37. Hello, Baby👣

This is what He said to me, as He prepared me for this blessed season:

‘For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.’ Isaiah 44:3-4

‘Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children within you. He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest wheat.’ Psalm 147:12-14

2020: THE YEAR OF PROVISION
2019 was a very hard year for me, and the environment I was in didn’t suit me. Towards the end of the year I was finding it hard to keep at it day in day out. One day in desperation, I started praying in my journal. God spoke to me and gave me a clear image of the words ‘2020: The Year of Provision’, almost like a big title or heading. He promised me that things were going to change in the coming year and that Brian and I would see his hand at work in a big way, and in many different ways. Throughout this year we have frequently reminded each other of this promise and we have seen it come to pass.

So far (2020 isn’t over yet!), God has provided blessing in the way of:

• A new job for Brian which kept him employed throughout this year of Covid-19 and instability
• Making a way for me to step into my new work post, and also to a closer location to home than was originally planned
• A home which holds a lot of the specifications we had but also took away the burden of house hunting during a very busy period. It quite literally fell into our lap, without us needing to search at all.
• Enabling us to get married before the first Irish coronavirus lockdown and also ensuring our parents could be there. God’s presence and will was stamped all over that wedding despite it not being how we had planned it.❤️
• Providing us with the grace to adapt and thrive amidst huge and sudden life changes with little control on our part.
• And to top it all off – blessing us with a precious baby!!! This is a real miracle. For many years I had reason to believe I would likely struggle to get pregnant. This has been something Brian and I have discussed many times as we dated and then progressed to marriage. It has been something I have felt sad about and mentally trying to prepare myself for the journey. God had promised me a child eventually and I believed in this promise, but my expectation was that the journey would be a long one. This amazing gift has shown us that not only does God keep his promises, but he is also exceedingly generous. (He knew what a wonderful daddy Brian would be and didn’t want to keep him waiting too long 😉)

All of the above have been completely by God’s grace and His hand has helped us. Not by our own strength, but His alone.

During 2020 we have learned time and time again that God keeps his promises. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

We have seen that He is faithful and cares about our individual lives. He is really involved in the details. He holds us in the palm of his hands. The world can be crazy and spinning wildly, but God carries us through unharmed. He is such a good and generous Father. We have learned that we can have loose plans, but ultimately we look to God for every decision and every little step and trust His perfect timing. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours and we trust in that. Life throws curve balls but He is not surprised and already has a better plan – better than we could imagine! And in the waiting, He is there to lean on and draw strength from.

The most important things we have to do are to fully trust and depend on Him no matter WHAT it looks like, to trust His process, to seek out His voice and follow His nudges and quiet whispers on what to do next, and to lean into each other and be a solid team amidst it all with God at the head.

God first. The world and it’s expectations and ideals last.

And what ensues is 1) Knowledge that you are held by the Creator and He won’t let you go no matter what is going on in the world, 2) Gratitude for His never ending goodness and mercies, and 3) Peace knowing that life is much easier when you surrender, let go of the control and let Him carry you through every situation and every detail along the way.

Love, Abbie x