Sermon: The Empty Womb
Sermon Series: Dysfunctional Families & God's Grace (5 of 6)
Preacher: Jeff Strite
Text: I Samuel 1:1-22
I ran across a list of different life experiences that can create stress, and amongst all these life experiences creating stress were these:
-Death of a spouse;
-Divorce;
-Being sentenced to Jail;
-Personal injury or illness;
-Being fired at work;
-Retirement;
-Pregnancy;
-and a Change in financial circumstances.
Oddly enough, in that extensive list, there was no reference to the stress of a woman who was unable to get pregnant. It's almost like it's not THAT important an issue.
And yet, the Bible tells us several stories of the frustration. Women had who had trouble getting pregnant. There was Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and of course the woman in our story today: Hannah.
Commenting on that, one source I read: "During the biblical period, bearing children was highly valued and women's primary role was that of mother." (https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/barren-women-in-the-bible#:~:text=There%20are%20six%20stories%20of,of%20Shunem%2C%E2%80%9D%20also%20called%20the)
In other words - it was a big deal back then... but not so much now.
Well, apparently it STILL IS a big deal.
As I searched the internet I ran across an article from a British woman named Jody Day. She gives TEDx talks to people on this very issue, and she says: "I'm a childless woman. And I'm here to tell you about my tribe - those one in five women without children hidden in plain sight all around you... Childless women have to wade through grief to get to that place, and many of them remain stuck in it for decades, maybe even for their whole lives."
So, Jody Day began to reach out to women who have struggled with this. After she posted her first blogpost -the response was enormous. Her blog, "Gateway Women", flourished into a huge online community, and then became a book for women struggling to find meaning in a life ...
Sermon Series: Dysfunctional Families & God's Grace (5 of 6)
Preacher: Jeff Strite
Text: I Samuel 1:1-22
I ran across a list of different life experiences that can create stress, and amongst all these life experiences creating stress were these:
-Death of a spouse;
-Divorce;
-Being sentenced to Jail;
-Personal injury or illness;
-Being fired at work;
-Retirement;
-Pregnancy;
-and a Change in financial circumstances.
Oddly enough, in that extensive list, there was no reference to the stress of a woman who was unable to get pregnant. It's almost like it's not THAT important an issue.
And yet, the Bible tells us several stories of the frustration. Women had who had trouble getting pregnant. There was Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and of course the woman in our story today: Hannah.
Commenting on that, one source I read: "During the biblical period, bearing children was highly valued and women's primary role was that of mother." (https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/barren-women-in-the-bible#:~:text=There%20are%20six%20stories%20of,of%20Shunem%2C%E2%80%9D%20also%20called%20the)
In other words - it was a big deal back then... but not so much now.
Well, apparently it STILL IS a big deal.
As I searched the internet I ran across an article from a British woman named Jody Day. She gives TEDx talks to people on this very issue, and she says: "I'm a childless woman. And I'm here to tell you about my tribe - those one in five women without children hidden in plain sight all around you... Childless women have to wade through grief to get to that place, and many of them remain stuck in it for decades, maybe even for their whole lives."
So, Jody Day began to reach out to women who have struggled with this. After she posted her first blogpost -the response was enormous. Her blog, "Gateway Women", flourished into a huge online community, and then became a book for women struggling to find meaning in a life ...
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