob began to read
God’s Word. He was fully aware that if not for the grace of God, he
would be dead by his own hand.  Now, he
vowed, whatever time he had left would be lived for God. Carrie learned later
that after Bob shot himself, before he passed out he had prayed, “Oh God, don’t
let it end this way.”

Doctors determined that he would need a minimum of two weeks more to
recover in the hospital. On day three, he was taken for X-rays and was mended
beyond scientific explanation. Two days later, Bob was released, totally
healed.

Bob was a new man, but Carrie was cautious. He had disappointed her too
many times. They began dating; initially going to church. Bob never drank or
used drugs again and God became the center of their lives. They were changing
together and their marriage found a new life in Christ, falling in love all
over again—this time rooted in Christ.

Desiring a Family

Once they felt secure, they began desiring to have a family. But month
after month, parenthood eluded them. “I carried the deep pain of barrenness
daily, but it became especially overwhelming at Mother’s Day,” Carrie said. 
“At church one Sunday, a special tribute was given to moms, asking them to
stand and be blessed.  The pain crushed me.  I ran out of the service
and cried for the rest of the day.”

Finally, after a year and a half of seeing a fertility specialist, Carrie
was pronounced sterile.  “Lord, what is
going on?” she cried. “You restored our marriage and now we are ready to accept
a child.  I believe in my heart that you
have promised us a child!”  

Often, during sleepless night, she turned to Scripture. The feeling that
God would give her child remained, but year after year, there was no baby.

“Surely,” she thought, “one day I will have a child to be thankful for
and dedicate to God. This assurance also grew in Bob. “But how and when?” she
wondered. They looked into adoption but we both had a strong sense that it was
not God’s will for them.

For eleven years, they were foster parents. One boy in particular won
their hearts, but they were crushed when it turned out they could not adopt
him.

“Lord, why is there no one for us?” I cried out to God. “Why have we felt
so strongly that you have a child for us?”

For so many years, friends and even pastors counseled Carrie to accept
that she would not bear a child. But the stubborn feeling that one day she
would be a mother refused to leave her.   

Shortly after she turned 39, a number of symptoms indicated to Carrie that she
might be pregnant but it was more likely to think that menopause was starting
or something more serious. Since a relative had just been diagnosed with
cancer, Carrie went to see a doctor when the symptoms persisted. In the
recesses of her mind, the thought of a pregnancy still flickered.  After
all, with God all things are possible, she thought.

When the nurse called later in the day to tell Carrie that she had tested
positive for pregnancy, she was stunned. “I’m pregnant after 21 years of
marriage!” she thought ecstatically. “Could it really be? Me? Pregnant?” Carrie
shakily dialed Bob’s work number. “Bob, I’m pregnant!” she screamed.

The realization that Bob would become a father for the first time after
21 years of marriage was overwhelming.  He took the rest of the day off
work so they could celebrate.

Hannah—which means “grace of God”—was born on February 4, 1997. She is
now a beautiful, 20-year old, loving daughter.  “We have dedicated her to the Lord and never
stop thanking Him for this indescribable blessing,” Carrie said. “And we are in
awe at our daughter’s spirit-filled enthusiasm for God. Those 21 years were
worth waiting for Hannah, our child of promise.”