It’s here again – National Infertility Awareness Week! In 2026 we wanted to take this opportunity to share some wisdom and encouragement sourced from our Team and Contributors from across the years. It is our joy to walk with you on this path as you Reflect, Respond, and Receive + Rest.

FIRST: Reflect

Remember – you are good. Your marriage is good. The Lord has a beautiful mission for your marriage. These are truths, even though it is not looking the way that you had hoped. Your experience of suffering and your ability to encounter Christ through it is a unique gift for the Church and the Body of Christ. 

In Colossians 1:24, St. Paul says that he “complete[s] what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (RSV-CE). The only thing that is lacking in the sufferings of Christ is our participation in it. Only you can give the unique gift of yourself – and only you can unite your sufferings to His. 

We encourage you this month to unite your real suffering with Christ, to give your hearts to Him more fully and to share in the suffering with your spouse. Allow His light to shine into your own hearts and into your marriage so that it can bear fruit today and into eternity. 

SECOND: Respond

Rooted in your belovedness and secure in the knowledge that your marriage is good, we invite you to respond to that love by helping us share encouragement, resources, and support with others on the path. 

There are countless ways to to do this, but here are a few suggestions:

“And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.” Luke 23:26 RSV-CE

This quick verse during the Crucifixion narrative often gets overlooked, but Simon of Cyrene offers insights both for those carrying the cross of infertility/loss, and for those who accompany them. 

Something beautifully unexpected happened to Simon – coming close, he spent several precious moments in intimate closeness with our Lord and was privileged to help lighten the heavy weight of the world that was built into the Cross, even for a short time. 

When we help shoulder the burden and walk with those on the path of infertility, we are “doing to the least of these,” (cf. Matthew 25:40) and are also drawn into intimacy with Christ, just as Simon of Cyrene was.

THIRD: Receive + Rest

As we travel through the rest of NIAW and our unique paths, we invite you to continue to receive and rest in the consolation of Christ and His good – if mysterious – plans for you. 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9 RSVCE).

On the path of infertility, Isaiah’s verse can ring loud, but sometimes unclear. Questions like the following may come to mind: Lord, why are your ways not the way we desire? Why will you not answer our prayer? What is your plan for our marriage? What good are we doing for the Kingdom of Heaven? What is the way you have prepared before us?

But we have been given an incredible gift. This year, as often happens, Infertility Awareness Week falls during the Easter Season – amidst our suffering, His most redemptive Presence is with us.

“[He] came that [we] may have life, and have it abundantly!” (John 10:10 RSV-CE).

Let the Lord walk with you; let Him carry your cross; let Him suffer for you; let Him be your Savior; let Him be your joy. Look around – what blessings is the Lord scattering around you today and in this Easter season? It might just be in an unexpected text, a beautiful sunset, a free evening, a smile from a stranger, or a spontaneous date night that the Lord wants to shower you with joy and abundance. 

So honored to walk with you during National Infertility Awareness Week and always,

The Springs in the Desert Team