By: Faith Clause, MSN, FNP-C
Every year in the spring as the air changes, the sun shines brighter and longer and the weather starts to warm up I always feel a renewed hope. There have been many years when the spring time was hard, there were times of grief, times of sorrow and times of lack but I have always felt hope. Sometimes I have to remind myself of how I feel in the spring. At times it’s hard to make ourselves feel a certain way especially when disappointments and struggles are staring us in the face. But, I found that I can control my own heart and soul and I can chose to always cling to the hope of healing and a future that will only be good no matter the circumstance.
My husband Jordan and I struggled with infertility for 6 of the 11 years we have been married. We prayed through every step of the way and decided to seek help by doctors. We did multiple different treatments and spent tens of thousands of dollars. We sold our house, we sold our cars, we moved in with family and both worked multiple jobs. Through the process of trying to find out why we could not have a child on our own it was discovered that I had a cancerous tumor in my abdomen that was blocking vital organs. This was removed and we carried on with more treatments only to come to the end of our finances and still had no child. Despite all of this, I felt hope the whole time. I was working through each next treatment with hormones, injections and procedures and stood on the fact that I knew God gave us the desire for children and one way or another we would be parents. I went to every baby shower I could attend, I bought beautiful gifts and celebrated other people’s miracles knowing God never runs out. Our final IVF treatment was unsuccessful and the day of our last treatment we were informed all of our remaining embryos had died. That was our last chance before having to pay another $30,000 to start all over. This was the one time I felt completely hopeless. We put everything we had at the time into this and in the process I was still coming to terms with the fact that if I had never started this process I could be dead because of the cancer that was found. I briefly explored the process of surrogacy and had a family member who was ready to carry a baby for us but this was another first – I felt the Lord say no. So, after seeking counsel from our leaders and feeling like we needed to take a break we decided to put our baby journey on hold as we obeyed the Lord and moved from Kansas City to Nashville.
After moving to Nashville and being here for 1 month I had a prophetic dream where I took a hatchet and cut the head off of a snake that was trying to bite my heels. Remember the promise in Genesis? Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” I woke up and knew I was healed. The following week I was in prayer and saw a vision. This vision led me to the scripture in 2 Kings 2:19-21 where Elisha is asked to heal the water in a town nearby. I had not read this story in years and honestly did not even remember it at the time. “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’ “ I read it in every version of the Bible I could find like a giddy child with a new toy. The Amplified version says, “ ‘I [not the salt] have purified and healed these waters; there shall no longer be death or barrenness because of it.’ “ I called all my friends and shared the experience and believed that something had changed in my body. The following week we were on a ministry trip with the Here Be Lions ministry team and received our first prophetic word about this journey. Can you believe in 6 years no one had given us a prophetic word? I would have taken any guidance over that time from others but, I knew God was speaking to us daily about continuing to hope for our healing. A prophetic minister names Joseph Zupetz spoke to me and said that what I had been working on was not going to be hindered by money and that at the right time and season it would be complete. We walked about that day thanking God for the final confirmation.
One month later I was pregnant! Unfortunately the day I found out I was pregnant I had severe pain, I was sent to the ER where it was confirmed to likely be an ectopic pregnancy. I was treated without surgery and the pain resolved. I saw my doctor and she boldly told me, “You’re healed my friend.” (It’s Nashville, the doctors aren’t shy out here) We didn’t grieve this experience one moment, Jordan and I celebrated our first successful pregnancy without interventions. We had dinner, we called our family and treated it like a success even though the pregnancy ended. Why? Because it was the first sign of life. Sometimes the first sign of life is something coming to life only to end, but it’s life nonetheless and we praised God, we gave an extra offering financially and acted in faith that this was the first step forward in miraculous healing, and it was. Only two months later and I was pregnant again.
We now have two wonderful sons, Jude Arrow and Fisher Collins. They are our rewards, our gifts from heaven and we thank God everyday that they are happy, healthy and whole. We have a passion to see other people healed of infertility. That healing can come in many forms, with or without medical intervention, adoption, surrogacy, or parenting children in your own family. My prayer was always this: God however it comes, whenever it comes – I trust you.
We would like to pray for anyone fighting through infertility.
Lord, thank you that you are the giver of life. We pray for those fighting through infertility that their hope would be renewed and their bodies would be aligned to create life. We pray that they would trust you in the process and not allow striving to take the lead. We pray that their bodies would line up and come into order in every way. Everything hindering conception would be brought to light and healed in every way. Thank you for the beautiful children you have in store for these couples. We pray that they would be able to see their faces and hold onto the hope that you are the author of life, you are the creator of life and nothing surprises you. We call an end to delay and proclaim a release of healing. Let the children come!
