Finding Strength "She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms." - Proverbs 31:17 Being a woman can be complex. Keeping the demanding roles of wife, mother, worker or/and business owner, in perspective can indeed be tasking. Not to mention the numerous spiritual and social engagements that equally require our time. Burning out, therefore, is as real as it gets for many women. In fact, some take periodic vacations, get back, and lapse into bouts of stress in no time. Tension and anxiety are also salient factors that lead to stress. Unmet expectations, getting or changing a job, marrying and settling down, having children, transiting from paid employment to running your own business; these factors and more conspire to sap our spiritual, emotional and physical strength, leaving us with not enough energy to deal with our varied assignments. According to expert observation from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, "as women progress through life's stages, hormonal balance associated with premenstrual, post-partum and menopausal changes can affect chemical vulnerability to stress and depression." The question is, how can we sustain strength in the face of complexity? How do we ensure, like our opening scripture states, that our loins are girded with strength, and our arms are strengthened? A number of suggestions come in handy: Revaluate your goals and priorities and set boundaries based on them. You don't have to do everything. Learn to say no to certain demands on your on your time and energy. Realise, also, that you are not indispensable. If you are not around someone else can and will do what needs to get done. Eat well, sleep well, get good exercise and do something different. Relax and take a break. Go on boat cruise, fishing. The world will not end because you are not working. For some, switch off your phone and just walk away for some time. You will surely return a better person. You will find activities, such as the following, relaxing: Taking baths/swimming Reading Doing breathing exercises Receiving back rubs/massages Listening to relaxation tapes Writing in a journal Meeting with a friend Napping Walking Dancing Engaging in spiritual reflection Stretching Listening to music And if perhaps the feelings of aloneness and depression are getting too difficult to manage or handle, then seek professional help from a qualified counsellor. More critical, however, is the importance of placing God right in the middle of all our endeavours. The Bible says those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31). We can preserve strength by refusing to allow the anxieties of life get the better of us. Remember, the Bible states, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong...." (Eccl 9:11) Now, waiting on the Lord does not mean resigning from everything else in life and waiting listlessly for God to come straighten out our lives for us. But it means sustaining regular fellowship with the Spirit in worship, study and meditation on the Word and obedience to God. His Presence will bring times of refreshing your way (Acts 3:19). This is Our Month of Divine Visitation (Luke 1:37, 1 Samuel 1:19-20). The Lord will satisfy you with good things. His visitation will bring direction and fulfilment of pending desires, in Jesus' name. I see you walking in renewed strength, mounting up with wings like eagles and soaring. I look forward to reading your testimonies as they roll in. If you require counselling or want us to prayerfully agree with you, do send me a mail at pastortaiwo@tfolc.org. I encourage you to visit our websites; www.discoveryforwomen.net, for more articles and resources.

God bless you. Pastor Taiwo Odukoya

Hi,

Have u been Abused in any way? Maltreated to the point of thinking suicide? Battered like a dough to make doughnuts? or even Oppressed by the ones u least expected? Rejected like a filthy rag? and probably Neglected by all and sundry? if u answered YES to any above, then u need to know it 's OVER.

Now u are going to Love, Inspire, Value and Enjoy life once again like you have always dreamt.

WHY? Because together, we are going to revive those dead / dying dreams and potentials u once had but supressed by the challenges / circumstances life threw at you.

HOW?

You share your fears and challenges and others in the same boat sometimes ago but conquerors today will respond.

It takes a grown up orphan to understand a younger orphan and only a widower understands better the plight of another widower than a man who has never lost a wife coming to say 'ooh i really understand what you are going through. yeah right! replies u in his heart.

The worst form of abuse is EMOTIONAL & PHYSICAL ABUSE as verbal abuse doesnt take away a strand of hair from your body let alone making you lose your self esteem and confidence.

I was emotionally abused times without number and graduated to physical abuse and almost lost my second pregnancy.

 I was forced to leave eventually when my precious life was being threatened and i was not ready to die young as i had not and still havent fulfilled destiny, and having discovered he had been married before and never mentioned till i found out. 

 

Life is a market place and you cant expect a market to be like a library because people will TALK and TALK, especially when ignorant of your experience. so, you just need to focus on yourself, your strength, your future and ignore the MARKET NOISE.

MARRIAGE IS A DIVINE GIFT FROM GOD JUST AS GOOD HEALTH AND PROSPERITY.

Why did i say this? The society has made a lot to believe that if you are close to 25years of age, you should be married and so when close to 40years and still waiting, you start feeling the heat and some unwarranted insults from people you least expect to disrespect you talkless of being a divorcee which a lot make you feel is an ABOMINATION . May be you dont know and i guess you should know now that MARRIAGE IS NOT IN HEAVEN NEITHER DO WE HAVE HEALTH / FINANCIAL ISSUES IN HEAVEN. They are only enjoyed on earth. The most important thing is to fulfill the purpose of your calling (Ephesians 1: 17-23). This is mostly important and it's in fulfiling this you enjoy all the divine gifts of God including marriage and prosperity. (Matthew 6:33)

God's will is for you to multiply, be in good health and prosper even as your soul prospers but one of HIS GREATEST COMMANDMENTS is to love your neighbour as yourself meaning you have to LOVE YOURSELF FIRST before you can extend that love to your neighbour which includes your spouse.

If you love yourself, then you will never be moved by the market noise which is just a distraction but rather let it motivate you to where you are going in life.

If you LOVE yourself, you will not allow your God given talents /potentials to be wasted and buried just like that, rather put them into action and reap the fruits of your labour. afterall, moses didnt use the rod in his hand as a walk stick but parted the red sea with it. USE YOUR ROD.

If you LOVE yourself, you wont be afraid to voice out that you are being battered blue black day and nite just because you loaned him and asked for the repayment to the bank, and threatened to be killed if you dare speak out, rather get your pastor / elders /mentors to call him to order (Matthew 18: 15-17) before you are murdered and leave your children in the arms of a strange woman who contributed to your exit.

If you LOVE yourself, you wont compromise your faith in God, yourself, your beliefs and moral standards and rush into an abusive marriage like i did (Thank God i know better) but rather WAIT ON HIM PATIENTLY, loving and working on yourself in preparation for your blessed dream man who doesnt just love God but in love with God and fear Him with every pint of his blood.

If you LOVE yourself, you will love your neighbour as yourself and so help out any one in an abusive relationship than to watch her die.

If you LOVE yourself and your neighbour as yourself, then you will INSPIRE others.

If you LOVE yourself, you will VALUE yourself, life and your challenges knowing fully well that they are stepping stones to your next and higher level of testimony (Romans 8:18), so thank God for the testimony you get from the tests. NO TESTIMONY WITHOUT TESTS.

If you LOVE yourself and VALUE life, then you have to ENJOY it regardless of your sitaution.

Are you solidly ripe in age and single? chei! u need to enjoy your singlehood wisely.

Are you are a single parent and feel condemned? haba! why now? u got to enjoy this life.Ur dream man will come at God's perfect time in Jesus name.

Are you a divorcee and feel like a failure / inadequate because your marriage crashed? please dont, it was bound to else it wouldnt have crashed. Almighty God will restore and sort you out in Jesus name.
He is a God of a second chance.

Are you married and highly living in fear? relax! have faith in yourself and build your confidence and see how it will transform your hubby. fear and faith work together in opposite ways i.e if u have fear, u dont have faith and if you have faith, you have no fear.

Considering the trend in women being battered and killed these days, it shows the devil is really on rampage and breaking marriages is his primary focus because how can a nation be built when the homes are in disarray?

This pushed me into creating this blog as am willing to share my experience as much as others are, to save others or salvage others' relationships / troubled marriages.

AM BORN 2 LIVE simply means :


A_BUSED

M_ALTREATED

B_ATTERED

O_PPRESSED

R_EJECTED

N_EGLECTED

2

L_OVE

I_NSPIRE
 

V_ALUE

E_NJOY

My dear sisters, where do you fall up there?

This is created for you and i to encourage ourselves and help others to enjoy their God given potentials in this life because God is not angry at your smallness but angry at your unwillingness to grow those potentials. (Isaiah 60:22)

You can claim anonymous to share your issues or give yourself a name.

we are going to create avenues to real fun such as getaway trips, lunch / dinner every other week, prayer chain, empowerment programmes etc just to make you find your real self and be happy.

Sure you know you can because you can do all things thru Christ who strengthens you. (Phillipians 4:13)

Please dont ignore this but comment and forward to that friend of yours who needs to be encouraged that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Thank u.