Posts

Showing posts from June, 2015

Infertility's Thwarted Passion

How does an artist create art when her wrist is injured?  How does a doctor care for a patient when she is unable to hear? How does a husband love his wife when his efforts are met with frustration?  These are questions that were posed on the episode of "Switched At Birth" that I watched this evening.  What does one do when one's passion is thwarted by a disability? I have a deep, deep love in my heart for a child who is not yet in our home. What am I to do with this energy?  How am I to find the way around this inability to reproduce?  Is it through medical science?  Will it be a turning of my husband's heart toward adoption?  Will it be for the time being creating the home that I would like to raise a child in and preparing for that much awaited day? Some would say that energy could be spent outside of my home.  But I don't think they understand this heart of mine.  I really want to snuggle up with my little girl or little boy on the couch in our living ro

Bringing Femininity to Your Career

I am inspired by Anouk Wipprecht who is part of the Intel Edison team. As a scientist and an engineer she has found ways to express her femininity rather than wear the clothing of the male majority in her field. Not that doing so would have been a bad thing, but it takes confidence to become the "Hardware Couture." One woman who has inspired me like Anouk in my own field is Kathleen Kline Moore . She is a pastor in Virginia who is very graceful and embraces her role as mother, classical dancer, caregiver for the impoverished, and pastor.  I hope that I can be a role model for young girls and women who enjoy playing dress up and decorating with roses and lace who also feel called to the pastoral ministry. I desire to be a tool for God growing the Kingdom on earth and I hope that I can be part of our church becoming a healthy and constantly growing role model for churches in our state. There are so many women in the Bible who are inspirational: Phoebe, the pastor at C

Fertile Journey Through Genesis: Chapter 2:1-4

As God completed his act of creating, he ceased and rested.  Completion of a task should find its fulfillment in "an end." As a woman going through infertility, I wonder when my work will be done and when it can come to an end.  Some say infertility is a continuous battle, and is a grief that never completely resolves.  Yet, through Resolve, the National Infertility Association, I have heard various stories of how different women and men found their struggle resolved.  Whether it be through adoption, birth, or advocacy, there is hope of a time in which the struggle will cease and we'll be able to once again rest. I wonder about that day and whether or not it will feel like a holy or sacred moment. Now, I know that this passage isn't speaking to infertility, but rather fertility.  "On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased/rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had done." In a like manner there is a time i

Infertility is not caused by psychological injury, but people can use it that way.

I find it amusing how people can find "work" for the infertile to do to "resolve" their infertility.  Just yesterday I shared with someone the update we had received from an internationally renown fertility doctor regarding why we were not conceiving.  When I first learned this information it was a relief to me, because it proved there was nothing non-medical I could do to improve the situation.  Changing my diet, relaxing, having more faith, resolving some personal issue,.. nothing I did in my own life would "fix" it.  And here yesterday I shared this info with a person who professionally should know better and their response was, "well, sometimes emotional issues cause physiological issues in the body." I just have to laugh thinking about their response. Really?  You are going to blame some hidden unresolved emotional concern for lets call it a birth defect?  I wanted to retort back that I have worked through every possible thing I can think o

Fertile Journey Through Genesis: Chapter 1

In the beginning God created a self-sustaining planet. Each part of the creation motif is a building block of sustenance.  The first two days God puts the elements in place.  Day three God invites the earth to produce vegetation and this vegetation is given the ability to reproduce through its seed. Day five God invites the waters to bring forth life and commands the fish and the birds to multiply.  Day six God invites the earth to produce animal life.  The first six days God creates the perfect environment for plants and animals to live in and reproduce. And his final act on the sixth day is to create humanity as a reflection of God's own image and to bless them also with the ability and calling to be fruitful and multiply. There are so many ways to approach the creation story of Genesis from the perspective of infertility.  It is easy to be angry, as it is a story of fruitfulness, fruitful blessing, and purpose.  But, it can also be quite encouraging as it reveals that God ult