Children do not establish a family, only the love of the two in matrimony under God does. I look at Saints Anne and Joachim, and how they direct us back to their daughter, who directs us back to her son, Love itself. If they can still have hope in God despite their pain and uncertainty, maybe I can take the first step in simply uttering a small, "Love I trust you".

When I hate my heart and body with all its problems that make me permanently infertile, I see a heart that was pierced for me and loves me when I can't love myself. If that perfect heart can love my imperfect one, then maybe I am worthy of love. When your heart can't take anymore, let His heart carry yours.

St. Colette of Corbie was born in 1381 to parents who had long given up hope. When we hear of a woman conceiving at 60 years of age, it's easy to stop reading there. The miracle becomes the whole story, and we miss everything that came after. But St. Colette's life didn't end at her birth; it began there. And if we reduce her to the answer her parents received, we rob ourselves of the witness she offers: a life that shows us what fruitfulness looks like.