New Blog Pages Added!

I just wanted to point out that I have added a few new pages to my blog (you will see the tabs across the top, under the blog title):

• The "Story of Us" - a page to give those who read my blog a glimpse of who I am.
• Joy Journal - a new page that I will add pictures to periodically of things that bring me joy.
• Recipes - a new page where I will put the links to the recipes I post, which I plan to start doing more of again.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

The End of NIAW...

Like anything else that is chronic, it doesn't go away at the end of an "awareness" campaign for those of us living it. Our lives continue to be touched, and will continue to be touched forever. The scars that IF leaves on an individual and couple don't ever go away no matter how their IF is resolved. And sometimes they are even re-opened from time to time.

We get told that our insurance won't cover a certain test or procedure because it's Infertility related (for another post!)...but we have to pay into the same pool that covers a co-worker's Maternity Care and Well Baby visits to the doctor.

We have paid hundreds of dollars in property taxes for education (not to mention they are just going down the drain in our city), just because we own a home, but we have no children.

We will have to pay out hundreds of dollars for medication over our lifetime related to a very real medical condition that has impacted our IF, but yet insurance will cover Viagra.

We turn on the news only to hear of someone who just threw their baby in a dumpster like a piece of trash. While it makes us sick to think how someone could do that.

It hurts. The wound is reopened.

But I am so thankful that God has promised that "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up (our) wounds" (Psalm 147:3).

I am thankful that my desire to be a mother to children in my home, whether ever realized or not, is not the end of the road. It is only a microscopic speck in the span of eternity...

For that I am so thankful.

Don't Ignore...Male Factor Infertility

Don’t ignore the man who hurts because his wife is hurting. She has just taken a pregnancy test for more times than he can count and it is negative. Again.

Don’t ignore the man who doesn’t have children when you are talking about yours. He would do anything to give his wife a houseful of them to fulfill her lifelong dream.

Don’t ignore the man who wishes he could take his wife’s pain away. This is the one thing he can’t fix. This is the one thing he feels that he is a failure at. He can succeed on the job and earn praise from management, but he can’t do anything in his power to succeed at growing his family.

Don’t ignore the man who begins to fear that he may be the cause of their now labeled Infertility, as months begin turning into years. He now must undergo embarrassing and unpleasant testing.

Don’t ignore the man who finds out the crushing news that he will never, ever, be able to father a child with his genetic makeup. He will never see his reflection in a precious baby’s face that he created with his wife.

Don’t ignore the man who doesn’t feel like being social because he is doing all he can to make it through another day of living after his world has crumbled down around him. Reach out to him. Leave him a voicemail if he doesn’t answer or send an email. Pray for him. Invite him to go out. He needs encouragement.

Don’t ignore the man who allows himself to be vulnerable in order to tell you he and his wife will never be able to have children. Realize that he has thought about adoption. Don’t dismiss or invalidate his grief by offering up options.
Just say “I’m sorry”.

Don’t ignore the fact that there is something called Male Factor Infertility (MFI). It is a very real cause of a man’s partner not being able to conceive but not many people, unless touched by Infertility themselves, realize or talk about it. It is a real cause of grief for both a man and a woman. It can cause a man to question his true manhood. There are many medical causes of Male Factor Infertility, which together, account for about 35% of all the cases of IF. Some of these causes the man is born with and can never, ever, be reversed. Some are due to imbalances of hormones or abnormalities of sperm, and the couple may have a chance at treating it in hopes of a pregnancy. Whatever the cause of the MFI, many, many times the issue remains undetected until a man tries to have children, unsuccessfully.

So…please don’t ignore the men that are hurting too and the fact that
Male Factor Infertility is a real medical condition.

___________________________________________

For more information on the disease of Infertility visit:

http://www.resolve.org/infertility101

For more information about National Infertility Awareness Week & it's theme "Don't Ignore..." visit:

http://www.resolve.org/national-infertility-awareness-week/about.html

It's National Infertility Awareness Week

I will be posting more throughout the week, but if you feel led to help spread the word on your own blog, FaceBook, Twitter, etc. that would be such an appreciated gesture for such a commonly misunderstood (and ignored), yet very real disease. You can click on the picture above to go to the NIAW website for more information, or feel free to link to any of my upcoming or past posts (including my Myth Busting Monday series)...

The Cross

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."
Philippians 3:10

It pretty much goes without saying that there are so many things that can be gleaned from the Easter story. It is the reason we live!

At first I was just going to share a verse and photo, but in looking up the exact reference for the verse that came to mind I came across a quote attributed to Charles Spurgeon that really stood out to me.

“There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below.”
Charles Spurgeon

I wanted to research it a little more and confirm the source before putting it on here and all that led to a mini-Bible Study on "bearing one's cross" in this life. (If you have the time, this e-book on Google is free and you can read on page 57 where this quote comes from.)

Many times you will hear the phrase "maybe this is her/his/their cross to bear" (as if it is due to something that person did to deserve their "cross" and therefore they must just deal with the weight of the pain) in whatever trial the person may be going through. But I personally believe that the cross in reference is really the submitting of our own will to that of Christ's, as Jesus did with dying on the cross, in order that He may live with His Father in Heaven. (I found a really good explanation here: http://www.gotquestions.org/take-up-your-cross.html )

It is painful to bear our cross(es), but in the midst of the pain we have to remind ourselves that it brings life if we let it.

20 {not} by 30

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Well, given that I kind of stopped updating along the way, you can safely assume my losing 20 lbs. by today, my 30th birthday, has not happened. But the end is only the beginning as the saying goes...About 2-3 months in I had lost 10 lbs. Today, my 30th birthday, I am down maybe 4 lbs.? I meant to weigh myself this morning, but oh well.

Although I did not reach my goal weight, when I started I was all about saying it was not a diet, but a lifestyle. So I continue striving towards making better choices, but not depriving myself, although guilt from eating too much or too much of the wrong thing does creep in...I am not the size I was when I was on my 20th birthday, or wedding day a year and a half after that, but I have a husband who I know truly loves me no matter what and this WL (weight loss) journey has taught me more than just about losing weight, but also other things about myself and also how others (mainly my husband) perceive me. And I am so happy to report that dh has actually lost about 20 lbs. himself since I had set my original goal!

And although I am definitely not the weight I was 10 years ago, I am not the person I was either and for that I am so thankful!

I am blessed.

Hey!

Wow...I only posted here once last month, but not for lack of going ons, that's for sure! Thought about posting all the time. Put it on my to-do list multiple times, just never made it happen. But I'm back, and lots going on in my head and heart right now.

Tomorrow is my birthday which will include an update on my self-imposed 20x30 challenge.

But for now, here is one of my current favorite songs. I heard it while driving this afternoon and the Holy Spirit really ministered to me through it. It goes right along with my current journey to seek joy no matter what is going on around me/with me.