Mother’s Day at Church | When your season hasn’t begun…
Infertility statistics are staggering: 1 in 4 women have miscarried, 1 in 8 are currently experiencing infertility or infant loss and those battling infertility have 3 times the likelihood of their marriages ending in divorce compared to the national average. These very women are sitting in your congregation today.
Imagine, it’s Mother’s Day and you are still not pregnant for the third year in a row… Or you just found out your latest fertility treatment (IUI, IVF, etc.) failed. Imagine, you just went in the Friday before this Sunday Mother’s Day celebration and there was no heartbeat during a routine ultrasound…
It is gut wrenching to be placed in a situation of celebration when you are not in that season yet. We want to help the woman coming to church fighting back tears. Our ministry exists to bring hope to situations that seem daunting and isolating. We have sat in their shoes, clinching our teeth to keep it together or batting our eyes quickly to keep the tears at bay.
Twelve 12 ministries aim is to come alongside these women, show them they’re not alone and that they are SEEN and LOVED beyond measure. We are here to make sure that the lies of the enemy to define a woman by the status of her womb or motherhood status do not become all consuming.
We are designed to bring support through groups, biblical backing through our bible study (Hope Stories) and to bring awareness through meeting and partnering with the local church. We offer: resources, support, counseling and advocacy initiatives to help the local church serve these precious women. We also have a beautiful gift box called a “butterfly box,” which we gift to mothers that have lost a baby through miscarriage or infant loss. These boxes contain a bible, our bible study, and a few small and encouraging gifts while simultaneously offering community and connection. Our heart behind these boxes is to show them the love of Jesus and make it clear that they are not alone in their pain. These boxes are currently at a few hospitals and NICU clinics in the DFW area.
We are focusing on Mother’s Day because it is the holiday that focuses on the blessing of motherhood, specifically. But we want to also challenge the church to think about all the other holidays/celebrations at church… They are ALL (and rightfully so) family focused.
Our heart in pointing out the family focus is not to bring any guilt/shame/negativity to the church – it is a beautiful thing to focus on the family. Our intent is to merely make the correlation for those in ministry that are potentially unaware of the infertility world how difficult it can be to be consistently reminded of an area that you are lacking as a woman attempting to conceive but experience recurrent loss, unanswered questions, frustration, etc.
Your church needs a way to show these women that they are seen. We want to help you do that. Please reach out with any questions, or concerns. We want to help you bring hope, healing and support to these precious women and married couples!
Reach out to us today!
