Hannah Part 1: Trusting God with Infertility

Bible, Women & Bathrobes Episode 12

Summary

Tamara, Bonnie, and Jen discuss the beginning of the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:1-7 in the Old Testament. Bonnie and Jen share their personal experiences with infertility, emphasizing the emotional toll it takes on women. They discuss the importance of empathy and support from others, as well as faith in overcoming this challenge and the societal pressure on women to bear children. Jen provides a unique perspective on the hope of parenthood through multiple rounds of infertility treatments. They also talk about how to cope with life's difficulties while maintaining faith and empathy, emphasizing the importance of submitting to God's plan, acknowledging and expressing emotions, and being kind and understanding towards others.

Takeaways

• From Jen: "It's okay to cry at the sad parts. Christ knew Lazarus would live but he cried it the sad part. It's, it's okay to cry. Even if we have faith that God can make it all beautiful, and roses and rainbows. It's okay to feel the pain. And it's okay to feel the desperation. It's okay to cry at the sad parts."
• From Bonnie: "In God's timing, it will all work out. . .His timing is our timing that we agreed upon. And He loves us so much, but He's gonna stick to the plan. Even if the plan is a little painful at times, we're gonna be okay."
• From Tamara:  "I think my takeaway is what you guys were talking about opposition, and how that's that's part of our learning journey. . . I know that the things I've experienced in my life, like when I was bullied, it sure has made me more empathetic to people. And I'm not saying I'd go back and go through it again. That was just awful, especially when I was younger. But at this point in my life, I am thankful for it because it made me more kind and more empathetic. So in a way, I am thankful for those moments for the people who were unkind. But I also think it's also an invitation for all of us to maybe not act like Peninnah and act more kind and understanding and less judgmental. It's an invitation for us to be better."

Podcast Hosts & Guests

Tamara K. Anderson

Tamara, founder of Women Warriors of Light, is a dynamic speaker, award winning author, and a podcaster. She is driven by her Christian faith to inspire faith in Jesus Christ. Alongside her husband, Justin, she navigates the joys and challenges of parenting four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles. You can find out more about Tamara on her website: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/

Bonnie Randall

Bonnie Randall is a wife, mother, trainer, speaker, actress, copywriter, heart centered life coach and has also been a business and marketing consultant for over 20 years. Her real passion is to help people grow as individuals and teach them how to resolve limiting beliefs. Bonnie enjoys teaching about mental health, abuse prevention and recovery classes. She runs a trauma recovery support group and YouTube channel called, Come Off Conqueror, which helps survivors of abuse find Christ centered healing. Find out more at: https://www.youtube.com/@comeoffconqueror

Jen Brewer

Jen Brewer is a member of our Women Warriors of Light advisory board. She is a nourisher of bodies and souls. She does this through speaking, writing, and global malnutrition work. She is the mother of 7 children, author of 6 books, and lover of traveling to discover yummy food and Jesus Christ (not necessarily in that order).

Transcription

Tamara Anderson 0:00
Have you ever had a prayer where you cried bitterly to God and just wept with sorrowful heart? If you have, you're not alone. We're going to read about one woman today, Hannah. And we're going to dive a little bit into her story and find out why she was crying and how the Lord helped her. So stay tuned.

Tamara Anderson 0:28
Welcome to Bible, Women & Bathrobes the podcast where faith meets comfort. Join us Tuesday and Thursday morning. As the gals from Women Warriors of Light and their guests, Don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible, and the teachings of Jesus Christ. From Esther's bravery to the Sermon on the Mount. We explore it all with warmth, laughter, sisterhood, and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments. tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from scripture which empower women today.

Tamara Anderson 1:09
Welcome to another episode of Bible, Women & Bathrobes. I'm your host Tamara K. Anderson. And joining me is Bonnie Randall. Hi, Bonnie.

Bonnie Randall 1:18
Morning.

Tamara Anderson 1:19
And Jen Brewer and Jen is new. Hi, Jen.

Jen Brewer 1:23
Oh, good morning,

Tamara Anderson 1:25
Jen. Let me introduce her really quick. So you know who she is. Jen is a member of our advisory board on Women Warriors of Light. She is a nourisher of bodies and souls. And she does this through speaking writing and global malnutrition work. She is the mother of seven children, author of six books, and a lover of traveling to discover yummy food. Me too, that sounds delicious. And Jesus Christ, so not necessarily in that order. So I like that you like food and Jesus.

Jen Brewer 2:03
So greatest things in life.

Tamara Anderson 2:05
I know. Amen. I love that. So today we are diving into the story of Hannah in the Old Testament. And this is a wonderful story. But it starts off with a little bit of a hard time. And so let's just paint the picture of where we are. In the Old Testament here. This is before the reign of King David and all of that. So we are in the time when there was a man and this this happens to have common family. There are no one of importance. And I think all of us can relate with that we often feel like we are no one of importance in the scriptures, or in our lives.

Tamara Anderson 2:56
And the husband's name is Elkanah. And it says here that he had two wives, Hannah, and Peninnah. And all that we know up to that point is that Peninnah had children and Hannah did not. And so. And we also know that they were a very religious family. And so they would travel from their town every year. And they would go up and offer sacrifices at Shiloh to the Levites there. And that was a tradition that they held. So they were very religious people.

Tamara Anderson 3:43
And and so this is kind of where we come into the story of Hannah and her family. And let's see. Let's start. So I've kind of given you the background there. Let's start in verse four. And then we'll open it up for discussion here it says, "And when the time was that Elkanah offered," so this is him offering sacrifices. "He gave Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters portions." So they would always when they offered sacrifice, the priests would keep a part of the portion of the sacrifice for him. And then he would give back to the family, the rest and so so the priests would take the best portion for the Lord and, and then he would give the rest back to the family and he gave some depending on his sons and daughters. And then "but unto Hannah" in verse five, "he gave a worthy portion for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb."

Tamara Anderson 4:55
So it sounds like he gave Hannah like the next best portion, because he loved her. And that's what he does say here that he loved her. But she wasn't able to bear children. And so I can see a little bit of a family conflict coming here because Peninnah is like, well, you get didn't give me the best portion. So there's probably a little bit of jealousy going on here. And, as he did so, year after year, oh, no, verse six first, "and her adversary also provoked her sore, or to make her fret because the Lord had shut up her womb." And this happened year after year, that She provoked her and she wept and did not eat. And so I'm going to pause right there and just open this up for discussion.

Tamara Anderson 5:45
We have a story of jealousy and love, and some very unkind words that seem to be happening in here. And I don't know why it is that we women can just make other women feel so bad sometimes. But I just think back on those, you know, high school years and stuff like that, and college years, girls can be so mean to girls. And this is one of those stories in the Bible that kind of brings that out. And Bonnie, I thought I'd start with you today. I know that you struggled with some infertility early in your marriage. And so maybe coming from your perspective, talk us through how you feel that Hannah might have felt.

Bonnie Randall 6:35
Hannah, chapter one got me through a lot of hard years. And the story of Sarah and, you know, it's interesting, if you think back to out of the Bible, women who are women of different patriarchs, and, you know, famous men are important men or whatever, even Elkanah, even though he may not, he may have seemed like a normal, everyday guy he was, but he was of the tribe of Levi, which I thought was kind of interesting when I was reading the this book that I have about women and the different scriptures. And anyways, they always give some historical context. And I thought that was cool that he happened to be of the tribe of Levi, considering who his son ends up being, which will introduce that later. But it just knowing that alone that like, hard things and challenges don't escape anyone, right? They come to everyone, prophets, priests, kings, you name it, right? Everyone can have trials. And that's a part of life. And we're supposed to and, and I remember reading the story of Hannah, because someone suggested it. And in fact, I couldn't even I didn't even remember that there was a story about Hannah, until I went through the infertility.

Bonnie Randall 8:12
And my friend said, go read this story forwards and backwards and just ingrained in your head. And I really appreciated that advice because it did give me a lot of strength. And I remember one day, sitting in the temple, just like Hannah bawling my eyes out. Being so mad, that everyone around me was having babies. It because in that season of life, right, that's what you do, 20 something, you get married and you have kids and bawling my head off and being so jealous of everyone around me.

Bonnie Randall 8:51
And the words of Hannah came to my mind, and I remember them saying, all right, can I make the same vow? Can I make the same bargain with you if I vow to dedicate my children to the Will you open up my womb and maybe this is a good time to share. Later, that didn't happen. So we that was early on in in the infertility and it went on for about three years, maybe a little bit longer. Before we actually did get pregnant. And that was a struggle. It wasn't as long as some people I know some people who never get to have kids, right and their infertility lasts forever. And but for me it was every single month grieving the loss of a child. And we had a few miscarriages and and rough things and it just was a cycle of emotion. It was really, really hard but when we get to The promise and that verse I'll share what the Lord shared with me, but I'll wait. That's a cliffhanger. Hang on for a few more minutes.

Tamara Anderson 10:11
Well, that's good. Jen. Thoughts?

Jen Brewer 10:14
Yeah, that's I I truly feel your pain. Bonnie, when when I tell people I have seven kids and then follow that up with and we had infertility issues with every single one. And, and they don't believe you had Yeah. And had had years years of struggle, and trying it is bitter. And it is rough. And an I, Yeah, I read this with, wow. I am in an age of medicine and technology. And I mean, it took a lot of doctor's visits, it took a lot of tests and figuring out and, and going Yeah, going through that monthly mourning of, of just the utter pain and anguish. But I but there was always that hope. Okay, well, we'll try this medication or we'll I mean, we we were, I say lucky, we were lucky because the our first line of medication is the one that worked for me. But it didn't work all the time.

Jen Brewer 11:23
So it was with every every child, it took us about two or three years to actively trying to get the next child here. And here, it's interesting that they just said the the Lord, the Lord closed her womb. And she was she was, in essence, cursed. You know what, what's wrong with you? What's What did you do wrong? How did you offend the Lord? When I think wow, I had such a support system. I had friends, I had family, I had medical team, all pushing to help this not to look at me saying what's wrong with you? Why Why aren't you What have you done? Do you need to repent?

Jen Brewer 12:09
I mean, I can only imagine what's going on the back end like this again, like you brought it up, Tamara, Why are women such jerks to each other? And it doesn't end in high school and junior high. Like motherhood. Women are the worst. You get judged if you work you get judged. If you stay home, you get judged. If you let your kid have a sucker, you get judged. If you only give him fruit you get judged. It's why are we so catty, and even your backup to Sariah that they had the same conflict but in reverse. She was mean to her handmaid because the handmaid had kids and she didn't like it. There's no formula. We're just mean, and ruthless and jealous. And it's, it's ridiculous the way that we do that to each other.

Jen Brewer 12:55
And it's I can only imagine, you know, it says her adversary provoked her sore. I can only imagine what what things were said. And what's what she must have taken in, you know, and we in the therapy world today we call that you know, the trauma or bullying or, you know, even so far as going through PTSD that she would we bitterly. And all of that, and not knowing in her own mind, what what did I do wrong? What have I done wrong? Yeah. But it's just it's, it's gut wrenching to think of her going through that.

Bonnie Randall 13:34
And our society hasn't changed much, right. Like, we still think what is wrong with me when we go through infertility, and that's one of the things I read in that book was how, historically that's been the theme through all of that, like they thought that if you couldn't have kids, you've sinned, you did something wrong, and you were being punished by God. And so they did. They mocked you and they just tore you down like crazy and looked down on you. And you were like a second class citizen, because that was the whole point of a woman was to give seed and to carry on that family name. And we still, even 2000 years later, right? We still have the same expectations and different things haven't changed at all. I think we have gotten them maybe a little bit slightly nicer and realizing like, hey, there's medical reasons for this, and we can adopt and we can have IVF and things like that. Right, like, so luckily, things have gotten maybe a little bit better, but not a whole lot. At least I know for me, I don't know about you, Jen. But for me when I was going through it, I did I felt like such a failure. And I kept asking what is wrong with me what is wrong with me? What is wrong with me? And eventually, I couldn't figure it out like none Ever tests showed anything wrong, they were like, We're stumped. We don't know why you're not having kids.

Bonnie Randall 15:07
Like, that's not what I want to hear I want at least a good reason. Like, I'm not ovulating or whatever, like, give me a reason. But they couldn't give me a reason. And I feel like with Hannah, her reason was the same in a way as mine, and that her son, Samuel, had to be born at a specific time, because of his mission in life and what he was going to go on to do, to reunite Israel to create a strong kingdom to save them from all these different things to bring back the law. And he went on to be this amazing King, and prophet and king who really saved the nation. And I'm not saying my kids are gonna go like save the nation. That's not what I'm saying.

Bonnie Randall 16:05
But I remember, I had some advice given to me to, like, read these different talks and different friends who'd been through infertility, they're like, check out this one, check out this one. And there's one on patience by Elder Uchtdorf in our, in our church, and I can probably quote you most of that talk. I read it so many times. Because I struggle with patience. And that talk really helped me understand that there was a timing in all things. And even though every time someone would say that, in the Lord's timing, I wanted to punch them. Like, seriously, I remember saying to one of my friends, once, if one more person tells me in God's timing, I'm going to like deck them, like I can't hear that one more time.

Bonnie Randall 16:58
And so one day I was praying in the temple again, that's where I go, and, you know, bawl my eyes out to the Lord. And I was praying, and he helped me understand what that meant. And what that meant for us. He said to me, but it has nothing to do with my timing, meaning him his timing, or my timing, as in me. And he said, You did nothing wrong. But this is about the timing of your children. They need to be born at a specific time to do their specific missions. And my whole heart just melted. And He then gave me a little glimpse and a little vision into who and who my firstborn would be, and the things that she would do.

Bonnie Randall 17:53
And that was exactly what I needed. I calmed down, I stopped beating myself up, I stopped asking why I stopped trying to figure out the timing of everything. And I just relaxed, and just held it in my heart that my daughter had something that she needed to do. And she needed to be born at a specific time, just like Samuel needed to be born at a very specific time. And that lesson has stuck with me, because I've realized now, everyone, not just my daughter, right, but all of us have specific missions, all of us have specific callings, all of us have lots of different things that we're going to be doing. And he knew, he knows the timing of all of that. And it's like lining up the dominoes, right, and putting everything into place so that it can all happen. And the way that it's supposed to write you think about the Star of David and how that star was made, millennia before it's shown in the night sky, the day that Jesus was born. So many of the things in our lives. We're set up for other things to come to pass. And that's like the moral of Hana for me, or a lot of I don't say the moral it's one of the morals of the story for me.

Jen Brewer 19:29
So question, I have a question about that because I love that and I I totally get that the whole timing and yeah, I went through miscarriages and had issues I had a time where one was they couldn't hear heartbeat, but they didn't know. So I had to wait for a week to get follow up testing and that week, I I just poured out my heart. I was like, Look, I know you can do this. I totally call God on the carpet and Like I've read, I've read the book, I've seen the movies, I know you can do this, like, this isn't new. So I'm asking you point blank to say, I, I know I'm supposed to have a baby, you know, we're supposed to have a baby. We've had, you know, we've been working for years, don't take it away, you know, put everything, just daughter of Jarius, whatever you need to do. Come on, like, let's do it.

Jen Brewer 20:25
And then the end for a week just kind of was in that limbo? Of, hmm, maybe we don't know, I don't know. And the night before I was going in for that, that next test. I finally just put it all on the line and just said, okay, you know, what I want? You know, again, I, I laid out my case, here's, and the timing even I like to see, here's the timing, and here's why. And, like, if God would just listen to me, I have a really good plan in store. And at the end, I just said, but okay, like, I'm gonna put it on the table, and release. Like, I'll release everything and just let what needs to happen happen.

Jen Brewer 21:16
And I'm not even kidding. 20 minutes later, full on miscarriage. And talk about weeping bitterly. I was, that wasn't the answer that I needed or wanted. And I was so mad. And for for a number of years, I questioned that like, but what about faith? What about praying? What about blah, blah, blah. And it wasn't until a few years ago that, like you said, Bonnie, it's, it came to me of Yes, it was your will, this path. But it wasn't the will, of the spirit that you were bringing to life. And that, like I was honoring that will like that. And I even like they had some pre mortal things come to me of an agreement we had made that that's all that spirit needed. And it still didn't help the pain.

Jen Brewer 22:14
It was like But but now that I'm here, no. Can we change the game? Can we like, now like I made that in my I was on the stands. I wasn't in the playing field. Like now that I'm here. I want to change it up. And so, so here's, here's what I love about Hannah. And this whole story is as Sorry, I'm gonna jump in a little bit. But she's told by her husband, who's lovely, I'm sure. And I'm going to judge him a little bit. Just when I call the women out for not judging. Judger. That's one of my vices. He's coming to her knees like why are you crying? Why are you sad? Like, I'm better than 10 kids. Like, come on. I'm enough.

Jen Brewer 22:59
I'm not, I'm dissing on him. Okay, we'll just put it in there. How many times as we have women receive that message from the world. Like, just be happy with your station. Like you're fine. Like, just don't rock the boat. You're good. Look, I'm gonna I'm gonna like I'll have to apologize when I see him when I get there. Because I might not be putting him in a good light right now. But kind of like, I'm just going to pamper you and make you feel better. And you're fine. So, so you will just stop, stop this pursuit stop this complaining. And to her credit, she's like, No, not good enough. Like, I know what I want, and I want more. And so she petitioned God, and still wept bitterly. So which circles back to how do we know you know, the whole the whole whole adage? My Will versus thy will? You know, it could have been a different story. She's like, You're right. I'll just put it on the table and just let it go.

Jen Brewer 24:09
But then we get to what you started out with Tamara have she wept bitterly? And, and prayed and wept sore? And how many times have I been on the bathroom floor weeping bitterly and praying and just everything in my soul wants this. And it kind of gets to for on my journey, what I've realized is the whole my will, my will God's will. When we tend to think if I'm going to God's will, that automatically means the opposite of what I want. It automatically means I can't do what I want to do because I have to do God's will. When if we back up. God's will is truly to bring our higher Will about.

Jen Brewer 25:02
And sometimes when we're in mortality, it's almost like we're putting on this three year old mask. It's like our mortal self is like my three year old wanting chocolate cake for breakfast. So I'm here in this in this earth after going through the prayer life, and this is the plan for your life. And this is what we're going to do. And we're actually doing it together. You know, we're writing the book of our life together with God, and he's like, sweet, here are your talents here, your gifts, go, go do good work. And we get here, and we're like these little three year old self saying, But wait, I want chocolate cake for breakfast. And God's saying, Well, let me look in your book. And your book says, you want to run marathons? So Nope, you can't have the chocolate cake.

Jen Brewer 25:52
But my friend Mary gets up and says, Can I have chocolate cake? And God looks in her book and says, Oh, you know what, in your book, you want to be a baker have the chocolate cake. Go for it. What happens then is then Mary and me get together. And I say, Well, God's will is no chocolate cake for breakfast. That means you're totally wrong for having chocolate cake for breakfast. And that circles back to like the judging why, you know, we're so mean to each other. We're not allowing for this vast, we all have different purposes. And we all have different wills, and Gods honoring each of our wills. So circles back to the long way too long winded question is, how do we tease out when to push forward with the prayers? And when to just backup and wait for the timing?

Tamara Anderson 26:52
I think, gall that is such a hard question. I think if we pray long enough, and ask God help me to know what to pray for, eventually we'll get there. I didn't have problems with infertility. But I sure pounded on the doors of heaven asking God to heal my children from autism. Like the mind, I know you can do it. And I had to learn to submit and I think part of that is, is the purpose is learning to submit to God's will. And I and that is the hardest thing in the whole wide world. Because we we don't have that grand view of our lives.

Tamara Anderson 27:45
I know looking back on my life now I look back and I think, wow, I've learned and grown so much because they were not healed. Do you know what I mean? But at the time, it was painful and raw and bitter tears, just just like you women cried. It was it was hard and awful. And so part of me wonders if that is part of that journey of coming to know and trust God is that we all have bitter tear moments like Hannah, where we're crying and just offering our whole soul to God saying please, please help. Help me learn what I need to learn help me do what I need to do heal me or heal them or I don't know. Thoughts? Bonnie

Bonnie Randall 28:42
I'm gonna go back to what Jen said about. He's honoring our will. Because, like in the Christian world, that sounds really weird. Like, but I don't think I think she's right in that. I've had, oh my gosh, so many discussions over the last few months. And I remember learning first, this concept of co-creating with God, and creating a life with him, and how he, his whole purpose is to bring us joy, and to help us become like Him. But there's lots of different ways that we can become like Him, right?

Bonnie Randall 29:25
And one day, I was talking with a friend about this idea of co creation. And we both had kind of this vision, Revelation, whatever you want to say open up of being in heaven before we were born. And basically talking with Heavenly Father about these are the things I need to learn to be like you. Here's how I'm going to do that. And kind of creating a life together and creating a plan and signing up for things. And since then I have had other experiences talking with clients or other therapists and people that are way smarter than I am. And hearing their experiences where they also felt like they agreed to certain things. And they signed up for certain challenges and different stuff. And they've had their own personal experiences to verify that like, this is this is a real thing.

Bonnie Randall 30:37
And then a few weeks ago, the I went talk to another friend who she helped me see that sometimes we are the opposition in people's lives, that we have agreed to help other people learn these lessons. And sometimes the way we learn the lesson best is through opposition. And that makes me think about Jen's miscarriage. And the lesson that you learned Jen about. I was honoring this spirit's well, that spirit, and you were chosen to be the mom of that amazing Spirit, who now goes straight to heaven, right? Like they've got a free pass. They're there and like fun. You've got one through the goal, like, you know, what an amazing gift that is to be the mom of such a spirit, right? That is a beautiful thing. And you've got one who is designated to your family to be your guardian angel to help you guys beyond the veil and to be there. That's just like a beautiful gift.

Bonnie Randall 31:46
But what if that kid was also teaching you something right? It was also the opposition to whatever it was that you were supposed to learn. And ever since this conversation with this friend, I've been stewing on it and thinking about it. And the more I open my eyes and open my heart to receive truth, the more I'm realizing how much the law of creation really takes place in our lives, that we have the power to make decisions and to use our agency and to create the life that we want. And it goes back to the agreements that we made in the pre existence. And that part of our story is him saying, You got to learn these things. Okay, this is how I'm going to learn it. Thank you for giving me the guideposts. I'm going to use my agency now to learn the lesson. And sometimes that works out great. And sometimes that creates a lot of pain and chaos, and opposition. And other times it ends up becoming this beautiful symphony of all these great lessons and you meet new people and all this stuff, right.

Bonnie Randall 33:04
But that has given me as a survivor of abuse, it has given me a lot of empowerment. And it makes me feel like I can have a say, in my life. That all of these bad things that happened to me have purpose. And I'm in control of what I do with that. Does this make any sense? Or am I just like off and left field?

Tamara Anderson 33:35
Go ahead, Jen.

Jen Brewer 33:36
I just really quick, I know we're getting short on time, but I love it in even to, to go along with that, that thought of Yeah, the agreements we made before. And the things were put into place. Sometimes I look at that, as I did a lot of sports growing up. And I look at that, as that was the pregame. And in my own sports journey, the pregame is awesome. I am the best athlete, I think every shot, get through every block. You know, Spike every ball like it's a beautiful game in my head. And then I get on the court. And suddenly, there are other players and every play doesn't go right. And what the heck, why did we think this one was going to work? This doesn't work at all. And so it's constant readjustment.

Jen Brewer 34:29
And I so many times I think when I'm in a situation, I'm like, How did I agree to this? Because Wow, my higher self. You had no idea what it was like with his mortal mask. Like it. Not so hot. Not so good. It's an I wonder if that's kind of Hannah. Maybe having her moments of look, I'm I in my gut. I know I'm supposed to do this. Why isn't it happening? What's going on? Even Even if she had those moments of clairvoyance of I'm supposed to be learning something, but what the heck? Like my own. Suppose it friend is just picking at me all day. My husband trying to get me to stop asking for kids. But I still know in my heart, I'm supposed to what? What gifts? What am I supposed to do?

Jen Brewer 35:25
And just the I love that we're ending with chapter or with verse seven. Because it's okay to cry at the sad parts. Christ knew Lazarus, Lazarus, Lazarus. Lazarus would live. But he cried it the sad part. It's, it's okay to cry. Even if we have faith that God can make it all beautiful, and roses and rainbows. It's okay to feel the pain. And it's okay to feel the desperation. It's okay to cry at the sad parts.

Jen Brewer 36:00
I've been, we've been going through a really really can I say hellish time on here? Or does it have to get bleeped up? We have a really hard time with with a couple of the children. And one made a comment to me of of, I'm just too much for you. Like you cry. And my comment right back. Was you know what? It's hard. This is hard. And I can cry, I can cry it the hard parts. It's okay. It doesn't mean I'm not going to lace up my bootstraps and strap my shield over my wounded arm and go back into battle. But it's okay to cry. It's okay to be on the bathroom floor. Wondering what How did everything in life get derailed? And how in the world Am I going to stand back up again? It's okay to have those moments.

Tamara Anderson 36:59
Take away Bonnie?

Bonnie Randall 37:00
Is it bad for him for me to say in God's timing, it will all work out. That was kind of my takeaway if the cliche statement is true, but his timing is our timing that we agreed upon. And he loves us so much, but he's gonna stick to the plan. Even if the plan is a little painful at times, we're gonna be okay. And like Jen said, it's okay to cry. It's okay to grieve. We got to go through those emotions if we don't. It just creates havoc in our body and in our will in our world. But like you said, if we can submit to the plan, we can have faith and find joy in the journey. That's my takeaway.

Tamara Anderson 38:01
I think my takeaway is what you guys were talking about, about opposition, and how that's that's part of our learning journey. You know, I was thinking about Peninnah. And we assumed that's who her adversary was who, who provoked her sore. But, but sometimes they're cruelty can bring out, I know that the things I've experienced in my life, like when I was bullied, it sure has made me more empathetic to people. And I'm not saying I'd go back and go through it again. That was just awful, especially when I was younger. But at this point in my life, I am thankful for it because it made me more kind and more empathetic. So in a way, I am thankful for those moments for the people who were unkind. But I also think it's also an invitation for all of us to maybe not act like Peninnah and act more kind and understanding and less judgmental. It's an invitation for us to be better. So, anyway, we live in a imperfect place with imperfect people. And so yeah, we're going to go through hard things.

Tamara Anderson 39:30
But we're going to wrap it up for now and then we're going to come back and we're going to dive more into the story of Hannah. So stay tuned. We've got some amazing stuff coming and have a blessed day.

Tamara Anderson 39:48
Thanks for tuning in to Bible, Women & Bathrobes hosted by Women Warriors of Light. We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women are the teachings of the Savior today with you If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood. Just a friendly reminder. All opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher and apply Bible teachings, just like you are. Until next time, stay faithful. And may Your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai