Love, Marriage, and Birth Control

By Christina Chaney

My husband and I initially planned on waiting at least 4 years before we brought a baby into the world. We wanted to be at a certain level of success in our careers, having reached certain goals, and traveled to a number of countries. Most of all, we wanted to simply enjoy life as a married couple; just the two of us. . 

In preparing for marriage, 6 months prior saying "I do," I decided to undergo the IUD (Intrauterine Device) procedure. The IUD is a hormone free birth control, and came highly recommended as the go-to option (as long as you're cool with having a copper device chillin’ inside your uterus). Now, I never really consulted with God before making this decision. It just felt like the natural thing to do. After all, we had already made up in our minds to wait before having children. But soon after the wedding, I began to notice a pattern. Every time I prayed, or received a prophetic word (whether through my pastor or any other Man/Woman of God), The Lord would highlight my womb. It was the one thing in that season I had yet to fully surrender to Him. I started getting more involved in ministry and the conviction of not responding to God’s voice was becoming more and more evident. Here I am speaking or singing about trusting God, having faith, and surrendering every aspect of your life to Him. Yet, I was not. Having the IUD would give me the worst cramps (on or off my cycle) and the longest periods of life. It was even affecting our sex life. I told Stephon what God had been speaking to me regarding my withholdings, and we agreed to remove the device at our 1 year anniversary. When the time came, I was either too busy to make an appointment or, to be honest, chickened out. I had to remind myself that God has the power to open and close a womb and that it’s His will that needs to be established, not mine. So I began to pray for more strength to follow Him…and for my womb to be closed after removing the IUD until the “appointed time”. 

After all the prayer and conviction, we finally scheduled an appointment. Once the device was removed, this inexplicable peace came over me. The thought that once intimidated me became excitement and wonder. I also had a newfound awareness of a door being opened that was once closed due to my disobedience. I didn’t realize that the fear of the unknown had gripped me and wanted to keep me in this place of stagnancy. As believers, we sometimes pray and ask God to send us the blessing before we make any major moves. But remember when God said "I will pour out such blessing, you will have no room to receive it!?" Or how He told the Israelite's to keep moving forward to a land waiting for them with milk and honey!? God is always testing our hearts and stretching our faith. In my case, I struggled with trusting Him with the blessing of a child, and not comparing my situation to anyone else's.  The further we go in our revelation of who God is, the more we should ask Him to open the eyes of our hearts and unlearn some old things. That's exactly what He did with me! And by the way.... the aforementioned "appointed time?" Apparently it's RIGHT NOW! Today, I’m 15 weeks pregnant.... And my God is doing a new thing with us and our family.

Tiny bump at 15 weeks :)