#‎30DaysOfThanks‬ 6 and 7

Newest additions to this month's thankfulness list and a sweet (home schooling) story: 

Nov. 6 Thankful Photo: Thankful that my potential breast cancer scare last month was totally benign!
‪#‎30DaysOfThanks‬

Quoting from Facebook, "One day, Thomas Edison came home and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this paper to me and told me to only give it to my mother.”
His mother’s eyes were tearful as she read the letter out loud to her child: "Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself."
After many, many years, Edison’s mother died, and he had become one of the greatest inventors of the century. One day he began looking through old family things. Suddenly he saw a folded paper in the corner of a drawer in a desk. He took it and opened it up. On the paper was written: "Your son is addled [mentally ill]. We won’t let him come to school any more."
Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by a hero mother, became the genius of the century.” ❤#ThePowerOfAnExtraodinaryMother "

Nov. 7 Thankful Photo: Short version, I'm ever-so-thankful for the many people, ministries, authors and organizations who have profoundly touched my life and been used of God to mold me into the person I am today!

Longer answer, far from an exclusive list, but a few highlights that especially stand out in my mind at the moment. Cadence International (formerly OCSC or Overseas Christian Servicemen's Centers) is the core of my childhood, along with my parents, Ralph Camp and Betty Camp and my big brother Dan Camp. Jenny Zidel Brooks is one stand out childhood friendships, along with Erika Gieschen Bertling, Stephanie, Beth, and many others. My life has never been the same since Susan Vickery Rikard and her entire family entered my heart back in high school! The Master's College is where I met Rick Saake, the love of my life, and so many dear friends! Debbie Gruelle Bridwell, Sandra Grafe Glahn, Kathe Homan Wunnenberg, Leslie Snodgrass and Julie Long Donahue (and each of their books or ministries, that led to personal friendships) saw me through an incredibly tough decade of infertility, miscarriage and adoption losses.
Hannah's Prayer ( www.Hannah.org ) played a daily anchor roll in my life for two decades, my "everything I learned in life I learned in Kindergarten" type go-to resource for understanding about infertility, loss, the adoption journey, then into childbirth and parenting, to world news,

 beauty tips, marriage advise, cooking help and so much more, even challenging my thinking on some wider theological issues. Most of the friendships I now maintain are still somehow linked to HP!!! I am no longer able to keep up with the speed and volume of daily interaction with thousands of women at a time, but am so very blessed to have similar type friendship through a few groups here on FB, especially my Hope House girls and Soul Sisters (Joni and Friends marriage retreat spin off group).
At the same time Hannah's Prayer was just beginning, I was befriended byLisa Copen of her fledgling chronic illness support ministry, Rest Ministries. While we have yet to meet in person (YET!) we have walked nearly every step of life together through personal chronic (and often addition acute, as well) illness, ministry growth, writing, growing our families (we have babies born 1 DAY apart!), learning social media, employment changes, homeschooling and so much more!!! Andrea Whittemore-Goad is my face-to-face, local friend who "gets" my health journey and faith in Jesus Christ, like no other.
My children Noel, Joshua, Joel, Hannah, Princess R. and J Bear are each so dear, my heart!

Jan Frank (author of A Graceful Waiting, and got me in the door with my publisher), NavPress and my editor Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent, all must make my thankful list, as Hannah's Hope by Jennifer Saake was such a key landmark in my life! (And we never would have gotten there at all if not for Kathe's challenge!)
Jeanette Hanscome and the Reno Christian Writers (RCW) gang!
My many stroke doctors, nurses, therapists such as Rachel Dawson Brown, and support groups and buddies, such as Kendra (from from Hannah's Prayer days, young homeschooling moms together, then stroked, and SURVIVED, less than 6 months apart).
If your name isn't here, it is not meaning you aren't dear to me. Facebook will only let me tag so many AND my memory is bad, so here were ONLY are a few highlights!

World A-spinnin' So Fast!

It's been a busy birthday month at our house. Our oldest turned 14 a few days before Christmas (my mom had a birthday and kidney stone emergency room trip a few days before that), my mom had surgery in early January (yes, I just had 3 emergency room trips and the same emergency surgery in November and earlier in December!), then our Little Bear turned 8 last week and his sister turned 11 this weekend.

Now we seem to be passing a tummy bug around the family. I just rescheduled today's MRI for Valentine's Day because I told them they don't want me bringing these germs to their office. Thankfully, this just seems to be a 12-24 hour thing, so I am hopeful that tomorrow will remain as currently scheduled. (One can dream anyway, right?) So much for my neurologist's warning to avoid illness at all costs because it might set me back so hard. :(

Looking back through the past few months of posts, the most widely read one has been my thoughts on Christian women and head coverings. Our infertility and pregnancy / adoption loss story, The Family That God Built, also has had a bit of traffic (though not as much as I expected for such an amazing, shout-it-from-the-rooftops God story)! My one word for 2014 seemed to get a few people thinking. My 2 year, 3 month stroke update has had a few reads but not many comments. I love comments! *hint - hint* ;)

The main reason I'm posting today is to tell you about an exciting Facebook group Shelly Hendricks and I get to host today through this April. We feel so blessed to have been members of various (in)courager groups (an outreach of DaySpring) over the past months (that's pretty much how we met, or at least how a brief acquaintance and casual interaction turned into deep friendship). This season we can't wait to have you join us in community and belonging and friendship as well! Come on over and be encouraged.

Whether your need is a small group of women seeking God through chronic illness. Shelly and I be thrilled to welcome you into the HOPE group, but maybe you would feel more comfortable in any of the other small families such as infertility, adoption, special needs, any stage of motherhood (including prodigal and adult children as well as brand new and all stages in between), singleness, marriage, professional, stay-at-home, structured Bible study, just hang out, teachers (at home or in a classroom), writers, artists and more! Basically, if you are a woman, with an interest in knowing God more, there is a group for you! My biggest problem was choosing just one part of my life to focus on right now, as there are so many, many amazing choices!

The online support culminates the last weekend of April with a chance (no one will twist your arm to try to make you attend, but you may realize you really want to by then!) to attend a local get together of the (in)RealLife conference, thousands of women, around the globe, gathering 2, 3, 10, 12 at a time, and getting to watch a few short videos with other local Christian woman from all walks of life. Tearing down the denominational, social and other barriers that keep us apart and simply learning to love one another.

We need the blessing of you in community with us. And even if you don't know it yet, even if you are an introverted personality and the idea of sharing in someone else's journey terrifies or intimidates you and you can't imagine (*gasp*) sharing any piece of your own heart, you need community more than you realize. Please at least give us a try. We don't bite (too hard, anyway ;) ), I promise!

Taking an abrupt turn in subject matter, may I bother you once again to ask for your support? I have been nominated as a WEGO  Health Activist (a pretty big deal, actually) and am humbled and thrilled by the initial nomination. However, they are asking for additional endorsements (think website "votes") of my nomination. You may vote daily. The highest three number of endorsements in each category are then considered for final winner selection, so any further progress I make is up to you all here. To vote, go to https://awards.wegohealth.com/nominees/jenni-767 then down arrow to the purple "endorse" button on the right, below my picture. Click the button. They may ask for your email address and that will be it. You may come again tomorrow (and the day after that, and the day after that...) if you really want to help my numbers. :) Thanks so much! You are also welcome to click on the blue button on the left side of the screen if you want to leave a comment about your reason for nomination.

Communities and Comments

Today's #NHBPM prompt asks me to share advice for dealing with negative feedback in my community.

 

I've been blessed by surprisingly little negative feedback over the years, so I don't know that I have much advice to offer. The one gem I can pass on, isn't even original with me. It is basically, "This is my blog, so if you don't have anything nice to say and we can't resolve legitimate concerns, I still have the power of veto here if you choose just be be ugly or unreasonable in comments." This one piece of advice has been very freeing for me, to realize that freedom of speech does not prevent me from freedom of moderation over my own comments. Censorship is still not something I take lightly or use with abandon, but if a public confrontation cannot be resolved, I'm not tied to continuing to publicly leave derogatory, attacking, or offensive replies live on my own website.

Since I don't have much else useful to offer on the topic, I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce you to some healing communities, both "mine" and others.

For infertility and loss at any time from conception through early infancy, there is a message board forum I helped launch years ago. Hannah's Prayer has far outgrown me and I can claim little ownership or input any more, but it will always hold a very special place in my heart. It is so much more than a "fertility forum" and really is the first resource I turn to for parenting after infertility resources, or just about any information in life, and really is my first source of breaking world news, shared from an international perspective. This world-wide community of Christian sisterhood is amazing and usually new posts have replies within minutes, day or night. It is well-worth you time investment of a few hours or days to get your (simple) registration approved to gain access! I feel like I need a t-shirt that reads, "Everything I've learned in life I've learned from my HP sisters."

I know it isn't exclusively infertility related ,and I haven't used the resource nearly as much as I could, but I feel I should give an "honorable mention" shout out to HysterSisters here, for women contemplating or undergoing hysterectomy. Another honorable mention is SoulCysters for women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCO). Endometriosis Support should receive a shout out too. Be Not Afraid is the first place I direct parents when they face the negative prenatal diagnosis of a child. And if someone is threatening to miscarry or unsure about medical prognosis in early pregnancy, I direct them to Misdiagnosed Miscarriage for equal doses of hope and medical realism. My own book on infertility also has a blog at Hannah's Hope: Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage & Adoption Loss.

For chronic pain or illness (I have yet to find a great resource specific to ME/CFS. Anyone know of one?) my go to resource is Rest Ministries. I had no hand in the formation of this organization, but see founder, Lisa Copen, as a dear friend as we have been through the growing pains of starting young internet ministries together. The primary difference is that Lisa has maintained nearly sole leadership and day-to-day management of RM, while I have been blessed to pass daily operations of HP off to a fantastic Board of Directors. I honestly don't know how Lisa does what she does, all the while battling her own physical challenges as well as family management and creating amazing ministry resources, from blog posts, to videos, to forums, to social media participation. My own offerings to this community are two manuscripts in progress, Harvesting Hope from Heartache and Given Me a Thorn.


A stroke community I have recently found to be helpful is StrokeNet. I have only been attending there a couple of weeks, so far, so I can't tell you much about history or background yet, but so far I have really appreciated the stories and understanding found there. I am also sharing my unfolding stroke journey (and hope to eventually also write a book under the same title) at Stroke of Grace.


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Today I am thankful for the internet and the ability to connect with thousands of folks facing similar struggles, people I would never meet off line! Does anyone have a copy of the poem about "my best friends live in my computer"? I would like to post that here!

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First Published Book: Hannah's Hope : Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage, and Adoption Loss

Book-in-progress on drawing on the fruit of the Spirit in times of trial: Harvesting Hope from Heartache

Next book-in-progress: 6 strokes at age 39, Stroke of Grace

Future manuscript in the plans: Given Me a Thorn, the apostle Paul's story as applicable to living with chronic illness

Care Package

Today #NHBPM prompt is, "Create the perfect care package for your members or fellow patients."

 

Two things that were especially meaningful to me in the hospital (and since I've been home) are a prayer shawl and a couple of prayer quilts. I think, be it infertility, loss, chronic illness, or long-term recovery for a critical condition like my strokes, an item like this, to convey prayers, would be high on my list of priority things to include.  I also love the SOFT comfort of Pajama Prayers.

For infertility, I would like something that validates grief, like a specific piece of jewelry. Also a blank journal and a good book, like Hannah's Hope.

 For pregnancy or infant loss, also a piece of memorial jewelry, a keepsake item like sweet baby shoes, a bear, or a baby blanket, photos if time appropriate, and a book like Kathe Wunnenberg's Grieving the Child I Never Knew. Lots of great memorial gifts are found at Sufficient Grace.

For ME/CFS or other chronic illnesses, check for allergies and or sensitivities. A massage gift certificate might be great for one friend, while being intolerable for another who is sent into a tailspin with touch. A gift certificate for take out or house cleaning is usually quite welcome, as long as there is variety in the menu choices (to accommodate food restrictions) or the cleaning product used are low-scent and non-allergenic. Easily prepared foods or crock-pot meals (again, ask about any food issues) are handy for times your friend just isn't up to cooking, even cleaned and cut carrot stick or other veggies may be greatly appreciated. Paper plates and disposable utensils are good too. Magazines, light, funny novels, humorous movies, fruit or other snacks, card games, favorite music, the possibilities are many! While it is rather dated, a good book to give, if you are looking for something more serious, is Finding Strength in Weakness by Lynn Vanderzalm.

For stroke or critical/long-term conditions, a truly listening ear is the most important thing. Like I said a couple days ago, bright flowers (or maybe a bright picture - something with lots of color!) are often good too. Books on CD were a huge blessing when my eyesight was too poor to read. (Any title by Joni Earckson Tada is great.) Fast-reading, inspirational or devotional books, like Jesus Calling, have been great since I started reading again, but have such low attention span and memory. 

A small, lightweight, non-bulky, inspirational necklace was a great gift that I can wear to therapy to stay motivated without it getting in the way. Non-slip socks are a fun and practical gift. If you know specific needs of your friend, how can you creatively meet those needs? A friend who had to have a tracheotomy from her stroke requested pretty, new, non-allergenic, silk scarves to put over her scar. 

The gift of time, may be even more appreciated that a tangible item, be it offering to clean a bathroom, mop a floor, help sort something like photos and get them in an album, or helping decorate for the holidays, or some skill like a friend who came to my house to cut my hair or another who did manicures professionally and showed up with her foot spa to do a pedicure. 

Quilt I made for Kendra, tying it as part of my own therapy.

 Can you offer rides to doctor's offices and the grocery store? Can you offer child care? Find out my needs and ask God to give you creative ideas to meet them. Are you willing to hassel with my wheel chair or walker (and be seen with me in public) to take me on a shopping outing just for fun, knowing I will take an especially long time (and may need some help) in the fitting room?

P.S. Unless you know for a fact that it is not an issue, for any gift giving, please avoid nuts (common allergen), latex (like balloons), or anything scented (like candles). There's nothing worse than knowing someone gave you a gift from a huge heart and good intentions, but you can't be around it. Some kinds of cut flowers, while beautiful, really stink within a few days, so check with your florist! Still want to send balloons, try mylar ones - they last longer too. Our dollar store carries them for a much better price than anywhere else in town. (Remember, even if there are no concerns for your friend, if he/she shares a hospital room, there are the potential allergy issues of a roommate to consider as well.)

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Today I am thankful for my friends, who have surrounded me and cheered me on. When life gets inconvenient, you find out who your true friends are. I have been richly blessed in this department!

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First Published Book: Hannah's Hope : Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage, and Adoption Loss

Book-in-progress on drawing on the fruit of the Spirit in times of trial: Harvesting Hope from Heartache

Next book-in-progress: 6 strokes at age 39, Stroke of Grace

Future manuscript in the plans: Given Me a Thorn, the apostle Paul's story as applicable to living with chronic illnesS

Picture Thank You

Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement this week. I am doing better.

 A friend came over yesterday morning and we had silly fun trying on wigs together (sorry, no pictures). I just learned from email that another friend tried to stop by later in the day, but I was at therapy. Sorry I missed her. Yet another friend (and possibly my mom, but she just had oral surgery yesterday so I told her to take care of herself) is coming this morning to bless me by helping with the house. The kids will come home for the weekend, starting this afternoon. I am so loved!

Here's the sweet surprise from a friend in Maryland that I came home to find after therapy yesterday:

The purple butterfly matched my shirt!

There were many comments on my last post, especially through Facebook and private email. Thank you all! One issue that came up more than any other was women sharing their own baby aches with me. A passage that's been playing over and over in my head is Proverbs 30:15-16 (NIV,1984):
“The leech has two daughters.
   ‘Give! Give!’ they cry.
   “There are three things that are never satisfied,
   four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
 the grave, the barren womb,
   land, which is never satisfied with water,
   and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’
 This is proving to be true in my life, though the heartache is no where near the level I felt the first time. I think it is directly because of our years of infertility that I'm having a hard time feeling fully satisfied now. The barren womb still speaks and calls out "Give." God knows His plan for our family and while I may have seasons of longing, overall I choose to be content in that.

I walked several more steps, unaided, yesterday in therapy. We couldn't get good video as I was laughing too hard and had to stop every few steps. (I do a LOT of both laughing and crying with little provocation these days. As my mom says, both emotions are very "close to the surface" now and the entire staff at the rehab center knows me by my laugh. Whenever I am working hard at something, like therapy, I burst out in uncontrolled laughter, I think just as an emotion outlet even if nothing is funny.) I've told my therapist we would get a lot more accomplished in my hour of therapy if I didn't spend so much time laughing or recovering from laughter, and there are times he obviously doesn't know what to do with my hysterical self, but generally he takes it pretty much in stride.

What girl doesn't get a lift from a little shopping trip (or as my mom now calls it, "retail therapy")? I've had my tennis shoes for about 5 years, including my stay in the rehab hospital and ongoing therapy. As a result, they were falling apart! Immediately after therapy yesterday Rick took me to a shoe store and while were lots of cute but impractical shoes I could have tried on, I left with two new pairs of much-needed tennies.

One with a flat soles for now:

And a rocking pair for the future, in hopes that I gain enough balance in the future to wear them:

I know it seems kind of silly to buy a pair of shoes I can't even wear yet, but I've wanted to try this style for years, and it is good to both have goals and expectations of the future.


I did have a different gal work on my jaw yesterday. She didn't press as hard so it was slightly less painful. She is a student in training so I haven't decided yet if the lower pain level is because she wasn't as effective or if I am actually seeing improvement. Thank you for the anonymous tip in my comments suggesting I try capsasin cream.

On Tuesday I did graduate from my old walker for at-home uses:

to a newer, lighter style (accessorized with my weight to help me keep my balance):

Our bird is clear in her preference for the older walker:

 It's funny the things that excite my now. I know I can complain a lot, but I am thankful for these aids and for the ability to walk at all!

 I keep thinking of those who had strokes even 50 or 100 years ago, and I am so thankful for the equipment, technology, tests and level of understanding we are blessed to know today!

And I'm thankful for YOU. I know it is God's grace, through the power of your prayers, that allows me to keep getting up each day. Thank you for your faifulness.

Post Mother's Day Blues

This time 16 years ago I was suicidal. My life is so very different now. I have so very much to be thankful for. I am blessed beyond words! My kids and hubby spoiled me like crazy yesterday and we in turn were thankful for another year to spend with our own loving moms. So why on earth am I fighting those nasty old post-mother's-day-blues that became so ingrained into my life during our infertility years?

I still miss my babies. I love the three I've been given here on earth fiercely, and I would grieve any of of them with great anguish would the Lord decided He was calling any one of them Home before me. But none replace the others that I still miss and I don't think there's anything wrong about admitting to that reality that days like Mother's Day are strong reminders of who isn't here.

I ache for many friends
- the after-infertility babies of my sweet friend Shelly who just spent their first Mother's Day without their Mommy after breast cancer took her Home early.
- the after-infertility mom who probably just spent her last Mother's Day with her two miracles as brain cancer continues to steal away more and more of her life
- my friend who still battles through PPD as she faces the 2-year-anniversary of her daughter's death (on Mother's Day)!
- sweet Lori and so many like her who face their first Mother's Day visiting their children at his or her grave
- my single friends who long for families of their own
- the lady who refused a plant from me at church yesterday (and so many like her, like i used to be) with that defiant "I'm not a mom" response that I remember all-too-well

*sigh*
I am blessed. I am thankful. My heart aches with "survivor guilt" and today I need to take the time to grieve afresh before I can move on with renewed joy.

Quiet Sunday in Bed

I did too much this week. There's not one part of it I would have wanted to miss, but I sometimes resist living within the limits of my body and end up paying the price for overextending.

Both of the younger kids were away from home with friends or family for much of the week, so Joshua and I snuggled down in bed and plowed through nearly three weeks worth of school work that had fallen behind during my IVs this year. It felt so wonderful to be so productive and we both are thrilled with the accomplishment!

On Wednesday morning two wonderful friends from church came and cleaned my house while I chatted from the recliner. I felt guilty and lazy, but also quite blessed. (In reality I was running a fever the whole time they were here and would have been in bed otherwise, but how could I not "feel lazy" when others are cleaning my house for me?)

That night Rick drove the boys and I (our daughter was visiting grandparents for several days) a few blocks from home to enjoy ice cream together as a family. Just an easy, simply, normal family thing.

On Thursday morning I woke up tired but was functional enough to drive my kids the 10 minutes to homeschool co-op. I used my wheelchair there then drove them home again. Dinner had been slow-roasting in the over for hours, so I came home and collapsed into bed. Got up long enough to eat with the family, then back to bed and didn't get up again until after 1 on Friday afternoon!

Friday evening Rick took the kids to a movie and I hosted Bunco for some friends from church. I sat every chance I could and let others share the workload, so really my main energy expense was rolling dice and simply processing conversations. We had a blast! This is the kind of thing our home is made for, the social interaction that makes me feel alive and joyful and fulfilled. It's been a good solid few years since we have had anyone other than family in our home (other than a couple of kids birthday parties more than a year ago) and I was thrilled to see this huge house filled with fun and laughter. But by the end of the evening I could hardly put together a coherent sentence and my mental fatigue was evident.

Yesterday morning I joked with my husband about my inability to process thoughts into words. I laughed, he frowned. He reminded me of my doctor's cautions that when I'm like this it's literally because my brain is "fried" and short-circuiting and I've pushed myself much too far beyond wise thresholds. :( He's right of course, but I didn't like hearing it.

We agreed that I probably could have done either co-op or hosted Bunco, but trying to do both in the same week was too much for my body. In the future I will have to be careful to schedule special things like this for weeks when I have nothing else happening, so that basically means summers will probably be the only time I can plan such hospitality even with the help and support of such great friends as co-op runs Sept. - Nov. and again Feb. - May.

I spent much of yesterday in bed but my body was fidgety and I couldn't sleep. By evening I was experiencing my "ice-pick" stabbing, roving, random pains, a bit of muscle twitching, and hives. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, but after benadryl for the hives around 11PM, slept amazingly well other than strange dreams all night.

This morning Rick loaded the kids in the car for church and I've been in bed ever since and see how very wise Rick was to be firm in his request that I stay home. I am so blessed by such a loving husband. Yes, I probably could have pushed myself to sit through an entire sermon if I went in my wheelchair, but it certainly wouldn't have been a wise move. Even in bed my body feels almost too heavy to endure the effort of laying still, deep aches run the course of my back and limbs and a different kind of pain fills my head.

I haven't been able to actually sleep much this morning, but our bird is keeping me great company, I've done a tiny bit of writing for my Paul book, and I've gotten a couple of blog posts auto-set for future posting on my Hannah's Hope book blog (that is finally active again after a year of posting technical difficulties - please find it at its new home at HannahsHopeBook.blogspot.com ).

I would like to try to take a shower before they bring home our lunch, but I'll see how I feel when I climb out of bed before I commit to that energy expense. Our neighbors are having a birthday party tomorrow night and I was going to get the family all settle there before running over to writer's group. Guessing writer's group is totally out of the question now and I'll have to hold hopes of attending the birthday party very lightly, realizing that the rest of the family may well have to go without me. :( I didn't make it to writer's group last month either and probably won't next month (because it will be less than 2 weeks after my next Stanford trip and I probably won't be functional enough). It could well be that my next chance to leave the house doesn't come around until homeschool co-op again this Thursday!

Updated 2 hours later to say I never managed that shower. At lunch my 7-year-old informed me that my hair looks "snarly and wet" (greasy). Yuck! Maybe I'll shower tomorrow...

Fiction Fridays: Sharon Souza

Every Good and Perfect Gift by Sharon Souza is an emotional and fascinating read. While infertility plays a staring roll early on, it becomes a back story to the main plot line (focused on early-onset Alzheimer's) as the story unfolds. Readers who have lived infertility will resound with the fears and frustrations and will be delighted by the depth of loving friendship and self-sacrifice that draws two couples together in the pursuit of a single child. While I found a few technical flaws with the medical side of infertility presented in this story ("decongestant" cough syrup will dry up cervical mucus, not aid in its production) many of the experiences, questions and emotional processing of the characters is spot on.

Fiction Fridays: Rain Dance

Rain Dance by Joy DeKok (also a past Hannah's Prayer member, still living with primary infertility) is a compelling story about what happens when a Christian woman facing a childless future and a woman seeking an abortion are waiting to see the same doctor. The infertile woman feels like she could have been pulled from the pages of my journals! I know abortion is a sensitive topic, especially while facing infertility, but this book is amazing.



To find out more about Joy, her passions and other titles she has written, please visit her at JoyDeKok.com.

What hidden infertility/loss plots have you discovered in your fiction reading? Have specific books been helpful or hurtful as you have read? Please share your finds by posting a "comment" to this topic!