Battle belongs to GOD

A while back, on Instagram, I saw where someone had wrote on the side of their Bible.."This is how I fight my battles." I decided to add it to the side of mine, and it stands as a great reminder that we should be fighting our battles with scripture and in prayer and letting God fight for us, against whatever we are facing! There are so many verses of scripture that let us know God is fighting for us, that He is our strength, our refuge, the One whom we should place our hope and trust in! 

The battle of infertility is one I never dreamed I would face. There are so many of us that don't expect this to be part of our daily lives. Here we are fighting a battle! Let's let God fight for us. We know he can do miracles. We know He is faithful! Let us be still (patient) and see what God's plan unfolds. 

I am not saying that it is easy, because it is SO HARD! It is so hard to be patient when you want something so bad, and you continue to see others blessed with it over and over again. So whatever you are going through, GIVE IT TO GOD. Let Him fight for you. 

Battle Belongs by Phil Wickham

*This is one of my favorite songs right now! Take a few minutes and listen!* 

The Lord will fight for you, just be still. 

Exodus 14:14

For the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory. 

Deuteronomy 20:4 

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. 

Isaiah 40:31

Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

James 4:7

The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 

John 10:10 

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 

Ephesians 6:13 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. 

James 5:13a

Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. 

Psalm 62:8

From my distress, I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. 

Psalm 118:5

Journey update: 

We are almost completely funded! To check out crafts for sale, check out my facebook page! https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10220498420423184&id=1012740093&sfnsn=mo 

IVF Journey Update 01/20

    On Monday, we had our IVF consultation. For 2 months, we've been waiting for this appointment to get here! So, we have our video conference with the doctor from Birmingham. We tell him that we are 100% sure we've decided to go through the IVF process. He walks us through it each step, all the risks, the timeline of what it will be like, etc.

     First, I thought we would have to wait until the summer because of other testing that I have to get done. Turns out we don't!!! So basically we can start whenever we are financially ready to begin. Last week I shared that we had made a huge gain financially, and we have done it again this week too! Shout out to mine and Brandon's parents! They are helping us financially in a big way! In such a big way, that I put us at about 90% financially ready. Yes, I said 90%! 

      Second, so when do we start? Well, have to wait on the beginning of a new cycle. Whenever we are ready and that cycle day 1 hits, we call and go from there. I will have to have some extra test done, but that can all be done while I am in the first few weeks of IVF process. This might sound crazy, but they put you on birth control for the first three weeks. Then you proceed with everything else. 

     Third, I am really hoping to loose a little bit of weight before we start all this. If you have any tips to share please bring them on! 

      Fourth, I never thought that I would say I am ready to start this process. I mean, who wants to go through all this. Trust me, if you wanted a kid so bad and you were having trouble, you probably reevaluate your thoughts on it too, just like I did. 

      Lastly, I ask for your prayers. Prayers for strength, peace about the process, prayers for the IVF process to go all the way through without being cancelled, prayers for Brandon and he has to watch me go through all of this physical part of it, prayers for our family, prayers that IT IS SUCCESSFUL, and prayers that this is all part of God's timing and not ours! We've seen His love continue to pour out on us during this process through the actions of His people! 

(2 Random things) 1. I work for and with some great people. I mentioned to them about doing this during the school year...their response, "You have to do what's best for you. Family first. Go for it." I am so thankful for where I work! People always look at me weird when I tell them I work in Lowndes County, but I wouldn't change it for anything!  2. A HUGE THANK YOU to all that have supported us through prayers or finances! You will never know how much it means! 

Paving the Way

 I hope that everyone has had a wonderful start to 2021! It has definitely been overwhelming in a good way! So, let me tell you the story of the past couple weeks and how God is paving the way for us to be able to do this financially. 

This is a two part story. 

Part #1: I won't mention this person's name, but someone from high school reached out to me about our infertility journey. Only a few weeks earlier I had learned that she and her husband had gone through many treatments as well. So she messages me on facebook. In a nutshell, she tells me that she has left over medicine from their IVF cycle and would like to know if we would like to have it. NOT BUY IT...HAVE IT! Well I tell her what we are planning on doing, etc. She said it is the same thing they have done! So I plan to meet up with her. I meet up with her and she gives me the bags of medicine, we talk briefly, and this whole time we've been talking through messenger I am pretty sure I have said thank you like 1,000 times! So for those who don't know, IVF Medicine can cost up to $5,000 by itself. So, I get home, look through all the medicine, and if I calculated correctly based on medicines we've done in the past, she just handed me around $3,000 worth of medicine. That's a three with three zeros! WOAH! The only thing I knew to do was say and prayer and thank God for paving the way. Making this journey look financially possibly. It turns out, this woman had someone donate medicine to them for their first round of IVF and she just wanted to pay it forward! Like...how can this be anything but God paving this way? 

Part 2: I posted in December that I would be making crafts to sell. Well these crafts turned into some selling at price, others large amount donations, made by our family and friends. With the purchase of the crafts and donations we are at over $3,000. Again, how can this be anything but God paving this way? 

And add what we've already saved...we are making a lot of progress.

_____________

So our IVF consultation is Monday. Praying we get a timeline of when everything will be able to be done! 

_____________

The Lord is the one goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8

So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand. Isaiah 41:10

Look No Further than Jesus by Evvie McKinney

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great Christmas! 

Did y'all make any new years resolutions? Well, at church on Sunday, the preacher spoke about having a faith upgrade. We talked about Abraham, and his call to be the father of all nations. How we was called to gather up everything he owned, and he had enough faith to obey what God had told him to do, and how he had a "Kingdom mentality." We discussed how trusting in God more was essential to our faith upgrade. By trusting in Him more, we rely less on ourselves and less on what the worlds does and says. We upgrade over trying to earn salvation and trusting ourselves. 

My 2021 Resolutions: Trust God More, Read through the entire Bible, be intentional about praying more for others than myself! 

What are y'alls new year resolutions? Feel free to share in the comments! 

Romans 4:13-16

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by FAITH. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 

Hebrews 11:8-10

By Faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, who architect and builder is God. 

Fertility Update: 

Our consultation for IVF is on January 18th. I have been anxiously awaiting this appointment just so we can put some kind of timeline together. 

Also, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all who have purchased from my crafts over the past month and a half. Through donations and purchases we are able to add to our IVF fund almost weekly. 

https://youtu.be/qCzY-gyup70

There is Another in the Fire! One of my new favorite songs. We are never alone, even through the fire, He is with us! If you've never heard it take time to listen to it!