10 Years of Barrenness Come to a Miraculous End

“People would ask the question, ‘When are you guys going to have kids?’  And it would just be almost like a dagger.  They have no idea of the burning desire that you truly have to be a mom,” said Celeste.

When Celeste and Terry Marshall married in 2001, they were eager to start a family.  But after a year and a half, they still weren’t pregnant.  Celeste saw a fertility specialist, where she learned she had polyps, fibroids, and endometriosis on her uterus and needed surgery.   Her surgeon Dr. Michael Randell said she could expect good news.  

“Not being able to get pregnant can be due to myriad factors.  Whenever you have surgery, right after surgery your chances are significantly improved,” said Dr. Randell.  

Celeste believed her best chances were through prayer.

“We were at a church service, and there was a visiting evangelist at our church.  God told me I'd have a son one day, and He gave me the name Simeon.  When I looked up Simeon in the Bible it meant that God had heard, so I knew that God had heard my prayer,” said Celeste.

“Every single month I just anticipated and could not wait to possibly be able to take a pregnancy test because I was late or maybe I thought I was having some symptoms.”

Then the months turned to years.     

Celeste’s husband Terry said, “She would bring it up to me, you know, just like "man, what is going on.  What's wrong with us?"  But I was just like "hey, be patient.  I mean, when he's ready, it's going to happen, you know?  Until then let's just carry on with life."

“I began to get very frustrated,” said Celeste.  “As a woman, the one thing that you feel like God has created you to do, you're not able to do or you're being told that you can't.  And you start feeling kind of inadequate.”

Terry said, “I was always wondering like "okay, if we didn't have a kid, would she, would she feel whole, would she feel complete?"  

The Marshalls considered in vitro and adoption, but felt neither was God’s plan for them.  Then in 2009, Celeste had to undergo surgery to remove more polyps.  Now approaching 40, her prayers had become desperate.  

“Each year, as I’m fasting and praying, I’m just like "God if I didn't hear from you or if this isn't you will for me, then remove the desire."  And if anything, you know, the passion just grew even greater to be a mom and that desire continued to grow and grow,” said Celeste.  “But as my desire grew, my faith started dwindling because so much time was passing.”

Even as her faith waned, Celeste found hope in the Bible.  One scripture stood out to her.  

“I felt like that's what was happening to me.  And it's not that I didn't believe that it would happen but my faith just started dwindling literally to that size,” said Celeste. “ And as reminder that that's still enough for God to do the miraculous in your life, I taped it on my bathroom mirror so that every single day I would see it.”

 Then in 2012, Celeste began having intense pains in her side.  Her doctor recommended surgery to remove her left ovary and fallopian tube.  It would eliminate the pain, but cut her chances of getting pregnant in half.  

“I was completely broken, devastated,” said Celeste. “It was just like a dagger.  But I immediately thought about the promise that God had given me and I knew that my body had to be whole in order for Him to fulfill that promise and for there to be any chance.”

Terry felt she should have the surgery, to prevent future health problems.

He said, “My whole concern at that point was just her wellbeing.  Like I use to tell her, I don't know what it's like to have a kid, but I know what' it's like to have a wife.”

Celeste, who was now 40, agreed to the surgery.  But as the date approached, she grew more anxious.  Two days before the procedure, she reached out to God one more time.

“I was still very emotional about it.  And that Wednesday night, December 12th, 2012, I went to church completely broken.  And I told God, I said, "I cannot and will not leave this sanctuary until I hear from you about what I’m supposed to do." And I just cried the entire service. At the very end of the service, pastor yelled out "be still!"  And when he did, my tears literally turned into tears of joy and I felt like that is what God had given me, was to be still regarding that surgery,” said Celeste.

The next morning, she cancelled it.  A couple days after Christmas, she missed her period and decided to take a pregnancy test she had in her desk at work.  

“When I saw the positive, I completely lost my mind in there and I yelled and screamed out to a coworker to come into the bathroom and I mean, that's just so weird, but that's just where my mind was,” said Celeste. “ I was just completely gone at that point. And she saw that test and just screamed with me and we were yelling and hugging each other.”

Celeste had always dreamed of telling Terry she was pregnant at Christmas-time, which was also his birthday.  That day, her dream came true.

Terry said, “She hollered out she was pregnant.  The first thing out of my mouth, 'how did that happen?  What happened, how did, what happened?'"

“I just could not believe it,” said Celeste. “I couldn't. It was just unbelievable to me, but it was my God doing exactly what He said He was going to do.”

A few months later, an ultrasound showed what Celeste already knew – they were having a boy.  

Dr. Randell said, “When you get to 40, your chances of conceiving are significantly diminished, not zero, but decreased.  And in her situation, the fact that she was able to conceive without any of the assistance, is likely to really be that miracle.”

She had a healthy pregnancy, and on August 21, 2013, Terry Simeon Marshall came into the world.  

“There was just this fullness, not only in my heart, but in my spirit,” said Celeste.  

Terry said, “He's like my little bud now.  You know, generally anything I do, it's like he's pretty much right there in my back pocket.”  

“It has just done more to my faith than anything,” said Celeste.  “Because even from the time that I got the promise and maybe my faith again dwindling to that, the size of a mustard seed. "Nothing is impossible with God."  And Simeon…they're both part of the Christmas story in the Bible.  And it is, this is truly our Christmas story.”