New blog and website

I'm so excited to announce that my new author website is up and running! A few changes are coming though.

I won't be making posts on this blog any longer.  Everything will be on the new blog under the website.  I hope you'll make the transition with me and come follow me over there!

www.stacyfulton.com


Come join the fun! :)

What's Your Story?

There's a song out called "When Love Sees You" by Mac Powell of Mercy Me.  The words were echoing through my heart this morning as I prepared to write this first of many in a blog series for infertility.

Tell Me your story, show Me your wounds
And I'll show you what Love sees when Love looks at you
Hand Me the pieces, broken and bruised
And I'll show you what Love sees when Love sees you

I see what I made in your mother's womb
And I see the day I fell in love with you
I see your tomorrows, nothing left to chance
I see My Father's fingerprints

I see your story, I see My name
Written on every beautiful page
You see the struggle, you see the shame
I see the reason I came

I came for your story, I came for your wounds
To show you what Love sees when I see you


I wanted to start out the first in this series with my story. Some of you who know me, know my story. But for those who don't, here ya go.

Do you remember the moment you made the decision to have a baby with your husband? You had the dream for years, and then you get married and the day comes when you make the decision that it's time to start your family. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they get married, they have a baby and live happily forever after.  Right?

Sounds good, but unfortunately life isn't always a fairytale.

My husband and I had the same dream. We made the decision to start our family and when days began to turn into weeks, weeks into months and months into years, we got confused. After so many months of failed trys, we saw a doctor. Of course, we went through all the various tests to see what was going on. Our issue is not really one you hear alot of. We had an issue with our antibodies. They apparently didn't get along too well. And for reasons I couldn't see at the time, that sealed the door closed on our hopes for a child.

Like all women who get this news, I was devastated. I spent many, many months in anguish. The baby showers, the baby dedications, the Mothers/Fathers Day celebrations - all the things that tear a woman up going through infertility...yep -  been there, done that.

The stages and cycles of grief a woman goes through when a doctor says the dreaded word "infertility" are so crazy its hard to even put into adequate words.  But, they are real, nonetheless. They tear our hearts apart. They shout questions into our broken hearts. They bring wounds.

We have questions like -
 Why me?
 What's wrong with me?
 Does God not really love me?
 Why did He make me like this?

And a vast array of tons of more questions.

All these questions, all this pain, all this heartache.  Sometimes it's too much to bear. We find ourselves in a deep, black hole of emotional turmoil and depression. Our story soon begins to feel more like a nightmare than like a fairytale anymore.  I know, because I lived it for many years.

As I was listening to the song and thinking about all that's going through my heart on this topic, these words began to just come alive.

This is our story...we are walking through infertility. Our story is full of heartache and disappointment, of questions and hurts.  But here is our hope in the midst of it all....we have Him.

Would you allow the words of this song to wash over you today?  When the day is full of pain, tell your story to Jesus. Hand Him the broken and bruised pieces of your heart. Would you take your questions and give them to Him?  Let Him answer you through His Word.

Here's hope - He sees every tear.  He sees every moment you find yourself on your face in the pit of despair because another month has passed with nothing.  He sees every hope and dream you have running through your heart about your future. He sees YOU.  All of you. And He extends His hand to you to come with Him and find joy in your mourning.

He gives us a promise that we can always count on. Hebrews 13:5 assures us that He will never leave us or forsake us. Even when it may seem He is absent, I can assure you He's not.  Even when you can't see Him, He hasn't left your side.  Sometimes the darkness around us may hinder our view, but I can promise you He's still there.

There's lots more to my story, and I'll share it as we go through this journey together. I can tell you this - my story didn't end with infertility's heartbreak. It just began.  And it didn't end in sadness and despair. Yes, they were all part of the journey, but it didn't end there.  And yours doesn't have to either. 

What's your story? I'd love to hear it if you're willing to share it. 

I've got some cool things coming on here in some of the posts.  I have some people who have walked through this journey and want to share what they've learned as well.  Women - like you and me - who know the pain of infertility, but who also found the joy of hope in Christ alone.

Today, stand on the promise that He hasn't left you. And He never will.

Stacy

Tackling Infertility Head On

As most of you know if you've read my book, I battled the pains of infertility for several years. Because of that, I have a deep place in my heart for women who are walking those darkened days.  Though the years God has brought women into my path who were in it and needed encouragement along the way.

Which brings me to today.

When I was going through it, I searched constantly for a source of encouragement. I wanted to connect with other women who were at the same place I was. I needed to hear from people who knew exactly how I was feeling and who could help pull me from my pit of despair.

I fully believe that when God allows us to walk through something, He not only sees our path to freedom, but He sees others along the way that He will bring across our paths so that we can offer support and encouragement to them on their journey.

And that's what I want to do.

I know several women in my current circle of friends who are battling this right now.  I bet you do, too.  I want to reach out and offer hope to the hopeless. I want to encourage the barren woman to sing in this midst of her despair. I want to see her look up and catch the gaze of her heavenly Father offering her hope in the darkness and joy in her mourning.

I'm going to start a short series here on the blog for just that purpose. I'm going to talk openly and detailed about what infertility is and how it affects a woman going through it in so many ways.  I hope to bring to light some mysteries and confusions people have with it, and hopefully to give you a source of encouragement that you can offer to someone going through it.

Here's what I need from you right now though...I want to hear from you.  All of you! If you are currently going through infertility, what are your battles? What are your fears? What do struggle with the most?  Let's get open and real with it. I want to address it all.

If you are the friend of someone going through infertility and find yourself not knowing how to help them or encourage them, what are your questions?

I hope to answer all that I can.  I may not have all the answers, but I know the One who does, and together, we will make it through this journey! :)

You can comment here on this post or you can privately message me at dailyendurance@yahoo.com
with your questions or anything you want to see addressed here on this blog about it.

There IS hope to be found in the despair.  There IS joy to be found in the mourning.

I'll be posting everything here on the blog, but it will link to my facebook and twitter accounts.  If you know someone who needs it, please send them my way.

For His glory,
Stacy

Here I am, send me....

My heart has been in a flurry lately from hearing stories of people who are currently walking through places my heart has travelled dealing with infertility and adoption.

Because I know the pain of what those hard days can bring in infertility, I also know the hope that can be found in the midst of them.  Why? Because I found it first hand. I was lost in the sea of despair and hopelessness, but I was found.  I know what it's like to be lost in pain and uncertainty.  And I know what it's like to be found by the One Who loved me all along.

Sometimes it takes a miracle to pull us out of something we're going through, but other times, it just takes another heart who has felt the same pains we are feeling, to come alongside and encourage us along the way. And that's what God calls us to do.

He calls us to go and find the lost.  Not just the ones lost from God by their sin, but the ones who are lost in their circumstances.  The ones who are lost in their difficult moments.  The ones who are lost in their dirty, muddy, messy moments they call life.  He calls us to THEM.

It's easy to turn our heads and ignore their pain. It's easier to close our ears to their cries for help.  It's easier to stay snuggled safely in the shelter of our own world, away from the cares and needs of others.  But is that really what Christ died for?  Did He really give up everything for me, just so I could be selfish and lazy and lacking sympathy and love for my fellow man?  Really?

Do I really have the audacity to look Him in the face and tell Him I don't have time to care for the hurting, to help the lonely, to love the unlovable, to go into the hard places where people are void of life and hope and bring them the love that Christ so freely showed me?  Really??

I sometimes wander what He is thinking when He looks and sees so much hurt in the hearts of people and when He nudges His children to go and be the light that He has called us to be, we immediately begin vomitting out our excuses as to why we can't.  I wander what it does to His heart when His children fail to live out the calling He has placed on each of our lives because we are too busy giving Him all the excuses about meaningless things. I'm pretty sure it breaks His heart.  And I imagine He shakes His head in amazement and bewilderment more times than not.

I have been guilty of excuses.  Many, many times.  But you know what? No more. No more offering Him excuses and why something can't be done with me.  No more turning my head, my ears, my eyes, my heart to the hurting.  He has called me to GO.  To Do.  To Be.  Go, do, be...what?  To go as an extension of Him.  Go to the hurting.  Go to the helpless.  Go to the downtrodden. GO to the lost. To DO what He has called every born again believer to do in sharing His heart and His love to this world.  To BE all that He has called me to be.  To BE the light.  To Be His heart.  To BE His arms.  To BE His extension.  To BE Christlike in every way.

So, where do we start?  We start with what we know.  I'm going to start with what I know and what I have learned.  There are so many women out there who struggle with infertility.  There are women out there who have adopted and are facing the same issues I face everyday.  I'm starting there.

How do we start?  We just ask Him to put us in front of the people who need to hear our stories of grace.  We ask Him to open our eyes to see those that are lost in front of us. We ask Him to make us aware of the hurting.

And then? Then we throw excuse out the window.  Then we throw caution to the wind and we GO.  No questions, no excuses.  We go. Relentless obedience, even in the face of difficulty. 

It's time we roll up our pants, push up our sleeves, get down in the muddy messes of peoples lives and get busy being what the church should have been all along....just like Jesus.

I'm ready to go and make a difference in my world for Christ. Are you?

Want a free download of A Dance In the Dark?

I've had so much response from people lately, I'm giving away 10 free ebook downloads of the book! Here's how to enter.... leave me a comment below and tell me why you want the book.  I'll post the winners on Friday!

Have You Seen His Heart Lately?

Today my heart is full and heavy all at the same time.

Our team from church leaves for Africa this afternoon, but I won't be on that plane.  And that breaks my heart.  I absolutely fell head over heels in love with the people in Zimbabwe last year. My time there was life changing.

While my heart is sad I don't get to be there this year, my heart is also pondering all the things God has done in me since my time there last year.

I saw so many new facets of God and His creation while there, but the greatest and probably most life changing that I saw was His heart for people.  My eyes were completely opened to the fact that God doesn't just love America. He didn't just die for Americans. He is filled with compassion and an abundant love for peoples of every tribe, nation and color.  He knows them each by name. Names I can't even pronounce. Names and faces I will never know or see.  He knows them intimately.  He knows them personally.  Before they were ever created He saw their substance, and all their days were written in His book before they ever came to be. (Psalms 139:16)

That just blows my mind. I can't even keep up with my own 3 kids names half the time.  Yet, He knows every hair on our head. He knows us each by name. Wow. 


As I think back on a particular night over there last year, I go back to an evening where we had shared the Jesus film on a big screen out in the middle of the bush in a city called Triangle. People were responding to the invitation at the end to recieve Christ. That's when it hit me.  That's when I realized and grabbed hold of the truth that God so loved the "WORLD".  He LOVES these people. He is filled with compassion for them. He desires intimate relationship with them. He longs to be gracious to them. People who I have no idea who they are, He loves them.

 

 

 



This has really opened my eyes to see that my heart is so far from His. God forgive me. God forgive us that we become so consumed in our own lives that we neglect those whom we DO know, those that we DO see. I don't have to go to Africa to find hurting people. I can walk outside my door and I am surrounded by them. I am surrounded by orphans and widows. I am surrounded by the broken and downtrodden.

So what do I really take away from all this today? I go today and I love the world. I love the people around me. I love the unlovable. I go to the orphans and widows in my personal world and care for them. I go to the poor and helpless and I love them. I become an extension of God's heart to the people in my Jerusalem. I show mercy and love instead of hatred and judging. I go to the highways and byways in my area and I extend the love of Christ. I look to the people in my circle of influence and I share the love of Jesus with them.

My prayer today is that He break our heart with what breaks His. That He gives us eyes to see His people and His creation the way He does. That He gives us a passion for people like He has. And ultimately, that He just transforms me to be more like Him, and much less like me.

Living on Purpose

The look in the picture says it all, huh? One is always smiling perfectly.  One is doing the half smile because he hates the awkwardness of pictures.  And then there's the one who absolutely hates having his picture made. Ever. 

Today was our first day of school. A tad emotional for this mom I must say. It's our first day of high school, our first day of middle school, and our last first day of elementary school for my 5th grader. Time flies.

It seems like yesterday I was just meeting the boys for the first time. Sigh....

I was so amused yesterday as they were enjoying their official last day of summer break.  They were trying to soak up every last minute before it was over.  They probably were more intentional yesterday than they were all summer. They were living every moment on purpose.

Which got me thinking...

They spent all summer just doing this and that, and basically taking summer at a hit and miss kind of attitude. They weren't intentional in what they did, or how they enjoyed it.  They just played and went about their business like summer would last forever. Until yesterday. And then they realized summer was over. So they went scurrying around trying to purposefully capture every moment.

Sounds to me like how we live our Christian lives, doesn't it! We live day to day, never being intentional in what we are doing. We live like whatever we are doing now will go on forever. We fail to live our lives for a purpose or with a purpose. UNTIL...

Until tragedy strikes.
Until our circumstances change.
Until a dream gets crushed.
Until times change.
Until....you fill in the blank.

Then what? We scurry around trying to make the most of things. We are forced to be intentional in what we are doing.

I don't want to live that way. I don't want you to live that way.

What if we lived our lives in such a way that we were intentional about each day. We made it our mission to seek the heart of God and follow HIS plans for the day. We lived our life on purpose and with passion, making the most of every moment, in every circumstance. What would our lives look like?

It's a new year. It's a new day. It's a new season. Let's live intentionally and on purpose. Who knows what we might accomplish for the Kingdom!

Stacy