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I know you're all familiar with the phrase, "When it rains, it pours". I've been thinking of this phrase recently, as someone very dear to my heart has had one heck of a storm pouring in her life as of late. The irony of this is the fact that she was the one who most often comforted me during the seemingly-never-ending journey of trying to have a baby. She was the one who told me not to accept what the doctors told me, to truly rely on my faith and trust in God that He will provide that blessing in His perfect timing. Now, as I sit here at 31 weeks pregnant (okay, well 30 weeks and 6 days pregnant), I can't help but think back to how right she was. How important it was for me to truly stop looking at the natural, stop focusing on the storm that was raging around me, but instead to turn my face toward Heaven and focus on my Creator who does have my life in His hands.
The hard thing about that was the fact that it seemed like too much. "You don't know what it's like" ... "This is just too hard" ... "Maybe God has a different plan for me and I'm not supposed to be begging Him for a baby" ... "I just want to be able to cry and sit in self-pity for awhile; can't I be allowed to do that?!" These were some of the many negative thoughts that crossed through my mind during this time. If there is anything I have realized, it's the fact that the devil was trying to use those very thoughts to stir up doubt inside of me. How much of a party would the devil had been throwing if I had accepted defeat and decided that God really didn't have a baby in the picture for me? Every single day I'm praising God that He called out to me through this wonderful woman and He reminded me that my life is in His hands, that my blessings come in His timing and my trust needed to remain in Him alone.
I'm reminded of this battle I struggled through every time this beautiful baby boy kicks me from inside my stomach, and I can't help but rejoice at how great our God truly is!
Going back to this wonderful woman in my life ... it seems like she is in a place where the storms are completely raging around her, threatening to overtake her and her family, and maybe .. just maybe .. she's in that place where I was, feeling like it's almost too hard to place all of her trust in God. Maybe you're going through a storm that is similar, maybe you're feeling like God has potentially forgotten about you. I watched a sermon by Pastor Joel Osteen this past Sunday that I really feel was a fabulous message. He was speaking about how, when things in our life seem to be so bad and the struggles are so intense that we think we're going to be taken over by the storm, that's when we need to remember that God uses these situations to bring us to new levels with Him, and by fighting through the storm, we're headed to victory. He spoke of how the devil will easily leave us alone if we are making the decision to accept defeat and go with the flow of wherever this storm takes us. I think my favorite thing that he said was that the devil especially tries to interfere with your life when you become a threat to him. When God is lifting you up to new levels, the devil is going to try to plant that doubt in your mind that says you can't do it. My prayer is that you will have someone in your life to encourage you the way my friend encouraged me, and that in the end, you will come out victorious because you truly did put your trust in God and you laid your burdens at the foot of the cross.
It was because of my decision to do that very thing that I can look down today and no longer see my feet, because this baby is growing steadily inside of me - and that is one of the biggest blessings that God has ever given me!
If you have time, please take a moment and say a prayer for my friend and her family, that they will see God's direction through this journey and they will come out victorious in the end. I know that is my prayer for them, and I know they would appreciate those prayers from you as well!
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Don't forget that you have a new chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by BlogHer and Kellogg's. Just visit my review blog to enter!
The hard thing about that was the fact that it seemed like too much. "You don't know what it's like" ... "This is just too hard" ... "Maybe God has a different plan for me and I'm not supposed to be begging Him for a baby" ... "I just want to be able to cry and sit in self-pity for awhile; can't I be allowed to do that?!" These were some of the many negative thoughts that crossed through my mind during this time. If there is anything I have realized, it's the fact that the devil was trying to use those very thoughts to stir up doubt inside of me. How much of a party would the devil had been throwing if I had accepted defeat and decided that God really didn't have a baby in the picture for me? Every single day I'm praising God that He called out to me through this wonderful woman and He reminded me that my life is in His hands, that my blessings come in His timing and my trust needed to remain in Him alone.
I'm reminded of this battle I struggled through every time this beautiful baby boy kicks me from inside my stomach, and I can't help but rejoice at how great our God truly is!
Going back to this wonderful woman in my life ... it seems like she is in a place where the storms are completely raging around her, threatening to overtake her and her family, and maybe .. just maybe .. she's in that place where I was, feeling like it's almost too hard to place all of her trust in God. Maybe you're going through a storm that is similar, maybe you're feeling like God has potentially forgotten about you. I watched a sermon by Pastor Joel Osteen this past Sunday that I really feel was a fabulous message. He was speaking about how, when things in our life seem to be so bad and the struggles are so intense that we think we're going to be taken over by the storm, that's when we need to remember that God uses these situations to bring us to new levels with Him, and by fighting through the storm, we're headed to victory. He spoke of how the devil will easily leave us alone if we are making the decision to accept defeat and go with the flow of wherever this storm takes us. I think my favorite thing that he said was that the devil especially tries to interfere with your life when you become a threat to him. When God is lifting you up to new levels, the devil is going to try to plant that doubt in your mind that says you can't do it. My prayer is that you will have someone in your life to encourage you the way my friend encouraged me, and that in the end, you will come out victorious because you truly did put your trust in God and you laid your burdens at the foot of the cross.
It was because of my decision to do that very thing that I can look down today and no longer see my feet, because this baby is growing steadily inside of me - and that is one of the biggest blessings that God has ever given me!
If you have time, please take a moment and say a prayer for my friend and her family, that they will see God's direction through this journey and they will come out victorious in the end. I know that is my prayer for them, and I know they would appreciate those prayers from you as well!
--
Don't forget that you have a new chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by BlogHer and Kellogg's. Just visit my review blog to enter!
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