22 April 2012

Guest Post from the Authors of "The Infertility Companion for Catholics"


I am beyond excited to be hosting Angelique Ruhi-Lopez and Carmen Santamaria, the two authors of "The Infertility Companion for Catholics."


The Infertility Companion for Catholics: Spiritual and Practical Support for Couples is the culmination of our shared resources and experiences journeying through infertility. We each had different experiences with infertility and have walked through it at different times but what united us is our desire to have the experience bring us closer to God and help other couples struggling with infertility to do the same.
In our book, we tried to include as many different aspects of infertility as we could, including the medical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of bearing this cross. We did not just want to present the facts about Church teachings on assisted reproductive technologies but also the whys, getting to the bottom of why our Church, in her wisdom, teaches what she does. As we discovered and share in the book, what struck us is that the Church is not arbitrarily saying “no” to the enticing illicit treatments we are often offered that promise us a baby at all costs – it is saying “yes” to a new way of viewing infertility; “yes” to respect for human dignity; “yes” to helping us understand the beauty of our bodies and heal and improve our health.
In addition to discussing Church teachings and including a myriad of resources, prayers, devotions and reference materials in the book, we openly share our hearts, our experiences, our frustrations and our hopes. We are not experts, just friends who hope to share in this journey with other friends and remind ourselves that we are not alone.
Providentially, as we were writing our book, a new song was released by contemporary Christian artist Laura Story entitled, “Blessings.” Carmen explains how this song could be considered an anthem of sorts for the journey of infertility:
“A recent gift from my husband was a subscription to Sirius radio.  I am a huge fan of the Catholic Channel and having Catholic programming in my car.  There is a Christian music station as well that features a segment they call Changing Tracks, as they say these are songs that have changed our lives in some way.  One of my personal Changing Tracks is Blessings by Laura Story.
The entire song is fabulous and has so much wisdom but here are some of my favorite parts:
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

I like how she turns ideas on their head.  What if all of this is God showing his incredible mercy for us?  We are all being sanctified and this is all part of the process, yet we doubt as Laura says, as if God’s revelation of His love was not enough.  We can be so dense sometimes only viewing things from one side. This song really helped me to think about all these difficulties in a new light.  What is a blessing?  Yes, a child is a blessing but isn’t infertility and the opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and others a blessing as well?”
Most days, infertility may not feel like a blessing but let us pray together that we can grow to see the blessings that have come through the raindrops and embrace His mercies in disguise.
-----------
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of Angelique and Carmen's book tour. I know that their book will be an invaluable resource for so many!
 
I also have a copy of their wonderful book to giveaway. If you are interested in being included in the giveaway, please leave a comment. The giveaway contest closes on April 29th. Good luck! 



22 comments:

  1. Wow, what an awesome song!!
    (I love my Sirius XM!!)

    Thanks for the post, JB.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful post! This incredible book fills a great need. And that song sounds amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOVE that song too.

    This books sounds great. I might have to go buy one if I don't win one on this tour!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love following this book tour!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I JUST heard that song the other day for the first time. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the book! Finished it this week and am ready to start handing out copies to friends. I am also enjoying the book tour. What a blessing to see so many of my "friends" included in the book and tour.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi JB! Thanks so much for your kind hospitality in hosting us on this tour! We pray you feel better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would love to be part of the book giveaway. The book sounds amazing (and yes, I'll have to find a copy if I don't win one). Love the song...just thinking about IF a lot today and this song gave sense to it and God's plan for IF in my life. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love that song, even if it does always make me cry. As someone who is a total planning, it really gets to the heart of one of my major struggles, to give up my plans so that I can fully live His plans for me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love this post. Both of them are amazing writers!!!

    Hope you feel better JB!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sirius Rocks! I just renewed my subscription last week. It's my little splurge.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi!

    I love the song as well, but it always makes me cry. Please enter me in the giveaway, I'd love to read the book!

    Sue K
    susanmazk@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I would love to read the book!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love when songs strike that deep chord within us. I'm interested in reading the book too, especially the part about a male perspective on IF.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks like a really interesting read.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Would love to be considered for the book giveaway! I am... silverbeetle27@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Would love a chance to win this book. Thanks JB!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Beautiful reflection and song you shared!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great job, This content is very very great content, I got really good information from this content and it helps me a lot, I hope it can help many people like me.
    Best Carpet stores in

    ReplyDelete

  20. Great article this is very informative .......keep posting Thanks Regards
    vinyl flooring suppliers in dubai

    ReplyDelete

  21. Great job, This content is very very great content, I got really good information from this content and it helps me a lot, I hope it can help many people like me.
    fake grass in abu dhabi

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thank you for sharing such important information. It will be very useful for us in future. Good keep it up and keep writing. Read more about
    sisal carpet abu sharjah

    ReplyDelete