Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us…”
Romans 5:5 NLT
If you’re in Arizona this weekend, join me for the RESOLVE Walk of Hope.
It’s an easy walk around Eldorado Park in Scottsdale, AZ that takes 30-45 minutes to complete.
Registration will begin at 8:00 AM and the Walk begins at 9:00AM.
There will be lots of fun activities for everyone to enjoy! The Arizona Walk of Hope is pet-friendly. Bring your dog to join the walk and enter the fur-baby costume contest. There’s also a moon bounce, massage booth, and more! All Walk activities will be completed by 11:00AM.
The Walk of Hope will raise funds that will support local programming, public awareness initiatives, and advocacy efforts to ensure that all family building options are available to all.
The weather should be beautiful!
I’ll be at the Authors Table sharing my books, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, and Infertility Sucks! How to Maintain Hope in Your Marriage During Infertility. Please stop by and introduce yourself. I’d love to meet you, encourage you, and give you gift.
Today’s post is courtesy of Lisa, a blogger who has a personal connection to the stress and strain of infertility. She gives us an honest look at choosing to have and maintain hope. Be encouraged as she shares from her heart. Thank you Lisa for being my guest!
I don’t “do” hope very well.
Intellectually and academically, I believe God has His perfect plan for me, He desires to bless me, and He has impeccable timing.
But if I’m honest with myself, my heart doesn’t really absorb it all. Most of time I don’t feel hopeful expectation; I feel resignation. Fear of disappointment and fear of pain holds me back from experiencing true hope.
After I became aware of this, God has two different sources to send me little nuggets of encouragement and truth to counteract my fear.
The first nugget came from a book I recently reviewed (http://amateurnester.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-review-sweet-side-of-suffering.html) called The Sweet Side of Suffering by M. Esther Lovejoy. The book focuses on the blessings that come out of suffering, and she touches on the topics of fear and resignation. She says:
“At times of suffering we have three choices: We can rebel against what has happened to us and become angry and bitter. We can resign ourselves to the inevitable with a sense of helplessness. Or we can yield to the purposes of a loving heavenly Father and discover the sweetness in that surrender.”
As I read that quote, I knew the Lord was speaking directly to me. I had been choosing resignation.
The second nugget came when a friend suggested that I don’t need to force myself to feel hopeful every day, all day. Rather, I can think of hope as an article I can put on and take off at-will. The idea is to practice putting on hope daily, even if it’s just for a few moments. She even encouraged me to buy a special sweater, scarf, or pair of socks and literally put it on for a few minutes every day while I practice “putting on” hope.
When I told the same friend that I avoid the baby section in Target because it feels so foreign and makes me cry, she encouraged me to practice putting on hope while walking through the racks of tiny clothes and cute socks. I am not a failure if the tears come. I’m merely fighting for hope. I tried this the other day, and the tears came indeed, but I felt powerful because I knew I had chosen the experience.
I guess what I’m learning is that I can choose to be hopeful. I can choose to expect God’s blessings. It may feel awkward or unnatural sometimes, but hope is not a feeling that randomly falls upon certain people and ignores others.
It is something we must work towards and choose.
Lisa writes about her infertility journey and shares encouraging stories at http://AmateurNester.blogspot.com.
Monday’s Marinade is provided to you as a means of “soaking yourself” in the hope-filled Word of God at the beginning of your week. Start your week by meditating (thinking and muttering to yourself) on this Word. Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
Here’s your spiritual Marinade for this week:
Image of marinade from Caviartaste.wordpress.com.
Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
The folks at Smashwords are putting on a reading celebration! For one week, from March 2, 2014 until March 8, 2014, you will find many titles available for discounted pricing or for FREE during their Read an Ebook Week promotion.
I’m happy to say that my book, Infertility Sucks!, will be available for FREE for the entire week! Lots of other authors will have their books available through this promotion so now’s the time to stock up on new or favorite titles.
Infertility Sucks! will help any couple who is struggling with infertility, to strengthen their marriage and to nurture and increase their hope. It is a great follow up to my devotional, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility. So if you haven’t gotten your copy of Infertility Sucks! or, if you’d like to gift it to someone, use the coupon code TN72Q when you checkout. Remember, this pricing is available only on Smashwords.com and you can use the coupon to get Infertility Sucks! for FREE through next Saturday, March 8th.
Once you’ve read Infertility Sucks!, please let me know what you think of it by leaving a review on Smashwords or a comment here on my blog.
Thanks, and happy reading!
Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
Do you know the power of your words?
Do you know the power of God’s words?
They can be one in the same, IF you’re saying what God said about your circumstances in His Word, the Bible.
Our words have the creative power of death and life (Proverbs 18:21). We get to choose whether they will be words of blessing or of cursing (Deuteronomy 30:19; James 3:10).
May I suggest that everyday, you choose to speak words of life and blessing? You may be thinking, “OK, but HOW do I do that?”
Find scriptures that promise what you need and then continually speak them, meditate on them, visualize yourself enjoying those promises of what you need or desire. Then you’ll be automatically speaking life and blessing because that’s all that God’s Word contains (John 6:63).
So no matter what your challenge is, whether it’s infertility, marital issues, finances, health, etc., remember to believe and say what God has said about it.
Yeah…what He said.
During the Winter Olympics, will you be mindful that you too are a winner? And you didn’t even have to compete!
Your victory is in Jesus; therefore you are forever a victor, never a victim.
Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
