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Today we are going to take a posture of peace by being filled with joy and peace in believing.

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Posture is a short audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything.

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Together we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

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Romans 15 verse 13 says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing

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so by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

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Other translations say overflow with hope.

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I just love that.

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So if you follow Posture on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen our exciting

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announcement that we posted this weekend.

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After many years of infertility, my husband Bruce and I are expecting our victory baby

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in March 2021.

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And I just have to say we have been so overwhelmed in the best way by everyone just jumping in

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and sharing in our joy with us.

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Thank you so much for celebrating us.

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I'm still going through comments and messages because I just want to take time and savor

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each one.

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They're treasure to us.

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Thank you.

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I've even had some really sweet conversations in my DMs with fellow mamas who are also waiting

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for their victory babies.

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So I thought I'd share just a bit of our story and particularly I wanted to share the

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breakthrough and the victories that Bruce and I received in the waiting, in the believing,

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in the trusting during this journey.

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Now, infertility may not be a part of your story.

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Praise God.

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However, I do know that many of you, probably all of you, are trusting the Lord right now

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for some major victories.

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And maybe you, like us, you've been waiting for years for these victories.

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Whether it's physical healing, maybe you're believing for a prodigal to come home or for

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salvation for a loved one.

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Maybe you've been believing for a restored marriage or perhaps you've been believing

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for your spouse or a home of your own or a dream job.

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Major victories.

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So I believe all of us can relate to this.

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So please don't count yourself out of this conversation just because infertility may

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not be a part of your experience.

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We are all believing for these big things right now and it is an adventure.

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Now, let me be clear.

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This is not a do exactly what I did and you'll get your prayers answered conversation.

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Okay?

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I don't believe prayer is transactional in that way.

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I am not giving you a formula.

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There is no formula for answered prayer, just in case you're wondering.

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What I'm going to be talking about is something so much greater and that is developing an

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unshakable trust in the Lord that is relational, not situational, not transactional.

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You know, we serve a God who chose intimacy with us.

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He wanted to be in a relationship with us.

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So what we're going to be talking about today is discovering the joy and the peace

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and believing in trusting in him.

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Now, Bruce and I, we are calling our daughter, our victory baby, because she is definitely

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a victory.

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However, while becoming pregnant with her is definitely a victory, it is not the victory.

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Okay?

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It's not the only victory in the story.

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You and I, we always have victory in Jesus.

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Always.

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So no matter what you are believing for right now, you are not fighting a losing battle.

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Never.

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For those who follow Jesus, not even death has a final say.

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Just think about that for a second.

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Think about the majesty of who Jesus is and the victory he has given us.

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Jesus's victory, that is our starting point.

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Salvation made victory our lifestyle, not an event, not an outcome, not a resolve of

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a particular circumstance, not a result.

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So years ago, when it became apparent to Bruce and I that getting pregnant might not be as

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easy as we assumed it would be when we first got married, we knew that we had entered a

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battle.

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And, you know, it wasn't a battle we had chosen for ourselves.

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Honestly, like most battles, it definitely wasn't one that we even really wanted to

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take on.

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You know, at the time, it wasn't even a battle that we felt particularly equipped for.

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We didn't have a clear way forward.

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We didn't have all the answers.

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At times, it honestly felt like we didn't even have the energy or the resources to take

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this battle on.

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But this is what we knew.

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We were not alone in this battle.

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And we knew that the one who is for us is so much greater than anything ever coming

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against us.

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So we

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We had to armor up by making some decisions, by becoming firm in some big beliefs, and

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the first one was this, we knew that we knew that we knew that God is good.

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So we would not allow frustration or disappointment or grief or the unknown take that knowing

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away from us.

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And I talk about the goodness of God a lot, I mean basically every episode that I record

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for Posture is wrapped in this truth, so I don't need to expound much more on that here,

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I'll just say this, if it's not good, it's not God.

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And second, we decided, Bruce and I, that we were enough for each other, like we chose

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each other after all.

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We made a covenant relationship with each other in marriage, for better or for worse,

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and other than our relationship with God, Bruce and I do not have a covenant relationship

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with anyone else on earth.

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We don't have a covenant with our parents or our siblings or our best friends or our

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pastors, nor do we have a covenant with any of our future children.

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The covenant that we made was with each other and it was for a lifetime, and you know what?

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We want to enjoy our lifetime.

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So we decided we were enough for each other and we were going to enjoy the heck out of

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each other in every season and in every battle.

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And we weren't going to let what we didn't have, which was a child and answers and medical

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insight, overshadow what we did have, each other.

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And the third decision, the big belief that we were going to stand firm on was this, we

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were not going to make ash out of other people's beauty.

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Now this is what I like to call the kingdom kicker, because the world cannot do this authentically,

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and that is wholeheartedly celebrating people who receive what you are believing for.

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Now you have to have a healed heart and a renewed mind to do this well, which by the

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way, you have access to in Jesus.

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You are equipped for this.

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I promise you can do this.

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Bruce and I decided that every pregnancy announcement, every adoption announcement would be an encouragement

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to us, not a grief.

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We decided that every new baby and child that was coming into the lives of our friends and

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families, they would be a reminder to us of promises fulfilled.

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There's this beautiful scripture in Psalm 119 verse 24, and it says this about the Lord.

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It says, your testimonies are my delight.

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They are my counselors.

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So every testimony that Bruce and I come across, we delight in as if it is our own.

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Testimonies, they are our counselors.

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They are a guide to us, pointing us to the truth of who God is and who we are becoming

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in him.

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Now you might think, well, you know what, Lindsay, it's totally easy for you to talk

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about all this now because you're pregnant now.

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And perhaps that's true.

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But we had years to wrestle with all the what ifs and all the unknowns.

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And the big what if, the big question that even a few brave people asked us during our

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journey was, but what if it doesn't happen?

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What if you believe and trust and decide in all these things and walk in the truth, but

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you never get pregnant or you're never able to adopt?

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This is what we knew.

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This is what we trusted.

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Even if we did not have children, God would not leave us empty handed.

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I mean, he never has.

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Our lives here on earth are rich and full in him.

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I've said this before.

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We were never promised a perfect life, but we were promised perfect peace.

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So whatever you're believing for today, big or small, know this, believe this, trust this.

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You don't have to wait for the victory.

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Perfect peace is a victory that you have access to right now.

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You know, our journey with infertility, it was not easy, but it was filled with peace

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and joy in believing.

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By the power of the Holy Spirit, you can abound, overflow in hope, and that, my friends, in

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every battle is a victory.

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you