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The suffering and brokenness we experience in the now and the not yet can overwhelm us and shape our view of ourselves. In our final episode of Season 7, we welcome our dear friend and talented artist Lauren Duncan to the podcast to share her story of infertility. As we look back on her journey through brokenness and suffering, we see elements of the Grand Narrative that point us to the Father.

In her infertility journey, Lauren faced shame and inadequacy from many fronts while she and her husband went from doctor to doctor searching for answers. With each closed door, she felt overwhelmed, unable to make sense of her circumstances. Unable to conceive her own children, Lauren experienced an identity crisis since she could not do what she was “supposed” to as a woman. In this season, she took hold of the idea of “beautify and multiply.” Instead of multiplying her family, Lauren multiplied her paintings, illustrations of her suffering, her prayers, and the Lord’s promises in her life. Painting and writing became her outlet to seek the Lord and express her emotions, and she began to share her work and the truths she had learned with others. Through her own journey, she has been equipped to listen well and empathize with others as they navigate similar seasons of suffering.

Now as Lauren looks back on her story, she can see how God brought her through this painful season and reminded her of her identity. He has now blessed her with three children through adoption. Yet even in her blessing, she still feels the lingering pain and shame of infertility. As we live with the reality of the Fall, we are not promised that God will take away all of our pain or suffering, though He promises to remain by our side through every season. We must wake every morning and reorient to God’s Story, reminding ourselves of our identity in Him and looking forward to His final restoration.

Resources:

Lauren Duncan Art

Made to Create

Painted Prayers

J&M Bookstore

S1 Ep.1/The Lens: Saint, Sufferer, Sinner

Season 7 of Conversational Counseling on “Telling One Woman’s Story with Lauren Duncan.”

To sign up for free visuals and discussion questions for this season click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Our theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As Isaac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This podcast is made possible by engineer and producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Selby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, executive producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meleah Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠generous donors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Known Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Kocher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Brenda Payne.