Hannah thought she would scream if one more person invited her to a baby shower! Once she had looked forward to gathering at the well every morning, seeing her friends, and hearing all the latest news. Now she dreaded those encounters, wondering who would be the first to ask her, "So, Hannah. How's it going? Are you 'with child' yet?" She decided that from now on she would draw water later in the day, even if it meant enduring the blistering noonday heat and burning sand. Anything to avoid those smug looks and questioning gazes.

At last summer's tribal reunion, Hannah lost count of the number of relatives who kept asking when she and Elkanah planned to start a family. One after another they had inquired, "Well, Hannah, you and Elkanah have been together for years now. Don't you think it's…