What People Are Saying About Hope Deferred:
“Raw.
Daring.
Brutally honest.
These are a few of the things that make Jillian’s book so engaging, helpful, and worth reading.
~Rob Link, Pastor, The River, Kalamazoo, MI, Author: Pulse, Become, Rascals
With gut-wrenching openness and self-awareness she beautifully lays out her and her husband’s struggle with infertility. Not afraid to admit doubt and even a bit of anger toward God. She takes the reader to the deep, dark places that many if not most avoid. In taking the reader to these painful places she, with the help of the Spirit offers hope and healing.
Hope Deferred brings freedom to struggle, freedom to admit pain, and freedom to say life is not OK. It gives the reader permission to feel – even to feel badly. It opens doors of exploration that are rarely opened and in so doing it offers divine grace in ways that are rarely seen.
If you or someone you know is struggling with the pain of infertility this book is a must read. If you or someone you know is struggling with pain of any kind. This book is a must read.”
“Hope Deferred is a book filled with hope. Jillian shares her heart and the struggles she has faced and overcome during her journey with motherhood in an honest and vulnerable way. She also provides scripture and biblical truths to combat the lies we hear and tell ourselves along the way. As someone who has struggled with infertility for years, Jillian’s book gave me hope and a sense of peace. If you or someone you love is struggling with infertility and making sense of it all, please share this Truth-filled book.”
~Stacie Brown, TTC
Hope Deferred, written by author Jillian Heerlyn, is a beautiful and captivating story of a woman who has known and experienced the pain and suffering of infertility. Jillian invites her readers into the depths of her years of struggling with the hope that in her story, we would find a companion to walk alongside us as we navigate our own stories of infertility. Jillian is raw and real – she doesn’t hold anything back. She is honest about how her faith has been challenged. She shows true vulnerability, writing about her wrestlings with God and the promises of Scripture, trying to make sense of why her experience doesn’t seem to make sense with the goodness of God’s heart towards His people.
David Penning, Pastor and Bereavement Coordinator, Kalamazoo, MI
In a unique and helpful way, Jillian is able to speak into the reality of the emotional and spiritual rollercoaster she has been on, while at the same time confessing the truth about who God is and what Scripture promises. There is no doubt that you will deeply feel and empathize with her story, but she won’t leave you there. In line with Psalm 23, she will walk with you “through the valley of the shadow of death” – but she won’t sit down and camp there. Jillian models how we can all muster up whatever strength and faith we have to simply choose to believe, choose to hope, choose to find joy.
As a man, I can tell you that I wasn’t able to fully understand the depths of a woman going through infertility. As men, we have our own pain and struggle in this battle, and we have an important role to play – as Jillian herself acknowledges later in her book. But what fascinated me even more about Hope Deferred was how, even though my wife and I haven’t personally experienced infertility in our marriage, Jillian’s story was still able to speak into all of my own seasons of grief, loss, and suffering. It challenged me with my own questions and struggles of faith. In all honesty, Jillian encouraged me to keep trusting, to keep confessing that God is good – and that He cares for me, too.
If you’re looking for a book that will answer all of your questions and make sense of all of your “whys,” this book is not for you. I’d suggest that a book like that doesn’t even exist. But if you’re looking for someone to acknowledge and validate your pain, Jillian does. If you’re desperately searching for some kind of peace in the storm, Jillian provides. If you’re hoping to even continue to try to hope, this book is for you. All of this can be accomplished, not simply by reading this book, but by hearing Jillian’s heart cry for you: that you would know and experience the truth that a good and loving Father knows your pain, hears your prayers, and promises to be with you through it all.
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