Category: Articles

greatest hits - together

Greatest Hits – Sources of Encouragement

Posted on by Evangeline

Thank God, 2020 is DONE! It certainly brought its share of challenges. Many people, including myself, lost family members due to COVID-19. Numerous jobs were lost. Social turmoil filled the streets. People needed encouragement more than ever before!

I’m honored to say that 2020 had some high points for myself and iHope Coaching. Clients were lifted up to their potential and experienced victory in the midst of downturn. Women who are struggling with infertility took advantage of my fertility coaching. My new book, Conceived by Grace Pregnancy Journal was released. My co-author and I hosted an online fertility event that encouraged numerous women. I attribute this success to the support of amazing blog and newsletter subscribers like you.

Greatest Hits

If you recently discovered this website, you may have missed some of my popular articles posted in 2020. Here’s a list of my “Greatest Hits from 2020” in case you’d like to glean some hope from them:

When You Feel Like Giving Up

7 Actions You Can Take to Build Your Faith for Fertility

Moving On or Moving Forward?

My prayer is that 2021 will provide a lot of hope and peace for everyone as we recognize that we’re in this together.

How will you encourage yourself in 2021?

Greatest Hits – Sources of Encouragement Share on X

Spiritual Tools :: YouVersion Infertility Bible Reading Plan

Posted on by Evangeline

I have a YouVersion tool that you might find helpful.

It’s a Bible Reading Plan specifically for women struggling with infertility. You can easily access it on your phone, tablet, computer, and maybe even your watch! 🙂
YouVersion_logoREV
My infertility Bible reading plan is free on the YouVersion site. It includes applicable scriptures for the season of infertility as well as  brief biographies of women who struggled with infertility and overcame it. You’ll also find some great affirmations to use as you encourage yourself by speaking life to your life. It’s always good to be able to have a go-to resource when you need some encouragement.

Check it out:https://www.bible.com/search/plans?q=infertility.

Bonus tool:

The Appendix of my book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, is full of multiple scriptures that will give you a good start in addressing the spiritual aspect of infertility. I hope you’ll keep it handy and use it daily to encourage yourself by using God’s Word.

NY Times Article on Infertility and Race

Posted on by Evangeline
Tiffany James with her 5-month-old son, Knoble, in February after a meeting of the Washington-area chapter of Fertility for Colored Girls, a support group. Credit Drew Angerer for The New York Times
Tiffany James with her 5-month-old son, Knoble, in February after a meeting of the Washington-area chapter of Fertility for Colored Girls, a support group. Credit Drew Angerer for The New York Times

 

 

An article recently posted in the NY Times, shares an important aspect of infertility.

At a time when the sports world has been rocked by how a team owner allegedly has no respect for the men on the NBA team he owns nor for the coaching staff that he employs, this article points out that even in the world of fertility/infertility, all is not equal.  Disparities due to race are unfortunately not a thing of the past. But I’m glad there is One who looks beyond the outward appearance and looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:17). God’s love can be counted upon when no else’s is reliable. Even in the “Land of Infertility,”  His love is relentless, unwavering, steadfast, and tenacious. It brings hope in the midst of unequal treatment and despair. It’s through God’s Word that we are able to find and achieve victory in all areas of life (1 John 5:4; 1 Corinthians 15:57).

My prayer is that all who are struggling through the season of infertility will not only endure it with strength but also overcome it by addressing its spiritual aspect using the Word of God. Regardless of race, economic status, education or other factors, infertility should always be dealt with through a prism of HOPE!

Take time to read this article and ponder how you might be the one to make a difference in someone’s perspective about the affect of infertility in the lives of those who are silently suffering.

How can you make a difference in this struggle?

 

NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/us/infertility-endured-through-a-prism-of-race.html

 

The Authority of a Little Yellow Flag

Posted on by Evangeline

This post is from a friend, Keith Rogers, who enjoys teaching about our authority in Christ. Thanks Keith for helping us SEE our authority.

Image courtesy of arkorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of arkorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Not long ago, I heard a good analogy of what spiritual warfare is all about. Picture an NFL football field. On each side of the ball, there are 11 guys who are in perfect condition. They’re some of the strongest and fastest people on the planet and few, if any, can stop them.

Ah, but there are some weaker people out there on the field. These guys are slower, not nearly as strong, and quite a bit smaller. But they have a whistle and a yellow flag, and all they need to do to control those big strong men is to simply throw that flag or blow that whistle.

These people, the referees, have little power on their own. But the power they do have comes from the NFL, and that makes all the difference on the field.

In the same way, you and I may have little power on our own against the dark enemies of the invisible world. But the power we do have comes from another source:  Jesus. And on the spiritual battleground, that power is what makes all the difference.

In Christ, you fight not for victory, but from victory. Because of that, you have every bit of authority you need to defeat the enemy at every turn!

 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Luke 10:19

 IN CHRIST, YOU’RE FIGHTING THE ENEMY WITH ALL THE AUTHORITY YOU NEED.

LIVE IN VICTORY BECAUSE OF THAT WONDERFUL TRUTH!

RESOLVE’s Action Plan

Posted on by Evangeline

Thought I’d share this newsletter from RESOLVE with you today as we acknowledge infertility on a national scale. I’d like to add: use the Word of God to build and maintain hope for having a child!

A Special National Infertility 
Awareness Week® Update from RESOLVE:
2013 NIAW Stationery image
2013 NIAW Day Three
Definition of an advocate: someone who strongly or publicly supports someone or something. That someone is you and that something is infertility.
Infertility can take a toll on your body, your relationships, your finances, and your emotions. RESOLVE exists to improve the lives of people with infertility. We do this by providing you with ways to advocate for yourself, and gain control over this disease.

Actions you can take today:

1. Find a RESOLVE Support Group in your area.
2. Learn about the issues the infertility community will bring to Washington, D.C. on May 8th.
3. Volunteer for RESOLVE. 
4. Visit our Facebook page and tell us how you advocate for yourself, and for our community.
5.Tell us your personal story.

Special Event: Join RESOLVE and Parenting.com for a special “Twitterview” event on Wednesday, April 24th at 1:00PM ET.

Overcoming Infertility

Posted on by Evangeline

Here’s an article from UPTOWN Magazine,  Overcoming Infertility, that I hope you’ll find informative and encouraging.

By Bryna Jean-Marie
Photography by Sumner Dilworth

If 40 is the new 30, then 30 should be the new 20. However, most women’s biological clocks are still ticking to the same beat they did in the 1950s. And fellas, before you flip this page, fertility isn’t a slam dunk for you either. No matter who has the physical challenge, both share the emotional one. Thankfully, reproductive medicine has come a long way.

Many of us are claiming an extra decade to focus on ourselves before we consider marriage and starting a family. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—often this time is used to knock out grad school, fast track it up the corporate ladder, or become financially solvent. For the first time, more babies are being born to women over the age of 35 than to teenagers, according to the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. However, says Dr. Thomas Vaughn, founder and director of the Texas Fertility Center in Austin, “Patients read about women becoming pregnant at an older age and assume that they, too, will have no problems conceiving. Couples do not realize that fertility begins to decline when a woman is in her early thirties.” Thankfully, couples do have options when their biological clock is thumping.

A couple is considered to have fertility problems when they have been sexually active for one year without using any contraception and has been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant. (It is recommended that couples seek help after six months of trying if the woman is over 35.) According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the total percentage of affected women, including those who are unable to carry a baby to term, is virtually the same between black and white women. But when it comes to using alternative
methods of conception, the roads begin to part.

Health scientists are still piecing together the reasons why more fertility challenged African-Americans are not undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) or considering surrogacy or egg donation. Contrary to popular belief, preliminary studies indicate that money may not always be the top deterrent. Religious
beliefs and other factors often play a significant role.

For those trying to make it happen by any means necessary, there are options—and an exhaustive amount of material and research to sift through. The Watleys believed in miracles—and IVF proved to be theirs.

Read More…