Happy New Year and welcome to 2019!!! I’m so excited to see what this year holds. To be completely honest, this is the first year in a long time that I feel a sense of contentment with the outgoing year and excitement for the year to come.
In 2018, I was able to birth a dream that was placed inside of me while traveling this road of infertility. The Lord showed loving kindness as He revealed the plan piece by piece. The beginning unfolded in 2014 while I was in ministry school with my husband, Rodney. The conclusion of our first year of study included a plan for ministry. We were challenged to identify an area of concentration and a vision for its implementation. I knew nothing else but that I would serve to ‘help the hurting and to heal the broken’.
As I grew spiritually, I gained the necessary tools to help me on this journey and I was able to approach the ups and downs of infertility with a firm foundation. In 2017, I attended a Women’s Retreat with Grace Christian Church. More information on this year’s retreat is available at gracesterling.com Now this in and of itself isn’t really anything groundbreaking; I grew up attending Christian retreats. But, I had a different expectation for this meeting.
The Holy Spirit impressed upon my heart that I would find out that I was pregnant on this retreat. I was so excited that I had this inside information from such a reliable source. What I had been waiting and praying for was really on the way! While enjoying the fellowship and services, my monthly cycle began. Needless to say, I was disappointed yet again.
But, in that last service, the word of the Holy Spirit came to pass. After Pastor Joy Weinzierl ministered her morning message, she shared her heart about a personal victory she had won. She testimony was filled with transparency and victory and it spoke directly to my heart. In that moment, I knew that my journey was pregnant with the opportunity to help and to heal.
I left that retreat with hope. I had more information about my purpose but only enough to guide my next steps. I imagine it was the equivalent of finding out the sex of your baby… lol You know you’ve got somebody growing on the inside of you. But now you know a little more about who it is. Hope In Fertility was what was growing inside of me. This year I gave birth to this miracle!
I know I’ve got so much to learn about ministry and how to effectively reach those I seek to serve. But, I’m over the moon about taking this inspired idea and following through with it! I know that the Lord will continue to lead and guide me to accomplish all that He has purposed for this work. Just knowing that I’m in His will, gives me hope about my future.
This contentment showed up throughout the holiday season. We typically enjoy every Holiday gathering away from home and we simply saw no need for decorations in our home. Not to mention that without children running around, who was going to complain. This year was different. I felt that even with just the two of us, we deserved a tree. My obedience inspired peace and that peace inspired joy!
My next steps? Planning a National Infertility Awareness Week event here in Detroit! I’m seeking to increase awareness for those who walk this road and offer encouragement and hope along the way. And I know that is plan is already blessed. God promised it in Deuteronomy 28:1-6 NIV.
1 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
I’m looking at 2019 and leaping forward! I could literally do a dance and sing to the top of my lungs! On the other hand, I still have to shrug my shoulders when I think about motherhood. Will we adopt? Maybe… Could I see myself pursuing some kind of additional medical treatment? I can’t say. Will I continue to seek ways to offer hope? Absolutely!!!
HOPE-Filled Thought: Greater is coming!
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that your ways are not my ways and that your thoughts are not my thoughts. I trust you and I give you permission to have your way in me. I know that you do all things well and you will restore all things. I go into 2019 with expectation and I receive it with joy and it is so. Amen!
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