When the Fruitful Hollow team was planning for this Advent season, one word kept coming to mind: “awaiting”. Merriam-Webster has a captivating definition listed: “to remain in abeyance until”. Abeyance: “a state of temporary inactivity: suspension ”. Each week in Advent we will dive deep into the abeyance. Perhaps many of us are intimately familiar with waiting. I’d like you to embrace the suspension in the upcoming weeks and experience the joy that Christmas brings when the

A different approach to gratitude We’ve all heard the well-meaning advice to focus on what we have rather than what we don’t have - “comparison is the enemy of contentment” or “comparison is the thief of joy”. But doing the often recommended “write down one thing you're thankful for a day” can feel pretty empty when you’re longing for a child, and instead are supposed to relish in your journal entry of “I’m thankful for the takeout we had for dinner”. It can feel like a rathe

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that when I first learned that the theme of the Jubilee Year was “hope”, I just about physically gagged. My relationship with the idea, the virtue, the gift of hope, after 10+ years of infertility… let’s just say it’s a bit rocky.

Through prayer, we find ourselves relying on saints and angels that hold specific missions or roles to help us heal and navigate our struggle. Through tears, prayer became my solace and comfort. I found saints I may never have encountered had it not been for infertility. I also realized angels and archangels could be powerful allies and friends. As we celebrate the feast of the archangel this week, I have chosen to take each archangel and show how they can be a great friend t

Trying to conceive while dealing with infertility comes with intense emotions. Each new treatment, supplement or surgery can fill us with the possibility that “this, surely, will be the month!” often to only be met by deep despair when we see that, once again, this month is not our month for the pregnancy we have longed for for so long. How do we continue forward in hope, leaving room for the possibility for God to work a miracle, all while not setting ourselves up for an emo

One particularly painful manifestation of toxic positivity and prosperity Gospel in Christian infertility circles is the emphasis that every couple in scripture who experienced infertility eventually had a child. We should remember that for every barren woman turned mother in scripture, many others were never blessed with children. When we present only the “success stories,” we inadvertently suggest that those still waiting simply haven’t waited long enough or prayed hard eno

I am never content with the blessings that I have, but I see the next step, the next milestone, the next blessing I want. I'm single minded in my prayer, only talking to God about what I think I need. I fail to take into account all the blessings I do have, ignoring the fact that I used to pray for all the things I have now. I feel as if God is holding back from me the very thing that will make me happy, holy, the best version of myself.

I have learned from Joachim and Anne that persistent prayer changes us more than it changes our circumstances. After seven years of praying for a child, I’ve discovered that some of my most profound moments with God have come when I’ve run out of words. Like old friends who can sit together without speaking, I’m learning to simply be in God’s presence with my longing. Joachim and Anne must have experienced this too.

In my journey through the Christian life, certain spiritual mentors have guided and shaped me in profound ways. In college, it was St....

I sat down to write a piece on Easter Sunday and inevitably I am brought first to Good Friday. For just as Venerable Fulton Sheen wrote, “Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday,” without the painful cross of infertility, our family would not be the miracle that it is. My womb never bore children, I remain infertile almost eight years after my husband and I said “I do”. This might look like an abject failure, like the absence of a miracle, bu

Then, Easter changed. It became a season of darkness and perpetual death. This darkness settled in my heart after we miscarried our first and only biological child. I was left barren and fruitless. Although Jesus died and resurrected, I remained dead inside because my fertility was dead and would never resurrect.

The wilderness is upon us. Our sandals are worn and our feet are dusty from the journey we have traveled thus far. We stand on the opposite shore of our deliverance, the enemy defeated, yet our work has just begun. We understand that our God has set us free. Our Lord? The One who calls us “chosen”. There is still so little we know of Him, though He has already revealed so much. Have we forgotten the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Our chosen people. Nevertheless

Understanding these weapons and why they're targeted helps us recognize the enemy's tactics and stand firm in our faith. Each time we choose

Infertility is deeply painful but can be fertile ground for nurturing these fruits of the Spirit. Spiritual fruitfulness is no less valuable

Love centered on Christ is always fruitful. It is transformed in Christ. Dietrich von Hildebrand explains that “the love of the beloved lift

Seasons greetings! It’s tradition in many parts of the world during Advent to send Christmas cards to friends and family members with wishes

I’ve been a die-hard Wicked fan ever since I first saw it on stage in 2007 so the lyrics to those incredible songs were not new to me when..

As we begin Advent and prepare for the coming of Jesus, I wanted to share about the power in His holy name. I had intentions of finding all these examples in the Bible showing the importance of Jesus’ name and how often they proclaim power in it… but I am not a detailed person, and I have a deadline and a word limit, so… Go read all of Acts! There are too many examples even in that one book to share. Here is one verse I personally love: “And whatever you ask in my name, I wil

It happened again the other night. I had put my oldest son to bed and was headed into my youngest’s room when I heard a faint whisper...

That question caused the greatest spiritual struggle for me. Couldn’t God see that I was suffering? Why would God’s will be to cause me...