Category: Baby James

Waiting on the Promise (Part 2)

Back in early October, the women’s ministry at my church hosted their annual Cherished Conference in Ruidoso, New Mexico. On Friday morning each year, different women are asked to teach breakout sessions about various topics. This year I was asked to teach one of the breakout sessions and the topic I was given was about God’s promises. This is a topic I’m very familiar with as it is something that I walked through for many years while I waited on God’s promise to me to be fulfilled.

I’d like to share my breakout session with you as a two-part blog. A few weeks ago I shared my personal testimony in Part 1. Today, I am sharing Part 2 of the session, which is offering encouragement and how to keep your faith strong during the waiting process.

Here is “Waiting on the Promise” Part 2…

God’s promises to us are different in so many ways yet are the same. There’s not a set time frame for one promise over another. The fulfilment of my promise took 17 years. Maybe yours take more; maybe it takes less. But when God gives you a promise, He will deliver it when He says it’s time.

Which brings me to the second part of the message: how to get through the waiting process. It’s not easy being patient and waiting on God to move. On our terms, He moves slower than a turtle stuck in molasses! But in God’s eyes, He’s not deliberately being slow because He sees everything! He sees the things that we cannot see. He could be saving us from greater heartache by delaying the promise until the timing is just perfect. We see the time as delayed, but He sees it as working all things together for our good. Our. Good.

I want to share with you some different ways to keep your faith strong during the waiting process.

  1. There is no time limit or expiration date on the promise God has given you. If He says He’ll do something or give something to you, He will.

Hebrews 11:11 (NLT), “It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise.”  And He did.

I don’t know if you kept up with the math during my testimony, but I was 46 years old when I had my son back in November. That’s quite a bit past normal child-bearing years these days. But just like God kept His promise to Sarah, He kept his promise to me! And whatever promise you wrote in the blank on the piece of paper I mentioned last week, know that He will deliver that promise to you, too! He knows the desires of your heart and will give them to you! (Psalms 20:4 & 37:4)

2. Find an outlet (something to do or something else to think about) when you feel your faith is being tested beyond what you think you can handle.

James 1:3 (NLT), “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

For me, my outlet was writing. That’s the main reason I have this blog; so I can use it to write about my circumstances, feelings at certain times and general thoughts on the waiting process.  For my husband, he found that serving God was a good outlet for him when times were difficult. Your outlet can be anything! Maybe you like to craft or exercise; maybe you like to cook or garden…maybe you just want to sit in God’s presence and listen to worship music. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit quietly in His presence.

Just remember that whatever you do to help pass your time, make sure it’s encouraging and positive!

3. Watch your words.

Proverbs 18:21 (MSG), “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.”

Romans 4:17-18 (TPT), “That’s what the Scripture means when it says: ‘I have made you the father of many nations.’ He (Abraham) is our example and father, for in God’s presence he believed that God can raise the dead and call into being things that don’t even exist yet. Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it…”

Speak only life to your dreams or what you’re waiting for. Don’t give in to negative speak or thoughts. I told you in my testimony when I didn’t do this very well. I let the negative thoughts take hold of me and they held me captive for quite a while. It’s okay to get angry and frustrated; we’re human and it’s going to happen. Just don’t live there! Be angry…for a time and then let it go! Find a friend that you trust to let you vent when you need to, but someone that can also encourage you and lift you up when you need it.

There was a time several years ago when I was very unhappy in my job. I worked for two men, one a VP and the other a COO. My VP boss was absolutely horrible! He would say the most hateful things to me and when he walked out, I would just cry at my desk. I couldn’t understand why God had me in such an awful place! I wanted to quit so bad! But I couldn’t because my husband had just lost his job, and this was our only source of income.

I was sharing my frustration with a friend, and she encouraged me to speak life into my job; to thank God for my job and to also thank Him for my next job. She even told me to speak that God would either move one or both of them or, move me. I have to say I didn’t truly believe that at first when I spoke it, but shortly after, the COO left the company! I couldn’t believe it! So, I really started speaking to it with purpose. Within the next six months, I had a call from a previous place I had interviewed with prior to taking the current job. It had been TWO YEARS since I interviewed with them, and they had an opening that needed to be filled quickly and they were curious if I was still interested. Y-E-S! Yes, I absolutely was still interested. I went in for another interview the next week, and two days after I was turning in my two-week resignation and started the new job. I just celebrated 10 years back in June.

Speak to your promise…God does hear you! And He does move!

4. Be content in your current circumstances.

Hebrews 10:35-36, “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great rewards it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”

It’s hard to be content in your circumstances when you desperately want them to change, when you want to start experiencing the next season of life. But when you embrace your current season, you give God room to move.

I had to embrace my pre-baby season and one of the ways was to host baby showers for friends. At times, it was nearly impossible to put on my happy face for my friends…they were living the life I desperately wanted.  But even in those hard times, God was there with me.

And the last way to keep your faith strong during the waiting process,

5. Pray.

Prayer is a very powerful tool and it’s always with you. You can pray anytime and anywhere! It’s always good to pray freely, but sometimes it’s easier to write out specific prayers, too.

I’ve used several different ways to write out prayers using scripture.

A. One way is to search the Bible for specific prayers that speak to you and/or your situation. I have a few scriptures that I love and would always pray during my waiting period:

Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Same scripture in the Passion Translation: Ephesians 3:20-21 (TPT), “Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you. Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen!”

Another favorite of mine is Isaiah 40:31 (NLT), “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

And the last one I’ll write out: Hebrews 11:1-3, 6 (TPT), “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. This testimony of faith is what previous generations were commended for. Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words! He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen.

(v6) And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him.”

B. Matthew 5 contains The Beatitudes and they make a great & easy way to start praying scripture.

Matthew 5:3-12 (NLT), “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”

C. The book, Fervent, by Priscilla Shirer is a great option for specific prayer.

The subtext on the book cover even says, “A woman’s battle plan for serious, specific and strategic prayer.” Each chapter in the book talks about different areas and how to write out scripture prayers to pray for different things.

D. Friends.

I have a friend that is very good at writing scripture prayer. I had visited with her in late 2015 (after the dark period) and updated her on all that we had gone through and our current circumstances. She wrote out a prayer for me to pray for my babies. The prayer was loaded with scripture and self-declarations. And I remember I would stand in my living room and boldly recite that prayer almost every day! And then I took her prayer for me and I wrote a shorter, more specific pray to my unborn baby.

It doesn’t matter what your Promise is…God is always going to come through for you!!

As the song goes, God is the Waymaker. He is the Miracle Worker. He is the Promise Keeper. And He is the Light in the darkness.

There are days I feel every bit of 47! And as my husband noted about a month after our son was born, raising a baby is nothing like taking care of a dog!! Lol! (joke from Part 1)

It was never my plan to have a child this late in life, but it was my dream to have one. God chose the time.

He determined that my story would include a miracle baby at age 46.

He determined that my son would be born at this exact moment in time.

God plans everything to the finest detail. He is not wrong. He is not late.

Luke 1:37 says, “For the word of God will never fail.”

If He tells you He’ll do something, He will.

His timing is perfect. His plans are perfect. Your promise will be fulfilled at the exact time God has designed it to happen.

The fulfillment of your promise will be exceedingly abundantly BEYOND ALL you can ask or think because God will do exactly what He says he’ll do.

It will not return void and it will not expire.

Keep praying, speaking, and believing for the fulfillment of God’s promise to you.

Thank you for letting me share my breakout session with you about my personal journey of waiting on God’s promise to be fulfilled. I pray God spoke to you as you read Part 1 and Part 2. And I pray that if you are still waiting on the fulfilment of God’s promise to you, these words brought you hope and encouragement for your journey. If you would like a copy of the prayer my friend wrote for me, please message me or comment your email and I will gladly send it to you. If I can pray for you in any way, please let me know.

This Time Last Year

This past weekend had some ups and downs as a mom. Saturday was good because my baby was in a good mood, and we did a lot of playing. But then Sunday came, and he wasn’t having any of it. We think his molars are starting to break through so his little mouth has been really sore. We took Sunday as a teething day and just snuggled, which to me, is one of the best parts of motherhood…the snuggles!

As I was snuggling with him this weekend, I began to reminisce a bit about this time last year. This specific weekend last year, we were getting ready to go to the hospital for his delivery. Although I personally have no frame of reference, it wasn’t the easiest or quickest of deliveries!

On Saturday, one year ago, we were finishing the paint in his room. We had the furniture, although not put together yet. Lol! We were told not to worry about whether his nursery would be ready before his arrival because most babies don’t even sleep in their own room for the first year. And he hasn’t. At all. I remember we had picked a very light shade of gray; it’s so light it looks almost white. But we did it this way because all of his furniture is dark gray. We had actually finished painting the room the day before, but because the paint color was in different cans, it somehow showed up as two different colors on the walls. So, we took Saturday and repainted the whole room so in our eyes it would all match. We had been told by my doctor to check in at midnight, so we had all of Saturday to get ready. I hadn’t had any contractions or Braxton-Hicks; he was just patiently chilling in my cozy stomach, so it was a pleasant day. We packed our hospital bags, dropped our dog at our nephew’s house and headed to the hospital. It was exciting and scary all at the same time. I had gotten some cute “mom” socks to wear in the hospital so once we were settled in our room, I had my hubby take the picture for the social media update.

I was checked on every 3-4 hours once we were settled, so sleep was intermittent. Withholding the graphic speak, my doctor wanted to do some prep work on my body so the first day was mostly just waiting for things to occur. By10:15p on Sunday night, I was only dilated to a 1. Thanks to my social media post, most of my friends were anxiously awaiting my “welcome to the world baby boy” post, so they started texting when it never came. Early Monday morning things started to progress a little better. The doctor started the Pitocin, I got the epidural (I wasn’t about to let that window pass me by!!) and then the doctor broke my water about 6:15a that morning. After that, everything was on a roller coaster…I would progress more and then it would slow down, and I would progress more and then it would slow down. Finally, about 10:30p Monday night, I was 100% effaced and dilated to a 9-1/2. The doctor could feel his head but wanted him to drop a little more so I wouldn’t have to work so hard.

To pass the time, my husband and I started looking at famous people born on November 23 and 24. Not that we had any control over when he would actually arrive, it was fun to check and see who he would share his birthday with. Well, by the time they were ready for me to push, it was already November 24, so guess that would be his birthday. As a side note, I had had a sonogram the day before we reported to the hospital to check in and I had seen the size of his head. I told my husband I wasn’t looking forward to that part because his head had measured so big!

After pushing for 3-1/2 hours with hardly any progress, they determined his head wasn’t going to fit and it would be best to switch to a c-section. I was more than okay with that. I will say it’s amazing how quickly the doctors and nurses can have you ready for a c-section when time is of the essence! I had stopped pushing about 3:30 and baby boy was born at 4:01am. I was so excited he was finally here, but also so exhausted! I had been awake for more than 24 hours during that last day. And by the way, the crown of his head measured at 14” at birth!

So compared to this time last year, I would say the days were less eventful. Saturday was spent doing what most Americans do during the fall on the weekend…watch football. And hang Christmas lights! No last-minute preparations to do on the baby’s nursery this year. And to let you know, we almost have it fully decorated, even though he doesn’t sleep in there quite yet. Sunday was spent snuggling baby boy-almost toddler because of the next set of teeth trying to break their way through his gums. No laying around waiting for body parts to be ready for baby delivery. I’ll take the baby snuggles any day of the week! <heart>

The only preparations we’re doing now is getting everything ready for his first birthday! Although the labor and delivery were less than ideal, we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything if it still gives us YOU! We love you so much kiddo! And watching all your transformations over the past year, watching you grow into the cutest little human, watching you discover all the things and experiencing it with you, has been pure joy!

Happy Birthday Baby James!!