Foreword

It’s easy to find out “what to expect when you’re expecting” as the bookstores are flooded with the answers to every new mom’s questions. But there is a growing number of women who, after discovering God’s heart toward children, have surrendered their fertility to Him, bearing children well into their 40s by the Creator’s design. These are ordinary women, full of faith and still with questions, fears, and a longing for companionship on this often-lonely journey.

It should be no surprise to us that our culture is grossly self-seeking, using human wisdom for its guide, rejecting the mooring of truth found in Scripture. Tragically, the church has largely followed the culture, retreating from God’s Word when it comes to the way we treat children and fertility. Once recognized as a gift and an inheritance given by the One who gives and takes away, children are now often treated as a hindrance to our plans, and so we severely limit them and call it “wisdom,” seldom even asking God His opinion.

Many families, however, are getting a larger vision for marriage and family, embracing the reality that God opens and closes the womb, in His perfect time, to fulfill His perfect plan. Natalie Klejwa, a woman familiar with this exciting yet culturally uncharted territory, is a woman of vision. That vision has not only impacted her personal life profoundly as she seeks to glorify God in the prosaic of life, but it extends into a passion for coming alongside other women, helping them see God’s plan for their lives and families from His vantage point.

Three Decades of Fertility was born from that passionate vision. Inviting you into the intimate stories of ten ordinary women serving an extraordinary God, discover the trials and triumphs, the weak-turned-strong, and the sweet peace that comes when a woman begins to see children as God sees them, becoming a willing vessel for ushering immortal souls into His Kingdom. In addition to catching a glimpse of this vision or simply being encouraged as you walk the road of God-designed fertility, there are practical questions and answers at the end of each chapter making this book an excellent resource for small group studies.

As a mother of 10 just entering my 40th year, I can’t begin to express how encouraged I was to read Three Decades of Fertility and how thrilled I am about the vision and hope it will project for so many women, impacting not only our generation, but by its nature, the generations to come!

Kelly Crawford

Generation Cedar