Is there really purpose in my pain?!?!?

On Wed. nights we have been talking about purpose and plans that are ordained by God. When you are at a difficult place~ it can be so difficult to praise and glorify God~ one thing on Wed. nights that we talk about is getting real before the Father~ we do not seek "church" answers from one another~ we share raw honesty~ we acknowledge that we serve a Father that wove and spun us ~ that He knows more about us than we know about ourselves~ the next sentence might shock and offend some of you that are on the journey of infertility~ YOUR PURPOSE IS NOT TO BE A MOTHER~ we talk a great deal about this in our Bible study~ YOUR PURPOSE IS TO GLORIFY JESUS CHRIST~ there is purpose in your pain~ this pain can eat you up and destroy you~ Satin would love that by the way, OR~ this pain can provide purpose to fall at your Father's feet and find peace that covers and envelopes your very being~ HE wants this peace for YOU~ I can sooo take myself back to the desperate longing that I had for a baby~ it is a desperate place and at points it absolutely consumed me~ what was supposed to be a natural indescribable gift from God began to destroy my Father/Daughter relationship~ I constantly sought His hands~ when instead I should have been seeking His face~ His voice that wanted to speak to me~ His ears that wanted to Hear me and His eyes that wept for me ~ when I cried He cried harder~ today at church something caught my attention~ there is not a pain that we will ever endure that Christ has not endured~ I never really thought about the human part of God~ that thirst that He felt on the cross was a similar thirst that a dying person endures~ He was broken, He was misunderstood, He was wronged, He was cheated, He had Heartache, He was tempted. He endured that to even be closer to us~ to save every wrong that we could commit~ He took God's wrath for us!!In Jeremiah 29:11 God talks about His plan for us a plan for us to prosper us , not a plan of harm, a plan for the FUTURE~ He doesn't say I had a plan for you or I'm thinking up a plan for you~ HE HOLDS THE FUTURE FOR YOU~ Since He is all knowing why don't we ask Him, why don't we talk to Him and then stop to listen to what He wants to say~ yes and no answers are easier than wait~ with yes or no there is finality~ with wait ~ the longing is still there~ I want to share one of my favorite verses that Paul wrote~ you might here me share about him frequently~ he is one of my favorite writers. This is also a prayer that I pray for each of you~ Ephesians 3:14-19~

(paraphrased)I pray that you being established in love can have the strength to comprehend how wide, how high , how deep, and long is the love of Christ~ His love is Higher than the Heavens, wider than the oceans, deeper than the seas and longer than forever~ I hope that you all have a great night~ I am praying for you moment by moment each and every single day!!

Praying God's richest blessings rain upon you~
Kimberly

God is so Good!

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." Psalm 63:1-8

My name is Belinda Isley. The above verses describe my journey. Fifteen short years ago I was in very dry land thirsting for something that I now know was my heavenly father. One day, I too, will share my story. For now, know I have been through two miscarriages. Each, of which, has changed the course of my life drastically. After my first miscarriage, I changed my major from pre-med to nursing. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God called me to be a nurse after my first miscarriage and led me to that decision through that event. After finishing nursing school I worked as a nurse in labor and delivery for three years. While working, I went back to school to become a Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner. I worked in Birmingham, Gadsden, and Alabaster for seven years as a nurse practitioner. I've taken care of a lot of women along the way, and I've tried very hard not only take care of women's physical needs, but mental, emotional, and spiritual as well. After a very painful situation in my life and another miscarriage in August of this past year, God has again changed the course of my life. I'm back in school to obtain another Master's Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner. When I finish, I plan to use both of my degrees simultaneously to hopefully impact more people for Christ. I tell you about my education only to say that if you have medical questions or have questions about referrals to specialists, I will be more than glad to help you.

I will be praying earnestly for all of you. Know that if you are in a barren land thirsting for something, hurting, unsure of where you are going in life, or lost, there is a God in Heaven and he sent his son, Jesus, here to earth to comfort you and provide for your every need. I thank God for my new sisters in Christ!

In Christ's abundant love,
Belinda

Who are we and what is this all about?!@!#???

This post might be a bit long and for those of you in our Wed. night Bible study, you have heard this, but it might remind you of how God is holding you in His hand!! My name is Kimberly Bingham, I had struggled with infertility and dealt with miscarriage over the course of several years,God has blessed me with 2 of His indescribable gifts!Keep checking the blog and I will share the entire story. Anyway, about a month ago I was driving on Hwy. 11 here in Trussville, Alabama~ we were right in front of Publix~ those of you from here know that there is a young lady named Amelia Woo who was in a car accident in front of Publix in July. Anyway, I pray for her daily and she has a website that I view daily, but even though I have gone to her website everyday, I had never posted. Anyway, on this day ,I turned onto Deerfoot parkway and I heard almost audibly, "post on Amelia's website about the miracles that I have provided you," and I thought on no, not me, I am not your girl for that~ so I went about my day, and this consumed my thoughts, "tell them how I am alive and how I am always in control of my plan for each person even before they were conceived. "I still thought, oh no, but when I returned home, I posted my story of how God met me where I was when I was broken, and how He showed me that He was still alive, not sleeping, and in control. Little did I know that this was going to begin a whirlwind of being able to bring Glory to God! A lady from North Alabama e-mailed me that night and just said that she could not get over my story, etc.. she was praying for me, etc... well, she was telling other people about my story and sending them to the website. Later that night, I received an e-mail and this is when I was reminded about how smart our Father truly is: I received an e-mail from a sweet lady named Jenny~ I did not know her nor had I even met her, but someone who had no clue about her story sent her to the website and she e-mailed me to let me know that God wanted me to post on Amelia's website, not for Amelia or her family, but for Jenny, see she was struggling with infertility and was at a particularly low place, when God gave her the words from the post. Then the next day, I got an e-mail from a lady, again I didn't know her, but she needed a story for our church Women's newsletter~ so I again gave my story~ she shared this with her daughter in law who was struggling with cancer, and I was so humbled that my story could touch others~ God is good all of the time~ I still had an unsettled feeling though, so I e-mailed her back, and just asked what would need to be done to start a Bible study ~within minutes, our minister of education at Crosspoint e-mailed~ we sent out an e-mail to all women in the church to see if there was any interest and boy were we amazed. Well, we set a time Wed. nights at 6:30 pm. I was still in limbo about one thing, I wanted to make sure that when women came to this Bible study on Wed. nights that they felt safe and unlabeled~ if they wanted to keep their journey private, I wanted them to still be able to come and not feel ashamed or embarassed, so I prayed, and our minister of adults called me back, and said bad news, every room in the entire church is taken with Wed. night classes, we only have one room , it is the church office conference room and it is away from everything~ is that OK~ IS THAT OK~ Thanks Jesus~ He even wanted to take care of the smallest of details. Women began to come out of the woodwork~ some were dealing with losing their babies, others were dealing with miscarriage, some with infertility, and some with failed adoption and losing their foster children, but God is amazing and this group of ladies on Wed. nights is totally orchestrated by God Himself without question. I want to take this opportunity to invite you to join us at Crosspoint here in Trussville, Alabama on Wed. nights. 6:30pm~ you will be amazed at the bravery of these women. This blog has been started for you to share with anyone from anywhere so that they can share in what God is doing~ see, we are realizing that our purpose here is not to be a mother, but to first be the daughter that glorifies Jesus, even in the midst of hurt, pain, and bitterness. He meets us where we are, He met us yesterday where we were and He will meet us tomorrow where we will be!! This group of women consists of women with experience in adoption, fostering, and infertility. God even gave us an OB nurse practioner who I met over 6 months ago, and had no clue who she was or that our paths would ever cross again~ but see I didn't have to know because God already did. I am available 24 hours a day 7 days a week~ you can post a comment here or you can e-mail me privately. You will see posts and comments from several of the women in the Wed. night group as well. We are hoping to have some special events so if you are in the Alabama area, we will let you know and you can join us. When I was battling infertility and losing my babies, there were very few resources. It is my prayer that this blog will be the voice from God that you need to hear to help you on your journey. We will be posting scripture for you on the days that you are simply not at a place that you can search His word for your own verses, you can at least be armed with His word. Please share prayer requests either in comments or you can e-mail me! I want to pray boldly before God's throne for you!! YOU ARE CREATED FOR HIS GLORY AND HE HAS PURPOSE IN YOUR PAIN~ when you cry He cries harder, when you hurt, HE HURTS more~ you are woven and spun by Him~ He knows every fiber of your being; therefore He knows how to bring you true peace ~ the kind of peace that comes only from the Prince himself!! He is not sleeping~ no matter where you are in your journey, your Father is right beside you!! Do not feel alone~ His plan is bigger than any plan that you can dream for yourself, not only is it bigger~ it is always better, He loves you and knows you like no other~ HE adores you right now where you are!! You are on His mind constantly. See if there was noone else on the planet, He loved you enough and cared enough about your future and the plan that He has for you that He would have died for only you even if not another soul existed!! I am praying for you!!
Moment by Moment~ Seeking to bring Him glory in all things~
Kimberly
Jeremiah 29:11

I can't believe we are so high tech and have a blog!!

Hi Glory Girls~
Well this is just a test, sort of, and we can come up with a better name, but since I have called you the Glory Girls in some of the e-mails, I thought we could start there~ I am going to continue to work with Mark to make sure we are getting the full benefit of a blog!! I am hopeful that this will allow women from all over to come and share in this tough journey. I am hopeful that we can have daily scripture posted here so that when there are days that you are unable to open God's word, that you can still be armed. Please don't think that this is a place to come so you can skip out on Wed. nights if you are close enough to attend. I hope that you are enjoying Wed. nights as much as I am. After this post, once I see that it works, I will post sharing what we are all about. Please feel free to give this blog out to anyone that you know that the Lord can bless!! The blog address is glorygirlsatcrosspoint.blogspot.com I continue to pray for each of you by name before the Father many times daily!!
Moment by moment~
Kimberly