Nicole O'Meara | Blog — Nicole O'Meara

Wrestling through the Lord Giving and Taking Away {Guest Post}

You give and take away. Blessed be your name.

It’s one thing to sing those words when life is sailing along fairly well. But to say them when you’re standing among the shards of life as you knew it — and life as you wanted it? It’s admittedly hard to declare in the face of deep loss.

I get that a loving God can give. We know that as our Heavenly Father, all good and perfect gifts are from above. God so loved the world that He gave. He tells us to come to Him and ask and He will give us what we need.

But it’s harder to embrace that a loving God could take away.

{Guest Post by Lisa Appelo}

BlogNicole O'MearaNovember 9, 2020griefComment

Book Review: A Chance to Die + a printable

Missionary, Amy Carmichael, made a sign with the words, “In everything, give thanks,” and marked each corner with the initials of hardships she was enduring. She gilded the edges and hung that sign in her cabin. Every time she looked upon it, she thanked God for the things represented by those initials, including rats and cockroaches.

Upon reflection, I realized I have never thanked God for my undiagnosed bleeding disorder. I have not thanked him for a horrendous experience in the ICU or for the loss of my lung. I did thank him for teaching me beautiful truths through those experiences but I have never thanked him for the experiences themselves.

So, I made my own sign, “In everything give thanks,” and I jotted down initials of my own personal sufferings in the corners and I placed it on my bedside table. Because I love this lesson so much, I made signs for you too. You can download a card and write your own initials in the corners.

Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'MearaSeptember 22, 2020missionary, suffering, Thanksgiving, chronic disease, book review Comments

Book Reviews: The Connected Parent & Hands Full

The Connected Parent provides real-life applications for concepts taught in The Connect Child. If What I loved most about this book is the hope that is found between the pages. These are tools that work! The wins that Lisa shared (and some losses) encouraged me to keep going, to not give up on these tools, and to keep hope alive.

No matter what your hands are full with, Momma, you need encouragement. Encouragement is exactly what my friend Brooke Frick provides in this book, Hands Full: Thirty Days of Encouragement for Busy Moms.

If you think you don’t have time for self-care, or you haven’t read a book in a year, this is the book for you. If you only have time to read three pages before you fall asleep, choose this book for those three pages. You are not alone in your full life, friend. Be encouraged because God is the one who filled your hands and he will enable you to carry all that you must in your motherhood journey.

Book Review, BlogNicole O'MearaSeptember 12, 2020book review, adoption, motherhood, TBRI, devotional Comment

God in the Age of Compassion Fatigue

Compassion Fatigue is defined as a condition characterized by emotional, physical, and spiritual exhaustion leading to a diminished ability to empathize or feel compassion for others. It is not a disease; it is a set of symptoms, most notably exhaustion, depression, a strong feeling of helplessness, and chronic stress.

Not only do we not want our caregivers to experience Compassion Fatigue, we don’t want to live life without compassionate caregivers!

Compassion Fatigue is real because humans are limited. No matter how kind and compassionate a person is, no matter how healthy their self-care routines are, every person has a limit to their compassion. But God is infinite. 2 Corinthians 1:3 calls God, “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” God will never experience Compassion Fatigue.

BlogNicole O'MearaSeptember 7, 2020undiagnosed, chronic disease, caregiver, pandemic, compassionComment

Practice Remembering: Help for Isolation-Induced Thinking

I’ve noticed a fascinating thread through sanctifying life events: isolation. If I told you the story of each of those events (and perhaps I will one day), I would tell you that circumstances forced me to go through pieces of those events alone. And in each event, that aloneness drew me closer to Jesus, because He was the only one who could truly, fully be with me for the duration. As He drew me near to Him, I learned more about Him and that knowledge changed me.

That’s the crux. Sanctification happens when we learn more of God’s character.

BlogNicole O'MearaJuly 21, 2020grace, chronic, undiagnosed, pandemic, sanctifiation Comment

Finding Peace When Things Can't Be Fixed

There will always be things out of our control. Things we can’t fix. Since my lungs bled, it seems my family has been in a Master Class on “Things That Can’t be Fixed.” Broken blood vessels. Weak lungs. A pandemic that sent us into isolation. And now, as the state re-opens, we must stay home because that’s the safest choice. There’s really nothing we can do about that.

So what can we do?

Here are four things you can do to find peace and hope when things can’t be fixed.

BlogNicole O'MearaJune 27, 2020hope, peace, praiseComment

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