Hello Girls! What a week its been! This week has been a week of playing business women with the blog and organizing the schedule. I have been a busy bee! On the site I have introduced a few very special people to you recently- check them out if you haven't already. Check out the three part series "Natural Sparkle". Now here is another super inspiring lady! I have so much respect for her and I honestly think she is amazing! Give her read in her guest post...
One Day at a Time
One of the most antagonistic comments I heard growing up in the southern United States (so picture this in a soft, slow southern drawl, ok?) was, "Gotta just take it one day at a time".
Why did I hear this so much? Well, I was born with the innate ability to worry about everything. I have the propensity to over-plan and micromanage. In short? I'm type A.
As a Christian, this personality type and high-strung temperament are a direct contradiction of Scripture. I know this. What we hear God say hundreds and hundreds of times in the OT is to NOT be afraid. Then, when Jesus shows up to bring us the NEW law? Fully God and fully man in all His glory? He spells out this little goody: "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34).
How could I not worry about tomorrow with a hurricane on the horizon, though? Literally! (It was an actual occurrence!) On a smaller scale, how could I not worry about the math test in the morning? How could I not worry about and fear the unknown? To combat all of that, I still chose to take things into my own hands. Even as a child, I tried to control as much of life's idiosyncrasies as possible ...
I'm sure you know that God has a way, though, of bringing us all into submission with His will. The uniqueness of what Jesus did on the cross is that He not only freed us from eternal damnation-- He freed us from the earthly predispositions of our flesh. The things that might very well have destroyed us without Jesus are the things that we are equipped to overcome once He dwells in our hearts!
As a college student, I learned much more about God's Word and the nature of God than I had necessarily planned on. Isn't that funny?
The more I hid God's promises in my heart-- like that He would never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5) and that He had plans to prosper me and NOT to harm me (Jeremiah 29:11), I began to BELIEVE Him. I felt the change that age and maturity do bring with a sprinkling of God's special peace on top.
Now without giving you a Tolkien-length exposition into the past decade of my life, I am going to share the most miraculous thing that God has ever done for me-- the moment of true and permanent transformation that directly correlates with overcoming and accepting changes in your life.
There I was in my kitchen two and a half years ago. 8 months pregnant. Relatively happy, but as always, stressed. I counted all of my little one's kicks. I wrote, re-wrote and published my articulate and likely completely patronizing birth plan by this point. My future son's closet had been stocked and restocked. His nursery was ready for the impending apocalypse and our home was spotless. My husband had been coached (bless him) on exactly what to grab and what to do once my labor began, and though thanking God every step of the way, I found that I was the one calling the shots in my first child's early life.
In that kitchen on that specific day, I realized that I hadn't felt my son kick the entire night. As calmly as I could, I pushed around in my tummy. I drank orange juice and laid down on my left side. I called my nurse. I waited. Hours passed and I still felt nothing. Now completely panicked, I called my mom to drive me to hospital!
This wasn't supposed to happen to me!
Jay was at work. I hadn't grabbed my bags. What if I had to deliver today?
In what seemed only seconds, I was told that there was only a faint heartbeat left in my little one's chest. They had to get him out and NOW. No pain-free, relaxing labor-- we were talking C-section.
Somehow, Jay got to me in time for them to begin the surgery, and I remember willing myself to swap out my tears for quiet prayers while they worked on saving my little one.
Then he was out and he wasn't crying.
Then I was being sedated.
Then I woke. Completely disoriented from the drugs and trauma, I remember a voice informing me that Nolan was alive but that there was something wrong... AND that I couldn't see him until I had recovered more. So, a lifetime later, they wheeled me into the tiny NICU where my son was. I could tell there was something they weren't telling me and I could see tears in my loved one's faces as we approached his crib.
Here's what I saw: a fuzzy, milky white little baby. A precious, skinny, grunting baby hooked up to seemingly hundreds of foreign objects. All I knew was that he was mine and that I wanted to hold him. Let me tell you, I've hardly put him down since.
I'm one of the luckiest people on the planet because God gave me Nolan-- one of the smartest, toughest, most radiant toddlers anyone has ever met. Yes, he has a rare genetic syndrome known as Treacher Collins Syndrome. Yes, he has had many surgeries and needs new things from me every day. Yes, I can't control any second of any day. Yes, I can't control the mean things children say. Yes, I can't plan too many months ahead, but there is FREEDOM in that.
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God transformed me that day in the kitchen from the high-strung first time mom I had created into the mom Nolan specifically NEEDED-- the one He had actually made me to be all along. A kinder, more accepting wife. A more purposeful and thoughtful friend. A more capable and intelligent adult. An advocate. A survivor.
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When I was approached by Jessica Adams, here on this fantastic site, with an opportunity to guest blog, I jumped at the chance! I love sharing God's faithfulness, goodness and POWER in my family's life. This is the tip of the iceberg, and if you'd like to read more about Nolan, our day to day life, my personal revelations and everything in between here's our blog:proverbs31intraining.com !
Back to this series, though, I can offer you this advice:
If you find that you fear the unknown and might not be the best equipped at overcoming adversity and change, you are SO not alone!
What can you do, though really?
Take it one day at a time.
I know, I know. I understand the words finally. Today and today alone can be your personal victory. Today you can read to your child. Today you can love on your co-workers. Today you can eat healthier and take the stairs. Today you can prepare for the business or scariness of tomorrow. Today you can seek God and place Him deep enough in your hear through His Word and your prayers that tomorrow cannot shake you. Today you can HANDLE it. Today you are sufficient. You are victorious.
My favorite quote is "God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called" and my "life verse" is definitely this: "For God hasn't given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).
Fear of the unknown isn't of God. When our plan derails off the tracks of life and we are forced to rely on God...as we watch something new emerge from the horizon and its terrible, beautiful or something in between, we can be empowered. We can still experience joy and love. There is, and always will be, a glimmering tomorrow.
My prayer for you all is that you embrace the changing tides and the occasional crashing waves with the grace you possess through Jesus and that you BELIEVE this: you are strong enough to endure the storm. It likely has the power to transform you into an even lovelier woman than before. I know now that everything intended to derail me somehow hasn't. Who's with me?
Allyson Faber
If you would like to share your story email me on jessica@bibleforwomen.co.uk I'd love to chat with you! God bless Xoxo
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