I'm Pregnant!

Read all about it by clicking on my infertility blog : On The Outside Looking In. THANK U PRECIOUS JESUS!

Overcoming Persecution

2 Timothy 3:12-17 (King James Version)

¹²Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

¹³But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

¹⁴But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

¹⁵And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

¹⁷That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

The scriptures above tell us that when we live a Godly life, we will suffer persecution. This persecution may be physically, emotionally, socially, etc. We must realize this and not quit. Verse 14 tells us to continue on. This is something we must do as Christians. It is so hard to continue on when you feel as though you can't even get back up from the previous time, yet it is imperative to do so. When we stop, lay down on the job, we give satan the reigns for our lives. It gets tiresome but in the end, or I guess I should say the future since we as Christians have no end, it is worth it!

Verse 15 talks about knowing the holy scriptures from your childhood. I realize that not every one of us were taken to church and taught God's Word at home. I feel very fortunate and blessed that I was raised in church my entire life and that my parents consistently taught me God's Word. Maybe you didn't have that opportunity. But you can bestow such an opportunity to your children or little children around you. We may be the only Bible any of these children, or folks in general, ever read!

As many of you know, my heart greatly desires to have children, "to go forth and be fruitful." I know that God will give me the desires of my heart if I continue to earnestly ask for them and if they are for the right reasons. My reasoning is the fact that I truly cannot wait to teach my child/children about my Savior. I want to speak His name to my child daily and to be an example of Jesus' love. Until I am blessed with that opportunity, I Pray that I can demonstrate these things to my students. As a teacher in the public school system, we are not allowed to read from the Bible or have Prayer in our classrooms. However, my students know my heart and who holds it in it's entirety. When they have problems, they come to me and ask for Prayer. It truly is a beautiful thing! I Pray that I can always be a light to those around me, especially the young, pliable hearts of children!

Verses 16 and 17 speak of God's Word being inspired by Him and making the man of God "perfect and thoroughly furnished." I have always known that God's Word is totally inspired by Him but I really enjoyed reading the Greek meaning this morning in my New Defender's Study Bible. In the Greek, "Given by inspiration of God" is all one word, theopneustos, which means "God-breathed." Isn't that awesome? Can you just imagine God breathing on those men and their minds and bodies given total control to their Master to pen His Word? I Pray that God will "breathe" on my mind, spirit, heart, and body daily so that I can speak a word to those who may need it.

Lastly, I was curious when I read in verse 17 about God making His children "perfect and thoroughly furnished." Could we ever be perfect? Sure... when we are like Him. Here's what the notes from my awesome Bible states:

"3:17 perfect. The word used her for "perfect" (Greek artios) is found nowhere else in the New Testament. It seems basically to mean "new" or "fresh," which most expositors interpret as "complete." Perhaps, however, it refers to our ultimate perfection in Christ, when "we shall be like Him" (1 Jo 3:2), with all sin removed and the age-long effects of the curse taken away. He has promised, "Behold, I make all things new" (Re 21:5), and that must include us as well, even our bodies (Ph 3:20-21). We shall then, indeed, be as fresh and perfect as Adam was when he was first created -- even more so, as perfected in Christ. No doubt, the "man of God" shall be as perfect then as "the law of the Lord is perfect" now (Ps 19:7), for the Holy Scriptures are now, and will eternally be, our spiritual food (Ma 4:4; 24:35).

3:17 thoroughly furnished. "Thoroughly furnished" is one word in the Greek, meaning "completely equipped." We need nothing more that God's complete Word for our complete life."

Such an awesome message from God's Word in these appropriate times! God bless each of you!

A PROPHETIC PSALM THAT I LOVE

I just love this Psalm. It is amazing to me that it was written years and years before Jesus died for me (and you) on the Cross. I just love it! He is just so wonderful and I can't even begin to fathom just how much HE loves me. Praise His high and holy name!

P.s. Please comment on this Psalm and let me know what you think/feel about it!

Psalm 22 (King James Version)

King James Version (KJV)

Psalm 22

1My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

2O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

8He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

9But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

10I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. (OH... I WANT THIS FOR MY CHILD/CHILDREN!)

11Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

12Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

13They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

19But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

21Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

22I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

25My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

26The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

29All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

30A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

HoHum

Hi guys:

I am feeling very down-hearted today. My husband is sick and WILL NOT go to the doctor. I keep trying to make him go but he won't and he gets aggravated at me for bugging him about it. Please Pray for him to start feeling better. We aren't even sure what's wrong.

We had also put an offer in on some land in TN but that offer was rejected and we don't feel the need to go up anymore because the price the seller wants is way above what the land values at. Still, it did feel pretty exciting to think that we had found a place to place our roots as a family.

For those of you who don't ready my Infertility Blog, On the Outside Looking In, I am undergoing infertility treatments right now that consists of a newer drug than the Clomid I was on. I will also be taking an HCG shot sometime next week provided that my follicles are where they need to be (please Pray that they are). You can read a full post about this at my other blog mentioned above.

School has started back and I am already feeling pressure. On my birthday, August 21, we will be having visitors from the Kentucky State Department of Education at our school and in our classes. This is such tremendous pressure especially only 2 weeks after school has started back! Please Pray about that as well.

I guess the main reason I am down is the fact that I feel like I'm at a stand still and have been for some time. I know that we will put down roots and own our own home and have a baby eventually BUT I guess I am just really craving the excitement of all that. I know that God has a perfect time for everything in my life and I am trying my hardest to be patient and let Him work it out. Please, just Pray for me.

My New Infertility Blog

Hi all:

After this morning's post, I read an email from a friend who said that she was starting an infertility blog to keep up with all that she is going through. I have thought of this before but I just never got around to doing it because it was sort of like admitting a problem. Well, I finally did it today. I will still give minor updates here but my main infertility updates will be there. Without further ado, I present to you (and mainly to me because that's my main reason for creating it), On the Outside Looking In: My Struggle With Infertility.

Alesha

Ps. When I created my blog, I accidentally typed the address wrong and I didn't notice it until now. So the official address is http://ontheoutidelookingin.blogspot.com If anyone knows a way to fix this, let me know because I don't think it's possible.

Childless

Good Morning All:

I can honestly say that after much soul searching this morning, and its been a rather rough morning I might add, I have produced the following poem. I didn't mean to write something, but those of you who are natural born writers will attest that it is sometimes at the most heightened or most lowly moments that we produce work because that's when the emotion is the greatest. For me, I just have to vent and this is one of my methods. I don't do it as much as I use to but when I have to write, I really must do it right then.

Those of you who read this post that have not struggled with infertility like me and so many of my wonderful friends may think that this is a moment of weakness for me. On the contrary, it is a moment of strong faith. It is faith that God is going to accomplish His will in my situation whatever that may be and whatever that may involve. And I have realized this morning that it may not be what I want. I may never be a mother. But I know that God is good and He has big plans for my existence here on earth. I give Him all the glory in this storm because this is truly a test of faith.

I ask for your continued Prayer in this situation and for me and my emotional health in regards to all of this. Feel free to comment if you have something good to say. And if you don't, just don't tell me. I need encouragement and I am taking a Godly stance on saying that I will accept nothing but encouragement from this point on.



Childless

Tears upon a page,
Heartaches that no one understands.
Pain that radiates through my entire being.
Childless.

I put on a facade.
Things are all ok,
and a lot of times they are,
until I realize that I am
Childless.

Folks mean well,
They give me there thoughts and advice,
I smile as I realize they have no idea
what it feels like to be
Childless.

And I fear that I am all alone in this war,
the battle continues to rage.
I fall down,
I am scared.
I am weary and weak.
I am childless.

I pull up off the ground,
My knees bloody and scraped.
As I kneel, I lift my eyes.
In the distance I see purple.
Royalty is heading my way.
But why me?
I am just a servant girl.
He knows I am childless

He appears and reaches down.
He is beautiful and altogether lovely.
I reach for His hand but instead
He scoops me up into His arms,
He says, "Be not weary my child. I am with you."
And I know that He is,
even though I am still childless.