I am so happy this week to share my beautiful friend, Emily Gentiles with you. I met Em about a year ago and we instantly clicked. She has such a tender heart and a witty sense of humor that she catches you off guard every single time. She is an encourager in the deepest sense. She has cried with me, check in on me, and challenged me. I am so thankful for her and I am even more grateful that I get to share a part of her story here with you today.
Emily is a graphic designer, author, podcast producer, and randomly owns an online T-Shirt business that caters to an emerging cryptocurrency fan base (nerd alert). Having been a church staff wife for most of their marriage, Emily also loves community and especially being part of women's ministry. She is always reminding herself that loving and sharing the gospel with her 2 kiddos is her primary kingdom calling ...Even when they wipe peanut butter on her white couch :)
Just after college Emily met a handsome guy named David Gentiles (her words!) He’s a singer, songwriter and worship leader and she HAD to have him. They’ve spent their 13 years of marriage doing ministry in churches in the Dallas, Huntsville, and Houston areas and are now settled into City Bridge here in Plano. During their time in Houston they began to foster and were able to adopt two wonderful children, Royal and Bethel.
For over a decade, infertility has bruised, changed, and grown both Emily and David in ways they never planned. It is their heart's desire to share how good God is, even through infertility.
Emily shares of what it is like to walk through this season of infertility:
"My husband David is a worship leader, and I can’t tell you the number of times that I stood in the back of a crowded room full of mostly strangers at various camps and conferences and wept my guts out. Faith and infertility are impossible friends and yet there in the shadows of the hall, they both gripped me and wouldn’t let go.
So there I stood, with an empty belly and empty arms, and unable to breathe for the pain my soul felt. But at the same time I could not help but to raise my hands and praise God for the salvation of my soul, for the beauty and the blessings in this life I’ve been given. Year after year I chose to believe and every time He gave me the grace to put one foot in front of the other in this dark forest where I would continue to wander for a decade beyond what I thought I had the strength to bear."
"If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me."
Psalm 139:9-10 (ESV)
You can read more of Emily's infertility journey along with other stories of miscarriage and loss in her book, "Trying : Reflections on faith through Miscarriage, Infertility, and Loss" available now on Amazon. Thank you, Em, for always being so vulnerable in this area and allowing us the space to pray for you here. Thank you for always choosing to believe - even when you really didn't want to. We love you!