Today is July the 1stand it’s my BIRTHDAY!!! I am another year older, wiser, and definitely more grateful. Truthfully birthdays get less exciting the more you get. I guess all of the excitement comes from reaching new milestones and adding another candle to your birthday cake and I’m okay with that. Today will include a gathering of friends and family for Brunch with bubbles and cake and that makes me happy.
What really makes me excited is sharing with you the amazing experience I had last weekend in Atlanta for Choose Joy Event 2018 (IG @choosejoyevent)! In my previous post, Let’s Get Together, I shared that I was attending this conference, a bit about it, and how I came to learn of the event. Now, I can share what it was like and how blessed I was to be a part of it. The intention of this two-day conference is to provide faith-based support and education for those experiencing infertility or pregnancy loss and the event exceeded my expectation. The event offered many opportunities to connect with others, share our experiences, and gain tools to help navigate this journey.
Our first session was small groups identified by our experiences. We gathered with others who are trying to conceive and immediately found commonality in our stories. I felt like I was meeting members of my own family as each one introduced themselves and shared their stories. We each shared how we thought we would build our families, followed by the realization that it wasn’t going as we had planned or when we sought help. These were just the beginning of our ‘me too’ moments that we would share throughout the event.
Beth Forbus, (IG @bethforbus), the founder of Sarah’s Laughter, was not only the Keynote Speaker for the event but she was in my small group. I can’t lie, I was a little star struck… There were days when I read her words through tear-filled eyes and that was the comfort and encouragement that rescued me. I thank God for her and her commitment to this community! Her Friday night message reminded us that no matter what we face or where we are on this journey that in faith we can declare that it is well.
After the service, there was a session for the men and the ladies. Emmy Blakely (IG @itsjustemmy), our event host extraordinaire, said that the men’s session always gets out after the ladies’ session and this year was no different. I had an opportunity to connect with some other ladies while I waited for men’s session to end. My husband confirmed my thought; most men face this journey alone. Having the chance to gather with other men who get it, was an opportunity that many of them don’t have. Rodney was so inspired that he’s considering ways he can support men here in Detroit.
Saturday we were allowed to select four sessions to attend from almost twenty topics. We attended sessions on Starting an Infertility Support Group with Beth Forbus, Birthmom Testimonial with Ashley Mitchell (IG @bigtoughgirl) and John Grace, Naming Your Losses with Valerie Snyder (IG @chaplainsnyder), and Sex, Marriage, and Infertility with David and Kristin Temple (IG @wildernessblooms). We were inspired, challenged, and informed.
These session leaders came to the event to serve and offer hope and healing and I am grateful. My heart was expanded to the idea of adoption as it shifted my thinking about parenting. As I listened to her testimony, I could see that adoption is not just about receiving an answer to your prayer for a baby to add to your family. But it is a call to serve and a commitment to love everyone involved well.
I always knew grief was hard but I overlooked how powerful it can be. Naming Your Losses presented a biblical model for grieving using the Psalms as a guide. Its life changing work can help us to process the loss we’ve experienced. This is the same loss that can become a roadblock to intimacy in our marriage. It was beautiful how the last two sessions seem to support each other in message. Acknowledging the sadness and devastation that changes us is the first step to moving forward individually and as a couple.
I am encouraged beyond measure after Choose Joy 2018. I am thankful that it came along and found me. There was hope in that gathering of fertility warriors and together we inspired each other.
Hope-Filled Thought: There is HOPE!
Prayer: Thank you Lord for Emmy Blakely and the Choose Joy team. I ask that you replenish every effort that they sowed so freely for the benefit of others. We trust that each seed you planted in our hearts will produce a harvest that will bless others and bring you glory. We receive it with joy and it is so. Amen.
Recent Comments