Today, we have a guest post from Lindsey Bell, author of Searching for Sanity. You’ll be encouraged!

Sometimes, life doesn’t go as planned. Or at least…it doesn’t go as we planned.

For instance…I always thought I would have a daughter. I also always thought having babies would be no problem for me.
As it turns out, though, neither of these dreams are reality.
My husband and I had a son five years ago. When he was almost two years old, we began trying for baby #2 (whom I secretly hoped would be a girl).

Instead of a healthy baby girl, though, we had a miscarriage at twelve weeks pregnant. Then another miscarriage two months after that. And a third six months later. A year and a half ago, we had a fourth miscarriage…and I officially gave up my dreams for having a baby girl.

Four miscarriages in two years was certainly not something I ever planned…Nonetheless, it is the road I must travel so I’m learning how to move forward on it.
[Tweet “2 Things To Do When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned”]
If today you are feeling stuck in a life you didn’t plan, I hope some of the things I’ve learned can help you.

2 Things To Do When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned:

1. Grieve what could have been. Maybe you always wanted to get married or have a baby and these things aren’t happening like you hoped. Maybe your picture of a perfect life includes the health you no longer have. Maybe you expected to retire early and enjoy many years with your spouse and are instead planning a funeral that shouldn’t be happening. [Tweet “It’s okay to grieve what could have been.”] I don’t know what it is about your life that isn’t going as planned, but I do know this. It’s okay to grieve what could have been. Allow yourself to feel sad over what you lost (even if “technically” you didn’t lose anything but a dream). God can’t heal your broken heart if you don’t ever allow him to see its brokenness.
2. Give thanks for what you do have.For two years, my thoughts focused on what I lost. I failed to recognize the gifts I did have (namely my biological son and my adopted son) because I focused so much on the babies I couldn’t hold. [Tweet “He can use your thanksgiving to help heal your heart. “] I know how hard it is to find blessings when your heart is hurting…but I also know how God can use gratitude to help you feel thankful. How he can use your thanksgiving to help heal your heart.

So let’s talk…what in your life isn’t going as you planned? Leave a comment to be entered to win a gift card from Lindsey for her blog tour contest!
This post is part of a Lindsey’s blog tour for Searching for Sanity, her new parenting devotional.

You can read other posts in this tour by going to her blog.

Lindsey Bell is the author of Searching for Sanity, a new parenting devotional. She’s also a stay-at-home mother of two, minister’s wife, avid reader, and chocolate lover. You can find
Lindsey online at any of the following locations:
Her blog, Her website, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest

About Searching for Sanity:
Have you ever looked at your beloved children and wondered, what in the world am I doing?
Why did God trust me—of all people—to raise them?
Motherhood is the most difficult job many of us will ever take. Searching for Sanity offers moms an opportunity to take a breath, dig into the Word, and learn from parents of the past. In short devotions designed for busy moms, this book uses the parents of the Bible—both the good and the bad—to inspire today’s mothers.