Tag: YouVersion

hope - a healthy habit

She Got Through It By Living On Borrowed Hope — You Can Too

Posted on by Evangeline

Have you ever borrowed anything from a friend because you had completely run out of that item? It’s nice to know that when you’re in a pinch, someone is kind enough to share what they have to make up for what you don’t.

Amazingly, if you feel like you have completely run out of hope, you can borrow some of it too! That’s what a friend did as she struggled with infertility. You can read a portion of her story of victory here.

What I’d like to share about her story that you won’t read in her blog is something she recently said to me while we attended an event. She told me that before she met me, she had been reading my Bible reading plan about fertility on YouVersion. It had been a source of hope for her during a dark time in her life. She considered it a source of “borrowed hope” because she had simply run out it. She didn’t want desperation and bitterness to overtake her. As a believer in Christ, she knew she had to keep hope alive within her… somehow. Borrowing hope from the Biblical accounts of those 8 women in my reading plan helped her maintain hope until she eventually experienced victory and gave birth to a son.

Seeing how others experience victory should prompt us to feel hopeful, not envious or pitiful. When we make a decision to celebrate the victory of others…when we remain determined to have a positive mindset…when we choose to believe that what God has done for others He will do for us… we can live life hope-filled.

Borrowed hope from the victorious experiences of others may be what you need in order to get through the struggle. Or maybe their experiences can serve to boost the hope you’ve forced yourself to maintain.

Either way, today, make the choice to rest in knowing that God loves you and ALWAYS keep His promises.

It’ll make the struggle easier.

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day 2016 – It’s a Good Day to Make it a Good Day

Posted on by Evangeline

This is a revised reprint of a previous Mother’s Day post. My thoughts about how to deal with the emotions this day brings haven’t changed so I thought I’d share it again. I hope it encourages you!

When I was on the frontline of the battle against infertility, Mother’s Day was difficult to celebrate. Of course, I honored my own mother but something inside me yearned for the ability to celebrate it with my own child.

I wanted to experience pregnancy. I wanted to watch my tummy grow. I wanted to feel the baby kicking and moving inside of me. I wanted to be the one who could console my child when no one else could. But it wasn’t happening…

Getting Through Mother’s Day

Thankfully, I had a husband who was understanding and got me through the Day without tears (he was good at distracting me and making me laugh). And I had a mother who encouraged me to never give up hope.

“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Even though Dr. King was referring to the Civil Rights struggle, it is applicable to this personal struggle of dealing with childlessness. With infertility, the finite disappointment rolls around on a monthly basis, but don’t allow it to make you lose hope in God’s promises of fertility. Don’t let the doctor’s diagnosis make you lose hope for having a child. There’s a spiritual enemy, the devil, that would love for you to give up on Jesus–don’t let him win. Hope is what gets us through the tough times. Always base your hope on Jesus’ for love you. I overcame infertility because I did not lose hope…I did not give up on God’s promises.

Childlessness can drain you emotionally, if you let it. It can sink you into great despair, if you let it. I encourage you to find creative ways to maintain ongoing, infinite hope. Choose to make the Day a good day.

Stay in the Word…allow Jesus’ love to speak to you through it. Need some suggestions for some applicable verses to read? There are plenty of them included in my YouVersion Infertility Bible Reading Plan.

If you’re in the throes of infertility, how difficult is this day for you? Where is your focus?

I encourage you to look to Jesus. Make Him the object of your focus. It’s the promises of fertility found in Him–the Word–that can keep you hope-filled!

Looking away from all that will distract us and focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy of accomplishing the goal set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
[revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work]. ~Hebrews 12:2 Amplified Bible

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Spiritual Tools :: YouVersion Infertility Bible Reading Plan

Posted on by Evangeline

I have a YouVersion tool that you might find helpful.

It’s a Bible Reading Plan specifically for women struggling with infertility. You can easily access it on your phone, tablet, computer, and maybe even your watch! 🙂
YouVersion_logoREV
My infertility Bible reading plan is free on the YouVersion site. It includes applicable scriptures for the season of infertility as well as  brief biographies of women who struggled with infertility and overcame it. You’ll also find some great affirmations to use as you encourage yourself by speaking life to your life. It’s always good to be able to have a go-to resource when you need some encouragement.

Check it out:https://www.bible.com/search/plans?q=infertility.

Bonus tool:

The Appendix of my book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, is full of multiple scriptures that will give you a good start in addressing the spiritual aspect of infertility. I hope you’ll keep it handy and use it daily to encourage yourself by using God’s Word.

YouVersion Infertility Reading Plan

Posted on by Evangeline

YouVersion_logoREV

Last year I announced that my submission for an infertility reading plan on the YouVersion website had been approved. Here’s a snippet from that post:

Recently, I received a request from a reader to write a Bible study plan that specifically addresses infertility and post it on the YouVersion Bible website. [According to their website, “YouVersion is a simple, ad-free Bible that brings God’s Word into your daily life,” via your phone, tablet or computer.]

Because I know how much enlightenment comes from reading the Bible, I thought it was a wonderful idea and followed up on that suggestion.

I’m glad to say that I submitted a proposal to YouVersion and they have approved it!

To say the least, I am very excited about providing this resource to bring hope to those in the midst of infertility and to encourage people around the world that infertility is not too hard for the Lord! (Genesis 8:14)

 

YouVersion Plan
Image courtesy of Vectorgirl | Fotolia

Well, I’m THRILLED to tell you that the plan will go live on the YouVersion site on Thursday, April 10, 2014! Woo Hoo!! Presently, it will be the ONLY reading plan on that site that addresses infertility. Thanks so much to the reader who suggested I provide the plan [you know who you are :)].

I hope this plan is only the first of many that I’ll be able to provide through this wonderful Bible app.

If you haven’t already downloaded the YouVersion app, get it now. I’ll update you soon with more details.

Sharing My YouVersion Plan

Posted on by Evangeline

Recently, I received a request from a reader to write a Bible study plan that specifically addresses infertility and post it on the YouVersion Bible website.  [According to their website, “YouVersion is a simple, ad-free Bible that brings God’s Word into your daily life,” via your phone, tablet or computer.] YouVersion_logoREV

Because I know how much enlightenment comes from reading the Bible, I thought it was a wonderful idea and followed up on that suggestion.

I’m glad to say that I submitted a proposal to YouVersion and they have approved it! I must now craft a reading plan for them to upload to their site.

Would you please give me some input as to what you would like to have in a Bible reading plan about infertility? Would you want a scriptural guide outlining hope-filled verses to read on a daily, every-other-day, or weekly basis? Or would you prefer a plan that provides devotions for you to read in addition to the verses? Please let me know your preference (and other ideas) in the comments section below. Also, I would appreciate your prayers as I compose this plan. Thank you!

I will let you know when the plan is available for you and others to access on YouVersion. To say the least, I am very excited about providing this resource to bring hope to those in the midst of infertility  and to encourage people around the world that infertility is not too hard for the Lord! (Genesis 8:14)