Using Infertility for Good
By Amy R. Anguish
No one wants to hear that they can’t have children without some sort of medical help. No one. At least not anyone I know. But over a year into trying to get pregnant, my husband and I found out just that. And for six and a half years, through loss of jobs, debt, moving, and infertility treatments when we could, we battled through that journey towards our greatest desire.
A blog I kept through those years shows many ups and downs, though more downs than ups. It was a dark time in our life. And I swore never to write about it.
Then, even while still in the middle of the journey (I wouldn’t get pregnant for another year and a half), a story called out to me to write. It was going to be about two sisters having to learn to live with each other and appreciate one another. But for some reason, I wrote Faith, the older of the two, as someone who had to deal with infertility.
When my dad read the book for the first time, he said, “You put A LOT of yourself into this one.” And he was right. This was the first book I think I did put more than simply imagination into. I put personal experience and grief and desire. I even used some pieces from my own infertility blog as ones my character wrote during her struggle.
And, I let her learn some of the lessons I learned as well. You see, there was a time when it dawned on me that I couldn’t let my whole life revolve around my desire to become pregnant. God didn’t say that should be my greatest desire in life. Instead, I needed to find ways to use the bad for good. I’d like to think my story is doing that. I know in several of the reviews, people have mentioned that it spoke to them because they’d been through similar journeys.
And maybe, just maybe, by incorporating a bit of my own truth into my fiction, I can help even more people than only the ones I meet in real life. It’s a prayer.
Whether or not you have a similar struggle, I hope you can pick up my story about two sisters facing their own struggles and enjoy the journey. Do you have a sister? Do you have a similar struggle? Can you relate to trying to find the good in a bad situation?
Two sisters. One summer. Multiple problems.
Younger sister Hope has lost her job, her car, and her boyfriend all in one day. Her well-laid plans for life have gone sideways, as has her hope in God.
Older sister Faith is finally getting her dream-come-true after years of struggles and prayers. But when her mom talks her into letting Hope move in for the summer, will the stress turn her dream into a nightmare? Is her faith in God strong enough to handle everything?
For two sisters who haven’t gotten along in years, this summer together could be a disaster…or it could lead them to a closer relationship with each other and God.
Amy R Anguish grew up a preacher’s kid, and in spite of having lived in seven different states that are all south of the Mason Dixon line, she is not a football fan. Currently, she resides in Tennessee with her husband, daughter, and son, and usually a bossy cat or two. Amy has an English degree from Freed-Hardeman University that she intends to use to glorify God, and she wants her stories to show that while Christians face real struggles, it can still work out for good.
Follow her here: http://abitofanguish.weebly.com or http://www.facebook.com/amyanguishauthor
or https://twitter.com/amy_r_anguish
And check out the YouTube channel she does with two other authors, Once Upon a Page