I recently received a copy of Barren Among the Fruitful: Navigating Infertility With Hope, Wisdom, and Patience by Amanda Hope Haley. The book is a part of the Inscribed series, which is a collection of Christian studies by women.
Amanda has dealt with infertility herself, and it’s clear she’s quite knowledgable about all the different aspects of the disease and its treatments. The book might be a bit too broad and basic for someone who’s been dealing with infertility for several years, but I do think it would be an excellent primer for women who are just taking their first steps on their infertility journey. It would also be a good to give to family, friends, or clergy who are trying to better understand what women who suffer from infertility are facing.
There are several chapters about topics such as the physical and emotion aspects of infertility, healthy lifestyle changes, and strengthening our marriages during infertility. But where this book really stands out is Amanda’s thoughts on the infertility stories in the Bible.
I like that Amanda doesn’t resort to implying that if we have more faith, then we’ll have miracle pregnancies like Hannah and Sarah. She says,
“The miracles of their pregnancies have more to do with the babies they had than the women they were. As a result, their stories don’t offer us modern fertility patients very much help.”
She encourages us to look at the character of Anna instead. Anna was an elderly, childless widow who lived in the temple, waiting for the birth of the Messiah. The Bible describes her as “deeply devoted to the Lord,” and she was one of the first people to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Amanda points out something I’ve never read in an infertility book before:
“Anna teacher us something very important. Her three verses of scripture prove that a child is not a reward for a woman’s faithfulness to God. Meeting God face-to-face is the reward.”
Oh, how I love a book that doesn’t focus on the hope of a positive pregnancy test, but on the hope of meeting God in our circumstance!
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on one of my links, I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Thanks for supporting my site.
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