"For reasons we didn't understand, our life led us through the crucible of affliction."
Christian writer Megan Conner shares her story of loss, doubt, and faith in this month's guest post.
Jeannie’s Note: This month I am pleased to introduce you to Megan J. Conner , who writes on Substack as Just One More Chapter. Megan and I met through this network in 2025, and I had the privilege of chatting with her on a Zoom call, author to author. Megan brings honesty and heart into what she shares as a Christian writer, and I’m honored to share the story she tells about living with hardship—as a wife, as a mother, in general. What she writes reminds me that each of us grapples with losses, and it’s what we choose to do in the face of our suffering that matters most. As always, please be generous and kind in your support, and please check out Megan’s creative work through the links provided at the end of her essay.
Six years ago, I sat beside my husband’s hospital bed, shaking. After over fifteen years of repeated monumental crises, I could not believe we were facing another life-threatening episode. This time, we found ourselves in a trauma hospital about an hour away from our hometown, because my husband had shattered his arm pitching in a men’s recreational baseball league. His humerus was completely disconnected, and his arm was only held together by flesh and tissue. He had significant nerve damage, was in excruciating pain, and could not remain conscious for more than a few moments at a time.
The doctors refused to operate, because they were confident the culprit behind such an unprecedented injury had to be cancer. They would not allow him into surgery until he was fully screened and released by oncologists.
As I held his limp hand and cried out to the Lord, I heard the softest whisper: the wife of Job. I really was not sure what it meant at the moment, other than the unwelcome association drawn between my marriage and that of Job and his wife. During our almost two-decade history of hardships, I felt some sense of comradery with this infamous, harshly criticized biblical character, as I too had moments of brazenly doubting the goodness of God amid my trials. Outside of that, I really was surprised by this unexpected utterance.
Not knowing what to do with it at the time, I tucked it away with a sense that somehow those words held deep meaning for me and a destiny unrealized.
It took almost a week to stabilize my husband enough that he could be transported back to our hometown. There he remained, in my care, with a disconnected arm for three full weeks while we completed his battery of tests. Finally, we were given the go-ahead for surgery with an oncologist present, and his arm was successfully repaired, without (praise God) any cancer present. We had survived—again. Yet an ominous ambience remained. If we had learned one thing during our almost twenty-year marriage, it was that another unwelcome dilemma was likely lurking around the next corner. For reasons we had yet to understand, our journeys frequently led us through the crucible of affliction.
Until that point in time, we had endured over a decade of undiagnosable medical issues that led to countless hospitalizations, surgeries, threats of cancer, and endless illnesses and injuries, much of which was navigated without the security net of medical insurance. There were sudden and significant employment transitions that left us with a mountain of bills and no idea how we would pay them. We experienced ten years of heartbreaking infertility, with another five years seeking to grow our family through adoption, only to come out on the other side absolutely shattered. And most recently, overcoming addiction (another unwelcome result of long-term health issues), which ravaged our marriage and threatened the overall stability of our family.
Why was our life so inundated with hardships? Why couldn’t we just “be normal” like everyone else appeared to be? Our ongoing trials were so excessive that others around us grew weary of our long-suffering. It seemed no one wanted to be around people who were regularly encountering loss, uncertainty, and illness. Misunderstanding, rejection, and isolation eventually followed.
I couldn’t help but wonder, where was God in the midst of all of our brokenness?
Today, as I look at my “lot in life,” I no longer gaze at it through eyes of resentment. Even greater, I have learned that the Lord did not reject me or cast me out for my moments of unbelief when my confusion and anguish led me—like the wife of Job—to raise an angry fist at God and accuse Him of being unjust.
God saw what I couldn’t see. He saw the eternal far beyond the temporal and provided a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. “For His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9).
Comprehending this, I have traded resentment for gratitude and beauty for ashes. I humbly surrender to His plans and purposes for my life (and the life of my family) as I "give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever" (Ps. 136:1).
No matter what is going on in life today, I can hold on to hope. Sometimes, my greatest blessings may be disguised as desperation.
I am the wife of Job, and this is the story I will tell.
Megan J. Conner is an author, editor, speaker, creator, and consultant who is passionate about the written word and compelling storytelling. She has spent the majority of her career writing for the business world and releasing works through educational children’s publishing. Megan recently debuted her first trade market children’s book François the Dashing Croaker. This release is followed by two other titles included in this 3-part series. The Frogfather is scheduled for release in Fall 2025 with Tour de Pond making its debut in Spring 2026.
To connect with Megan or learn more please visit her website or click on the links here: Website | Substack | Facebook | Instagram
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As ever, thank you Jeannie for holding this space for such diversity of experiences, beliefs, and journeys. The shared humanity this offers strengthens us all.
Megan, thank you for sharing your journey, your questions, your fears, and your acceptance. What a gift you were given to find the shared human experience across millenia when God asked you to remember Job's wife.
It is almost inconcievable to think of the loss that husband and wife faced. Messenger after messenger arrives "and while they were yet speaking" another messenger arrives with news of further loss.
I often find comfort in the book of Job. Both Job's wife and Job express soul deep anguish and questions. Yet as we read further there are glimmers of understanding and conviction. Perhaps the greatest "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him". Not an easy thing to say and even harder to live.
Thanks for sharing your writing and your hope with us. Keep encouraged 🦋
“Why was our life so inundated with hardships? Why couldn’t we just “be normal” like everyone else appeared to be” I think this is such a human question to ask at a time of such hardship. I admire you for finding grace and hope in this difficult time.