Testimonial
I guess you could call me a late
bloomer because it seems as though
things just take me a little longer to
achieve. It has been that way my whole
life. I had a great career and a wonderful
life but was missing someone to share it
with. I met that person when I was 28
and by 30 we were married. After a year
ofmarriagewewanted to start our family.
We tried unsuccessfully for a year before
getting the doctors involved. Once the
doctors were involved things didn’t get
any easier. My life was consumed by
appointments with fertility specialists,
counting the days of my cycle, and
fertility research. The only thing I had
to look forward to was my next doctor’s
appointment where they would perform
numerous tests. The tests were always
positive – they couldn’t find the source of my infertility. But the
outcome was always negative – I was not pregnant.
Thirty six months began with hopes and dreams of a baby and
ended in utter disappointment. With all the disappointment and
shattered dreams I found myself depressed and my relationship
with my husband was damaged. I was so focused and determined
to do ANYTHING it took to get pregnant but my husband was
growing tired. He kept telling me if it was meant to happen then
it would happen. That wasn’t good enough for me. I blamed him
because I thought he didn’t want a baby as bad as I did. What
my husband was suggesting was giving up to me. I never give
up! In addition to the growing tension in my marriage there was
pressure all around us. Our fertility struggle was no secret and
those who knew us well were aware of our struggle. But there
were still those that would ask questions and it seemed as though
I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing a pregnant woman. All
this was happening and time was not sitting still. I was now 33
and each year was bringing me further and further away from my
dream of becoming a mother. I became angry, moody and cried
often. My husband tiptoed around my feelings in attempts to
keep me from lashing out at him. Some weekends I didn’t get off
of the couch.
On Thanksgiving Day my aunt told me about a special nun
in Baton Rouge. I remember my sister saying that I’d have to
believe and have faith for it to work. I thought to myself -
I HAVE
FAITH.
Well, the faith I thought I had on that Thanksgiving
Day is nothing compared to the faith I have today and the person
responsible is Sister Dulce.
The first time I met Sister Dulce I could literally feel Papa’s
love radiating from her. She was so kind and understanding. I
felt as though I could talk to her about anything. Over the course
of my visits I revealed
everything
to her. It’s ironic because I was
visiting Sister Dulce for my physical issue of infertility but, as
she was treating me for infertility, she
was also healing me spiritually. After
our talks Sister Dulce would place her
hands on my stomach and pray to
Papa. About one to two months after
I began seeing Sister Dulce she told
me I would have one child and it was
going to be an Easter baby. This news
made me extremely happy and gave me
hope for the future. I continued my
appointments with Sister Dulce and
eventually stopped going to the fertility
specialists.
With Sister’s help I finally got
to the point where I was just tired of
being depressed. I remember walking
into her office and telling her that I was
done focusing on the things that were
missing from my life. I told Sister that I knew I was blessed and
I was going to appreciate and celebrate those blessings. After that
breakthrough my husband and I started living again. We traveled,
enjoyed each other’s company, and eventually purchased a new
home. Life was good again!
Then, around June 2009, I was contacted by a friend
collecting prayer petitions to bring to Medjugorje. I thought -
what could it hurt? In fact, Sister Dulce told me to pray to Mary
for motherhood. She even gave me a statue of the Blessed Virgin
Mary during one of my visits. So, I sent a prayer to be presented to
Mary in Medjugorje. My prayer request was for Papa to bless me
with a child if it was His will. Or, to remove the desire from my
heart if it was not His will for me to be a mother.
I was pregnant
by July 2009 at 36 years old! Abigail Marie Hoek was born on
March 22, 2010 – 14 days before Easter. Three years earlier
Sister Dulce told me I would have an Easter baby. My Easter
baby finally arrived!
My husband and I are so blessed by this
child. She is the love of our lives!
I look back over the five years I struggled to conceive a child and
I feel blessed for having had the experience – the whole experience
good
and bad
.
I wouldn’t trade it for the world because it brought
me closer to Papa and I found Sister Dulce along the way. One
Sunday my Priest talked about how shepherds in Biblical times
would break the legs of their disobedient sheep. With broken legs
the sheep had to rely on and obey their shepherd. As they were
healing the sheep learned to rely on their shepherd for everything.
After they were healed the sheep continued to turn to their shepherd
for all their needs. I feel as though my experience was Papa’s way
of breaking my legs so that I had no other place to turn but to
Him. You see I had tried to do it my way for years. But my prayers
weren’t answered until I had learned to rely on Him and trust that
His will was enough for me – baby or no baby. Thank you Papa for
the gift of my beautiful baby girl and for the gift of your beautiful,
faithful servant Sister Dulce Maria!
