Steps Determined

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

I am a planner - how about you? I am a Type A, firstborn. I like to be in control. I'm sure that God laughs at my plans often. And as time goes on, I'm realizing the joy of rejoicing in giving up my plans for His plans. His plans are infinitely good and infinitely abundant in blessings.

I am looking at three of these abundant blessings today. They are now on summer break from school. I have been reflecting this morning on the journey the Lord brought us on to this point of abundant blessings in our three children.

God plans our steps as Proverbs 16:9 tells us. God knew the road my husband & I would take on our journey towards children. He had a master plan - it wasn't the plan I would have planned, but as I look back on the road, it's an even better plan than I could have imagined. He has grown me in my faith greatly. He has equipped me for ministry to others. He has given me a purpose and a great plan. He is abundantly good. But I would not be where I am now if it were not for the hard times of the past.

Although we've experienced the loss of a baby through miscarriage four times, God has restored those "locust times" - I love the following scripture:

25 -27 "I'll make up for the years of the locust,
the great locust devastation— Locusts savage, locusts deadly,
fierce locusts, locusts of doom, That great locust invasion
I sent your way. You'll eat your fill of good food.
You'll be full of praises to your God, The God who has set you back on your heels in wonder.
Never again will my people be despised. You'll know without question
that I'm in the thick of life with Israel, That I'm your God, yes, your God,
the one and only real God.
Joel 2:25-27 The Message

God's ways are not our ways. God's plans are not our plans. And I praise God that my agenda isn't His agenda. His plan is abundantly better. He is the one and only real God.

God has given you this precious baby growing in you today. He is abundantly good. If fear and anxiety creep into your mind, take those thoughts captive -remember that it is the Lord who guides your steps - it is the Lord who is creating this miracle growing inside of you. Look to Him and to His anchored hope for His abundantly good plan for your life. He is our one and only real God.

Dear God,
Thank you that You are in control of every detail of my life - of every detail of my baby's life. Thank you for this precious baby. Please grow him/her today. Help me to find joy in today. Help me to grow in your Word today. To look to your abundantly good plan. Help me and my husband to grow together in your Word. I thank you for this great blessing You have bestowed to us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Experiential Knowledge

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as^[c] the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
John 7:37-39

This morning I was listening to Dr. David Jeremiah. I am sure I didn't catch the quote exactly, but what I wrote down to remember was the following: God will not put us in a situation where He cannot sustain you. He will show Himself strong. He will give you experiential knowledge that will show you that you can do anything with His help.

As the verses from John 7 tell us, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to equip us and sustain us in our daily living. The Holy Spirit gives us streams of living water. Often in my humanness, I look for streams of water in other places - in hobbies, in other people, in stuff, in activities. Yet, the Lord has designed us to draw from His living water. Sometimes in order for us to draw from His streams of living water, He allows circumstances that brings us into valleys, where we can thirst for the Lord instead of the longing for drinks that don't fully satisfy.

I heard the below song today on the radio - waves of thankfulness rushed through my body - tears streamed down my eyes. I am honestly thankful for the valleys which I've gone through - especially those valleys of our four losses. Without those losses, I would not have experienced so much joy in ministering to others and in cherishing the blessings God has given to me. God has truly taken me from the valley and brought me to rivers of joy.

And now that I've had the experiential knowledge of seeing how God takes the valleys and brings rivers of joy, I find that I can draw from his strength and look to Him with greater hope than before. The combination of seeing how God has worked in the past in the lives of those in the Bible combined with my experience, grows my faith.

I pray that today you are looking to Him for encouragement. Drink deeply from His Word and look to Him for that river of joy. You may find anxious thoughts creeping in your mind - take that thought captive and replace it with God's Word - that He has a hope and a future for you (Jeremiah 29:11). Find scripture to drink from today - don't let the anxieties of our humanness take away your joy today.

I am praying for you, your precious baby, and for the rest of your family.


I pray the song below blesses you.


Dear God,

Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit - thank You that I can drink deeply from Your Word. Help me to remember that your allowing me through any valleys is to equip me for this journey of life - to give You the glory - to find that river of joy that only comes from You. I pray for my baby and for the rest of my family that we would all find that river of joy. In Jesus' name. Amen.






Valley Song by Jars of Clay

You have led me to the sadness
I have carried this pain
On a back bruised, nearly broken
I'm crying out to you

Chorus
I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy

When death like a Gypsy
Comes to steal what I love
I will still look to the heavens
I will still seek your face

But I fear you aren't listening
Because there are no words
Just the stillness and the hunger
For a faith that assures

Chorus x2

Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia

While we wait for rescue
With our eyes tightly shut
Face to the ground using our hands
To cover the fatal cut

And though the pain is an ocean
Tossing us around, around, around
You have calmed greater waters
Higher mountains have come down

Chorus

Yeah

Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia

Alleluia, alleluia alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia alleluia, alleluia

Chorus (4 Xs)

Oh, Lord sing of Your mercy,
Mercy
Your mercy

Remembering...

Dear Ladies,

Since this site is a site for ladies who have fears about pregnancy and many of those ladies may have experienced loss in the past, I am posting this tonight. I apologize for not writing much lately - it is a very busy month with my children. I am praying that the Lord will help me to find more time to write, especially once school is out. I am praying for you and for the precious baby the Lord is forming in you. Have a blessed Mother's Day.

Love,
Nicole


I just wrote the writing below to send to friends to ask them to pray for any dear ladies who are in grief.

Dear Friends, it is Mother’s Day. A day of rejoicing, right? Dear Friends, today I call on you to remember and pray for a group of ladies who are hurting, especially on Mother’s Day.

Throughout my day today I have been praying for these ladies.

I’ve been praying for the mom who is grieving the loss of her baby through miscarriage – and many may not have even known about that precious life. It’s a hard grief. She is remembering her hopes and dreams for that little one. Even though she never got to hold this little one, she is remembering…

I’ve been praying for the mom who experienced stillbirth. The world has gone on, but she still remembers. She misses that little precious life. She’s remembering…

I’ve been praying for that mom who has experienced infant loss. She longs to hold that precious little one again. She misses him/her. And for her, much of the world has gone on as well. Today she is remembering and missing her little one…

I’ve been praying for the woman who is struggling to have a child. She is grieving the struggle of infertility. She desires to add a child or another child to their family. She is remembering her hopes and dreams for their family…

I’ve been praying for that mom of an older child who is now with Jesus. It doesn’t make sense to her why the Lord took him/her early. She’s grieving and remembering….

I’ve been praying for the mom whose child died as an adult. We parents expect we’ll be the ones to go first. But that wasn’t God’s plan. That mom is remembering and also grieving for those other family members who are also grieving…

I’ve been praying for the children who won’t get to hug their mommy today. They are remembering and missing her….

I’ve been praying for the adult children who won’t get to tell their mom they love her today. They are remembering…

I’ve been praying for those moms who are seeing their child suffering and perhaps will lose that child soon. Praying for a blessed Mother’s Day with that child. A day full of precious memories…

I’ve been praying for those children whose mom is suffering and perhaps will lose that mom soon. Praying for a blessed Mother’s Day with their mom. A day full of precious memories…

Today can be a very hard day. Let’s take time to remember these grieving people today.

Let’s pray Psalm 147:3 for them: "He [the LORD] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Let’s pray that they will look to the Lord to heal them – that they will grow to see God as He truly is. That they will look beyond the ashes and look towards the beauty the Lord has for them down the road.

“and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” Isaiah 61:3

As one who has had bittersweet Mother’s Days in the past due to my grieving babies who have gone to be with the Lord, I thank you for your prayers for these women, men, and children. I praise God that He has revealed to me the beauty for those times of grief and ashes. My prayer is that those who are grieving would be encouraged that God does have a big plan for their life and that this current grief is for but a season – He has a crown of beauty waiting for their future.

I Can Hear Your Voice

Good evening dear ladies. Please forgive me my quietness. I struggle with busyness of our family. Would you ask the Lord to help me with my time management? I long so spend time blogging, yet know that God wants me to put Him first and then my family second. I have not forgotten you and have continued to lift you and your baby up in my prayers.

Tonight I listened to a Michael W Smith song. It spoke to my heart and I desire to share it with you. But first, let’s look at the Word of God.

Jesus meets a woman at a well in John Chapter 4. She is there to get water and is there alone. She is a woman who has been living with men who are not her husband. Jesus talks to her at the well and she is amazed at what He knows about her. For the full account, read it here. Jesus tells her about living water that will never make her thirst again.

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Another passage that talks about water from God is found in Jeremiah 17:7-8

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

Dear ladies, dig deep into the Word of God. It is living water to your thirsty soul. When Jesus gives you the water of eternal life, it wells up within you. Yet, we can’t sit stagnant. We have to dig into His Word and trust in Him. The Bible helps us to learn about Him and to remind our feeble minds about His goodness, His mightiness, His holiness.

The song I’m going to share also talks about Jesus singing over me. Did you know dear ladies that the Lord rejoices over you? Now, the Lord is not dependent on our choices. Yet, our following Him. Our allowing Him to be Lord over our lives, he rejoices in that.

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

As you listen to this lovely song by Michael W Smith, thank the Lord for His living water. Remember that He loves you. He has a plan for you. He has a plan for your baby. The Lord is there for you. Come close to Him. Feel His touch. Let His touch heal your heart today and fill your heart with joy. Let Him restore and renew you today.

I love you ladies – I am praying for you and your baby during pregnancy. I have seen His faithfulness. He is faithful. Keep looking to Him anytime you feel anxiety.

I pray this song fills your heart with the peace of the Lord today. Don't forget to dig into His Word.



Michael W Smith – I Can Hear Your Voice
I'm in the river that flows from your throne
Water of Life
Water of Life
It Covers me and I breath again
Your love is breath to my soul

I can hear Your voice as You sing over me
It's Your song of Hope breathing life into me
I can feel Your touch as I come close to You
And it heals my heart
You restore and renew