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Hi. Welcome to my "taboo" blog. My name is Steph, and when I first started this, I was still in my thirties. In 2017, I switch decades! I am a Christian, so underlying everything I do and say is the Word of God, and the foundational truths I have learnt over the years. This doesn't mean I'm perfect - I am human. It just means I recognise I need God's help to live this life and try to live out His way, as best I can. So that's me in a nutshell. Thanks for taking the time to read through my blog, I hope you draw strength, hope or encouragement from what you read.

Friday, March 15, 2013

God's Connections

So I was sitting alone, watching TV, eating rich dark chocolate and drinking a delicious chilled glass of Rose, in between the tears, trying to comprehend the concept of the news I'd just received. The prospect of needing to have surgery in a last-ditch attempt for Medical Intervention, to try and clear the Blocked Fallopian Tube which has so far been hindering Hubby and me from conceiving, was quite a lot to take in, when I had a call out-of-the-blue from a friend. 

She had been trying to find out who "Bubba's Hopeful Mumma" was until a mutual friend of ours had connected us (I had recently told her I had been writing this as a way of helping myself to process what was happening and had sent her a link which she had forwarded onto friends who are also dealing with subfertility). It turns out we were both walking on the same path, silently thinking we were alone in our walks! Turns out we had both felt like God wasn't listening to the cries of our hearts. Turns out we both had felt like avoiding the Sunday service on Mother's Day. Turns out we thought we had lost contact apart from the odd Facebook like or comment, but God had other plans! 


Too often we hide our own pain out of the fear of how we will be perceived by others, out of a sense of guilt at our failure to do or be what should be natural, or out of a sense of wanting to not be a burden to anyone, but God has a difference way of helping us to deal with our painful Journey for Bubba:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 
We find comfort in our individual Journey from the Holy Spirit - the Comforter Jesus promised to us - and we are then able to comfort one another, encourage others who are also on the same path, supporting each other, instead of allowing each of us to feel alone on this path. 

We had a great time sharing on the phone, laughing at those crazy mood-swing moments, releasing the pain of the monthly struggle with someone who not only empathises  but who totally understands, because she is on the same path. We could encourage one another and help to build each other's faith up because there are times, even during the past week, when my faith is reduced to the size of the smallest of the small mustard seeds. 

Oh how we need this. 

Oh how we need to be able to share our stories.

Oh how we need to know we are not alone in our struggle to conceive Bubba.

Same path... different Journey!


Lord, I pray that as each woman who knows You encounters the path of infertility, that You would place a support around her of women who are also on the same path. I pray that You would make it clear to her that she is not alone on her Journey for Bubba, but that You would create a network of like-minded women around each other who understands what each is going through and will encourage and support her, to pick her up when she stumbles, to remind her it is OK to grieve when her heart is filled with sorrow and who will cry with her, and laugh with her. Lord, I pray that You would awaken the Church to the bigger issues surrounding subfertility and that we would become a safe-haven for all couples who are struggling to conceive. In Jesus name I pray.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this encouragement on the ACW page, Steph (I didn't want to comment there). I have found my own journey (now on the verge of IVF) to be a lonely one. Not only must you deal with such a painful experience (one that most other women cannot identify with), but you must endure insensitive comments and unsolicited advice (even when you try to keep most of your experience private). To be fair, the insensitivity is often unintentional and the advice well-meaning, but it compounds the trauma. And the attitude of some Christians towards IVF can be hard to bear. How precious it is that our beautiful Jesus tenderly supports us through these moments and encourages us to look to Him and believe.

Bubba's Hopeful Mumma said...

Hi KK, it can be an incredibly lonely journey, even if there are people around because they can't really do anything to help, it's a private journey. The amount of times I have had someone tell me to "just relax" and I've had to literally bite my tongue to stop myself from retorting, "why will that unblock the tube which is blocked then????!!!"

Jesus totally supports you and your hubby as you go through these tough processes. I pray you will know His love, peace and strength uplifting you through each injection, each test, each appointment and each day of waiting. Have faith that He can and does use Scientific breakthrough to provide us with the miraculous breakthrough we long for. xx