Category: Fertility

Coping with Mother’s Day

Posted on by Evangeline

Mother's day

When I was on the frontline of the battle against infertility, Mother’s Day was difficult to celebrate. Of course, I honored my own mother but something inside me yearned for the ability to celebrate it with my own child.

I wanted to experience pregnancy. I wanted to watch my tummy grow. I wanted to feel the baby kicking and moving inside of me. I wanted to be the one who could console my child when no one else could. But it wasn’t happening…

Thankfully, I had a husband who was understanding and got me through the day without tears (he was good at distracting me). And I had a mother who encouraged me to never give up hope. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” Even though he was referring to the Civil Rights struggle, it is applicable to this personal struggle of dealing with childlessness. With infertility, the finite disappointment rolls around on a monthly basis, but don’t allow it to make you lose hope in having a child.

Childlessness can drain you emotionally, if you let it. It can sink you into great despair, if you let it. I encourage you to find creative ways to maintain ongoing, infinite hope.

How will you cope with Mother’s Day 2012? Please share with us your ways of maintaining hope!

Born of the Barren

Posted on by Evangeline

Champions are sometimes born and not necessarily made. Examples would be Isaac, Samson, and John the Baptist. Each of them were born of mothers who had suffered with infertility. Each of these sons made a champion-sized difference in their nation.

Their mothers, Sarah, Manoah’s wife, and Elizabeth, respectively, each thought they would never give birth to a child, after years of “trying.” But God had a different thought. He saw the future He had planned for them. It was a plan of fertility: a future of overcoming barrenness. It was a plan based on His love for them. When they each BELIEVED in His plan and His love, they each conceived and successfully delivered a healthy baby.

Want to know God’s love-plan for you? You’ll find it in the Bible—His Word. It contains many promises for fertility and examples of women who overcame barrenness/ infertility.

I encourage you to trust God and BELIEVE in His love-plan for you.

Anticipate the Good

Posted on by Evangeline

Is your lifestyle one of anticipating the worst case scenario or do you expect good things to happen? As humans, it’s easy for us to see and talk about the negative aspects of our lives. But as a Christian, it should be easy for us to see AND talk about the positive things in our lives. After all, we have an “unfair advantage.”  We have the favor of God!

The favor of God is His abundant, unearned grace, and it is unaffected by anything that we do.  As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the abundance of God continually available to us for every area of our lives! It’s up to us to believe that it is ours to receive. Even when going through the throes of infertility, believe that the favor of God is working in your life. Despite what the evidence/medical report/family history is in your life, anticipate good results. Believe that the favor of God is working on your behalf. Believe that He is for you and not against you.

As you continue to believe, the things you say will be more positive. As you continue to believe, you’ll anticipate the good, more and more because your focus will change. Your focus will not be on the negative circumstances of your life but on the all-sufficient grace and love of God.  And that…is ALL good.

Think about what you’re thinking about…

Posted on by Evangeline

When faced with a thought filled with doom and gloom, and it repeatedly comes to mind, it’s hard to maintain a hope-filled focus. That’s exactly when we must remind ourselves that we can choose what we think about. We can dwell on the thought that brings us down and continue to ride that wave of despair, OR, we can switch gears and begin to think about the Truth.

Truth always prevails. It is unshakable. It is unchangeable. It is the foundation upon which we can build a thought-life that brings waves of joy and not sorrow, hope and not despair.

The only Truth I know is the Word of God. It is filled with hope and  love. It is food for good thoughts!

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~~Philippians 4:8 NLT

Announcing…’A Seed of Hope’ Devotional

Posted on by Evangeline

Finally, an encouraging devotional for those suffering with infertility! My new ebook, “A Seed of Hope—God’s Promises of Fertility,” is from my perspective of having overcome infertility. It uplifts and brings hope to the reader through daily readings with the premise that nothing is too hard for God, not even infertility.

You’ll be encouraged along your journey to get through this season of childlessness by relying on, speaking, and trusting in the Word of God and His love for you. Please let me know what you think after you take a look inside “A Seed of Hope” .

 Devotional Readings that encourage you in the struggle of infertility!

A Seed of Hope Devotional- Amazon

Don’t Ignore…

Posted on by Evangeline

Don’t ignore the spiritual aspect of infertility.

It is so easy to lose focus on the spiritual nature of infertility when the physical aspect overtakes your daily life. You and your spouse can become so obsessed with finding the cause and the cure for you situation that it can rob you of your peace. When you’re not experiencing peace, you’re likely to ignore the one thing that can bring about the solution you’re looking for.

It is important to strengthen yourself spiritually while dealing with infertility. Acknowledge the need to ask God for wisdom when faced with overcoming the enemy called “Infertility.” It may seem like a Goliath-sized enemy to you, but for God, “Infertility” is already a defeated foe. It is not too hard to break or destroy. God said so when he defeated infertility in Sarah’s life (see Genesis 18:14).

Luke 18:27 states, “And he [Jesus] said, The things which are impossible with men are possible WITH (in close proximity to) God”{emphasis mine}. Join yourself WITH Him by asking for wisdom in the decisions you make, by reading His word, by speaking and meditating His Word.

Trust that God’s Word is true for you. It will bring you guidance, comfort, and ultimately, greater peace.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” ~~ Isaiah 26:3

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” ~~ John 14:27

Confidence in His Plans

Posted on by Evangeline

Sometimes it’s hard to trust and be in agreement with the plans of someone else regarding the impact of their plans on YOUR life. If someone asked you whether you agree with whatever God has said and planned about your situation, what would be your response? Would you express sincere confidence in His plans for you?

Maybe  David of the Bible can be our example of how to be in agreement with God. David, a man who so openly loved and trusted God, knew the power of speaking the Word of God. He said in Psalm 17:4, “…By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.” Similarly, we must speak the Word of God to keep us off of Satan’s paths that are lined with his burdens and devices of deception.  Most importantly, speaking the Word helps us to keep our eyes and mind on Jesus’ love for us, which enables us to agree with His plans and receive the victory over infertility.

Be encouraged!

Fruit of the Womb

Posted on by Evangeline

What’s the purpose of having children? Some may say: “To continue to populate the earth” or “To have someone to carry on the family name” or “A child will satisfy my need to be needed by someone else”, or worst-case scenario, “A child will save our marriage.” Just as a heads-up, having a child won’t save your marriage, especially if it’s already in trouble. Besides, that is a pretty selfish motive for bringing a child into this world.

God’s purpose for children is so that they grow to live godly, abundant lives and be able to show others a demonstration of His love and power. He wants to ensure that His Word is perpetuated from generation to generation, bringing wholeness, victory, and prosperity to each generation (Genesis 18:19). He wants everyone to experience His love.

The dictionary defines a “heritage” as something someone is born to, a special way of life that passes from generation to generation. Psalm 127: 3 tells us that children are a special possession of God, for whom He cares and watches as His own. A wise parent will regard each child as a reward and a source of joy. That’s a good reason to keep learning how to raise a godly child and to train him/her properly. This will enable the child to have deep faith and strong character. Parents should always seek God’s direction and assistance with this precious gift. They should consider themselves as privileged to participate in God’s creation process.

“Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.”

 ~ Psalm 127:3 ~

Speaking God’s Word

Posted on by Evangeline

In the beginning was the Word…

God created this planet and the entire universe by speaking it into existence.  As believers in Jesus Christ, and therefore as children of God, we can, like earthly children, imitate our heavenly Father by saying what He says. We have the honor and privilege to use what God has said about a matter to create a life that falls in line with His plan for us—an abundant, overflowing life (Romans 10:8; John 10:10). That abundance includes having children and raising them to know that God loves them immensely and wants them to enjoy an abundant life (Psalm 102:18, 28).

 

We can activate that abundant life and change our current circumstances by declaring God’s Word. He gave us His Word to empower us so that we don’t have live in bondage to infertility any longer! Over and over again, God shows us in the Bible that it is important to speak His Word because it is powerful in shaping our lives. God said that His Word would go forth and return to Him with results that please him (Isaiah 55:11).  The method by which His Word returns to Him is through us speaking it out loud in faith.  Everyone knows that God’s name is holy and should be respected and honored.  But did you know that He has exalted His Word even above His name (Psalm 138:2)? That means we should believe His Word, trust it, and value it as something precious! It also means we can act on it with confidence.

 

Speak God’s Word and be encouraged that it is working and will work on your behalf. Believe it and continually speak it in faith (2 Corinthians 4:13). Speak the Word with confidence because it is the foundation for God’s language of faith.

Copyright 2001 Evangeline Colbert

Hope-filled Focus

Posted on by Evangeline

God said He wants men and women to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). His desire is for humanity to produce godly, prosperous families. He loves us all so much and He wants to bless us abundantly. One of His many blessings includes having children.

Many times, when infertility (“barrenness” as it is called in the Bible) strikes a husband and wife, the couple’s focus tends to only be on their inability to reproduce. Proverbs 23:7 declares that what a person continually thinks about is what he/she becomes. This means what we put our attention to, or what we focus on the most will expand in our lives. What you think about, over and over and over again is what will manifest in your life. This suggests that focusing on your present inability to conceive will not change it.

That’s why it’s imperative that you focus on God and not on the problem of infertility. In the Bible’s account of Abraham and Sarah, Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred year old body could never father a child.” Nor was he discouraged by Sarah’s decades of infertility and completely give up on the hope of having a child with her. He focused on God’s promise to him, confident that God would make good on what He had said.

Think and meditate with confidence on His promise in Deuteronomy 7:14. Have confidence in God’s unconditional love for you. Barrenness is not what God desires for His children. Trust His Word and His love for you. Have confidence that He wants you to be fruitful.

Copyright 2011 Evangeline Colbert