What does peace look like? I asked the kids at Sunday school.
Their answers were surprising and came in quick succession.
One replied: when I don’t have any fears. another, when I am happy, sleeping and playing, holiday brings peace. when I lie down and there is no sound.
But one child replied: When God calms the storm.
That stopped me in my track. This Child remembered the story of Jesus and the storm. When His disciples were worried about drowning and Jesus spoke bringing calm to the waves and seas.
The various replies can be woven into this one statement: When God calms the storm.
Certainly when Jesus said peace be still there was calm, the waves ceased in obedience to Him.
I wonder, what do you need to be cam in your life today? Your heart might be torn from endless wait in various places at various time.
14 day wait or two weeks wait, for the change in the pregnancy test stick. From the results of a recent surgery.
None of these wait brings peace, we are often anxious for what’s to comes or what might not be.
In this season of Advent, ask God to bring His peace into your heart whatever the situation and he will.
He will calm your storms, because that what he does. He bring peace to every situation. All you need to do is ask Him.
How often have you wondered what’s going on in your life, how did I get here? How am I going to get out of it? How will it all turn out?
It is often the case, going through infertility leaves us with countless questions.
There’s also someone who wondered about what was going on in her life.
Mary was a little girl from a little village she was betrothed to be married and she was suddenly pregnant.
I imagine many a night Mary ponded what was going on with her? She wondered about her future even though the Angel told her she was carrying the saviour, I imagine in a quietness of her heart,
She had to still process it all. She must have faced doubt even as she progressed in her pregnancy
I imagine she was plagued with so many questions. I don’t think the angels kept coming to reassure her, that the child she was carrying is actually the saviour. There were no account of angels coming month after month to encourage her. Mary trusted God and held him to that promise.
I imagine Mary processed what was going on as she looked at her changing body day and night, contended with knowing and questioning looks from those around her. I imagine even Jospeh’s family may have wondered and she may have wondered as well what on earth do they think happened..
Yes, infertility and what Mary experienced are worlds apart, but nevertheless there are some lessons to draw from Mary’s experience:
Have you pondered what’s going on? Worried about knowing looks, about your aging body? Worried about what the future holds and how you will deal with it?
As I have frequently said in this place we don’t know the future, we don’t know how our story will end, all we can do is hold onto God’s promises.
Has he told you anything? Ponder over them. Has he promised you something? Ponder over it and trust Him completely With your future.
Just like Mary let your soul Him for his wonderful promise which will be fulfilled in your life.
It’s the season of giving and receiving gifts. I have been trying to find the most thoughtful presents for my loved ones and I am sure you are as well.
What will it cost you to do something for someone else? Time, money, your possessions or skills. Going through trying times leaves us focus on ourselves, often too drained to consider giving any of these to others.
I realized this during the most difficult periods of my life, I couldn’t give of myself to anything, I was focused on getting through the stage of infertility, but I knew there were so many in need of my skills and thankfully I decide to keep a journal of my experiences which started faithful wait
Although God freely gives us gifts of love, grace, mercies, forgiveness, protection, provision and love. He makes no demands made of us, because it already cost Him, His Son. It was and remains the most costly gift of all time. The person we now celebrate at Christmas was give. as a gift for many.
His life bought our freedom from sin, sickness, loss, disappointment and gave us a living hope.
His paid once so that we can enjoy his gifts eternally.
So this Christmas consider someone in worse situation than yourself and give them a gift you can afford, or go a step further, give a gift that will cost you something.
Remember Christ promised to surround you with with favor like a shield in the mist of your situation.
He is with you through every circumstance shielding you, so that you can also respond by helping others.
As you receive Gods blessings during this time, and all through the years, find time to share your gift with others.. because what you receive freely cost him everything.
Back when my girls were still little, they often like picking up all sorts of strange things when we go out walking.
Like weeds which they call flowers, stones, which they call gold, papers, unusual items etc.
During one of those walks, we happened to come across a construction site, by the side of the road was a stone, they took turns trying to lift it, but couldn’t.‘mummy you try’, they chorused. I picked it up easily to their delight. mummy’s got powers they screamed.
It was a little stone to me but a big one to them.
This got me thinking, the problems we often face (infertility) seems immovable and enormous like stones we can’t shift or lift.
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus and Salome had a big stone problem. On the 3rd day of Jesus’s death, they brought spices to anoint his body, on their way to the tomb they wondered amongst themselves: ‘Who shall roll away the stone away, it was very great.
As they made their way to the tomb, I imagined, it suddenly dawned on them, that none of them can roll the stone away. They have to anoint his body, now a stone STOOD in their way. Perhaps they considered who amongst Jesus’s friends to call for help.
Peters? ‘No, he’s no good, have you seen the state of him since the master was killed?’ Guilt has eaten him up.
James?
John?
Andrew? And one by one they eliminated the disciples. I am sure they considered going back, they must have, they had no tools, no help, and a big stone.
Should we go back? Let’s just continue, “we have come too far to turn back now”.
The question remains “Who will roll away the stone”?
Maybe it was Mary the mother of Jesus who insisted on carrying on, maybe something Jesus told her kept her going? Maybe she just wanted to be near her dear son.
Imagine their reaction when they got to the tomb to find that their problem had gone, “the stone has been rolled away”. Surprised, shocked, worry, fear, all kinds of emotions must have coursed through them.
Who will roll away the stone?
Became, who rolled the stone away?
What happened to him? Has someone taken him?
Now imagine their joy when they learn he’s alive!!!, the stone was rolled away by his mighty power, and he’s alive. Wow, not only was the stone rolled away, their greatest problem was solved, “Jesus is alive”.
Often we get to the end of ourselves only to discover that He has taken care of it all, our deepest fear of being without a child, a husband, living with that illness, a job.
No matter how big your stone, trust in the master who knows your end from the beginning.
What seems like a might problem to you is nothing to him, he will not only roll your stone away, he will bring you out ALIVE, unscathed, safe and secured.
Keep going, pin your hopes on him, He’s got all power, He will roll away every stone like problem.
Dark clouds will roll away and your night will turn to day. Tears to Joy. Hold out and he will bring you through.
This Easter, have you got a stone like problem? Cling to the master who rolls always heavy stones.
Here in the UK, we celebrate mother’s day on the 27th March of every year. It may be a different day wherever you are but one thing remains the same, for the women waiting, the feeling is the same.
That feeling of uncertainty, of wondering, not knowing, feeling of abandonment.
No matter where you on your journey, I salute you, your steadfastness, strength, your resilience in the face of pain and uncertainty.
For anyone who is currently waiting to be a mother, celebrating mothers doesn’t inspire joy in you, rather it does the opposite, it brings tears, isolation and dread, that maybe you may never experience being celebrated.
You are an over comer, you have overcome the stigma and shame, the sorrows and the fear, the dread of tomorrow and you are now on your way to being more. So keep your hopes alive and continue to have faith.
You are an encouragement, a winner and you will one day tell your story of how you overcome.
The birth of Jesus was told over 680 years before he was actually born. God told the prophet Isaiah that a saviour would be born to a virgin mother. That didn’t happen for hundreds of years after the promise was given.
Did God forget to do what he told Isaiah? No.
Did he change his mind? No.
Did he make a mistake? No
I often wonder weather Isaiah felt despondent about the fulfilment of that promise.
God told him something, he knew it was God talking to him. Yet he did not see it fulfilled in his lifetime.
Isaiah must have felt unhappy, sad, and questioned if he had actually heard from God. I imagined that he even doubted what God said, would happen.
His feelings didn’t stop or delay the promise because when God says a thing, he always bring it to pass regardless of the time. Because he’s working on his timeline not on ours.
Isaiah’s doubt did hinder God. Of course we were not told that he felt this way, this is my imagination. I believe as a human being, he may have felt some form of disappointment at not seeing the promise come to pass.
So let me encourage you as you continue to wait for what you’ve heard God said to you, your doubts, discouragement, tears and even your seemingly faithlessness will not stop God because His promises will always come to pass. He is not a man that he should lie.
Just hold on, for Just like the Christmas story came to pass and a miracle baby was born hundreds of years after he was promised, so will your promise child be born in your lifetime because God is faithful.
Isaiah was the prophet God used by to foretell of his coming son. Be encouraged, that which you have been promised will come to pass.
If you celebrate christmas you will no doubt have began the process of shopping, planning, and Preparing for this wonderful time of the year.
I love this season of faith, joy, festivities just before the new year, a time when we as a people, all come together in one to make merry.
To remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Certainly for some, this time is now synonymous with parties and travel and time with families as they call it “the holidays”.
But truly, Advent is observed in many Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the arrival of Jesus.
In silence contemplation, not in the busyness of high streets shopping malls.
The early church were told of his coming and prepared for it. Although not the same way we now prepare for Christmas, they waited quietly not in chaos.
They waited in hope of a saviour promised to rescue them from the tyranny of their oppressor.
They waited and expected deliverance and a new dawn.
So you see, the story of Christmas is one of waiting.
For those waiting for a baby, this conjures many emotions.
The last post Celebratory seasons talked about how this seasons maybe dreaded by those waiting for a child, as they observe little darlings in their cute Christmas outfits and plays.
I have walked your shoes, waited for 8 years, multiple miscarriages, multiple failed IVFs, so I can relate to the feeling of dread at this very time. As hope waned, expectations strains, you feel all alone.
But my message to you today is to expect something different, expect to receive literally your desires.
Expect to receive the promise of peace, the comfort that comes from waiting and expecting, expect to be touched by Jesus, who is our Prince of Peace.
And continue to hold on as The angel said to Mary
“Blessed is She who believes, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which where told her from the Lord”.
I urged you to wait in Hope for the expected promises.
Every year we celebrate all kinds of occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, halloween, thanksgiving and christmas.
These season can be triggers for the couple in waiting, because without fail, we see parents adore their young kids with outfit and proudly shows them off.
I did the same when my girls were still little. without thought for how my waiting friends feels. No one intentionally parades their kids to cause distress, we all do it from a place of joy.
But I understand the pain and agony these images can cause. The despair cause by your failed attempt to get pregnant, the repeated miscarriage and the loss of a child.
When I was waiting I discovered that more than seeing friends or pregnant women, the seasons of celebration is the hardest one to face.
There is no escaping the gaiety in the air as you watch friends, dress up with their babies, teens, sons or daughters in teamed outfit.
O the tug at your heart strings as you imagine how you will dress your baby. You build a picture and hold on to the hope that it will one day be you dressing up your child.
These image seems to diminish as the years go by.
And every year as you watch others with their tiny little babies dress up for school plays for halloween themed party for thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, you hide in floods of tears, loathing another celebratory season.
I am reminded by this passage in Psalm 143:8. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love.
Yes seasons may come and go and our desires tarries, but God’s word never changes.
Anchor your hopes to it and hold on, let each celebratory season remind you of His unfailing love and as we approach Christmas when you will have to face Santa and school plays, remember his birth is the reason we are here but his death and resurrection is a promise that we can hold on to his promise, that he will grant us our hearts desires.
For if he did not withhold his Son from us, he will give us freely our hearts desires.
When I think of the journey of Jesus to the cross I realised how lonely it must have been for him.
The process leading to the Cross was one of shame.
He felt abandoned by His father,
He felt alone as His most trusted friends ran for their lives.
No one wanted to be associated with Him for fear of being killed.
In that moment, when he faced death and breath His last, he asked His father why he was abandoned.
The more I speak to those who have walked or currently on this journey of waiting, the more it becomes apparent how lonely it can get. The notion that there is a community out there seem remote.
Infertility is still a lonely journey.
No one to talk to, fear of being stigmatised, the feeling of shame causes us to bottle it up than open up to anyone.
I am particularly drawn to the two women who went to anoint his body, and wondered who will rolled the stone away. There was an obstacle at the entrance of the tomb, A Stone.
Who will roll away the stone?
The stone is big, two women alone can’t rolled it a way. It will take more than 2 women to roll it away. Who will roll away the stone?
You may be asking yourself right now:
Who will take away this pain of trying?
How will this end?
Will I ever have a child?
But we know how the story ends, although it seemed liked death had won, at the time he was nailed to the cross and put in the tomb.
When he got up on Easter Sunday, truly, God’s purpose for the suffering he endured was unfolded.
Be encouraged by the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, you may have a stone like problem right now.
Just as the miracle of resurrection happened all those years ago, you will experience a miracle of birth, you too will rise up from the ashes of infertility to new life.
Trust in him, hope in Him, call on Him and you will have help.
In her interview to pure woman she told a heartbreaking story of going through 7-8 miscarriage. What pain she must have gone through. .
She found out that she has adenomyosis, which is endometriosis of the uterus. It occurs when the endometrial tissue, the same tissue that lines the uterus, grows into the the muscular wall of the uterus, causing intense period pain, prolonged and heavy menstrual bleeding and, in severe cases like Union’s, infertility.
Union did not give up, and than masked the problem which she felt they were doing by advising her to go on the pills, she felt the problem where being masked.
Fast forward to November 7 she and her husband Dwayne Wade welcomes a beautiful Miracle baby girl via surrogacy.
Her Instagram post is one of pure joy. You can tell that although the road leading to this was littered with pain and tears it was also hope and faith filled.
Little Drops Of Hope 