Living life with steps of faith

“I would never consider IVF” I snidely remarked to a new grandmother encouraging me by telling me of her daughter’s solution to infertility. The idea of freezing or destroying some of my children in order to have one live birth was quite unappealing to me.  At the time, I really believed my response.  Now I regret it. I started my infertility journey very opposed to IVF as well as a variety of other fertility interventions, but I am learning that my initial opinion that I couldn’t be pro-life and seek this care were less educated than I thought.   Initially when I sought out a doctor who would support my desire to not “play God” or take an overabundance of medication, I informed the doctor that I would basically be taking the Catholic stance on fertility treatment.  Even though I’m not Catholic, the Catholic church was the only religious body that I knew of that had investigated reproductive technology and prepared a conclusive ethical statement abou...

Genesis contains the birth story of creation, humankind, and Israel.   It is also the story of God fulfilling his promise of fertility despite many obstacles. (see the Jewish Study Bible) According to the Jewish Study Bible’s introduction to this book it is appropriate for us to view each narrative as a story being told to convey a point. As we read we picture old Uncle Ned sitting there telling us a story he has told us a thousand times, but each time with a slight shift in the storyline to convey a new point. Genesis is a book that reveals God’s blessing in the midst of our earthliness. As a woman struggling through her own time of barrenness I find this quite encouraging. Early on a friend encouraged me to hold on to hope.   I responded by explaining to her that I couldn’t place my hope in a promise God never made.   Yet, as I read through Genesis I hear the undertone of God’s willingness to bless with fertility, even though God doesn’t seem as committed to makin...

For the last several months I have been slowly reading through the book of Genesis.  It has been an incredibly healing journey as I re-read this text through the eyes of a woman struggling with her own fertility. Prior to this reading, I hadn't realized what a prominent role women played in the beginnings of our faith and our world. So often, what is preached is on the fathers of the faith - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And yet there are so many incredible women whose stories are outlined in Genesis. Women, who like myself, desire to become a mother and yet find the road to motherhood quite difficult. As I conclude this slow reading through Genesis I have decided to go back through it again.  This time blogging and purposely listening for God's story of blessing of fertility for the land and wombs of His people.  In many ways these two are symbolic of each other - the land in its dryness pointing to the barrenness of the womb and the womb in its fu...

“For me, the celebration of Easter puts our earthly concerns into perspective. With humility and with awe, we give thanks to the extraordinary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We reflect on the brutal pain that He suffered, the scorn that He absorbed, the sins that He bore, this extraordinary gift of salvation that He gave to us. And we try, as best we can, to comprehend the darkness that He endured so that we might receive God’s light.   “And yet, even as we grapple with the sheer enormity of Jesus’s sacrifice, on Easter we can’t lose sight of the fact that the story didn’t end on Friday. The story keeps on going. On Sunday comes the glorious Resurrection of our Savior…. Today, we celebrate the magnificent glory of our risen Savior. I pray that we will live up to His example. I pray that I will live up to His example. I fall short so often. Every day I try to do better. I pray that we will be strengthened by His eternal love. I pray that we will be worthy of His many ...

"And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life."  - Genesis 45:5 I think I just discovered my mission related to this journey through infertility. How many babies are destroyed each day on a mother's search to create life?  As a pro-life Christian, for the longest time I thought many fertility technologies were not available to me.   What I have discovered though in discussions with my spouse and in research is that there are options available in which life can be preserved.  Eggs and sperm can be frozen separately.  Embryos that look a little off (given a low grade) can still be placed in the womb, and surprisingly may even grow into a healthy baby. There are doctors in this country who are committed to making life, not destroying it. So, on this Easter Sunday as I read the 45th chapter of Genesis and hear Joseph explain how he has reconciled the difficultie...