INFERTILITY FACTS, NEWS AND VIEWS: The Power of Love......

Infertility can harm your marriage, there is enough  proof of that. Many couples struggle to have children and often times find themselves struggling to save their marriage as well.

As per my experience, women more often than men, are the ones who end up fighting depression, anxiety, loneliness and all the other symptoms associated with infertility.

I stumbled across this piece of writing by Elizabeth Gilbert , an excerpt from her work, ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’ sometime ago and decided to bookmark it for my blog. I am not sure how I would have used it, since it did not say for sure that this was written about an infertility situation. Nevertheless, I knew from careful reading that it could be used in this context, since I remember myself in this same situation; fighting depression, loneliness and staying up all night crying.

Only a love built on solid foundation can withstand the pangs of infertility. Permit me to introduce to you, such a love.........

"I'm here.
 I love you. 

I don't care if you need to stay up crying all night long,

I will stay with you.

There is nothing you could ever do to lose my love.

I will protect you until you die, 

And after your death, I will still protect you.

I am stronger than depression and I am braver than loneliness

And nothing can ever exhaust me."

                                                  Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love  

Post image by: http://www.fidson.com/blog-sexual-health/the-agony-of-infertility

GRATEFUL WEDNESDAYS : “What is man without friends”

“Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.”

Muhammad Ali

Today I am grateful for my friends.

Our friends usually fall in categories, those who  are always around to laugh with and talk with, and when call upon is by your side in a heartbeat. Then there are those who are not always around but you get a fond hello from time to time, and those who  we  really don’t see at all because their life path takes them away from us, and then there are those who  even though we do not see them, when we speak it is as if we picked up  from where we left off, when last we spoke. I have one such friend  and she tells me  from time to time that even  though she does not see me much, she knows she is in my heart . Believe  me, each category serves  its  purpose in enriching our lives.

The other day a former coworker ran across my mind . (we are often encouraged to pray for people when they run across our minds).. I did not pray this time though, I looked in my phone book, saw a very old number I had for her and decided to call her. Turns out, it was her husband who answered. I was so elated because this means that I would get the chance to speak to my friend. I told him who I was and he did not hesitate to give me her number. I called her, she knew it was me instantly and soon remarked how my call had brightened her day. because she was feeling a bit under the weather, having recently lost her mother, and you know what, hearing how much I had brightened her day , brightened mine  too. I was so happy I made that  call.

We seldom tell the people who are special to us, how much they are  really appreciated and  so I am using this space today to salute all my friends and to  give God thanks for each and every one of them/.

The one who, even as I pen this post, is being used  by God to enrich my family’s life, in a way that only God himself could have ordained, I thank you and I am very blessed to have you as  a friend.

GRATEFUL WEDNESDAYS – Feature 16 - Divinely Ordered

Today I am grateful for Divine Order.

I believe that the way each of us life unfolds, is to a great degree, a result of Divine Order. Each of us have our unique life journey and sometimes this life journey takes us away from our friends and family for extended periods of time.

Recently our Church held their annual convention and for the past 6 years I was not in attendance because my husband and I was living abroad for 5 of those years and for the one year since we had been back home,  our daughter was an infant. I made special effort then to attend this recent one.

My heart was warmed and my spirit refreshed to see faces I had not seen in years. I remember saying to one of those individuals, that I dreamed about her recently, (It is often said that when your mind runs on someone or you dream about them, you are to say a prayer for them). It was therefore quite in order that she asked me if I said a prayer for her. I hesitated to answer because I did not pray for her specifically, usually in my prayers I pray generally, if there is nothing specific, for my friends and loved ones, and that in my view should be adequate.

I am grateful then for how life unfolds, so that we can get a lift in our hearts and spirits from time to time, because God knows, we sure need it.