Plus or Minus

Infertility—a long and quiet war...

Matt and Cheri Appling couldn’t get pregnant. One minus sign after another cast them into a long season of trying, failing, waiting, and hoping—into the wilderness where faith grew tired before it got stronger. And in that wilderness they wrote this book.    

A blend of story, reflection, and lament, Plus or Minus is the chronicle of three couples warring with infertility. It depicts life, faith, and love amidst the ebb and flow of gain and loss. Amidst empty nurseries and quiet hallways, another baby shower for someone else.

As you journey with the Applings and their friends, you will learn to cope when dreams and reality collide. You will learn to cling to God’s real promises even as you long for gifts he may not give. You will see marriage in sickness and in health and witness strength in weakness. You will see what it means to live fruitfully amidst barrenness and to be thankful in every season.

This book provides solace for those battling infertility and a window into their pain for those who aren’t. Poetic and raw, Plus or Minus is a portrait of faith in the trenches of infertility.