It's Official...

Baby #3 is on the way!!!

...So why am I fearful and anxious?!?!

I had a miscarriage in February. There was a moment, when I realized what was happening, where time stood still...a defining moment. I started to cry and my mind went to a dark place, but stopped almost immediately. I remembered something I recently learned and was able to fight back. We have spiritual armor (Eph 6:10-18). It's there if we want it. We just have to CHOOSE to PUT IT ON and USE IT. Joyce Meyer gave a great visual of this piece by piece in one of her teachings. The piece I remembered in that moment was to use my shield of faith (Eph 6:16) - when shots (or "fiery darts") come our way, you must deflect them with Truth (i.e. by saying "I'm trusting God" or "God is good all the time and I will not let this get me down."). I visualized my shield and deflected the negative thoughts about my experience by speaking these words AND remembering my blessings! Through His strength I was able to turn my day around. Throughout the day there were times when it wanted to creep back in, but I put up my shield of faith... And it really worked!

That was a moment of loss. But now here I am 8 weeks pregnant and experiencing moments of fear and doubt that something will go wrong. It had been doing a number on me. How do I fight back this time? ... The Same Way! They are different "fiery darts" than before, but they are definitely coming from the same source. Satan wants to use our experiences to defeat us. But God intends for our experiences to be used for good.

Fear and doubt is not from God, therefore, these are lies I must not believe or even entertain. At the moment a fearful thought or doubt about the baby (or anything else for that matter) comes in my head, I need to just visualize my shield of faith, and deflect these thoughts by verbally saying, "I'm trusting God." If you really think about it, all we can do is trust Him. He is sovereign and in control. He is the author of my story. And He's already written the story of this little one inside of me. I'm CHOOSING to trust my creator who knows best (Hebrews 12:2). When I do this, there is no reason to be afraid.

Every doubt or fear that will come my way, I will RECOGNIZE that it's not from God and I will CHOOSE to put up my shield of faith and speak with confidence - "I'm trusting God."

What about you? Maybe it's not a baby you're expecting or the desire to have one. It can be anything that brings uncertainty or any type of loss you have experienced. Can you trust God even when it doesn't make sense? Can you accept that we are not in control and He has a plan much better than ours? If you need a visual to help... put up your shield of faith. Give it a try!

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord," plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."