I’m so glad to welcome my friend Sarah Travis back to the blog. Sarah was our very first #BeBoldGirl and I am anxious to catch up with all that has happened in her life since then. Welcome, Sarah!
Thank you Rachel for inviting me back to your #BeBoldGirl series!
I previously shared about stepping away from full time employment. The past 18 months has certainly been a journey and I invite you to join me as I share just a glimpse of it.
I was actually newly-pregnant at the time of my previous post, so the Lord had much more in mind when He nudged me away from my office job! Much more! Moving for my husband’s job at 4 months pregnant I found myself in a strange town where I knew no one. It was time to be bold! I discovered a Women’s Bible study at the church we visited and in doing so found myself walking into a room of 100+ strangers with shaky knees and a baby kicking my ribs! Praise the Lord for boldness for He met me in my need and I was placed in a small group that included 2 other pregnant women around my age.
Those girls have held my hand the past year as we have faced a crazy set of circumstances leading to 4 moves, uncertainty, confusion, and all in Ezra’s first 6 months.
Our fourth move was into our first home which we purchased in December. We are beginning to feel settled; however, January was one of the hardest and darkest months I have faced.
Friends, it is hard for me to share, but I had been in survival mode and you can only keep that up for so long. I crashed. All the emotions and fatigue I had kept “under control” came bursting forth sending me in a downward spiral, leaving me bereft of energy, purpose, and also seeking my identity.
Opening up to a couple of friends and finally my doctor I heard the words I had been avoiding — postpartum depression. They were, however, the words I needed to hear.
Boldness is admitting weakness and a need for help.
It is only in facing our weakness that we are able to receive help. I drew my husband and a few trusted friends close, but MOST importantly, I drew my Lord close. After all, His Word says:
Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. Hebrews 4:16 HCSB
Also diagnosed with postpartum thyroiditis, I now understand and know I need to allow my body the rest it requires as it heals. Understanding where my struggles come from gives me much more ability to face them. As much as the doctor will help me, it is the Great Physician who will help me more.
As my time with the Lord increased, my emotions lifted, my identity felt re-established, and I began to place one foot after another on the road to joy with a reigniting of passion for my calling at this time. Ultimately my help and strength comes from no other besides Him and the help He provides:
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I praise Him with my song. Psalm 28:7 HCSB
It is only after we acknowledge our human weaknesses that we are able to seek strength from the Lord.
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 HCSB
I now rejoice in my postpartum struggles because they have emboldened me to draw closer to the Lord. #BeBoldGirls, if I can encourage you in any way today it is to be bold enough to face your weakness for when you are weak…then you are strong enough to break down strongholds.
And always remember…when we are being BOLD we must always hold-fast to the One from whom our boldness comes!
Keep up with Sarah on her blog, social media @srhtrvs12, and Facebook.
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Linking up with Holly Barrett at #TestimonyTuesday and Holley Gerth at #CoffeeForYourHeart