Tag: fertility

Why Should I Be…Thankful?

Posted on by Evangeline

You may have asked yourself, “What do I have to be thankful for when all I want is to get pregnant and it isn’t happening?”

Some people believe that we’re to thank God for putting us in tough situations because that’s how He teaches us something. I believe God is a better teacher than that. He can get his point across to us without putting us in tough situations. I believe that tough situations are brought to our lives by the devil and that God can and will bring us out of them.

But when you’re in the throes of difficult circumstances, life can become overwhelmingly sad and anxiety-laden. So what is there to be thankful for? Start by remembering that God is with you. If you’ve asked Jesus into your heart, He has promised to never leave you. Just think about that. The One who has the power to change your circumstances is always right there with you in the midst of them, desiring to lovingly see you through them. He wants to bring you out of the grip of tough times into His gentle caress of peace and rest. That’s what He planned for your destiny.

Rest in knowing that God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31). Trust that He hears you as you pray His promises. Believe that He loves you unconditionally, just as much as He loves Jesus (John 17:23). To have someone who always loves you no matter how much you doubt His ability, willingness, and timing…that’s something to be thankful for!

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”  ~~ Isaiah 41:10 [NLT]

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Looking Beyond My Problems

Posted on by Evangeline

Psalm 121 [NKJV] opens by asking, “Where does my help come from?”

There were countless times when I wondered who was available to help me during my struggle with infertility. Doctors could only do so much in their role as a medical professional. Friends could sympathize but they couldn’t truly understand what I was going through.They had not experienced falling into the pit of infertility. Family members were supportive but couldn’t identify with the struggle either. My husband, even though he was kind and loving toward me, was also in the struggle and therefore  looking for support as well.

It seemed no matter where I looked, there was no one in my sphere of influence that could be the principal source of help that I needed. But, I learned that when looking for help, the quickest way to get it was to look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). He could identify with my physical and emotional pain. He was my Savior. He was my Champion. He was the one who could do something about my problems when I stopped looking at the problems and looked to Him.

God’s Got This

Posted on by Evangeline

If you like to be in control of things in your life like I do, you may sometimes experience frustration that life is not working out exactly as you had planned. When my husband and I decided to start having children, we thought pregnancy would happen according to our timeline that we had developed a few years earlier. It didn’t.

After numerous doctor visits, temperature charting, lab tests, tears, anger, and many times of asking God “why,” we finally decided that we’d put this issue of infertility in God’s hands. And He did not disappoint! The Bible says to cast all our cares (those things that distract us from believing in God’s willingness to help us) onto God. He wants us to choose to focus on the truth that He is not only able to move mightily on our behalf, but He is also willing to do the  impossible in our lives. He loves us so much and wants the “best” things we desire in our lives to line up with His “best” plan.

When we reach a point in life’s circumstances that we can truly say within our heart, “God’s got this,” we are positioning ourselves in the place of rest that He intended for us to be in all along. It’s in that place of rest, which is actually a place of great strength, that we see His best plan for us come to fruition. 

Enlarge Your Territory!

Posted on by Evangeline

Do you tend to make preparations for upcoming events in your life? Isaiah 54:1-2 describes a time of preparation: “”Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child…enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.” Enlarging your territory is simply making preparation for the good things you expect to happen.

Have you reached a point of believing and not doubting in your heart, that God intends for you to have a child? Faith in what He declares in His Word gives you the confidence to act on it.   Find something that you can do as a means of preparing for the blessing of a child. Maybe you’ll want to begin now to adjust your budget for the expenses you’ll encounter once you have the baby. Or maybe you’ll decide to start taking pre-natal vitamins.

Whatever you choose to do to enlarge your territory, do it with a high expectation of the good things God will do your life. He enjoys seeing that you have confidence in His promises and loves blessing you with the desires of your heart!

A Blessing For You

Posted on by Evangeline

In Genesis 24:60, Rebekah’s family spoke a blessing over her as she was leaving their household to be married to Isaac. It’s a lesson in the power of the blessing. Her family had no idea that she would later face a struggle with infertility [Genesis 25:21]. But the blessing they spoke  her was irreversible. Those words put something into motion on her behalf that would not be thwarted. She did indeed give birth…to twins!

God’s blessing is the same way. Once He speaks it, it’s a done deal. Job 42:2 (Amplified Bible) states, “I know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.”

So trust that the blessing of the Lord is for you. Speak the blessing of the womb that was spoken over Rebekah for yourself. Meditate on it daily as Truth, as YOUR truth from God. Find other scriptures that support that blessing and believe that what the mouth of the Lord has spoken shall indeed come to pass in your life.

Be blessed…

“And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, You are our sister; may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your posterity possess the gate of their enemies.” Genesis 24:60

God’s Promises of Fertility

Posted on by Evangeline

I hope you’ll be encouraged by this excerpt, which is one of the daily readings from my devotional e-book, “A Seed of Hope–God’s Promises of Fertility.”

Confidence

“Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ…”

~ 2 Corinthians 2:14 ~

Confidence. It means trusting in the abilities, strengths, integrity, or faithfulness of someone or some thing. Typically, we willingly speak out boldly about people when we are confident in them. We are told in 1 John 5:14 that having confidence in God means that we believe that He hears us when we pray according to His Word and that He will grant what we ask. Part of your battle plan against infertility must include increasing your confidence in God’s love for you.

Having confidence in others, even God, may sometimes be difficult.  Have you ever had trouble letting someone else be in charge? I have. Have you ever wanted someone else to take control of a situation and allowed him or her to do so, only to snatch it right back because you didn’t like how he or she was doing it? Maybe that’s what you’re experiencing with God—not trusting Him enough to completely let go of your circumstances and allowing Him to be in control. If so, you’ve got to get over the fear of what will happen if you’re not in control and instead, trust that His way is a better way. Develop a positive expectation of what will happen when He’s in control.

That’s what my husband and I experienced in our battle against infertility. As engineers, we both were good planners and detail-oriented. We had our lives planned out and thought we knew exactly when we’d start having children. We’d planned to wait until we had been married for 3-4 years, and of course we expected the pregnancy to happen within three months after we first started “trying”. On 6/2/86, I wrote in my journal: “Freeman and I are preparing to start pregnancy in July/August.” Well try as we may, our plan did not work.  It didn’t happen in July or August. Neither did it happen by the end of December. And so began the journey of going from doctor to doctor to see what was wrong with me and who could fix it. That journey did not last long before we decided we’d had enough. We clearly saw our need to develop confidence in God. We had to become better listeners to Him, through prayer and reading His Word, so we could follow His directions and find rest in His plan.

Speak the Word: I submit myself to God and His plan because I am confident that He always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus.

More Encouragement: Hebrews 10:35,36; 1 John 5:14,15

I hope you’ll share this with others who need encouragement in their struggle. Remember, God loves YOU and He does not withhold good things from his children.

Benefit from having hope-filled daily readings like this at your fingertips. Check out the sample or purchase your devotional, “A Seed of Hope–God’s Promises of Fertility,”  on  Smashwords.

Grace Always, Part 2

Posted on by Evangeline

Grace. It is God’s unearned favor, an unfailing strength that He pours out on His children, simply because they believe in Him.

Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 12:9, that God told him  His grace was sufficient for the struggle Paul was in. What do you think God meant? I think God was showing Paul that  he should utilize the strength (grace) that was already in him. It was in him because he believed what Jesus had done on the cross qualified him to receive it. Through Jesus, he would be strong enough to endure until the victory was manifested. It was a loving way of telling Paul to not give up because what he had inside of him, which was the grace imparted by the Spirit, was powerful! That grace would be enough to see him through to victory!

Likewise, God’s grace is powerful for us today in the 21st century. It is enough to see us through to victory. No need to fear. Simply believe, receive and depend on God’s grace.


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.

No Condemnation

Posted on by Evangeline

Do you ever get tired of “shoulding” all over yourself?

I do.  I should have gotten up and walked this morning. I should have set the timer to get off the computer so I could get other important things done. I should have made a better choice for a snack this afternoon. I should have told my hairdresser to not cut so much of my hair off. I should have told each of my children “I love you” this morning.

I could “should” all over myself all day,everyday,  if I allowed myself to do so. I could beat myself up about so many little things and big things. But I have to daily remind myself that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).  If I make a mistake or if I make a wrong choice, I don’t have to re-live it over and over again in my head. If Jesus doesn’t hold things against me, why do I? That’s not to say that I  shouldn’t try to make right choices; it just means that I can find peace in Him when I don’t.

If you condemn yourself because of a life changing choice you made years ago, or even yesterday, STOP! You’re the only one on that ride going to nowhere!  Jesus is on the ride that is headed toward the destination of grace, forgiveness and peace and He wants you to join Him. So stop “shoulding” all over yourself and take a ride on the GRACE side.