Having a God Confidence

I cannot believe this month is my 4 year anniversary of serving as Client Services Director at Women’s Hope. When I began volunteering as a Client Advocate 7 months before taking this position, I had no idea that God would lead me down this road to support and encourage others who would join this loving effort to save and restore lives. I am so blessed by those God has sent to serve. Julie, our clinic director and nurse manager, and I often talk about the college students who serve for a couple of years and then leave us to begin their life work — they really keep us renewed by being so excited and eager to make a difference. They encourage us about the future that we are going to have strong Godly leaders. And of course, our old timers never cease to be a blessing — they offer much wisdom, encouragement, and Godly council not just to our clients, but to the new Client Advocates and to me. They show us how to stay the course and finish strong. I am thankful for the workers God is supplying on this mission field at Women’s Hope in Auburn, AL.

As I look back on how far God has brought me, I am amazed at the “God confidence” I have gained, and one of my favorite things to witness is the God confidence you have gained. When I first began at Women’s Hope, I had no idea what God wanted from me. I remember standing in the parking lot before my shadowing shifts thinking “Lord I cannot do this — these people have real problems and need help that I’m not able to give. Are you sure I am the person for this?” That is when God began to show me that it was not about what I could do but what He wanted to do through me – that I didn’t have all the answers but had to depend on Him to supply everything. Pollyanna, our executive director, explains this by saying “we are looking for Client Advocates who are scared and concerned about the work, because then we know they are seeking Him to provide the words and the love that need to be shared.”

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of David and Goliath. I love the words and the great confidence in God that David displayed when he faced Goliath. Just think about a ruddy face child standing before a great giant warrior proclaiming that His God will prevail. Oh, to have the God confidence of little David! He knew that without God, nothing was possible but with God all things are possible. Look at what David says in 1 Samuel 17: 45-47

“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”"

I pray that we will all have the confidence in God that David displayed and that we will know that without God, we are but a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal — I Cor. 13:1. Only through the Holy Spirit working in us are we able to bring hope to the hopeless, love to the unlovely, and healing to the broken.

Take the Hard Road

Reblogged from encouragingservants:

Here’s a nugget from my childhood.  It’s from my mom.  She counseled her three girls . . .

  When given a choice between a hard road and an easy road, take the hard road.

 Was she kidding?  As the youngest and (probably) most spoiled child in the family, I wasn’t sure if I bought it.  As I have matured (notice I didn’t say older), however, I have come to understand my mom’s old school wisdom. 

Read more… 591 more words

Comforting Others

One reason I love working at Women’s Hope is because you see God at work daily, up close and personal. This week, one of our longtime clients stopped in for a visit and to participate in our Earn While You Learn program. She is an amazing young lady who is always positive and energetic. Her life has been touched by sadness through many miscarriages and, even with her last pregnancy, one of her twins miscarried. She asked to speak with me because she had delivered her baby at 27 weeks and wanted to show me pictures. She grabbed her pictures to show me her new angel who only weighed a little over 2lbs! As I looked at the precious little bundle, the first thing I noticed was how the baby’s skin just seemed to hang off his bones –- the “bag of bones” look. My heart hurt deeply for her. The pictures took me back to another baby I knew that had been a preemie, a baby who also looked like a bag of bones, although he weighed a little over 4lbs and was a few weeks older. That baby was my own boy Jordan.

As we shared about the challenges of parenting a preemie, she remarked that she didn’t understand why the hospital required her to keep heated blankets on her body when she was bonding with her baby, as they were skin to skin. I replied that Jordan required similar treatment, and that I looked forward to him sweating so I could turn the heat off in April and May, since it was already hot and difficult to keep him swaddled in 3 blankets and 2 hoodies at all time. The reason is that babies that small cannot regulate their own temperatures. Moms have to help them.

I felt God urging me to pray with her and the baby’s daddy. God brought to mind the words I repeated over and over after the doctors told me that Jordan was going to be born early – that Jordan would “thrive on the outside!” It was my desperate plea for God to supervise a difficult situation – that regardless of his tiny body, his small “bag of bones,” the trouble he had in controlling his own temperature, and my fear in making a mistake ­­- that God would step in and help him thrive. As I prayed with them, I could not help but sob quietly, knowing that God had heard and answered my prayer about my boy and that Jordan continues to “thrive on the outside.”

It is so like God to bring two parallel stories together to bless us. What a joy to be able to encourage someone because you have already walked the same ground. And oh, that that boy, Jordan, who came into this world several weeks early and left the hospital at 4lbs 2ozs is now turning 18 on this April 7th, and will graduate from AHS in May. I thank God every day for answering the desperate plea of a young, inexperienced mother.

I am blessed to have the opportunity to share life with those God sends our way, and I know God is opening the door for YOUR life experiences, to bring glory and honor to Him while we encourage others during difficulty and challenge. I thank God for each one of you who have answered the call to share what Jesus has done for you!

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 says “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation, if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”

This is my prayer for all my volunteer client advocates: Philippians 1:3-6 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Who Are You When the Going Gets Tough? Stayer or Strayer?

Who Are You When the Going Gets Tough? Stayer or Strayer?.

Who Are You When the Going Gets Tough? Stayer or Strayer?

Who are you when the going gets tough?  Are you a stayer or a strayer?  Why do we go through tough times?  What do we learn about ourselves and God during tough times?

 Tough times and testing are crucial and necessary times in our lives.  The Bible says God will test us.  He tests us to see if He can trust us, to see how much we love Him, and to see if He can depend on us to stay strong in Him.  Remember, our God is a jealous God.  The first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).  He tests us to see if we will remain strong in Him and totally dependent on Him.  Remember how He tested Abraham with his son Isaac (Genesis 22)?   God tested Abraham by asking him to willingly sacrifice Isaac.  I think God wanted to know if Abraham  loved Him because He is God Almighty and the ultimate source of all we have and all we are—not merely  for the good things He gives us in life.  But testing is never easy.  Proverbs 17:3 says “the crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. Job describes his testing in 23:10 “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”  These are examples of those who stayed the course, who passed the test, who proved their love and devotion to God.  God learned He could trust them and they learned that they really loved God and would follow Him no matter what.  Luke 8:13 says ‘Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they will fall away.”  This verse talks about the strayer s– the ones who fail the test.   God does not care as much about the talents, gifts, blessings, or callings that He has given you as much as He cares about whether you love Him and are committed to Him.  My pastor Bill Purvis says this often, “If God chose not to bless me starting right now for the rest of my life, I would still serve Him. Why? Because the blessings he has already given me, have already been more than I deserve and I would have no reason not to praise Him for all He has already done for me.” 

 God just wants to know that we love Him and will follow Him and He rejoices when we recognize the sacrifice of His son for us on the cross and enter into his eternal family.

 

Renewing the Joy of Your Salvation

At Women’s Hope, we are blessed to be a part of the Auburn University community. Every semester, I look forward to having an intern come in and experience what we do here on a daily basis. I know other Pregnancy Resource Centers don’t always encourage students to be Client Advocates, but after seeing the blessings we all receive from being around our students and the way they renew our energy for the work, we will always encourage students to serve here. You encourage us “veterans” that there is hope for the future. An example. This semester, our intern Emily Riley had met with several clients before she had the privilege to lead one in the prayer of salvation. It was beyond special to see the radiance and joy on her face after realizing she had made an eternal difference in the life of a soul. This is exactly what the Great Commission is all about. When Emily finished sharing with this client, she immediately went to her Bible and shared this verse with me:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12

This verse describes exactly what serving at Women’s Hope will do for you spiritually. It keeps your salvation renewed, refreshed, and alive. You want to serve God ever more faithfully.

A few days later as I was reading that passage again, Psalm 51:13 caught my eye. Here is what it says:

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.”

So many times the people we meet with know Jesus as Savior, but have been caught up in the lies of Satan and have lost their way. When we share Christ with them, it reminds us of the joy of our own salvation. We kneel in grateful appreciation for all He has done for us and look forward to serving Him with even greater intensity and love.

These verses express exactly what we do at Women’s Hope.

Be Prepared for Spiritual Warfare

In one sense, I have not looked forward to sharing this topic. I always want to encourage and lift you up in this Blog. However, I realize it is my responsibility to also keep you informed and prepared. You all know we are in a battle. Ephesians 6:12 says

“we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

When you join our fight for life (babies and lost men and women), you are doing a great work that gets the attention of the enemy, Satan. Satan does not like to lose and has come to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). But do not be afraid, we are on the winning team. Our God is bigger, stronger and mightier than Satan and He has come that we may have life and have life more abundantly (the rest of John 10:10) I share this with you so you and your family will be prepared and stay on guard. PRAYER IS THE KEY. Who should pray? Married women please go to your husbands and encourage them to pray for you and your children. Unmarried women should ask their parents to cover them in prayer. If you are older and have no living husband and parents, ask your pastor to continuously pray for you. What should you pray? For protection, for power, for wisdom and discernment. And not just for yourself. If Satan cannot attack you personally, he will go after your marriage, your children, and your grandchildren. Satan will look for that weakest link or gap where he can get in – but do not give him one. He knows that if he can distract you, you will not be able to do the work God has called you for. God is our shield and defender. God surrounds us with His angels. Remember 1John 4:4 “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” One of the greatest blessings in my life is the peace and comfort that comes from knowing that my husband is constantly and daily covering Jordan and I in prayer. I have a husband that sees the importance of and understands the responsibility of seeking God for protection of his family.