Sheenazing 2015

Sláinte, Internets

So....the cliche is that it's an "honor just to be nominated", right? But really guys - it totally is. Ok, ok, ok... technically we've received an "honorable mention" for a Sheenazing Award. (Thank you to the lovely Bonnie @ A Knotted Life for the awesome recognition!) (You can read more about Venerable Fulton Sheen HERE and an <alleged> miracle HERE). So what is an "honorable mention"? It's almost like being nominated - but you don't have to go through another round of voting - you just get to remain solidly "honorable" and "mentioned". And it means you've most likely never heard of this blog. But any excuse for champagne, I say!

What is a Sheenazing Award, you ask?

"The Sheenazing Blogger Awards get their name from Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, who was amazing at using the newest forms of media to communicate the beauty of the Catholic Church and his love of Christ to the world. They are a fun way to celebrate the excellence of the Catholic blogosphere and honor Venerable Sheen."

Only seven short (incredibly long?) months ago, there was no blog here or by this name. It was breathed to life and inspired by a group of hopeful, loyal Catholic infertile women. That is to say that a swarm of infertile women rallied around me and encouraged me to write out my thoughts on our infertility. That group of women...my goodness what a lifeline they have been this past year. I am blessed by them daily. This blog doesn't exist without them. Giant hugs to all the St. Gerard women (and men!) reading along here.

You are very much loved.

So back to introducing my new readers to the terrible cartooning that lies ahead (which you can find on the Humor tab above... but you can't unsee this stuff, people!). Who knew that so much joy could rise from cartooning the life and adventures of an infertile woman?  Who knew I had anything to say that would resonate with people? I certainly did not! We just thought it was another symptom from the clomid... :P

So that's what led you to me and this blog. If you are new here, I hope you will take a look around and find something of value that you can share with your family and friends. Maybe you know someone who has experienced a miscarriage and is looking for Catholic resources - we've got a tab for that. Maybe you're looking for a doctor who respects life - I made a map for that. Maybe you need more angry uteri cartooning in your life. We've got a tab for THAT. Maybe you just need to read the adventures of an infertile Catholic couple who hasn't ended up with a baby. Maybe you need to hear that your grief is like ours. Or find meaning in suffering. Or that we get how you've inadvertently become a mathematician too. We don't have a happy ending to our story like most of the infertile women in the Bible do. You're not alone in that if you are experiencing infertility. We understand how profoundly infertility impacts a marriage. And we're no stranger to illness here either. We just have faith and hope that God is in charge. And until He gives us an answer on why our family remains this size on Earth, we're focused on conceiving hope in any way we can.

It's not easy some days, and sometimes it's not pretty. I blog about that stuff too. This New Year is going to add some other fun topics and things into the blog conversation for us: Give-aways. Our Love Story. A Terribly Exciting International Adventure That We Have Yet To Announce (we're calling it "Duck Watch 2015" for now...).

Make yourself at home here. Drop us a line. Follow us on facebook or pinterest. Let us pray with you and for you. Give us ideas for terrible infertility cartoons. Or share a Catholic resource that really helped you on the topic of pregnancy loss so we can link up to it.

Many thanks to those who nominated us to be honorably mentioned in the Sheenazing Awards this 2015! We are in awesome company and humbled to have Conceiving Hope written on any page alongside other faithful Catholics. We're looking forward to getting to know everyone better this year. Stick around and we promise a laugh or two. Thanks so much for reading!