Ep. 90: God's Invitation to Connection

Welcome to the Woven Well podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you and your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started.

Welcome back to the Woven Well Podcast!

Y’all, I tried to do something new today that I’ve never done before. I tried to record outside. It was just a beautiful day. It has been so hot for so long, but today there was just this little bit of hint of fall. The weather was below 80 degrees, and I just couldn’t help it. I was so excited, and I broke my mic! So I should’ve stayed inside! But, it’s okay. Sometimes we have to try new things. Thankfully, I had another mic, so it’s all going to work out. I’m still going to get the episode and everything. But anyway, I hope that you are enjoying the cooler weather, but maybe be wise about what you do inside versus outside. I don’t know. 

On this podcast, we talk a lot about fertility and reproductive health.  That makes sense. In fact, today is 90 episodes of discussion on fertility issues — from reproductive health concerns, to client stories, to the ins and outs of how to naturally plan your family. We focus a lot on educating you on issues related to women’s healthcare. We want you to feel informed, empowered, and able to advocate for your needs. 

But sometimes I like to take a step back and talk about why we do these things. Why do we keep asking these questions together. Why do we keep talking about these same themes over and over and over again? Yes, there are a million different ones to address but why is it important? 

It’s important, because I believe God wants more for us than what we’re currently getting. 

As it stands right now, we’re told almost nothing about our bodies, so that leaves us disempowered when it comes to things like our healthcare. We’re given only one option for family planning, which makes us feel like there aren’t any effective alternatives. 

We aren’t told others’ stories, so we’re convinced — and maybe even ashamed — that we’re the only ones going through hardship. We live in a time that is actively devaluing the body as just an accessory or a tool, which leaves us feeling confused and devalued. 

I think there’s a theme here. And I think it’s that we’re disconnected. 

We’re disconnected from our bodies, our community, our options. 

We’re in the dark — seemingly alone — and it doesn’t take long before things start to feel scary. 

You would think that, in 2023, we would be more advanced when it comes to women’s healthcare than ever before. But I don’t know if what we have can truly be called advanced. Yes, we can do some amazing things, but when it comes to connection, that connection that I’m talking about, it sends us back to the dark ages. 

Our right to terminate a baby is fought for tooth and nail, while our right to understand our bodies is dismissed. We’re taught that we deserve consent, but what about respect? Everywhere we look, we’re encouraged to disconnect. From pregnancies. From sexual partners. From procreation. From community.

I so desperately want something very different — for me, for you, and for our whole world. 

I want to be a part of creating a culture in which we are known, respected, valued, and loved as people. I would love for us to approach women’s healthcare from a place of connection and collaboration — where we are encouraged to work from a place of unity with our bodies, not despite them. Where we, as women, link arms with each other to share the joys and the burdens and remind each other that we’re not alone.

And here’s the thing that makes me so happy: I see this transformation happening. The fact that you’re listening right now, speaks to that actually. God is doing incredible work, one woman at a time. 

In the midst of our current reality, God is inviting us to radically connect. Connect with our Creator, who designed us with beauty and intention. Connect with other women, who are equally loved and valued as persons. God is inviting us to connect - in a new, honoring way - with our bodies and our fertility. 

And, as we share with others, as we connect with our bodies, as we require respect and knowledge, we slowly make a difference, in our lives, in our world, and in the generation to come. 

You are a part of that transformation, and it is so important!! I cannot overemphasize the importance of anything that you are doing in this realm, because for most women right now, they feel left in the dark. I’m not making this up; this is not just something that’s coming from me. This is something I’m told by women day after day after day: 

They’re not given options. They’re not connected with their body or their fertility, and the more disconnected they feel, the more afraid they feel. 

Fertility is an incredibly scary thing when it’s not understood. It has incredible potential.

Do you remember back to those high school days when they used to just terrify you with the possibilities of pregnancy? Maybe this was just for me and the other public school kids, but they used to tell us over and over again about how pregnancy was possible at any moment. It made even those of us who were not generally active to be a little bit concerned. 

Now I realize, it was a scare tactic more than anything else. But, that’s the point — we’re taught, from an early point in life, to have a fear-based relationship with our reproductive system. Add to that jokes about painful periods, surprise Aunt Flo visits, and PMS — which make us frustrated and annoyed with our reproductive system — and we don’t have a very loving relationship. 

So, for most of us, this is how we feel about our reproductive system for a long time — annoyed and afraid. 

I believe deep in my bones that this is not what God desires for us. 

When we were created, it was as body, mind, and spirit. The body — and its functions — it was not an afterthought, not an unfortunate result of the fall. Our body was a part—is a part—of our bearing the image of God. It was designed for our good and God’s glory. And this can be a difficult relationship for a lot of women. There is pain here. There is suffering here. There is shame here. We have very, very complicated relationships with our body.

Just like every other area of our lives, God wants to redeem this place of hurt. God wants to transform our fear into peace and our annoyance into respect. 

I get to see that played out in women learning to connect to and understand their fertility for the first time through the Creighton system. But maybe that’s not how God is doing that work in your life. Maybe God has begun that transformation in another way in your life. 

Whatever it is, I hope that we can all be open to the goodness and connection God is inviting us to experience! 

Open yourself to experience the love that God has for your mind, spirit, and body. 

I am so tempted to just keep this going. I think it stirs up so much, and it’s such an important conversation. But I want to intentionally keep this episode short, because I really want us to ponder this: what are areas in our lives where we feel disconnected, maybe where we are disconnected, and how is God inviting us to connect? Is God inviting you to connect? If so, in what ways? I think it’s important.

And I’m also praying through opportunities to continue conversations like this with ladies who want to go a little bit deeper into this invitation from God. So, if you’re interested in that, I would really love to hear from you, just to know that you’re out there and you care and you’re invested. You can message me through our Instagram account @wovenfertility or message me directly through our website wovenfertility.com. Or just email me. I’ll put my email in the show notes as well, or if you already have that, you’re welcome to email me personally. I would just love to know you’re out there and what your heart desires related to this topic.

And if you want to be the first to hear about our new opportunities to connect, make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter! It goes out once a month. It has lots of great information in it. And any time there is a new announcement or event or discount code, it’s going to be announced there before anywhere else. So, you can subscribe on our website or in the show notes. 

 As always, thanks so much for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.