Testimony of Infertility by Sheridan Voysey

On my day off work, I was sitting in my  "second office" and decided to listen to a podcats someone had sent me a link to. It was the incredible testimony of Sheridan Voysey, who spoke at the Christian Resources Exhibition in 2013. His title was, "Committed to Succeed" and he used his own personal account of "Expectation. Disappointment. Expectation. Disappointment. Expectation. Disappointment." to demonstrate what it is to be committed to God's plan for your life.

I'm not going to try and condense what he says into my own version of his talk, I would recommend you have a listen for yourself, because God may give you something different to focus on. Click here for the link on the CRE podcast site. But here are a couple of things Sheridan says which really struck me:

"If life carries on as normal, I don't think I can handle it... something has to change. [Sheridan's wife] Merryn had had one dream for her life, to become a mother, and after 10 years of going through a broken dream, that dream was over."

I have also wondered how I can cope with life, if nothing was to ever change. How can I reassess where my life is going, if I never become a mum?

"Who are you if you don't become a mum? If you take away all those secondary identities, when all the dreams are gone... who are you?" What's left is you are a child of God... when you go through the wilderness, you discover who you really are."

I am learning this. When God literally strips away your whole support network, so you have no choice but to trust Him, rely on Him, and lean on Him. This is not an easy place to be - but it's made a LITTLE BIT easier when I realise I am not the only one God is challenging in this way.

Sexy Snowball Pants for The Hubbys!

I was reading the Daily Mail, and came across and article which basically says that our Hubby's sperm is at it best, it's healthiest, it's strongest... errr.... NOW! (read the article here)

I mean seriously, why have they been holding onto this news, if a man's sperm is at it's best in winter and early spring, why haven't they told us before! Man! It's almost the end of Spring!!! Apparently, Hubby's little swimmers prefer the colder weather than the glorious heat of Summer - picky lot!

I guess that explains the development of these wonder "snowball" pants!! Invented by a man who struggled to conceive with his wife, he did some research and realised that  heat can kill off the little swimmers, who were actually much happier at colder temperatures, which is nigh-on impossible to achieve in the summer - especially in Morrocco where he currently lives. So he decided to help them along a bit!

So ladies, you know what perfect pressie to buy for your Hubby!! These special undies come fitted with a special pocket for a specially created ice-pack which although sound like a great way to keep cool in summer, though I'm not sure I could ever convince Hubby to don a pair! Maybe someone's Hubby will brave the snowball pants!

As the developers say,

Snowballs is an inexpensive, scientifically proven, patent-pending natural fertility solution for men attempting to conceive....We believe in miracles, but don’t count on Snowballs to work “miracles”. They should increase both sperm quality and quantity, and they should give you a better chance to conceive at minimal cost, but fertility science is complex.

Sexy underwear with purpose for our guys!!

Another Word For The Hubby's

Genesis 25:21

Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

I know I have used this verse in a previous blog, but the other day I was praying and really felt a strong prompt to pray for my husband to pray for me. More than just to pray for me, to PLEAD with the Lord on my behalf.

Pleading with the Lord has a stronger emphasis than a simple "Lord let her have a baby". It carries weight. It carries a sense that Isaac felt the burden of his wife's struggle and became involved in way that goes beyond merely comforting his wife each month.

According to the dictionary, to plead is:

• An EMOTIONAL appeal 
• To appeal earnestly - to BEG
• To use arguments and PERSUASIONS, as with a person, for or against something.

Far from being a passive type of prayer we can all be guilty of, particularly when asked to pray for someone, to PLEAD with the Lord meant that Isaac connected in a deep emotional way between how his wife was feeling. It meant that Isaac empathised with his wife and stepped into the gap with the Lord. It became an issue of importance to him, as well as to her. The fact that his wife was barren, and therefore a burden to her, meant that instead of leaving her to carry the burden herself, Issac took the load with her, and took it to the Lord.

I can imagine Isaac on his face before ADONAI, tears rolling down His face interceding and fasting, reminding God of the promises He had made to his father Abraham, that he was a child of the promise, reminding the Lord that it was His command in the first place for a husband and wife to be fruitful and to multiply, reminding the Lord that He was the Creator of life, and begging Him to change His mind on leaving Rebekah barren. 

God listened. 

God answered.

Rebekah conceived.

Father God I pray that You would stir up the hearts of the husbands, that they would connect with what their wives are going through and would step in the gap on their behalf. Lord I pray every husband who knows You, would connect with the journey his wife is on, and would connect with You, PLEADING with You to answer their heart's cry. 

1 Corinthians 11:3 says that the man covers his wife, and I pray Father God that husbands would cover his wife through intercession, not because You will listen to him more than you will listen to us women, but because You want Him to walk with his wife on Your behalf. In Jesus name, I ask that You would send Your Holy Spirit to stir up the heart of every husband of the wife who reads this prayer, including my own. 

A Word for the Husbands of Wives TTC

Last week I had been preparing some verses for something I was working on, when I "stumbled" across this:

Genesis 25:21 (NLT)

Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant

I sent it to Hubby in the hope he would be inspired and would pray for me... Whether he does or not is between him and the Lord (although he has done in the past when I have asked him to, but I wanted him to pray for me independently of my asking... if that makes sense!!!).

If you are the husband of a wife who is trying to conceive - you are as much in her journey as she is. Why not pray for her, and join your prayers with hers?

Godly Encouragement

I praise God for the Godly friends I have. Over the weekend, I received 2 pieces of encouraging words from Hubby and from a friend. After the frustrations I had felt with my body, the timing of both were perfect! Especially in light of this week's up-coming appointment!!!

Hubby and I were driving up the M1 and we were talking - or rather I was talking - about my fears for the appointment I have at the "in"fertility clinic. He listened, and then spoke, reminding me of the commitment I have with the Lord to do things His way and not my own! He asked if I had considered whether God had been holding off because of the other areas of my life which are taking off in a huge way - If I was pregnant or had a young baby, would I have been able to step into the opportunities God has recently opened up for me. That's not to say the two can't come together in the future, but right now, as this is all new to me, maybe the Lord is allowing me to step into this new-ness, and to get used to is before Bubba arrives.

What hubby had said had made a lot of sense to me (though I am aware it may not make sense here, because I don't want to give away too many details of my life, in case people are able to work out who I am!!! No point in not giving my name then!!), and he put a fresh insight into the delay.

On the same day, a friend had sent me a random text message. In it she had described a dream the Lord had given to her - and in the dream I had been about 7 months pregnant! A prophetic dream of what is to come!! She told me she believed the Lord wanted me to know He had heard my prayers and will answer them, giving me the desire of my heart - namely to hold Bubba in my arms when he/she is born!

I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me such hope and reassurance over the weekend. He knows how much I needed it!!!  

As my friend ended the text, she challenged me to exercise the faith God had given to me - for faith is the substance of things hoped for... and I hope for Bubba, so maybe I need to do something of substance to demonstrate my faith, in the word God has given to me concerning Bubba...  It may be months, it may be years (although I hope not!) but the Lord has promised Bubba will come. If I want to show how much I believe this, I think I do need to do something. I'm not sure what that would be. Maybe I should purchase something for Bubba's arrival!!

How exciting!!!! :-)