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I STOPPED WRITING ON THIS BLOG IN MARCH 2010. IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG CONTENT, PLEASE COME VISIT MY NEW BLOG @ http://awomanatthewell-sarahcox.blogspot.com


Deuteronomy 31:8

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Praise You in This Storm by Casting Crowns

About Me

McAlester, Oklahoma, United States

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Lord, Glorify yourself!

Today, I would like to share a wonderful story of what it means to follow God's directions, and how he uses life's circumstances to glorify his name! Jeff and I have been very excited, and are pleased to announce to everyone that we are expecting our third child. If all is correct on dates, I should be due to deliver on April 2, 2009. We wanted to wait to share our good news with our families, because there was other wonderful news that had just come out and we did not want to steal the spotlight. I am currently 6 1/2 weeks pregnant, but everything is going well so far...but it didn't start that way. Here is another amazing story about God's grace in our lives!

About nine months ago, I began having some medical problems that were strange and unexplainable. My feet would go numb for several minutes at a time, I was feeling nauseated, tired, and had symptoms like pregnancy. As a couple of months went by, the symptoms grew quite bothersome and I began to seek medical help. The doctors ran blood tests, but could not explain my symptoms. I had been using an IUD for birth control, Mirena, for several months and had not experienced any adverse side effects. After watching the doctors throw up their hands, and taking a pregnancy test, there was still no answer. I turned to my Lord in prayer and asked him what was wrong with me, and what I should do to receive care for my problem. After praying, the Lord spoke to me and told me that my IUD was causing the problems and I should remove it. Sure enough, I looked for information on the Internet and found out that other women who had Mirena IUD's were having similar problems; there was even a class-action lawsuit pending for adverse side effects that lasted after the IUD was removed. I also read that many women had continued to get pregnant while having the IUD in place, and this was resulting in loss of pregnancy in some cases. All of this, along with the idea that it could be causing my medical problems led Jeff and I to the decision to remove it. I had the doctor remove the IUD, which was not as simple as I had imagined. It took four strong pulls and terrible pain to remove it. The doctor said it could have been implanted in the wall of my uterus. I did not feel very well, but the symptoms started to go away immediately. Score one for Jesus. He knew what the problem was.

So after removal, I began to pray and ask God "what now?" You see, I had a rather rough pregnancy with Krischan that took a toll on my mind and body. To be quite honest, I was afraid to get pregnant again because it might be a repeat experience. So I asked the Lord what kind of birth control I should use. He was very clear in saying "None at all." I talked to Jeff about what the Lord told me and to my great surprise, he was OK with no birth control! Talk about a shock. I thought he didn't want to have more children; but the truth is that I think he was traumatized by the former pregnancy as well. But we obeyed the Lord and began not using any type of birth control. Months passed and nothing happened. With both my other children, I got pregnant on a single night without birth control...now months were passing with nothing happening. I began to pray to the Lord and ask him what would happen. He said, "You are going to have another child." I told my Christian brothers and sisters the decision we had made, and they simply told me to wait on the Lord's timing. Well, our family is scheduled to move from Guam in May 2009, so I really began praying to the Lord about his timing! I got down to the month of June and began to feel a little anxious. I prayed and asked the Lord if perhaps, we should start using birth control because of the upcoming PCS move. The Lord once again clearly told me "NO, just wait and trust me." In June, I surrendered to God's will completely and just trusted him. That is when His answer came to me. He said "This is the month you will become pregnant." And sure enough, I did.

Being excited about what God had said, I decided to take an early pregnancy test. It came back with a very faint positive, but positive nonetheless. We were excited, but the next day, I started to bleed quite a bit. I began feeling very unwell, and I was anxious that I was losing the pregnancy. We went to church the next night, Sunday, and the pastors laid their hands on me, anointed me with oil, and prayed that God would heal my body from the bleeding and guard this pregnancy. The next day, I kept bleeding and it was getting worse, so I went to the ER because I couldn't get an appointment with my doctor. The doctor in the ER talked with me and told me that I was having an early miscarriage and that "these things just happen." He did not test my blood, but did give me a very sensitive pregnancy test, which turned out negative. He made a final diagnosis that the pregnancy would be lost, but told me I could keep trying the next month! I was disappointed, but then the bleeding stopped as quickly as it started. I suddenly began to feel more pregnant than before...but I was told that could be an aftereffect of the miscarriage. I was also told that hormones can stay in my blood for quite some time. But I began to praise God because I believed he was in control of all things, and was trying to accept the miscarriage. I was in my car, listening to worship music, crying...when God said to me "Go get another test...you are still pregnant." He gave me such peace that I did exactly what he said. I bought another test and it had a dark, strong positive. I had hope, so I called the doctor's office and convinced them to give me serial HCG beta blood testing, to see if the hormones were doubling like they should. This would indicate a progressing pregnancy!

I went on a Friday and took the first blood test, but had to wait until Monday for results and an appt. with the doctor. I did another blood test Monday morning before meeting with the doctor. At the time of my appointment, only the first results were available and they showed my hormones were a "very low" number of 27. The doctor didn't have much hope...I could see it in her face, and hear the doubt in her voice. She told me she would call me in the afternoon and tell me the second results. But still, she sent me to the pharmacy to get prenatal vitamins, "just in case it was normal." When I was waiting for my Rx, the phone rang and the doctor wanted to speak to me at the pharmacy! She told me that she had to see a 66% increase over the weekend in my hormones or it was not a progressing pregnancy. I could hear the excitement in her voice when she said "We have your second blood test results, and the numbers are considerably higher than 66%. You are definitely pregnant and progressing." After doing the math, it turned out that it was a 311% increase in two days! Praise the Lord!!! The bleeding has ceased and I have been feeling wonderfully pregnant, although with hardly any troublesome symptoms. This my little miracle baby! I thank the Lord so much getting me through a difficult situation, where I could have been very anxious and depressed. He kept my chin held high, and gave me hope and peace. And I believe that this pregnancy is going to be successful and we will welcome another beautiful child to our family.

I pray that this testimony blesses you today and shows you that no matter what circumstances you are facing, you can call on God and he will help you. He will give you peace that surpasses all understanding and show you his will. We just have to keep our eyes on the Lord, and we can make it through anything!

Praise Him today for his goodness and love! Be blessed in Jesus mighty name!

Sarah

An Introduction of Myself & Testimony

I want to apologize, first of all, to all of you who are reading out there. Because I sent the link to only friends and family who I know, I neglected to introduce myself to my audience. I figured they already knew me! But this morning, as I was thinking about this blog, I realized that some might be reading it that do not know me, or my background. So let me make an introduction to myself.

My name is Sarah. I am 25 years (soon to be 26) and I currently live in the U.S. Territory of Guam on Andersen AFB with my husband, Jeff. We have two beautiful children: Mariah (5 yrs. old) and Krischan (2 yrs. old). We currently attend the Andersen Church of God, which is a pentecostal denomination, although we do not yet define our own denominational beliefs. I am currently working at a Christian preschool, teaching 2-5 year olds the Bible. I have recently accepted the position with my church of Clerk, which means I am a secretary/treasurer for my local church body. Jeff and I both teach Children's Church at our service, and Jeff is getting involved with being the webmaster for our church as well. My daughter loves the Lord, and especially loves telling people what she is learning, reciting verses and Bible stories to the adults! (I love it!) and Krischan is busy at the daycare where I teach, making friends, learning colors and to count! We are a busy family, but we love our lives together, and the Lord has truly blessed us with a family that loves to be together and serve God together! God is the glue that holds us together, and He is something that can never be taken away.

Before I met Jeff, I was a single mom for three years. I was not walking with the Lord, although I had confessed Christ as my Savior and been baptized. I was not living in God's commandments, therefore, I was not receiving the abundant life that God had promised. My husband grew up going to church sometimes as a Presbyterian, but stopped going when he left home and moved to Tucson, Arizona. That is where I met my husband and we were married, moved to Guam and received Krischan from the Lord! For the first two years of our marriage, until one year ago, Jeff and I were married but seriously struggling in marriage. We didn't have a lot of common ground. We had been married very quickly after meeting, then went on to move 8000 miles away from the U.S. and then had another child. Life was full of stress, and we came to the brink of divorce. I went back to Tucson while Jeff was deployed to Iraq for 5 months, and I really wasn't sure if I was coming back to Guam. I wanted to return to the life I knew, even if it had been really bad at times. During this trip, God did a miracle and he gave me the revelation that he could give me a new life, a fresh start, and I could walk with him for all the days of my life. All I needed to do was admit my sins to him, believe in his Son Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, and receive his forgiveness.

That day...I will never forget. I had been convinced of my sinfulness (convicted) by the Holy Spirit that something was terribly wrong in my life, and through two short scriptures (including Psalm 51), my whole life changed. I confessed my sins to God, and I received Christ as my Lord and Savior. A warmth that I cannot explain, except I know it was from God, washed over my body and soul and suddenly I knew everything was going to be just fine. God had forgiven me, and I couldn't explain it at the time, but I knew life was going to get a whole lot better for me! God had given me the faith to believe in his Son Jesus, and I remember one of the first things I said to God, "I don't know HOW you are going to fix this mess I have made with my life, but I trust you to do it, and I know you will." And he HAS. He has helped us get almost completely out of a $18000 debt, he has healed my marriage, given me peace and hope, and he has walked with me faithfully every day since that moment. He has never left me, nor forsaken me. Just as he says in scripture. People might say "How do you know God is walking with you?" There are a couple different answers to that, but one true answer.

The first answer is that I feel God's presence all around me at times, especially when I am suffering and he is comforting me. I feel Him when I worship Him, and I feel his protection around me when I am alone and afraid. But that is just a feeling. You see, believing in God means we have to have FAITH, believing in something we cannot see, hear, feel or touch. But God knows we struggle with that at times, so he allows us to feel Him. The second answer is that I see him working in circumstances, changing things for the better in answer to my prayer. Answered prayer is probably the one thing that has built my faith more than any other. Sometimes, I am not even "praying" out loud, but I am just thinking about something, and suddenly God will change the circumstance and answer my prayer. Before I had even asked. He knows what we need and he gives to us because he loves us. I have seen this in my own life, and as I have, my faith has grown and I have walked in a deeper, closer relationship with my Lord.

The final answer is that God tells us in the Bible that these things are true. The deeper I get into reading scripture, and seeing him work in my life, the more peace I have knowing that I will be with him forever....and be saved. Just like he says in scripture. I believe Him!!!! It has completely changed my whole life, and anyone who DOES know me can be a witness to that. I am not WHO I WAS, but I am WHO I AM because of what Christ has done for me.

I pray today that you all come to know Christ in a deep, meaningful, personal relationship that goes far beyond sitting in church every Sunday, or reading your Bible once in a while. This is a daily intimate walk with the God of the Universe. I believe in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one God, a holy trinity! So when I say I am walking with Jesus, I am walking with the other two as well. They are ONE. I pray that this introduction and testimony would bless you, and that you would allow God to forgive YOUR sins, be reconciled to him and live out the rest of eternity in God's amazing presence and grace!

Peace be with you in Jesus name.

Sarah

Friday, August 8, 2008

Jesus is the Light in the Darkness

John 8:12

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

A few minutes ago, I had another one of those amazing, but simple revelations about God's Word. I realized that the relationship between light and dark can be compared to something that "glows in the dark." I remember as a child (maybe as an adult) getting something that said it glowed in the dark. If you have ever had anything like this, you know that the only way to charge it is to hold it up to a bright light source. As a kid, I would spend several minutes in front of a lamp holding my glow in the dark stars up to it, so they would glow extra bright in the dark. My relationship with Christ is the same way. Jesus said that he was the light of the world. We have to be exposed to a lot of the light to become very bright in a very DARK world. The ways to hold yourself up to the bright light source of Jesus are to read your Bible, study it, meditate on the wisdom found in it, pray, seek to know God personally, and get as close to Jesus (the light) as you can. The closer you get, the more brightly you will shine in this dark and sinful world. You will glow in the dark! Just one more reason to seek out Jesus as our Savior, and continue to grow in our relationship with him. I don't know about you, but I don't want to blend in with this world. I would rather shine brightly with the love of Jesus than to fade into the darkness with the others. I pray that this revelation of God's Word blesses your heart and makes you think about God in a new way! I praise God for his amazing knowledge of everything. I am humbled that he occasionally shares with mere mortals such as myself! It is truly awe-inspiring. Every day there are new revelations of who God is and how much he loves every person!

Proverbs 2:1-6 -

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as silver and search for it as a hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

God bless you mightily today in the name of Jesus!

One more thing...God says:

Romans 10:17 - "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

So listen to what God is saying to you through his Holy Word, and he will surely bless you with faith.

In Christ alone,

Sarah

Forgive One Another - As Christ Forgives Us!

For the past 29 days, I have been doing a 40-day devotional called A Call to Die by David Nasser. It has been an amazing journey for the past month, and I encourage each and every one of you to try it! It covers many of the major topics about how to live as a Christian, but Nasser is straight to the point. He does not play around! He challenges you to go deeper into your faith and really live out your convictions day-by-day. Today, the morning devotional really hit me hard. It was about forgiving those who have hurt you. Over the past year, the Lord has taught me how to permanently forgive those who have really hurt me. I had raw emotions come to the surface, and many times, would end up bawling like a baby for a day or so. Then the Lord, with his amazing healing touch would heal my heart, and I would suddenly be able to forget the resentment I once harbored. For those of you who may not know, I have led a very troubled life, and I was hurt many, many times deeply along the way. This may be the greatest work besides salvation that God has done in my life. He has shown me how to truly love others unconditionally, and to remember how much he has forgiven me for, so I can forgive others who hurt me deeply.

I want to share something that God showed me (in my mind several months ago) that helps me to remember how to forgive others. I was sitting with my husband at lunch one day and I had a revelation about God's Word. I was told in my mind by God to think of the person that had hurt me the worst in my whole life, the instance that I could not seem to get over. For me, I was abused in childhood and it caused twenty years of depression, pain and attempted suicides. It made me feel worthless all those years, and really messed me up for a long time. The Lord said to me, now imagine yourself dying for that person in their place. He said..."That is what I did for you." When you had hurt me the worst of anyone I could ever imagine, I forgave you, and I did not hold resentment against you. That is how God expects us to forgive others, regardless of what they have done to us. Christ forgives us for more because we hurt him every day with our sinful actions. You see, God is real. God has a heart, the Bible says. By heart...I do not mean a physical heart, although Jesus came in the flesh, I mean a deep center of his being. He knows everything we do, and he sees every single time we hurt him. Sometimes, people do things to us "behind our backs," and we never know they have hurt us. But God always knows what you have done, and he has to face it head on. That is why he sent his Son to save us through his death on the cross!

Colossians 3:13 - "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Psalm 139:23-24 - "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

In this last verse, we see that God can know our heart, our thoughts, and that he knows if there is "any offensive way" in us. He is omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipresent (everywhere at once) as he is described in Psalm 139. So, when we are pleasing to God, he knows our good thought and good works....but this proves he also knows our evil thoughts, evil intents, evil planning, resentment, hatred, etc. We have to confess these sins to God, and allow him to heal us from them.

I pray today that if you are holding onto any grudge, or hatred, or resentment over people or things that hurt you in the past...turn them over to God today. Confess your sin to him. Ask him to forgive you and show you how to forgive others in light of the grace he has shown you. I pray that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, that you would read the Sinner's Prayer on this blog page, and pray to God from your heart to accept Jesus Christ! I pray blessings upon you all today in the name of Jesus, and pray that you will be happy, healthy and safe as you go on forgiving others!

In His amazing forgiving Love,

Sarah

Praise the Lord - He fixed my blog!

I was beginning to think that my blogging days were over as quickly as they had started! I have been having trouble today posting anything because every time I tried, it never posted! I am not the most technologically savvy person, so I was beginning to think I was just doing something wrong! Anyway, thank the Lord that he got me back to writing again! I have been sincerely enjoying writing a post about God every morning, and I am thankful to all those who take a moment to read my blog! It is now 1:00 am and I have been messing with this thing for hours...I can be stubborn at times! I will write again tomorrow morning! God bless you all tonight!

Sarah