IAW Post 3: 7 Reasons to take heart

I missed my post for national infertility awareness week yesterday - Wednesdays are long days for us because we go straight from work to leading youth group in the evenings. I was pooped when we got home yesterday so I’m combining day 3 and 4 into one post today. Instead of just doubling up with two things that have brought me encouragement and hope in my journey through a barren season, I’m going to share SEVEN. Yep, that’s right. I’ve got seven testimonies that have been a huge source of encouragement to me in the last two years. If you aren’t familiar with them, I hope they encourage you to keep pressing in for your breakthrough.

Last Summer the Lord told me to study the barren women in scripture and to take heart from their journeys. He always invites us into immeasurably more than we could expect but I had no idea what I was about to find. As I dove into scripture I began to find woman after woman who had lived in barrenness and received not only breakthrough, but breakthroughs that made history. There are seven women named in scripture who were barren and who cried out to the Lord. He heard every one of their cries and He answered them. Their names are Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth and two more who were unnamed. Do you recognize them? Maybe you’ll recognize them with their miracle baby’s names:

1. Sarah was the wife of Abraham, they birthed Isaac (Genesis 11:30)
2. Rebekah was the wife of Isaac, they birthed Jacob (Genesis 25:21, Judges 13:3)
3. Rachel was the wife of Jacob, they birthed Joseph (Gen 30:22)
4. Hannah was the wife of Elkanah, they birthed Samuel the prophet (1 Samuel 1 and 2)
5. Elizabeth was the wife of Zechariah, they birthed John the Baptist (Luke 1:17)
6. Sampson’s mother birthed him out of barrenness (Judges 13:2)
7. The Shunamite woman who Elisha prayed over birthed a miracle son (2 Kings 4:16-17)

Just pause and look at that list again. The forefathers of our faith were birthed from barren mamas who didn’t give up in their pursuit of a miracle and they received breakthrough! Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, then Samuel, Sampson, and John the Baptist were all sons of women who have walked the journey of barrenness that many of us are walking now. Each of these women were grieved by their barrenness and they cried out to God for His touch and didn’t give up. I don’t know why some breakthroughs come faster than others, but we can’t loose heart in the waiting. You have a child with a destiny that is coming to you- whether by natural conception or adoption. Don’t let your heart give up. Be encouraged by these women and the mighty men they birthed. World changers come from barren seasons – scripture shows it.

The Lord is no respecter of persons. What He will do for one, He will do for you. The word testimony literally means “do it again”. When we read the stories of these women in scripture and receive them as testimonies for our hearts to grab hold of and be encouraged by, we are literally saying “DO IT AGAIN” to the Lord…and He will. He is drawn to that faith! Declare truth over your heart and know He hears you.

“He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!” – Psalm 113:9

Praise Him in the waiting. Prepare the way for your breakthrough by keeping your heart rooted in the truth: He has not forgotten you, He loves you tremendously, and He is El Hanne’eman – The Faithful God. I’m praying for all of our hearts as we wait for our miracle babies. An army of world changers is coming from our wombs. Believe that, take heart, and let His presence sustain you in your waiting.

IAW Post 2: My Favorite Album

For anyone that missed my post yesterday, this week is National Infertility Awareness week. I want to send some extra love and encouragement to my sisters walking this road with me so I’m posting one thing each day that has brought me hope and encouragement in my time of waiting to become “mama”. Today, I’m sharing this album. It has been my consistent go-to playlist for the last two years when my heart has felt heavy and I needed a reminder that it’s ok to be in process as long as I take it to the Father. It is raw, it is full of truth and Jesus has used it to soothe my heart on many hard days ❤️ I hope it blesses you as much as it does me!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-undoing/910383995

IAW Post 1: “Sing Oh Barren Woman”

Today is the first day of National Infertility Awareness week and this is an awareness week that is very real to my heart. In honor of this week and all the women who are walking this journey with me, I’m posting several things this week that have brought me hope and kept me planted in the truth in my journey through a season of barrenness. With out Jesus and the hope He brings, I would have lost heart long ago.

This month, April 2018, marks two years I’ve been waiting to become a mama. Zach and I have two babies in heaven who we wish we could hold in our arms but when we will forever hold in our hearts. There are so many things I could say to describe what this journey is like to people who have never been here but I don’t want to use this as an opportunity to be understood. I want to use it as an opportunity to be understanding of those who are already here. You are not alone and there IS HOPE. His name is Jesus.

Some people might say it’s not an appropriate topic to share publicly about, but I say if even ONE sister of mine can be encouraged in her journey through infertility by what Jesus has taught me in mine, I’ll share anything and everything with out hesitation. We are here for community. We’re not here to journey alone. This can be one of the loneliest journeys - it is so silent. No one can see the reality of it except your spouse, your doctors and Jesus. It takes great courage to know you have a chance every month for breakthrough and when it doesn’t come, to keep your hope up for next time, believing it will happen. Hope is courageous - that has been one of my biggest lessons. (You can read more on that in my previous post “Hope: a weapon in the desert”) After the 10th, 18th, 23rd times breakthrough doesn’t happen, we can still be as confident it will come as the first time we expected it because of Jesus.

He gives us this promise: “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord. “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated...For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” Isaiah 54:1-5

So sing sisters! Sing over your barrenness! Our breakthrough is coming. Prepare and enlarge the tent curtains of your heart. Don’t hold back your confidence! Lengthen the chords of your hope and strengthen the stakes of your faith. You’ll need it to hold the magnitude of your breakthrough. You will spread out in every direction. Your children will dispossess nations of the enemy. They will take back the territory he had occupied and settle The Kingdom in it. They will change the world. Do not fear the future. You have a husband who fights for you and will not let you be put to shame. Cling to Him in the waiting and let Him be your hope and joy. I’m singing with you.