Tag: Writing

Like this post? Subscribe with your email to receive my free 5 minute journal prompts and weekly newsletters on my upcoming posts! 🙂

Check out my new Etsy shop! https://www.etsy.com/shop/WithLoveHeidy

Journals for sale!

You can get one or all of my journals on Amazon! Links are below! 🙂
My Prayer Journal Into My Thoughts Journal Gratitude Journal

My poetry book – Words from the Heart available now!

Tags Author, Career, Life update, Lifestyle, Mom, Podcast, Poetry Book, Speaker, Writing

Blog Spiritual

Forgiving the Hardest Person There Is to Forgive…

Post author By Heidy De La Cruz
Post date July 25, 2022
2 Comments on Forgiving the Hardest Person There Is to Forgive…

As humans, we make mistakes. Some mistakes are small, like forgetting an ingredient in a recipe. And others are life-altering mistakes, like deciding to move to a different state when you’re not ready because you think that’s the best decision for you at the time. Thanks to Facebook memories, I’m reminded of that particular mistake I made in my life and rereading those statuses, I vividly remember how miserable I was during this time.

This was during my early twenties, when I thought I knew what I was doing, but in reality, I was lost. I was completely lost. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life; I had no plans, goals, or sense of direction. The decisions I made at the time were based on someone else, and that is what is so hard for me to forgive.

When we are young, we think we know everything; however, we know nothing. And when I look back at that period in my life, I always down-talk to myself and say how foolish I was. I also regret certain decisions I made. Sometimes I wish I could do it all over again. But then I am reminded of one blessing I did get, my daughter. And I start to think, “if I had not gone through what I did, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t be the person I am today, and I wouldn’t have learned the lessons I learned.”

When the topic of forgiveness comes up, it’s usually about forgiving others. Forgiving the hurt they caused us, forgiving their betrayal, or forgiving their unfaithfulness, and it’s preached that forgiveness is for us – not for them, which is true. But what about forgiving the hardest person to forgive, yourself? What do we say about that?

Foxgloves in the Wyre Forest, near Buttonoak by P L Chadwick is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

I believe forgiving ourselves is the hardest because we are our own worst critics. We think about the situation or scenario over and over again, even years after (like me). Sometimes we change to scenario into what we wish we would have done or said differently. It’s harder to move on from our mistakes, and we get stuck in this regret, beating ourselves up. But the same way we forgive others, we have to forgive ourselves.

We must be compassionate, empathetic, kind, and understanding towards ourselves to forgive ourselves, which we aren’t the majority of the time. God easily forgives us – as we confess our sins and repent, but why can’t we forgive ourselves as quickly as God does? He doesn’t hold our mistakes over our heads as we do ourselves. It says so in 1 John 1:9 (NIV), “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Healthline.com gives 12 tips on how to forgive yourself, and one of the tips is to journal because this can help develop self-compassion. You can write yourself a letter to identify self-sabotaging thoughts, or you can list things you like about yourself to help boost your self-confidence. Another tip they give is to take your own advice. Many times, it’s easier to give advice to a friend than to ourselves, so one good way to practice this is by pretending your friend made the mistake you did – what would you tell them? Take that advice!

I want to leave you with another encouraging Bible verse – Psalms 103:10-11, “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;.”

Is there something you need to forgive yourself for?

Be kind to yourself.

With Love, Heidy

Let’s Connect!

Like this post? Subscribe with your email to receive my free 5 minute journal prompts and weekly newsletters on my upcoming posts! 🙂

Check out my new Etsy shop! https://www.etsy.com/shop/WithLoveHeidy

Journals for sale!

You can get one or all of my journals on Amazon! Links are below! 🙂
My Prayer Journal
Into My Thoughts Journal

Gratitude Journal

Tags Blogging, Forgiveness, Forgiving Ourselves, Self-Forgiveness, Writing

Business

3 Reasons Why You Should Have a Mentor

Post author By Heidy De La Cruz
Post date May 23, 2022
2 Comments on 3 Reasons Why You Should Have a Mentor

I remember working at a law office in my early twenties and one of the attorneys wanted me to schedule her a lunch date with her mentor. I was so confused because I had no idea what a mentor was. For some reason, I thought a mentor was another name for a guidance counselor in school, so my thought when she said mentor was, “I thought you only had one of those in school.”

It wasn’t until the fourth year of my career that I got the courage to ask my then-director to be my mentor. I had asked her because as soon as she started with the company, she gave me guidance and publications to follow within our field. We also clicked right away. A few months after she started at the company, I found a new job at a different company, and I wanted to stay in touch with her, so I asked her if she could be my mentor, and she said she would be honored.

A few weeks ago, I called her to get her opinion on which position to choose when I was presented with two options, and it was nice getting her professional input.

I don’t only have a mentor for my professional guidance; I have a spiritual mentor too. She prays for me, she is someone I can go to for clarity, and we get together a few times per year to check up. Just like I have mentors in my life, here are three reasons you should have one or two.

Guide You in Your Career or Life in General

As I mentioned above, I have two mentors. One I go to for career-oriented advice, and the other one is spiritual, so this is an advantage of having a mentor, someone to guide you in your career or life in general. If you’re anything like me, you are terrible at making decisions, especially alternating life decisions. I go back and forth all the time, and I do a lot of what-ifs before deciding. I always ask others what I should do – but with a mentor, you’ll have someone who knows you and who’s been there to help you make wise decisions. This person should tell you how it is and shouldn’t sugarcoat things. And they shouldn’t be a yes-man either. You’ll need someone who will be honest and upfront with you. These are the best type of mentors.

Learn From Their Mistakes

Mentors are usually older than you, so they’ve been through some stuff, and you can learn from their mistakes. Whether guiding you through your career or life, you can definitely avoid making certain mistakes by learning from their experience. Of course, life isn’t perfect, so you’ll still make your own mistakes, but having a mentor can help you avoid a few.

Have Someone in Your Corner to Check In on You

My mentors check in on me from time to time, either by text messages or phone calls. My spiritual mentor sends me inspirational YouTube videos, songs, or devotionals. I also check in on them from time to time too. It’s important for us to have someone who will check in on you occasionally. I tend to distance myself if I’m going through a tough situation, but with my mentors, I feel comfortable telling them and asking for prayers. We aren’t meant to go through life alone, so it’s important for our mental health to have one or two relationships like this. I find this reason to have a mentor extremely important.

Do you have a mentor, or have you thought about asking someone to be your mentor? Who is one person you can go to when there is a tough situation?

With Love, Heidy

Let’s Connect!

Like this post? Subscribe with your email to receive my free 5 minute journal prompts and weekly newsletters on my upcoming posts! 🙂

Check out my new Etsy shop! https://www.etsy.com/shop/WithLoveHeidy

Journals for sale!

You can get one or both of my journals on Amazon! Links are below! 🙂
My Prayer Journal
Into My Thoughts Journal

Gratitude Journal

Tags Blogging, Career Mentor, Life Management, Mentor, Spiritual Mentor, Writing

Blog Spiritual

Grief – Finding Encouragement in God’s Word.

Post author By Heidy De La Cruz
Post date March 28, 2022
5 Comments on Grief – Finding Encouragement in God’s Word.

It’s never easy to deal with the death of a loved one. Whether it’s a sudden death or an illness, it’s not easy. I’ve written about grief before, and I’ll write about grief again because once we lose a loved one to death, we never stop grieving.

I don’t like to say that it gets easier with time because it doesn’t. What happens is that life goes on, and once we feel strong again, we learn to cope with the pain. We learn to live with the void inside us, but the grief is always with us.

If you’ve lost a parent, spouse, grandparent, friend, child, or even a pet, you know grief. Because grief is grief, I would never take away from someone’s pain by saying that losing a parent is more painful than losing a spouse. No! I will empathize with them and try to provide comfort in any way. However, the only way to honestly know how someone feels when it comes to grief is if you’ve been there yourself.

Today I want to bring you Bible verses that have helped me in my time of grieving. In a way to bring you hope during this difficult time. God didn’t promise us a painless life, but He did promise to be with us in every situation, even when we grieve.

Joshua 1:9 NIV – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Psalm 147:3 NIV – He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 34:18 NIV – The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

This verse reminds me of a blog post I read that mentioned how beautiful grief is because that means you really loved that person, and up until that point, I had not thought about grief as being beautiful. And this verse says that we who mourn are blessed.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18 NIV

This verse is a reminder from the Apostle Paul that all our sufferings on Earth will be rewarded.

It’s hard to be encouraged or have hope that things will be okay again when we are dealing with grief, but we must remind ourselves to go through the emotions that come with grief to come out on the other side.

On the other side of grief, we have remembrance of our loved ones. We have beautiful memories and moments with them. Stories to share with others, pictures, and videos to keep their memory alive. Their legacy lives on in you.
Tweet

I want to end this by reminding you that you are not alone in this journey. God is with you, and He loves you. There are others around you who can be there for support. I am here, and you can connect with me if you need someone to listen. You are not alone.

With Love, Heidy

Let’s Connect!

Like this post? Subscribe with your email to receive my free 5 minute journal prompts and weekly newsletters on my upcoming posts! 🙂

Check out my new Etsy shop! https://www.etsy.com/shop/WithLoveHeidy

Journals for sale!

You can get one or both of my journals on Amazon! Links are below! 🙂
My Prayer Journal
Into My Thoughts Journal

Tags Christianity, Finding Hope, grief, Spiritual, Writing

Blog

Word for 2022!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It’s 2022! Can you believe it? It feels like the older I get, the faster time goes.

I hope everyone reading this brought in the New Year with their special loved ones and/or family! 🙂

Last year my word of the year was Intentional. I explained how I wanted to be intentional with the time I spent with God, reading the word, praying, etc. And this year, I prayed, and the word that kept coming up was Growth!

Here are the areas I want to focus on growing within 2022.

Career

I have worked in the Revenue Cycle for about eight years now, and I’ve had many positions throughout my career. Like primary care biller, home infusion biller, office manager, collection specialist, and team lead for collections team. Back in 2020, I achieved my professional coding certificate through AAPC. I want to work as a medical coder in the hospital I currently work at, and this year I’m hoping to achieve this. After having a few years of coding experience under my belt, I would like to be a professor and teach medical billing and coding, but that is a long-term goal.

Motherhood

Now that my son is here, I have to adjust to being a mother of two. This year I want to focus on growing into a better mother for both my kids. We always have room to grow because we constantly make mistakes; it’s part of the journey. Motherhood is not easy, but it’s so rewarding that it’s worth all the trouble.

Writing

I truly enjoy blogging, and I’ve read plenty of articles/stories about how people make money from their writing. This year, I would like to bring in an income from my writing/blog. I’ve researched becoming a freelance writer, and I have an online writing portfolio. So, the next step would be to reach out to potential clients, brands, and small businesses to write for them. I did a little freelance work back in 2020 on Upwork, but I wasn’t consistent with it. This year, it’s time to change that. I am also looking to connect with local writers in my area and collaborate with more bloggers.

Personal

I will always strive to be a better wife, believer, mother, and all-around person. To do this, I invest in myself by attending conferences, reading, networking, and learning from my mistakes.

This year I will continue to be intentional with my time with God.

I will continue to learn in the areas I want to grow in. And I will continue to ask God to guide me in being the best wife and mother I can be. I will invest more in my physical health because this helps all other areas of my life.

Do you have a word for this year? If so, share it with me! I love connecting with my followers and subscribers. 🙂

With Love,

Heidy

Let’s Connect!

Like this post? Subscribe with your email to receive my free 5 minute journal prompts and weekly newsletters on my upcoming posts! 🙂

Journals for sale!

You can get one or both of my journals on Amazon! Links are below! 🙂
My Prayer Journal
Into My Thoughts Journal

Tags Career, Goals, Growth, Word for 2022, Writing

Blog

Five Tips to Help Cope With Grief Around the Holiday Season

Post author By Heidy De La Cruz
Post date December 6, 2021
4 Comments on Five Tips to Help Cope With Grief Around the Holiday Season

The holidays are a joyous time of the year! We have Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, just to name a few, but sometimes it’s not such a joyous time for those who are grieving a loved one.

This time of year can be challenging for those who just lost a loved one; maybe they lost their loved ones around the holiday season, or their loved ones birthday is around this time and while grieving, this time of year can be tough because they are missing their person more than usual.

I lost my grandfather last year in August, but this time of year is hard because his birthday was in late November, and every time I hear the song “little drummer boy,” I think of him because it was his favorite English Christmas song. Little things like that remind me that he’s no longer here, and it can get me sad.

With this post, I want to give five tips you can use to help cope with grief around the holiday season.

1. Set Healthy Boundaries

This time of year is usually busier than other times because of all the festivities that come with the holidays. For example, there are Christmas showcases, plays, or concerts at kids’ schools; you have Christmas parties from church, Christmas/Holiday parties from work, or even some of your friends might throw a holiday party, like an ugly Christmas sweater party. But all these festivities can feel overwhelming if you’re going through grief, and you may not feel up to attending all of them. That’s okay! Do not be afraid to say no to attending some of them. Also, do not let anyone pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

2. Plan Ahead

Knowing that this time of year is so busy and that your loved one will not be with you, you can plan ahead to help with the grieving process. One way to do this is by driving yourself to the function; this way, you’ll be able to leave when you want or if you start to feel overwhelmed. Often, the anticipation of how bad an event will be is worse than the actual event, so to help, make a plan of how you’ll get through it. You can do this weeks before the event or a few days ahead.

3. Create New Traditions

Many things done for the holidays are based on traditions, and to help cope with grief during this time, you can start a new tradition with your family. For example, maybe your loved one was the one who always placed the tree topper, but this year you can honor a new family member with the responsibility. Get creative this year and do something new, or you can also change some traditions to make them fit better with this new stage of your life.

4. Do Something Kind for Others

Nothing makes you feel better than giving back to others and the best time to do it is during the holidays. There are many places in your community where you can volunteer. For example, you can volunteer at a food bank, Salvation Army, or usually, your local church has activities where you can volunteer. You could also donate toys for kids in need, like for Toys for Tots or Operation Christmas Child. Many people don’t have homes or family members with whom they can spend the holidays, and giving back to the less fortunate is truly an amazing gesture.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

5. Be Patient with Yourself

The best thing you can do for yourself this holiday season is, be patient with yourself. Grief comes in waves, and sometimes you are okay, and then two seconds later, something reminds you of your loved one, and you’re in tears. Let the emotions come, and don’t try to suppress them because experiencing the pain will help you in the long run. Understand that there is no time limit for grieving. A bonus tip I would give is to journal. Write down your feelings when they come, or write down good memories you have with your loved one to honor their memory. There is no right or wrong way to grief, as long as you are coping with it healthily.

I hope these tips will help you or someone you know who is grieving a loved one. Please feel free to share with them. Let me know in the comments additional ways you know that can help someone cope with grief during the holiday season.

I want to leave you with a Bible verse that helped me during my grieving season, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit,” Psalms 34:18 NIV.

With Love,

Heidy

Let’s Connect!

www.facebook.com/oapnetwork

Like this post? Subscribe with your email to receive my free 5 minute journal prompts and weekly newsletters on my upcoming posts! 🙂

Journals for sale!

You can get one or both of my journals on Amazon! Links are below! 🙂
My Prayer Journal
Into My Thoughts Journal

Tags 5 tips, Blogging, coping with grief, greving, grief, holiday season, Writing

Blog Spiritual

“You Are Not Your Failures” (Guest Post)

Post author By Heidy De La Cruz
Post date June 14, 2021
No Comments on “You Are Not Your Failures” (Guest Post)

Hello Friends! I am bringing you another amazing guest post and this time from my friend Odile Arisel Perez. She is is a wife, teacher, editor, translator, entrepreneur, and published author, who loves sharing her love for Jesus with others. Odile has a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics in Global Politics and an undergrad from Rollins College in International Business and Spanish. She co-leads a women’s ministry called Intentional W with her cousin, Dr. Ingrid Atiles. Odile is passionate about empowering women in business, building God-centered communities, teaching children, and serving God. In her free time, Odile loves swimming, writing, and worshipping. Her favorite scripture is Jeremiah 29:11.

I met Odile at the church I attend and we also were part of the same growth group a few years back and has been a good friend of mine since then. It was such an honor when she said yes to guest write on my blog! And I hope her devotional speaks to you as much as it spoke to me the first time I read it. Well here is her devotional…..ENJOY!!

How often do we replay in our minds our failed relationships, our rejections, our unsuccessful adventures, and everything in our lives that hasn’t work out? We spend an endless amount of time toiling with the useless “what ifs.” Inevitably, those replays lead us down a road of self-doubt, insecurity, emptiness, and into a paralyzing fear that prevents us from trying or even believing again.

This is where I found myself a couple of years ago. A lot of things in my life were crumbling. Doors kept shutting, my business was caving like a collapsing roof after a storm, and I felt stagnant.

I must admit that I got stuck believing the biggest lie ever, that I was a failure! Even though I was walking with God and faithfully seeking Him, I was still afraid to try again. Paralyzed in my comfort zone, I buried my dreams. Recovering from the damage caused by believing in those lies of defeat took me several years.

Yet, the more I surrendered my plans to God, prayed fervently, and counseled with my spiritual mentors, the stronger my faith and courage became (Joshua 1:9). With time, God taught me that our failures, which I now like to call “teaching moments,” are simply experiences that shape us, build our character, and redirect us toward God. He reminded me that we are not our failures and that our failures don’t define us nor determine our worth. Failures are simply opportunities to learn how to walk humbly with our God and seek His guidance when facing life’s adversities (Micah 6:8).

But how can we wholeheartedly believe that our failures do not define us? In this season, I learned that we can change what we believe about failure by intentionally seeking the Lord and by DREAMing again.

D– Draw upon the lessons. Draw upon the lessons gained from those “failures.” Take some time to reflect on these questions: What did God teach me through this experience? What could I do differently next time? How can I maintain a greater dependence on God? The purpose of reflection is not to dwell on the old wounds but rather to identify the lessons that God is trying to teach us and give thanks to our Father for transforming us by renewing our minds (Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8).

R– Reconnect with God. Anchoring ourselves in who our Creator God says we are, is critically important (Psalm 139:4). His view of us is everlasting. His view of us is the truth. Connecting with Him in intimacy awakens our dreams and gives us peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). When we reconnect with God and say, “Father, I need you” and “I cannot do this without you,” He exalts Himself through us, and our breakthroughs begin (2 Corinthians 12:9-11).

E– Envision. God deposits ideas, dreams, and visions within us. After a defeat or failure, we tend to ignore our God-given dreams and vision. Rather than ignoring them, we have to envision them, write them out and make them visible (Habakkuk 2:2). Envisioning our dreams reminds us to pursue our calling and live out our God-given purpose.

A- Act. Take action, one step at a time, and every time you act, put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6). Taking action, fully protected by God, increases our faith, courage, and trust in God’s plans. Ultimately, we realize that with God, we have all that we need to overcome (John 14:8, 1 John 4:4, Philippians 4:13, 4:19).

M- Meditate. As you take action, meditate on the Word of God. The Word gives us peace and wisdom. The Word guards our hearts and keeps us focused on heavenly things (Hebrews 4:12). Spending time in the Word changes our discouragement into encouragement and provides all the light that we need to see the path ahead clearly (Psalm 119:105).

While failing is part of life, the truth is that you are not a failure. You are a conqueror, and even if you fall, you will once again soar on wings like an eagle (Isaiah 40:31). Reigniting the warrior in you may take some time, but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). As you move forward, strip failures’ power over you and choose to see failure as a teacher, not a definer. Faithfully continue to DREAM: Draw upon His lessons; Reconnect with Him; Envision; Act; Meditate.

Remember, you are not your failures; you are indeed an overcomer in Jesus Christ! As His precious children, let’s share with the world our “overcoming” testimony (James 1:12).

WOW!! What a word! Thank you, once again, Odile for this amazing message.

You can connect with Odile at:

www.instagram.com/oapnetwork

www.instagram.com/ntentionalw/

And if you are interested in guest writing for my blog please contact me! I would LOVE to work with you.

With Love,

Heidy

Let’s connect!

Like this post? Subscribe with your email to receive my posts straight to your inbox! 🙂

Can you think of a time when you wanted to accomplish something, but it seemed impossible? And you were able to still accomplish it?

They say God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers and I must say, @yara_demarque you're a strong soldier because as I was listening to your story and I realized how much grief you were experiencing while moving to the United States, my mind was 🤯 !

Tags Christianity, Failures, Guest Post, Not giving up, Writing

Blog Spiritual

Faith Over Fear (Guest Post)

Post author By Heidy De La Cruz
Post date May 21, 2021
1 Comment on Faith Over Fear (Guest Post)

Hello lovely readers! I am so excited to bring you another guest post by another amazing writer. Her name is Nicole Gyimah also known as Cole and Coco. She is a soccer mom, adoring peppermint everything, fruit smoothies, connecting, and creating. She has worked in Publishing for 24 years, and also taught at Seton Hall University College of Communication and the Arts. She loves living passionately with purpose in Maryland with her husband and children. Please enjoy this post by Nicole.

Sitting at our six-month pulmonologist appointment, I said to myself, “we’ve come a long way.” Isaiah is truly thriving. He loves reading Dog Man and Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, adores mini-golf, romping with others, and does well in school. He is athletic, playing the wing position for his soccer team. Thanks to his big sister, Dylan, he enjoys watching anime. As his 10th birthday, May 28th, approaches, he enthusiastically lives as an animated videogame player. He talks to himself, yet is a friend making gift from God. Observing him interact with the doctor, doing his breathing tests, answering questions, explaining what he physically feels is a dream come true. For earlier in his life-at 16 months old to be exact, we were afraid we would lose him.

Nine Years Ago:

Sunday, September 16, 2012, he spent the bright, beautiful afternoon playing vigorously in the backyard with his sisters. That evening we ate dinner, did bath and bedtime, and then it happened. I heard him coughing, crying, and as I checked on him, I knew something wasn’t right. I screamed to my husband that we needed to get him to the emergency room. Once there, they immediately transferred him to the pediatric ICU.

A sincere, kind, intelligent doctor-the head of PICU-advised he was suffering from a severe asthma attack and that if we hadn’t gotten him there when we did, he might not have made it. He had to be intubated. We were not expecting this or the 10-day hospital admission accompanying it. I crumbled. We were devastated. To me, we had failed him. There were no warning signs or instructions for how to be in that moment, and there were none in our circle who had experienced a chronic condition on this scale with their children—lacking understanding. No direction. Terrified. Why us, why our baby? Why Asthma?

The Jolt:

Isn’t this how life’s challenges impact us? We ask difficult questions. Why me, why my family? Does God care? Does the Lord understand how I feel? The Bible teaches yes, He cares (1Peter 5:6-7) and recognizes how we feel more than anyone (Hebrews 4:15); however, my query continued. I wondered now what do we do? And then one day in the hospital trying to make sense of it all, thinking and praying on next steps, the Holy Spirit asked me a question, Why not us? Would I choose another child or family to endure the pain? No way! As Christians, we are empowered to choose a better perspective, response and outlook so we can experience grace through the suffering. “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16, KJV). At that second, I knew I wanted to help anyone undergoing the lonely, frightening frustration of a story like ours. It was time to look for the good that will come out of the bad (Romans 8:28).

Hope, Intent, Action:

I knew each incident had not been in vain. The pain had intention. Being vulnerable, uncertainty, not knowing how it will work out is difficult. It’s also a part of the faith walk. Instead of focusing on the trouble, I wanted to go after the purpose.

“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)

After this initial incident and by Isaiah’s fourth or fifth asthma-related hospital stay, I had the revelation that we (his family) had asthma; asthma didn’t have us. It was time to go to work, not just for our benefit but for humanity. God led us to families like us who were managing asthma. Initially, I was creating flyers for Children’s National Hospital, Washington D.C., and for their community events focused on raising consciousness for Asthma awareness month (which happens to be May). And during an emergency room visit, we discovered IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic, “an award-winning pediatric asthma program in Washington, D.C., directed by Dr. Steven Teach.” Through IMPACT DC, we were taught best practices for managing asthma, and they helped us recognize Isaiah’s triggers. We were able to collaborate on asthma advocacy efforts, share our story, championing for ourselves and others. In addition to partnering with Children’s Hospital/IMPACT DC, other volunteer opportunities opened. Since then, I’ve worked with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and currently partner with the BUILD HEALTH Challenge as the Parent Team Lead for the Healthy Together Medical-Legal Partnership for improving asthma in D.C. and to improve health in D.C. by enhancing community resilience.

Present-day:

Asthma remains a part of our story. Choosing faith over fear does too. What do your faith over fear moments look like? Psalm 27:1 asks, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” This is an absolute comfort! God has promised to protect, never leave nor forsake us. How can I not choose faith over fear? I’m so thankful for our journey. Although it’s been challenging, the adversity has presented growth, development, and opportunity. I’ve reconciled it’s ok to not be ok. But we can’t stay there. Don’t hold back. Face the circumstances. Be Bold. Afraid? Good. You’re headed in the right direction.

Wow! What a moving story! Thank you so much Nicole for sharing with us your faith over fear story. We all are dealing with something that sometimes makes us fearful but we need to remember that our God is bigger than anything and everything. I hope you would like to collaborate again in the future.

If you would like to connect with Nicole I will include her social media handles and if you would like to guest post on my blog you can reach out to me by email or my “contact” page. Let’s work together!

Follow @ nicolegyimah@gmail.com

IG @nicolegyimah

FB @Nicole (Evans) Gyimah

Twitter @negyimah

With Love,

Heidy

Let’s connect!