Nicole O'Meara | Blog — Nicole O'Meara

Whether it’s infertility, secondary infertility, or the complex wait of adoption, countless women have gone through Sarah’s transformation from Waiting Mother to Expectant Mother. Just like Sarah, an unexpected message at an unexpected time changed my laughter from laughter of despair to laughter of joy.

God doesn’t owe us the details of his timing when he is about to fulfill a promise. But sometimes, by grace, we receive those details anyway. Laughing with joy is an appropriate response.

BlogNicole O'MearaJanuary 20, 2021waiting, hope, adoption, pandemic Comments

Book Reviews: Devotionals from 2020

Devotionals are a great way to start a habit of meeting daily in a Quiet Time with God. If you’d like help starting a daily devotion time, please email me or leave a comment below. I’d love to help you. I’m thankful for quality devotionals that lead me to a scripture and give me something to think on during a busy day or busy season.

Here are a few devotionals that I’ve had my hands on recently.

Blog, Book ReviewNicole O'MearaDecember 5, 2020Devotional, book review, Bible study Comment

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

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