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.

Talking About Fertility on Premier Radio

In the week leading up to the National Infertility Awareness Week, Maria Rodrigues-Toth interviewed Rosemary Morgan, author of the book, "Living With Infertility: A Christian Perspective" about her journey with infertility, on her Woman to Woman show (Premier Christian Radio).

Within the interview, Rosemary is honest about her relationship with God, and her anger toward Him, feeling that He was doing something terrible toward her, in withholding a baby from her. What she found though, was that God was feeling the pain she was - His arms aching for His children, just as her own arms ached to hold her own baby. She also speaks of the challenges to her womanhood, and the disappointment she felt each month having to tell her Hubby they were not pregnant, not to mention the things people say!

I have since ordered the book, on the back of hearing the interview, which I will review. In the meantime, click here to listen to Maria's interview with Rosemary on Premier Christian Radio's Woman to Woman show.

Another Testimony: Four Years TTC - Then God!

At work we had a visit from a couple who shared a little of their testimony with those of us who had met for a Lecture and prayer. This was an Iranian couple who had been brought up as Muslims and lived as Muslims for a large part of their marriage. Then the husband met a Christian in Iran who really demonstrated the love of Jesus to him in such a powerful way that he couldn't deny the truth of the "Christian God" and the lie of the Muslim god he had been forced to follow.

A month after he accepted Jesus as His Lord and Saviour, his wife noticed a difference in him. She asked him what had happened and he explained everything to her. She also became a Christian. He became involved in Iran's underground Church but his life was in danger, so they needed to leave the Country or be killed.

God made a way for this couple to escape Iran and make it over to England, on New Zealand passports. God kept them safe and helped them to get through immigration without being questioned at all - through three different Countries!

They eventually settled in Leicester, and became involved in a Church there. This couple had been married for 11 years, and had been TTC for the last 4 years. While in the Church one day, the wife decided she wanted to get baptised. She wanted a baby, and felt that she needed to be baptised to commit her life completely to God, and so He would answer her heart's cry.

She was baptised in September 2012. She became pregnant in October 2012!
God honoured the faithfulness of this woman who had gone through so much in response to her obedience and love for her husband and for the One True God!


Father God, I pray for this lady, and for the baby developing within her. I thank You for the incredible testimony of what You have accomplished through and for the incredible purpose You will do through her unborn child. I pray Your hand of protection on the baby, and over the parents. May You continue to be glorified through this incredible testimony!

Empty Womb, Aching Heart - A Very Helpful Book!!

A few weeks ago, I really wanted a book I could read in relation to this journey of struggling to conceive. I didn't want one of those self-help, got all the answers, this worked for me kind of book, I just wanted something I could dip into for encouragement. Did such a book exist??

As I searched the internet, I found something which seemed to fit my criteria - "Empty Womb, Aching Heart" by Marlo Schalesky. It is a collection of stories from real people who have walked this path before me, and there is no fan-fare presentation which made me feel worse than I did already, for not having enough faith or whatever, rather they are people who have thought the same thoughts as me, and fought against the same feelings of injustice as me.

The testimonies are from women, couples and men and are woven into five sections with the headings:

• Struggles of the heart
• Struggles of the mind
• Struggles of the body
• Struggles of the spirit
• A word of hope

Within each heading, I found someone who's story I related to... I've been in the situation where it seems like everyone around me is pregnant, except me, I've struggled with being in Church on Mother's Day, I've received maddening advice from well-meaning women, I've struggled with the thoughts that I am less than a women because I've not yet been able to do what is supposed to be a natural part of being a woman, and I have wondered if God was punishing me. So as I read through each of the chapters, I found a connection with the encouragement each author received from the God Who really does care and understand what we are going through.

One of the things I really valued was the fact that this book didn't try to give any answers, nor offer any false hope or false promises... in some of the cases, the decisions went beyond the woman's desire to conceive, to her desire to be a mum, and looking into adoption or surrogacy... not every journey will have the outcome we think it should have. This is a very sobering thought!

The final chapter included stories from those who had become mum's, through one means or another. I found this an excellent way to conclude the book. I appreciate the fact that the author / editor Marlo  wasn't trying to make anyone feel guilty for feeling the way we do in this walk, rather, she found a way for us to identify with people who are just like us, to learn from them, to be encouraged by their stories and to find relief in the fact that, as one woman said, It's OK to cry, it's OK to grieve and it's OK to get mad at God!

I would have loved to know the outcomes of each of the stories highlighted in the book, especially as it was first published in 2001. It would be interesting to know where each of the couples are at now. But ours is not to know, ours is to read, dip in and out of and gain strength from the testimonies of women who God has led on this path before us.

I would urge you to check out this book, especially if you feel you are the only one who struggles with your faith and your journey to conceive.