A Time to Be Encouraged

This blog post is one that I wrote about 3 years ago now. I had just had Jena a few months before and was needing encouragement. God sent it my way just when I needed it most and I wrote it down here. This is one of the things I love the MOST about having a blog. I can go back and be reminded of what God has done. Having again, just had a baby, and feeling some very similar feelings I was feeling at the time I wrote this, it was timely that I came across it again. These stories encouraged me just as much now as they did 3 years ago so I'm sharing it again with the hope it will offer someone out there the same encouragement. I don't say it often enough how thankful I am that even 1 person reads this blog. I'm humbled that God is able to use me at all and my prayer is just that he would continue to allow me to be a vessel in his hands that he can use for His glory. Thank you for reading and for all the times so many of you have encouraged me with your words!

^{Who hath saved us and called us with a Holy calling, not 
according to our works,but according to His own purpose, and grace which was given 
us inChrist Jesus before the world began  ~2Tim 1:9}

If I haven't said it already, then I'll say it again, "GOD IS GOOD!". It was a hard week for me this week. I won't bore you with the details. It's not anything "new under the sun". We all have weeks like this. What I am very thankful for is a God who knows just what you need when you're having a rough time. What did I need? To receive two very encouraging emails of how God is using me.

One was from an acquaintance that I don't know that well. To keep her anonymous, I won't give details. She was emailing me about a comment I made on Facebook regarding free formula. I made this comment a few months before Jena was born so we're looking at about 7 months ago or so? She has been unable to nurse her newborn baby. She remembered me saying that I was not able to nurse my babies and that the Lord had put me on her heart the night before and so she decided to write me and share her struggle. It brought me to tears. If you've never been faced with not being able to nurse your baby, you have no idea the heartache and disappointment that goes along with that. I knew her pain, I knew her struggle and my heart went out to her. It's difficult for two reasons. It's difficult because as a mom you want to be able to provide food for your baby. It's the way God designed us and is seemingly what is best for our baby. When you can't it makes you feel like a failure. And people around you have the tendency to support that thinking. Which leads me to the second reason it's hard-other moms! I really believe that moms would be much better off and happier if they didn't have all the opinions and ideas that bombard us daily in magazines, books, TV, blogs, Facebook, etc. I had people say to me that I didn't try hard enough, I wasn't patient enough, I supplemented too soon, I should have drank special tea, used a better pump, it goes on and on. When you are able to nurse and it comes easily to you, you aren't able to understand what a mom who can't is going through. Well meaning comments end up being more hurtful than you can know. And that is what my friend is dealing with. Well intentioned people who believe the natural way is the only way hurting her feelings and making her feel like she didn't try hard enough. For years I have struggled with understanding why God did not allow me to nurse. I still don't know why, and I won't this side of heaven, but I do know that because of it, I was able to help this girl. I'm the only person she knows who has been through this. I am able to understand her grief and her feeling of inadequacy in a way her other friends can't. For that I am so thankful and reminded to not question God. Even something like this He has a purpose for!

The second email came from a young lady we have known for a few years now. We just love her family. Her mom is a constant source of encouragement to me so it does not surprise me that this young lady is following in her mother's footsteps! She sent me an email on a day when I was questioning whether or not I was an effective witness for Christ. Was I honoring Him in all that I do? Was I raising my children in a way that pleases him? I was just feeling very defeated. Then this email came:

My mom actually had just given me the link to your blog, so I have been checking it out just this week. You are doing a wonderful job with it. I like how you are setting it up as "seasons." The kids are getting so big! Your entries are very encouraging and Christ-honoring. I want you to know that you are a wonderful encouragement to me, and I appreciate your heart for the Lord. Although God has gifted me with singleness right now, your family is a family that inspires me and gives me a vision for a family of my own, should the Lord allow. Thank you for your shining testimony!

Jena Bean

It's never when we think we are doing our best, and it's not when we think we are saying such wise things that the Lord uses us. It's when we are weak and He is allowed to shine through us that others are able to see Christ in us. I'm just praising God at the end of this week for reminding me who is really in the drivers seat of this life. It's Him and it's only because of Him I can be used.