Tag: fertility

SPEAK UP and Tell Hell NO!

Faith Speaks
Photo courtesy of Microsoft Images

Most people find it easy to say “Hell No”. It slips off the tongue without even thinking about it. But there’s a time when saying “Hell No” is not cursing/cussing. It’s the time when you need to get the minions of Hell off your back and repudiate their authority within your circumstances.

I’ve learned the importance of feeling comfortable/bold to tell someone, “No.” If I don’t say “No” to the things I don’t want or to the things that could unnecessarily consume a lot of my time and energy, I get frustrated, stressed, and regretful that I ever allowed the “thing” into my life. I’ve learned it’s okay to say, “No.” That one little word is a complete sentence— it does not require an explanation to follow it.

Learning to tell Hell “No” is crucially important. The best way to do so is by using the Word of God to frame your responses to the things Hell sends your way. Anything that Hell sends is of the Curse. Those things are not what God wants for us to experience. Jesus died to redeem us from the Curse so that we could have a life filled with God’s good and perfect gifts. This means that He freed believers from the punishments and dominion of the Mosaic Law (curse) at the price of his vicarious death. He suffered in our place. He satisfied the requirement of our eternal death so that we wouldn’t have to. Because of Him, we are free to live in the abundance of God’s grace. Grace is God’s favor; it’s His goodwill, blessing, and preferential treatment toward us.

Which category do you think infertility, sickness, disease, poverty, dysfunctional relationships, etc., would fall in— Grace or Curse?

grace or curse - tell hell no

How would you frame your response of “No” to those thoughts and circumstances that Hell sends your way? Jesus gave us the best examples of how to do it. His reply to Satan’s tactics always incorporated what God had spoken through His written words (Matthew 4:4-10). Jesus also gave instruction to not remain silent in the midst of trying times. He said that we are to speak to the mountain (Mark 11:23). The “mountain” is that thing that has raised its ugly head from the pit of Hell and is attempting to sabotage or block God’s good plan for our lives.

Speak up and tell Hell, “No!” Speak up using the Word of God and your praises to Him to silence the enemy and make him impotent in your life (Psalm 8:2).

After all, if you don’t do it, who will?

Monday’s Marinade – Refuse Anxiety

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 on this Word about refusing anxiety. God desires for you to trust Him and experience the HABIT of resting in Him. Repeatedly think about this scripture and quietly say it to yourself.  Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!

Here’s your spiritual marinade for this week:

Monday' Marinade - Anxiety

 

Hope Against Hope

Hope--H.O.P.E.

Hope begins in the midst of darkness and never gives up!

Hope is defined as a joyful and confident expectation of good. [Source: Thayer’s Lexicon]

I like to think of hope as:

Having

Only

Positive

Expectations

In this acrostic, “positive” not only means the opposite of negative, it also means confident/fully assured. Therefore, each day you can choose to have a confident expectation of something good coming your way to bring you out of this season of infertility.

The prophet Jeremiah is a case study for how to maintain hope. Consistently recalling what his enemy had done to him caused Jeremiah to get deeply depressed. His mind and emotions were not at peace and he even became oblivious to anything good (Lamentations 3). But, when he chose to recall the good things God had done, he was filled with hope, confidence, and expectancy.

Practice H.O.P.E. daily! Make the choice to recall the good that God has already done in your life. Remember that He is always with you, making Himself available to do you good.

The account of Abraham & Sarah overcoming infertility is referenced in Romans 4 and tells of how he had a steadfast, firm hope in God’s promises. Verse 18 says that he “hoped against hope.” The phrase “hope against hope” means to continue to have hope even though the present outlook doesn’t warrant it. He kept looking for the manifestation of God’s promise of a child.

Give yourself permission to be like Abraham– keep your hope alive even though your natural circumstances may not warrant having hope. When you get tired of waiting, God is still right there to help you continue on. As you trust in Him and His goodness, it becomes easier to maintain and overflow in hope.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Romans 15:13 (NLT)

Will you choose to refuse despair and move toward victory each day?

[This post includes an excerpt from my book, Infertility Sucks!]

More on Follow Through

Follow thru rockEarlier this month, I shared that I want to follow through on the things I need to do, for myself, my family and for you. This is a component of my effort to finish strong in 2014.

September is more than half over so I thought I’d let you know how things are going for me.

 

follow through- Falcon CrestI followed through on surprising my husband for his birthday with a trip to the cool pines of Payson, AZ for a weekend. He loved it! It was worth the torment of wanting to tell him all about the plans I was making but not being able to so that I could wake him up and say, “Pack a bag! I’m taking you away for the weekend.” It was our first time staying at a Bed & Breakfast. The Falcon Crest B&B was wonderful and the owners, Al and Linda, made it a very special time for us with their hospitality. As you can see, Linda baked a birthday cake for him!

 

Another big item that I needed to get done in September was my iHope Fertility Game Plan Teleseminar. I hosted the call on last Saturday. It was thrilling that over 35 people signed up for the call! If you were one of those ladies, I hope you got lots of encouragement.

On that call, I invited everyone to checkout my new online course, 50 Days of Unleashing Fertility Hope. To get the details about your opportunity to decrease the stress of infertility and increase your hope, click HERE.

Planning this course has been a joy for me because I know that it will help those who choose to use it.

50 Days of Unleashing Fertility Hope

I hope that you’ll see the benefit of taking advantage of this opportunity to:

  • Decrease the level of stress you experience everyday using specific tools I’ll share
  • Incorporate a daily strategy that can help you put worry on the run
  • Remove doubt caused by infertility’s mind-chatter
  • Anchor yourself in hope so you don’t give up
  • Focus on receiving the promised benefits of God

I’m SO glad I followed through on this desire to bring a course to you that you can access 24/7 AND have the opportunity to have weekly coaching calls.

Check it out

 

Right now, I’m about to follow through on getting a few smaller things checked off of my To Do list (like washing the dishes). 🙂

Praying that you’ve been able to do some follow through, especially on things that are important to you.

On what one thing that you still need to follow through?

Focus Friday – No Barrenness

Focus on this scripture throughout the day. Be comforted knowing that barrenness is not what God desires for you. God’s desire is for you to experience a fruitful, abundant life– in your body and in ALL areas of your life.  Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth.  Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day.

Focus Friday- No Barrenness

Fertility Teleseminar is Tomorrow!

iHope Fertility Game Plan Teleseminar

Do you struggle with maintaining hope in God’s promises during infertility?

I’m excited that tomorrow, Saturday, 9/13/14, I will host a teleseminar for women dealing with infertility. You can access this fertility teleseminar simply by using your phone. During the call, I’ll share a blueprint that will help you to effectively address the spiritual aspect of infertility. I hope you’ll join me for this time of encouragement and prayer. Your access to the call is FREE.

This call will help you learn crucial strategies to:

  • Transform your despair into hope
  • Release your stress
  • Know God’s Truth as your truth
  • Activate your faith

Get access to this free call HERE.

Infertility's roller coaster
Are you riding infertility’s roller coaster?

If you’re tired of being on the drops, curves, and loops of infertility’s emotional roller coaster, this call is for you.

If you’re feeling like God has forgotten you, this call is for you.

If you’re about to give up on God coming through for you, this call is for you.

If you’re walking strong in your faith, but need a little pep added to your step, this call is for you.

 

 

I’m looking forward to sharing with you some very simple and easy, yet crucial keys that can help you if you put them into action.

Join me on the call; it’s absolutely FREE.

It’s not too late to share this post with friends who are in the season of infertility. Let’s encourage as many people as we can!

Click here to get the call’s dial-in details.

I’ll “see” you and your friends TOMORROW! 🙂

Monday’s Marinade – Wisdom

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 on this Word about how He has gifted you with wisdom. Repeatedly think about it and quietly say it to yourself.  Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!

Here’s your spiritual marinade for this week:

Monday's Marinade Eph 1-8

Follow Through–My F-Word for September

Two months ago, I shared with you that there were certain F-words that I would use to help me finish strong in 2014.

In July, my F-word was Fellowship. My goal was to increase my commitment to fellowship and communicate with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to influence my life on a daily basis. I wanted to build upon my relationship with Him and enjoy Him more.

In August, my F-word was Focus. My goal was to decrease the level of attention I gave to the distractions of life and to increase my attention to the benefits that come as a result of “looking to Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Distractions serve one purpose —  to divert your attention from what and who you really need.

Now that it’s September,  my F-Word will be Follow Through. My intention is to follow through on the goals I’ve set. I’ve decided to look at my goals as promises I’ve made to myself  rather than just a wish on paper. I don’t like to break a promise so this little tweak should help me get the follow through done. I also want to follow through on whatever Holy Spirit gently whispers to me to do each day, trusting that His way is the best way.

Follow Through - F-word
My F-word card for September

I write these F-word cards and keep the current month’s card on my desk so that I’ll remember what the target is. This also helps me to remain committed to the process!

My two key scriptures for this month are:

 “ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. Think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”

Proverbs 3:5,6 RSV and HCSB

AND

“Commit your actions to the LORDand your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 NLT

What are some things you do that help you follow through and live with integrity? How does trusting God play a role in your follow through?

Sharing my F-word journey/experiment with you really gives me a sense of accountability, which most times, spurs me on to action. So thanks for holding me accountable to “follow through” this month!

Some of you found it helpful to join me in August and challenged yourself to FOCUS. It would be much appreciated (and motivating to me) if you’d leave a comment about how that went for you.

If you haven’t already, I’d love it if you would  join me in this challenge of following through on what you’ve committed to do or on what would bring about a blessing in your life. Just make a decision to do so (which means cutting off all other options and excuses). Then, let me know you’ve joined the movement (below).

Yes, I’m joining the F-word movement!

Monday’s Marinade – Confidence and Hope

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 on this Word about having confidence in God’s faithfulness—His willingness to say, “YES” to His promises. Repeatedly think about it and quietly say it to yourself.  Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!

Here’s your spiritual marinade for this week:

Monday's Marinade Confidence

Focus Friday – God’s Word, Your Hammer

Focus on this scripture throughout the day. It’s about the pulverizing  power of God’s Word. It’s like a hammer; so use it by speaking it! It’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth.  Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day.

Focus Friday Hammer