Praising God!

I am learning more and more each day the importance of praising and worshiping the Lord in the midst of my struggles. The harder things are the more praises I am going to offer up to my Lord! Amen!

Unnoticed Blessings

Yesterday I took Mikala to the fair and we road rides for 4 hours.  I was enjoying my day with her so much.  As I sat on a bench waiting for her to get done with a ride I was thinking about all that God has done for me.  Sometimes days and days go by and I am so wrapped up in life that I forget to notice the little big things like being able to walk, seeing the blue sky, hearing laughter of loved ones.  I was so blessed yesterday as I thought about how God notices everything I do and how it must have made Him smile to hear Mikala and I laughing .  We get so busy with life and so pre-occupied with what is “wrong” about our life that we forget that at the end of the day it is just us and our relationship with our Father that matters.

Comfort In Christ

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
-2 Corinthians 1:4

Empty Arms —- Heavy Load

It is so easy to become discouraged at times; especially during times like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day when it seems as though everyone else is joyously celebrating their parenthood and you are not quite sure where that leaves you and where you “fit in”. Discouragement comes when our prayers go seemingly unanswered. Every moment that passes without an answer is more painful than the last. This is the moment when we have to be careful; the moment we need to protect our hearts, protect our spirit with the Word of God. This is the moment where fear begins to creep in and faith begins to slip away. It is at this place where we begin to focus solely on our hearts desire; our destination and take our eyes off Christ and the destination that He has already laid out for our lives. Don’t let Satan strip you of your faith and allow you to shift your focus off Christ. God has already determined your future and has only good things planned for you if you hold steady and faint not.

Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to thy word.

Psalm 119:169

Strength While Waiting

“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

Isaiah 40:29

“But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. “

Isaiah 41:10

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Philippians 4:13

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him…”

Psalm 37:7

“Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

Isaiah 26:4

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

“The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.”

Lamentations 3:25

“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

Psalm 31:24

“Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our shield.”

Psalm 33:20

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble.”

Psalm 37:39

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Psalm 46:1

“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.”

Psalm 73:26

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”

Psalm 18:2

Fill Your Heart

During the holiday seasons it is hard to not be sad and maybe even angry because you are without children.  I hope to encourage you this holiday to hide God’s Word in your heart and meditate on these scriptures both day and night. 

Philippians 4:13 – I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.

Joshua 1:9 – Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you.

Isaiah 52:12 – But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you.

Isaiah 55:8 – For my thoughts are not Your thought, neither my ways Your ways.

Hebrews 12:2 – Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Psalm 25: 4-5 – Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in the truth, for You are my God and Savior, and my hope is in you.

Psalm 32:7 – You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Now these are Mary’s paraphrased version!  I challenge you to read each one of these scriptures, memorize them and allow the Holy Spirit to bring them to mind during the struggles you may face during the holidays!

I am praying for you and I know that God will take your hand and lead you through.

The Elijah Myth

One of the first questions a couple faces when discovering infertility is, “Why am I the only one facing this?  Why is everyone else having children?”

Elijah was a faithful servant but he became discouraged and was blinded to the fact that he was not alone.  In 1 Kings 19: 14-18 we read of Elijah complaining to God saying, “and I, even only I, am left”.  God had to point out to Elijah that he had 7,000 other servants in Israel.  He was not alone.  But  it sure felt that way to Elijah in the midst of his discouragement. 

There are 5 to 10 million couples facing infertility.  That is roughly 1 out of every 6 couples.  Trust me, we are not alone and more importantly than that, we need to know that we need each other and to place our trust in the Great Comforter, God.

Threads 4 Hope

Have you ever felt so helpless, so unable to accomplish the one thing you desire more than anything else?  If you are reading this I would assume your answer would be “yes”.  I chose the name “Threads 4 Hope” because there have been countless times during my infertility struggles where I felt as though I was literally “hanging on by a thread”.  I have been comforted many times by Ephesians 6: 13-18 which says;

Ephesians 6:13-18  “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

I believe one of the most important skills for all of God’s creatures to learn is how to stand.  If a baby deer does not learn quickly how to stand once born, then death is sure to be the result.  God has given us an amazing ability to stand; to deal with whatever circumstances He allows into our lives.  Once we learn to stand, and become grounded in the Word of God so that nothing can weaken our stance, we will be able to run.  We will be able to run with the truth of His Word, knowing of His great love for us.  It wasn’t until I got to this point that I began to understand my infertility and how to let go; how to reach the end of myself and allow God to have His way in my life.  And once I reached this point, we were blessed through adoption with our precious daughter, Mikala.

Welcome!

God has placed it on my heart to begin an infertility ministry, reaching out to others who have experienced the same burdens and heart-breaking experiences that I and my husband have pertaining to being unable to conceive a child. 

I am not sure why the Lord has called me to do this but here I am; and it is my prayer that He uses me to be a blessing to someone else who has went or is going through what I have.  I hope you enjoy this site and use it as a place to come together with others, sharing, praying and finding comfort.

Welcome to Threads 4 Hope!