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!
Two years ago this month, I released my first “real” book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, a devotional that encourages women and gives tips about how to have hope during infertility.
I was totally new to being an author. Writing it was a labor of love. It was a result of a long incubation period, repeatedly mulling over what I should say in it. Releasing it was a birthing process filled with anxiety, stress, and self-doubt. And yet, when I finally let it go into the digital meatgrinder of Smashwords.com and into the mouth of the online behemoth Amazon, I felt so relieved!
Here’s what a reader/fellow blogger thinks about A Seed of Hope:
“Thank you so much for your encouragement! I could send you a thank you card every day of the week for how much your testimony and faith has helped me.”
[ Elisha at www.waitingforbabybird ]
April 21-26, 2014 will be National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW), sponsored by RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association.I’d like to celebrate my book release anniversary and NIAW by sending you a signed copy of A Seed of Hope. You can order it via PayPal–click here. A portion of the proceeds from your purchase will be donated to RESOLVE., an organization that educates and advocates on behalf of those struggling with infertility.
If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. Feel free to leave your comment below or on Amazon.
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!
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did bless us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3 (YLT)
Image courtesy of criminalatt / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Have you gotten caught up in the Madness? Did you do a bracket hoping to win the $1,000,000,000 contest?
There are only 16 teams left to play for the college basketball championship so I thought I’d share this previous March Madness post with you.
I enjoy watching basketball games. It was especially fun to watch when my 2 sons played at the YMCA and later for their high school teams. Whenever the college basketball tournament, known as March Madness, rolls around, I get excited. At the very beginning of the 3-week tournament, I print out the bracket sheet that shows all the team match-ups. I like to use it to predict (more like guess!) who’ll be the winner of each game and the overall champion at the end. It’s fun, especially when my husband and children develop their own bracket sheet to predict winners because we can compare who made the best guesses as the tournament progresses. Of course, whatever we predict at the beginning does not have to necessarily come to pass by the end of the tournament.
This is slightly similar to how God does things. He declares the end of things from the very beginning, except of course, what He says ALWAYS comes to pass, it is not a guess. Isaiah 46:9, 10 states, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.'”
I’m grateful we can count on God’s ability to always perform what He has promised. His words are power-filled and He has spoken so that we can experience his best. His faithfulness is truly a blessing for which to be thankful because He has made a way, through Jesus, for every believer to be a champion in life by maintaining confidence in His promises and predictions.
What promises of God do you declare and count on Him to perform on your behalf?
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.
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!
It’s my pleasure to have Lisha Epperson bless you with her unique way of inspiring you to have hope– to wait with expectancy. Thanks Lisha for being my guest!
It was Christmas and the long drive out to southern New Jersey made my legs cramp and tingle. I jumped out of my seat, folding arms around my most valued possession. That year, I was happy. That year, I had a baby to hold. I made a beeline for the entrance. Making my way to my brothers’ always open door, I trudged through fresh fallen snow.
Cold rushed in behind me but couldn’t compete with their cozy home. I pushed the door shut with my free arm and enjoyed the heart warming feeling of family…of home. Surrounded by faces I love, I looked up to see my sister-in-law coming down the stairs. She had just given birth to their third child…a boy. And I had forgotten the particular sting a new baby brings to a woman who cannot birth her own children. I was in love with my son and in so many ways fulfilled, when I remembered. Adoption isn’t a cure for infertility. It healed my hurt but didn’t cure the longing.
She held him over her shoulder swaddled in a thin tan blanket. I could smell him. Before she reached me I imagined the softness of his skin, the tender curl of his hair. I wasn’t done. The longing was intense and moved me to hopeful, happy tears. I lowered my eyes to hide tears I could never explain. That night I knew there’d be another baby in my world. And so began another season of waiting.
This season of waiting would be different though. I’d learned how to do it.
Winter is for waiting.
It’s cold and NYC is covered in a blanket of snow. Outside, several inches cling to over-laden leaves and branches. They bend, giving in and to the weight of their unexpected burden.
But it’s beautiful and important. The shimmering softness and powdery glitter tell stories of an airy wonderland. It feels magical and weightless. But tiny leaves and thin branches have another story to tell. They’re holding on.
Look closely. Each snowflake under a veil of uniformity is unique. And today’s snow fall won’t look the same tomorrow. In fact, each storm is new and will never come again. Winter is a perpetual pause, a forced interruption before the wild rush of spring. Winter wills us to wait in expectancy. A tender shoot. A fragile twig, the elusive bud. Winter demands….spring.
It’s broken, brittle and cracks. Lulled by this cyclical suspension, winter forces us inside. We crave shelter, a covering and protection from danger. We retreat to prepare for the hopeful promise of spring. But first we wait.
Winter is a season of waiting. Powdery hills and drifts camouflage life. And bare trees crush optimism. Winter covers or strips…either way, our view is obstructed and we find it hard to see.
Winter is hard not hopeless.
Winter tests our faith…because the promise of spring comes with this truth. Not every tree will bloom. Not every bud will blossom. But we’re born to believe and winter makes us wrestle. We long for a faith that’s whole. Desperate to believe, we settle in to let God do the work….mending the cracks in our fragmented faith. In winter, we swallow the word whole and simply, beautifully…TRUST.
That winter was different. That winter I embraced the quiet. I didn’t worry about the wait.
The stillness and silence of a world gone cold is perfect for restoration. Before the breakthrough we’d do well to replenish. It’s the ideal time to renew our faith…to prepare our hearts to again…BELIEVE.
Winter is for wisdom. Let’s use it wisely.
Lisha Epperson writes the stories of her life on the couch , in the car or at the kitchen table. She scratches out bits and pieces of joy and lessons learned while homeschooling 4 children she affectionately calls the Lovelies…..usually with a cold cup of coffee nearby. It isn’t easy to carve out a modern Christian lifestyle in NYC but that’s what she’s doing. Lisha is passionate about marriage, motherhood, nutrition and her Christian faith. She makes room for her journey through infertility and adoption and shares a warrior song about this experience as an encouragement to women at www.seespeakhearmama.com. In other travels Lisha was a ballet dancer and clothing designer. She is currently in the process of launching Epperson Design Studio featuring stationery, crafts and clothing.
Nothing– no problem, no trouble, no struggle in your life — is too hard for God’s powerful love to solve or change.
This is a video of Israel Houghton singing about taking the limits off of God. Advance this video to the 8:30 frame to see the encouraging exhortation from Tudor Bismarck about nothing being too hard for God.
Love brings joyful satisfaction!
