Our GoFundMe Campaign Story from 12/11/13:

Hey y’all, we’re the Martins!

I’m Lauryn and he’s Cory… thanks so much for checking out our little page here, we hope you’ll read our story, maybe share it, maybe even donate, but we would really love it if you would keep us in your prayers through our continued journey.

I (Lauryn) thought the best way to share our story would be through a series of timelines, so here goes.
Wednesday, 11/6/13: 5:15am- Just an average day for me, starting out with prayer, devotion and reading, followed by journaling (and coffee… obviously). Isaiah 64:4 was the studied scripture. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” My journal notes- 1) I have an extravagant God with extravagant language to make me an extravagant person in wisdom. 2) Your thoughts inform your experiences. 3) I pledge to consciously choose words of appreciation and abundance today. 4) Giving money to a place where you’re spiritually fed makes a statement to the universe that you believe abundance must be shared! In sharing your wealth, you create more of it.
7:00am- I’m getting my apps set and choosing my YouTube talk for my morning run. My phone goes off with a FB alert  from a ‘quilt Momma’ (ps, I make memory quilts out of baby clothes, etc.). She had received her cherished quilt and tagged me in a pic of her sweet baby and all those treasured memories together. I just HAD to look! 🙂 As soon as I liked, commented, and all that jazz, I was out the door… but while exiting out of FB, I noticed a friend of a friend posted a link that changed my whole day. Her name is Tiffany, and even though I don’t know Tiffany from WV, I felt an immediate connection to her. See, she and her husband, Frank, have been trying to conceive a baby for years with no luck. She started a GoFundMe campaign to raise the money for IVF (in vitro fertilization) in hopes of making their dream come true. I read her story, cried for her, cried for me, went straight to my computer, donated to her fund, re-read my previous journal entry, and emailed her.
9:00am- As I began my work day, Tiffany and her story just wouldn’t leave me. I kept thinking how strong she was, how brave she and her husband were to tell everyone, how inspirational she was to me. I had a complete inner battle with myself… “I could never tell our story to the masses like that!” But, why? Why couldn’t you? “Nooo… Only our closest ‘people’ know, we couldn’t tell, we couldn’t ask for help…” But so many people love y’all, wouldn’t they want to help if they could? “No… we can’t… can we?” I think you probably, maybe, might could.
1:00pm- I called my Momma. ‘Cause she always answers my questions right it seems. Her words, after my whole, long, drawn out story of the previous 7ish hours were, “I think you should go for it!” (My inner battle again.. “Yea, but… I haven’t told Cory… or my Dad… wonder what they’ll say?” (ps, Momma always knows best)
3:00pm- Cory leaves for a long golf vacation to Pinehurst, NC (this is the place he dreams of at night) and I just couldn’t (really, I couldn’t) spring this on him before his trip. So I prepare to wait. And I pray. And I think to myself… “wellllll…. If we did decide to do this, we would need a FAB picture of us like Tiffany and her hubby had on their page…” Well low and behold, my sweet friend (& best photographer on this entire beach), wrote me saying she wanted to snap pics of the hubs and I in exchange for some quilt work. My inner self then said, “Say what?! You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me. No way. Get outta town. Really?! God… seriously, I’m pretty sure this is You… I hear ya, … but I should probably run this by Cory first, right?!”
Saturday, 11/9/13: My Dad popped in for a visit. I tell him the whole, long, drawn out story of Wednesday… and he simply said, “Go for it.”
–Okay, 2 down; 1 to go.
Sunday, 11/10/13: Cory returns. All hyped up on what Pinehurst is / and what it stands for to him. How he feels if running through his veins. He talks on and on about Payne Stewart, while my inner self is saying, “I couldn’t possibly kill his buzz, could I? No… Just tell him you wanna talk about something, and Monday will be fine.”
Monday, 11/11/13: 5:15am: My journal notes- 1) As we remain steadfast and unmovable on the ground of faith, we will see in perfect manifestation what we are believing for. 2) It is when we are at the end of our own resources that we can enter into the riches of God’s resources! 3) Each time you disassociate from the ego, you’re led to remember that your purpose is to heal your mind so you can help others. 4) For the sake of my peace and the peace of the world, I choose LOVE! ❤
8:00am: Cory is ready ‘to talk.’ I approach this subject very carefully, pulling out my journal and everything… giving him the whole, long, drawn out story of the previous Wednesday. To my surprise, he sits all ears (to those of you who KNOW Cory… yes, that really happened!) and after my 30 or so minutes of explanations, and “God winks,” he simply says, “Why not, we could try it.” My inner self continues its rant, “But, but … what?! Say what? What was that? Let’s do it?? Oh. He said yes. Oh. Ok, so now what? Do we really do this?! Now?! Seriously?! Okay then… yea, let’s do this. I can TOTALLY do this. Hmmph.”
My inner self was having a time.. “(hyperventilate, hyperventilate, hyperventilate…) I just don’t know if I can do this. So, God? I can still pray on this a little, right? Ya know, work my nerve up to tell the world? You got my back, don’t You?!”
*I’m backtracking a little here… Hey, I never promised this would be in chronological order! 🙂
Wednesday, 4/20/11; 3:15pm- A little less than two whole days before my 30th birthday and I was strangely excited to enter my 30’s… I just knew that the next decade had a lot in store. My doctor called with news I just wasn’t expecting. There was a reason why we had not gotten pregnant in the past 3 years of trying. We would need to see a specialist. He rattled off some numbers and statistics, and phone numbers, but all I heard was my inner self, “No… no way. Not us. This can’t be right. Something’s wrong.” We hung up, and then I called my Momma, and completely broke down. Typing this, I go back to that day. Me crying, my Momma trying to calm me down, saying it would be okay, and that everything would work out, how I had to trust God’s timing… all while her heart was breaking harder, simply because mine was.
I felt like I had lost someone that I’d never even known… never even felt or held… never even seen… but still, someone that I had wanted and loved with my whole being. My heart was broken… and I hadn’t even told Cory “the news.”
There’s way too much to tell between now and then, and I’ll spare y’all of all that… But in short, we drove hours to see doctors, had multiple tests and procedures, got pricked too many times to count, spent thousands of dollars, stressed over bills, cried, fought, stressed over “why,” and cried more… until finally, we hit our knees.
We prayed, and prayed, and prayed some more. We knew we didn’t have the money to afford IVF + the extra surgery our case would require + icsi (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection), all totaling about 25K.
It’s been a long, hard road to where we are now… but, honestly, I’m grateful for this experience (I know, sounds nuts!) But really… Cory and I are stronger and closer now because of it. And we both KNOW with all of our hearts that this was exactly in God’s plans for us. We sometimes drift off into the land of “what might’of been” and realize that we probably wouldn’t be where we are today had all of this not happened to us. My business (that I’m soooo in love with) probably would’ve never even existed, and I feel that I’m doing exactly what God put me here to do! We probably wouldn’t have our cute little house (perfect for us, baby, and his or her 3 furry siblings!), and we definitely wouldn’t be as strong as we are together in this very moment of our lives. The love, prayers, financial & emotional support, encouragement and advice from our families have been immeasurable, and we would not be able to take this next step without them.
I do want to tell y’all, our faith is larger than a whole bushel of mustard seeds… and we have not given up hope in a natural miracle! We’ve heard the stories, read the books, and even seen the babies that prove our God is never to be underestimated! But I know… this was His answer right now for us, and we wouldn’t dare ignore it (no matter how hard this is for my very loud inner self!). We are excited for this journey, and to know we’re using God’s direction is so comforting.
On that very hot day we said ‘I do’ back in August of 2005, we would’ve never guessed this is where we’d be now. For the ups, downs… and everything in between, we are truly grateful. So many amazing experiences and opportunities have come our way, and we know we are blessed. I fall in love more with Cory every day, and I’m so proud of the man he is and to call him my husband. I know he’s going to be the best Daddy there ever was! I’ve kept a journal to our baby since the time we found out “the news”… and when I look back at it now, through all the tears, all the heartache, all the disappointments… all I see is love. Our little miracle is loved so much by so many already, and he or she hasn’t even been conceived in the flesh. We know God is holding on to His child for now, and when He’s ready… He’ll send the Martin’s their little miracle.
Wednesday, 12/11/13: 5:15am- Just another average day for me (except my inner self has a crazy case of the butterflies!) and my studied scripture today is John 6:30. Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me.” My journal notes- 1) God has a great place for us, so that His will may be done and we may be subject to His perfect will. 2) God has a way beyond all your ways of thought. He has a plan for you. 3) Ask in faith, doubting nothing. 4) God wants you to be blessed so that you will be a blessing.
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read our story. For sharing it with your friends (maybe we’ll inspire someone who’s going through it like Tiffany & Frank did for us), and for donating if you’re completely able to. But most of all… Thank you for your prayers!
Love, the Martins ❤

UPDATE 12/30/13:

Thank you so much for your generous donation! You’ll never know how much your kind words and huge heart means to us! Something that’s seemed so far away for so long is now in clear sight… Thank you for that! You’ve given us a small piece to our greatest gift imaginable, and we can’t wait to see what God does next! ❤ Our hearts are full of love for you! So many thanks, blessings, and a very happy new year to you and your family!
Love, the Martins 🙂