Authentic Thriving Podcast
Authentic Thriving Podcast is a trauma-informed mental health and personal development podcast hosted by Abies Sonia Ebenezer-Bamigbayan, a BACP-registered counsellor, life coach, and positive psychology practitioner.
This podcast supports individuals navigating trauma, burnout, emotional suppression, people-pleasing, faith-related emotional wounds, and identity loss, particularly within African and Black diaspora communities.
Each episode blends psychoeducation, cultural insight, reflective dialogue, and practical emotional tools to help listeners heal, reclaim self-worth, set healthy boundaries, and move toward inner harmony.
🎧 Important note: This podcast is educational and reflective and does not replace therapy
Authentic Thriving Podcast
Delayed, Not Denied: Trusting God's Process
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What if the delay you fear is the very process that shapes your breakthrough? We sit down with Inibeghe Ebong to trace her path from newlywed expectations to a years-long wait for conception, across countries and a pandemic, and into a testimony that arrived before the fertility clinic could call her name. This is a grounded, hope-filled exploration of faith, medicine, discernment, and the quiet work of staying ready.
We start with a small sign a baby bath gift that arrived late and the way simple moments can carry spiritual meaning we only understand in hindsight. From there, Ini opens her medical journey: costly tests at home, relocating to the UK, restarting referrals, and seeing COVID turn fertility into a non-urgent case. Rather than choosing between prayer and medicine, she shows how to hold both: get informed, ask the right questions, and keep listening for God’s voice. The delays weren’t romantic; they were exhausting. Yet they also clarified a calling to intercession, a commitment to guard the heart from offence and envy, and a posture of active waiting.
We dig into the habits that sustain hope: serving like a true “waiter,” staying present in worship, studying scripture, and giving genuinely time, service, and resources without performance or bargaining. Ini shares how generosity reframed her perspective and taught her to celebrate others’ milestones without shrinking her own faith. The turning point lands quietly: after shelving monthly tests to protect their peace, a leftover kit during a house move showed positive then another, and another before the specialist appointment ever arrived.
If you’re navigating infertility, medical uncertainty, or any long road of delay, you’ll find practical steps and spiritual anchors here: discern the cause, pursue wise care, pray with clarity, keep serving, and schedule real rest. Hope isn’t passive; it’s a rhythm. Subscribe, share with someone who needs courage today, and leave a review to help others find this story of purpose in the waiting.
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If you don't if you did not experience faith, right? If you do not apply faith and it works for you, you will not really know how to explain faith to somebody. So if somebody says there's no faith, you would know how to explain to the person that there's faith because you have tested it, you have believed you've had that faith and it worked for you. So that's the case of some people in their waiting time. It's not that God cannot answer you immediately, papa, but He can. He is a God that knows the end from the beginning, He controls everything in this world. That was like in the case of Anna. You see what Anna went through in her own case? God was just waiting for her to say something because God wanted to bring not just any ordinary child to a special child, Samuel. You see what Samuel became. You see what Samuel became. So he was preparing Anna for that, and he was also waiting. God was waiting for Anna to say that word that he was looking for. And immediately Anna came into it and said that, and it was then it was done. So that could be the case of somebody listening to us today. Waiting time, you know, waiting season. You may be thinking, uh, has God forgotten me while it's happening. He has never forgotten me and he will never forget you. Even he even remembers some believers. How much more you a child of God, a believer. So going through that process, going through that waiting time may be for a reason. That's why you need to find out why. So that you will appreciate that waiting time, so that you will be able to say, Oh, this is what God wanted me to learn in this waiting time. Like I said in my book, many the most of um I found out my calling while waiting.
SPEAKER_03:Hello and welcome to this episode. On this episode, like I always say, I've got a very, very, very lovely guest with me today, and we are going to be talking about something that will people will learn from, that people will learn for hopefully. And um, there's a lot to be shared today. So let me not just you know, um, delay this introduction. So I'm gonna come to you, Ini. Please can you introduce yourself and just tell us a little bit more about yourself?
SPEAKER_02:Thank you so much, Sonia. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you. I'm really, really grateful. So, my name is Ini Ibege Ebon. What in short, for short, Ini is fine. Yeah, Ini is my name. I'm a lover of God. Um, I belong to a church where I serve, I work, I just have I'm in the workforce, and I'm in about two to three departments, and also uh belong to a ministry which I serve in the women's arm, that's the Linebid Ministry. So um that's basically who I am, and in the secular world, um I'm an occupational therapist in training.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, fantastic! Thank you so much, Ini for coming on this platform. We appreciate you for accepting our invitation. We forgot to mention Won Ki Fat, he's also the author of this beautiful book, The Waiting Time, The Waiting Time, a journey through the delays, disappointment, and divine timing of conception and delivery. This is going to be one of the main things we're going to be discussing today, right? So, in you got married, and there was something that I read when you say you got married. You said there is something about gift that when you get married, you are supposed to receive a baby back gift, right? Yeah, and when you did not receive it, you you were a little bit thrown aback as to the reason you gotta be concerned about it. Do you want to start your story from there?
SPEAKER_02:Okay, thank you, Sony. So, um, where I'm from, um, I'd say generally when a couple is getting married, like when people are getting married, most times back then, I don't know what's going on now, actually. But back then, there's always this special gifts that people give, and like you can you see that some people can have up to three, four, five, or even more than that of that same gift because it's like a kind of prophetic thing, and that's the baby bath. Yeah, to some people it may mean nothing, but it's just like people are saying, Oh, we're um well, we believe that you're gonna have a baby soon because you you just got married, so we're we're keying into this for you. You need this gift, so we are we are just sewing it into you. So growing up, I've been seeing this happening like it's like a norm. And even me, I've given like a group I belong with, given people those kind of gifts, like it's like when they talk about what do we give to the couple, that's always the first thing on people's minds. People even get more than one of it, and even if others don't think maybe family will always think of it. Uh, we need to like when they're giving you things like taking you things that you're gonna take to your new home, they always think of that putting the baby bath. What in my case, when after we got married, we we unwrapped our gifts, and um I noticed there was nothing like that. There was no baby bath. Yeah, it's not about the that it the the the the gift itself, it's about what it meant, like to me the significance, the significance, thank you. So I looked at it, I was like, Oh, we didn't get even for my parents, nobody thought of giving me this. And I was like, okay, I was a bit thrown aback, just okay. I just spoke to my husband about it, and he said, Nah, don't worry, don't worry about it. So later that evening, I think that was the second day after we got married, I can't remember exactly, but later we had a late gift. Somebody brought in a late gift, like someone that wasn't the wedding came and brought in a late gift, and behold, it was the baby bath I was looking for. I was happy, not because I couldn't afford it. After all, we're we're about we're planning, we are even going to relocate, so it's not even about that. We were able to carry it, it was about the significance of that gift. So when I saw it, I was like, Oh, I got it and I was happy with thank the person, and immediately it just dropped in me. That's the like it dropped that that's the delay, that's how it will be concerning conception. I'm just paraphrasing the way it was. So, like, wow, I just rejected it. You know, we you know when you hear those kind of negative say, yeah, reject it, I rejected it. But it I didn't know that was the Holy Spirit trying to minister to me, like trying to tell me something. It was yes later that I remembered this scenario. I was like, Oh, that was the Holy Spirit trying to tell me that okay, there will be a delay, but it will come, it will eventually come. That was just it about that baby bird. So that really um yes letter. It really is. I just thought of it again. I think the Holy Spirit again reminded me about that scenario, that incident, and and I was like, Oh, now I see. Maybe if I had understood that that was the Holy Spirit speaking to me, then I wouldn't have rejected it, would have understood it, I would have just known what to do at that time. So that was wow made about that.
SPEAKER_03:You don't mind me asking, where are you from?
SPEAKER_02:I'm from a Kwaibum state in Nigeria, right?
SPEAKER_03:I just love learning, I just love learning about these things. I love learning about it, you know. We learn about different things, but the the but you are a Christian, right? Yes, but you still believe in this cultural belief because you've seen it being done over and over again. Would you say your belief was tied to it, or it was just something that I don't know, it's just one of those things uh at the end of the day, you got me you got a message in the spirit telling you that as this as there was as this gift came late, as I you also have to wait for your baby. What do you think?
SPEAKER_02:I wouldn't say I so I so I somewhat believed in it, it was just something that the Holy Spirit used to minister to me, like I say, because um being seeing this thing growing up, it doesn't mean that like it's not done that it has to be that way, but it's just what I've noticed, okay. So, like in the Bible, God used a donkey to talk to someone, God used it could God the Holy Spirit or God Himself can use anything to minister to someone, so that was my my own case. So God just used that particular baby back, baby bag thing to minister to me. Well, I I because normally I wouldn't even mind. I'll tell you most of those gifts. I didn't even use them, so I wouldn't even mind, but I think there was a reason why that dropped in me. The Holy Spirit drew your attention to that, yes, notice it, and I was like, Oh, this is true, we haven't got this. Why? Even my family, nobody took of this. It's a mining thing, but the Holy Spirit used that simple thing, that baby bath thing, to just draw my attention to something to prepare me for what was coming ahead. But at that time, I didn't really understand that that was the spirit trying to talk to me, so I just whipped it up, I cancelled it, I just took that away. Yeah, so I don't want to really say it was a believe, believe it, was just a willing to it, just God using that minute thing that uh that to speak to me, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, great observation, by the way, you know, because some people would not even really, really pay attention. But like you said, if God can use the the little things to bring our attention to things and pass a message to us, there was something you wrote in your book. You said we had a plan, but God had a process. I thought that was such a profound thing. You know, I had to put a love out when I was reading it. We had a plan, but God has a process. Can you talk us through that? Because you said by your second year, the first year you were okay, but by the second year, you know, you begin to get concerned, like what is going on. Can you talk us briefly through your medical journey?
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so like I said in the book, the first when we got married, because of the nature of where I was like the nature of our marriage, my husband was in another state, I was in another state. So after we got married, the plan was that he would relocate, join, be together. So and he he had to resign from his job to then start. Um, you know, the job market is not really, so we had we knew that it was gonna take some time for him to have a job. So we knew that we needed some time about six to six months to one year or something. That was just our own plan. So, like, okay, we should we didn't really want to go straight into have um having a baby immediately after the marriage. We're like, okay, at that six months we should have settled down. Real the relocation done was done immediately. So after that, he gets a job. I also get because I just started a new job too, so I also find food in my own job, he gets a new job, and then we can now talk of having a baby because having a baby without anything is it's another story. So that was our plan. Actually, we're like, okay, let's give it six months or one year. And um, in fact, I couldn't even wait for the one year. We said that we planned that, but when it was after six months, I said no, no, no, no. Not that we were doing we were using any contraceptive, no, we didn't use anything, but just like we believed that okay, we've we've said this, God will honor our word. So we we kept going after it turned six months, six months passed. I was becoming uneasy. It's like okay, if um, yeah, God, I know we said this, but if um having unprotected sex now and nothing is happening, what is what is going on? I said becoming a bit worried, so I don't say nothing. But remember, we said we told God this, like we said it out, so maybe God is honoring or what um like okay. I relaxed, but when it got to before it even got to one year, I was off to the hospital. So I cannot wait to get I think something is going on. So I told my husband, I think we need to see the doctor. Let's be sure. That's one of the things I wrote down. Some people are delayed, not because um it's a spiritual thing, to some people may be spiritual, but some people maybe just that knowledge that they need, yes, maybe just it is just going into the hospital doing a checkup to know what is wrong with you and all that. So I've written that down in the book. So you need to get that book actually. So when we got to the hospital, I saw the test that was written for us after all the questions and all that road test. Ah back then we're not doing too well, so we're just managing our life. And I saw the test that was written. I went to the place where we went to where they're supposed to cost it, and I saw that the total of the test was like my one month salary, maybe two months salary, even. I was like, Oh, I thought I could just do it immediately and just go. I was like, okay, so if this is actually it, um if we're actually suffering something that is delaying us from conceiving medically, then this is going to be a lot. I was just looking at the military part. This is going to be a lot. So we just went back. We didn't do the test immediately the way we thought because of the financial um issue. We went back and then we kept praying. Then we went back later to do the test. We let her did the test, but that particular time, we let her did the test at that time. Everything was we were okay from the test. In fact, before I even went to see the doctors, those doctors were laughing at me. You know, the way our Nigerian doctors were like, Madam, it's just it's not even up to one year. Why are you worrying yourself? Sorry for using that. Go and relax, spend time with your husband, you're going to be fine. They were just making making me even say, Oh, why did I even come? And well, that was yeah, but they still wrote the test for me to go and do the basic test for me to do the one for my husband to do. So later on, when the delay continued, we actually went to do the test and we were fine. So, but the problem was that we relocated. So, well, before we could see a doctor to conclude, and what actually, since we were fine, we relocated. So, coming back to coming down to the new country we relocated to, we had to start all over to see another doctor to start the process. And over here, it's the procedure like where I am now in the United Kingdom. Everything has to follow this normal procedure and all that. We have to go again, ask, um, do run tests again and all that. We ran the test, I did mine, my husband did his, and we were waiting to see the doctor. Doctor finally saw us and said she was going to refer us to the fertility clinic specialist. And while we were waiting for the referral, boom, we had COVID. Okay. So I didn't even have the opportunity to try those medical options to see if it would have um cut short the delay. But yeah, that was I I remember again what the Holy Spirit told me. So you know, some people will say in their journey they had options of going to see the fertility clinic, the IDF, and I didn't even get to that point. And yes, passing, like I've already spent like two years. Was it two years in my country? But I can't, if I can recall, before uh doing um, remember I said we're not in a so much in the hurry at first. Yeah, and later I spent some time already doing the test that was about two years gone. You now came into the new country, you had to settle down first. The first thing in your mind is not to start thinking of seeing doctors for setting down, we now started doing going to see the doctor, running tests and all that. So that was time going before we knew we're talking of three years, we're going to then COVID came, and then I had no other option than to wait. So when I say waiting time, you're waiting because during the COVID breakout, the last thing they were thinking of is fertility issue.
SPEAKER_03:No, that's right, it's not the one of the major cases that they wanted you to.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I understood people. Even that time, we even we changed our breath when we're thinking of survival because of where where we were working, so we're thinking God save us from this coming. You had a demand attention. So, but we were still waiting, actually. We're still waiting in the waiting process. Then after COVID came and finished, after the COVID ended, gradually things started going back to normal, but it still took time before they said attending to non-urgent uh medical cases, which mine was categorized into that. So and um it took another time, and you know, it's years are passed, so the the test we did was no longer valid. We had to go through another process. We need to do another test, another set of tests. And the process here is you have to follow it, you have to start over doing the test. And this test is not something you rush and do. There are some they'll give you um maybe some days, or you're maybe 25th day of your circle. You have to wait for them, another one, maybe um, after your when you're menstruating, things like that. Like they'll give you this, so you don't rush it, you have to take your time, you take their time to do the test, and after that, I still have to wait to be referred to the fertility clinic. So we waited. I waited and waited. It was going into another year that is that we are talking of going into the fifth year of this week, and I didn't still get a word from them. They already sent an email that the fertility clinic, they've referred me. No, they said they're going to refer me. Yeah, that's so anytime I call, they say they'll look at my info. They said they are going to refer you, so don't worry, they're gonna refer you, and that's like I was like, Oh, this is another delay, you know, when delays upon the day I rang them. Yeah, I've been ringing them several times. This particular day was so broken when the doctor saw it, saw my records, and saw that I wasn't still referred, and I was really broken that day. My voice, I think the doctor could tell that I wasn't myself. So she was like, Okay, I'm really sorry about that. I'm gonna stay outside my work hours and refer you. So to me, that was a breakthrough because I've been waiting for this, getting to a year already on this waiting, waiting just to be referred. We have not even been seen by the specialist, so that really stood out for me like, okay, God is is is in charge, like he's making a move now for me medically. So when we were referred, another boom. So let's say I was referred, I was given the letter that I've been referred to the fertility clinic January, and the date I was to be seen was about June. Six months, like six months after waiting all that while I was like, What is going on? I thought I was just gonna be seen, maybe highest one month interval or something. Yeah, that was another waiting. I was like, God, it means you just want to show me that you don't want to use the medical way for for this waiting that we are experiencing constantly conception. I prayed the prayer, I said, Lord, before the date of this appointment, do something. I just need you to do it yourself. And as we I prayed out of a broken heart, I just say, God, I leave it to you because I don't understand why I'm having six months to wait again to just to see the first. And you know, if I'm to do, for example, I'm to do IBF, it still takes another process. So I've not even been seen by the specialist. I was just so broken. We went to God in prayer as my husband and I we prayed. You say, Lord, before the date of this appointment, do something. I just left it there.
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SPEAKER_02:And I continued my normal life, like the things I wrote in the book.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, if you don't mind, if you don't mind, let's explore what you've said so much. You said something, you said while you're waiting, it is also good for you to explore that option. I think that was a very profound thing for me because a lot of people, especially we Christians, when we are waiting, we just like, oh no, I'm just gonna wait, or something like, Oh, yeah, it's spiritual. We need to fast and pray and keep praying. You said you need to ask questions. Is it medical? Is it spiritual? Is it a test of faith, or is it an assignment? I loved waiting with that, and every single chapter in this book, it's not so big, by the way. You can read it within three hours or even four hours without without without this uh distractions. But I just want to bring out the golden nugget inside this place. You talk about reflection in each chapter, you are reflecting, so it's not just about reading this book, it's about also reflecting on what you have learned and bringing yourself into the picture of this. It was not about you just telling your story, it's about you, it's about you inviting the readers to work this journey. It's almost as if you are escorting them, you are guiding them on their own journey as well. Was that your intention? And if it worked, was it okay? Fantastic. You captured it really well. You also said something said delays are not punishments, sometimes they are preparation, other times they are battles in the spirit, they need discernment and prayer. And sometimes, like the delay baby birth, they are God's gentle whisper that something deeper is unfolding in the sin. And not only that, you do not leave them there, you also declare the word of God. I believe that the word of God is spiritual life. You declare very selected word of God into the, for example, my baby is coming on your schedule, and you just kept on declaring, and then you also talk about what to do when you are stuck because, like you, it's almost as if there was different phases of waiting, waiting, waiting. There is the waiting for the baby, you relocated, you started all over again. Now I think that was not enough. COVID came, you started all over again, and then immediately they put you through the referral. Please, let's take note here. It's not like they've they booked a point for her to come and do anything. This is just a referral, and I also waited six months, you also waited six months, and you made reference to when you're feeling stuck. When people are waiting, they really do feel stuck, any waiting at all. So, you also talk about to also do an evaluation as well of yourself. That I think as if to tell us that don't waste your time while you are waiting. No, don't just focus if not, you can just go insane. I love the way you do it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because some people just wait and say, Yeah, if this thing does not come, I'm not gonna do any other thing. Put the pages of those book the book, you would notice that things down. You God really led me through this process for a reason. So while I was waiting, I was doing something. So while you're waiting, I'm just telling anybody out there that will be reading or listening to us, while you're waiting, there's something to do. And yes, believe me, God could be waiting for you to do that particular thing. Like in my case, He could be waiting for you to just say that word, for you to just take that action, for you to just believe in Him, for you to just declare those words, for you to just do that thing while you're waiting. And while you're waiting, you could do many other things. Like, don't wait, let your life not tie be tied down to that particular thing you're waiting for. Is it a husband you're waiting for? That's marriage, is it a job you're waiting for? If it's not coming, what can you do while waiting to keep yourself busy? It doesn't like I said in the book uh when um you're passing through waiting doesn't mean that God is a liar, he's not a liar, he's not a man that it should lie in the scripture. But it just there is a reason why you may be waiting, which you need to find out. I've written it down already. You need to find out why you are waiting. Is it a spiritual warfare thing? Like in the case of that uh uh Daniel, is it that God has answered, but the Prince of Pressure is answered, then that one you need to you need to know what the problem is so you know how to tackle it. Is it like in my case, some people's cases could be a medical condition? So now if you know, for example, that you have it, some people say they have a um um a situation, maybe they did the test and they discovered that they cannot conceive or there's something wrong with their reproductive system or reproductive organ, that is another thing entirely. So you when you know that you now know how to tackle it. So, and um so many other things when you know what the problem is or what is causing the problem, then you will know how to tackle it. That's why I also said hearing God is very important in the process. You really need to hear God for yourself. There was a challenge, I I wrote it down that I went, I attended a particular service, and then the preacher challenged us. I was like, What you're going through? Do you really know why you're going through that thing? And it really resonated. I was like, That's true. At that time, I didn't know what was causing the delay. I didn't even know what God was saying about the delay I was experiencing. So I went back to God and I said, Okay, I want to know what is causing them. What is the problem? Where am I still with? We're like jokers that resonate with God. Let me hear you. So it's easier when you hear God, like when you think I have done it, I have heard you have done it. So that time I knew, okay, he has done it. It's just for a time now, so it's this waiting thing that is the problem. I now knew, okay, he said he has done it, he said he will give me children, he will give me my own child. He has told me I heard it clearly. It's not even that my pastor told me, yes, other people have been telling me they've seen this, they've seen that. Well, me, I heard it clearly. So you need to hear God for yourself. You really need to hear God concerning that thing you're waiting on God for. What is God saying? What is the cause of it? So when you hear Him, you now know how to tackle it, you know how to where to go, how to handle it, how to pray, what to do to reduce that delay and to even bring an end to the delay you're experiencing.
SPEAKER_03:You know, the way the way you explain hearing from God, it aligns with my I've done a podcast, I've not released it here on how to hear from God because a lot of people have been played with I hear from God that you start, you know, worshiping someone when you can just go and pray yourself. You talk about when that man of God came, you heard the word I said. Other people may have heard it, but they will not, it will not resonate with them because it was not their word, it resonated with you because it was your word, and then you talk about you know, um, praying and also hearing, and you talk about other people interceding with you and for you as well, and they also brought word as well. The way you were talking about is that yeah, this is how I also believe in in hearing from God. It might be someone just talking and they will drop a word and you know that this word is definitely for me, and know that was God speaking through that person, and then you brought something about what the waiters do. And I remember you know, we go to a restaurant, you see waiters. What do they do? I love the picture stuff because I'm a very visual person, and I when you talk about what the waiters do, and I say it's true, you don't see a waiter in a restaurant just staying there and doing nothing. The a waiter, you you broke it down, a waiter served God, the fellowship with God, the praise God, the read the word of God, and there was a beautiful one he said he said a waiter guard their hearts. Oh, yeah, a waiter should guard their heart. So please, I don't know who is listening out there, but please, while you are waiting, is the time offense will be coming left, right, center, top, and down. When offense comes, it can hinder your prayers. This is the time where you guard your heart. He said, one of the wisest things you can do in the waiting season is to guard your heart. And he also said something profound. He said, wait a must learn to wait, to listen, and to obey God's voice. Sometimes God doesn't speak right away, not because he has forgotten, but because he is working in you, is growing your faith, is purifying your motives, and preparing the perfect testimony. When I saw that, I was like, Wow, God is working in you sometimes, it doesn't matter how long you are born again, there are some purities inside of us that God knows that this particular lesson will help him or her to purify it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so sometimes you God just wants you to get through the process, that process of waiting, just to refine you, to build you. That is if the delay was from God. I would I hope you understand because some people's delays they are from there. There are many reasons, like I said in the book, many reasons that could cause the delay. But if it is from God, he knows what he's doing, he wants you to be ready. So he's it's like go like the children of Israel, they were passing through um a journey just to get to their own promised land. So he passed them through all that for them to get to the promised land, he wanted them to experience something. So also in our lives, there will be things that God wants you to get, he wants you to get it. It could be that he wants you to be an encouragement to somebody tomorrow, he wants you to preach that topic well, like my pastor used to say if you don't if you don't experience faith, like if you've not applied faith and it works for you, you will not really know how to explain faith to somebody. So if somebody says there's no faith, you will know how to explain to the person that there's faith because you have tested it, you have believed you've had that faith and it worked for you. So that's the case of some people in their waiting time. It's not that God cannot answer you immediately. He can, he is a God that knows the end from the beginning, he controls everything in this world. That was like in the case of Anna. You see what Anna went through in her own case. God was just waiting for her to say something because God wanted to bring not just any ordinary child to Anna, a special child, Samuel. You see what Samuel be see what Samuel became. So he was preparing Anna for that, and he was also waiting. God was waiting for Anna to say that word that he was looking for, and immediately Anna kid into it and said that, and it was then it was done. So that could be the case of somebody listening to us today, yeah. Waiting time, you know, waiting season. You may be thinking, uh, has God forgotten me? Why is this happening? He has never forgotten me and he would never forget you. Even he even remembers unbelievers. How much more you a child of God, a believer? So going through that process, going through that waiting time may be for a reason. That's why you need to find out why, so that you will appreciate that waiting time, so that you be able to say, Oh, this is what God wanted me to learn in this waiting time. Like I said in my book, many of the most of um I found out my calling while waiting.
SPEAKER_05:I be an intercessor.
SPEAKER_02:Believe me. So when you get to a point that you drop your problem and you're praying for another person with that similar problem, you know you're an intercessor. I am telling you.
SPEAKER_03:We do not just say I would like to just describe what an intercessor is. I don't want to be mistaken for a prayer warrior alone. A prayer warrior can pray very well by themselves. Well, I'm talking, let me reintroduce any. She's an intercessor. These are people that pray for other causes, they pray for the agenda of God, they pray for the different mountain of influence, they will forget their own, put it on one side, knowing that as I'm doing God's will is doing my own. That is what an intercessor is someone that will pray for the kingdom of God to be filled. He said, The harvest is plenty, the laborers are few. Intercessor is a laborer that just go about praying and interceding, getting all those, you know, those souls won. So that is what she is. I just thought I would I would specify that because I don't understand how you also have your own problem. And then you're now also putting your own one side and deciding to pray. It's only God that could have done that for you, Amy. It's only God that could have done that for you. There was something you said, he said you have to know where the data is from. For anybody that is waiting out there, I don't know what you're waiting for, but I just wanted to know that it doesn't matter whether it's spiritual, whether it's medical. I believe that God will use it to his glory. And I also believe in Romans 8 28 has said everything will work out for your good, just like it worked out for Sister Amy's good. COVID came, and if she had gone through that time, if COVID did not come, she would have gone through all the different fertility stuff. Now, not that that is bad, but that is not how God wanted it for death, right? And God showed himself before we move on, right? You also said something. I know a lot of people struggle with this one, but I know you did it. Waiters must give genuinely. Please can you speak to that? Waiters must give genuinely. That one is really, really hard. I've had people that they are waiting, they don't want to be around children because it makes them feel bad. They don't want to be around people that just had a baby because it reminds them of their waiting, what that they are still waiting. Please, can you speak to that, Any?
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so about waiting and giving, it's very, very important to give while you're waiting. Some people think um you're giving, uh, just um maybe giving also really mean a lot, but it means a lot. There are many things I put down there that waiters should do or can do while waiting. Giving is one of them. Giving is very important because it's written in the scripture, you sow a seed, and that seed grows, it it germinates, it grows into from that seed, you have a tree, and then you have the fruits coming out of it. So while waiting, you need to look back. Where can I give? What can I do? Which life can I touch? You're looking for a child. Is there a child I can bless? Is there a baby I can bless? Is there a family I can bless? Is there something I can do for God? Especially kingdom work. I'm not talking about the show-offs that people do. You go to give and then everybody's announcing it, and you are announcing it up and down. It's about doing it genuinely, genuinely. Not, and some people also give, like you're giving because you really want, you're expecting it to come immediately. No, that's not what I'm talking about. A bit a genuine giving, like you're giving because it is good to give. God has commanded us to give, so you are giving, you're not giving like a right because I've given God, you must answer me. I'm I'm holding you by this thing I've given you. Yes, it's good to do the rugged prayer, but when it gets to uh um you knowing what you're doing, like why am I giving? First of all, start with that. Why am I giving? God has commanded me to give, and then it's said or even unbelievers when they go through this process of giving, it works for them because it's a principle, yeah, it's a direct principle that works for everybody.
SPEAKER_03:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:So if you know that giving will bring something good for you, give not because he wants to um harass God, you're bribing God, you can't bribe God, you're just doing what he wants you to do. Now, giving is not just monetary giving, like it's not finances alone. You can give your time, give him service to him. In fact, to me, I even say that service thing, like serving, it's even a bigger one. I may be wrong, but I see it that way. Serving, you could be saying, uh, what why do I need to go and serve? You're looking for a child, but you can't even do anything for a child. No, just or maybe you're looking for marriage, and then you see people getting married, and you're all groomy. Oh, my friends, they've all gotten married, that married that they uh baby they invited you, and you're like, No, I'm not going to go, I'm all shiny. Go and sow that seed. Like I wrote in a book. I had a friend that just got married after me, years after me, and she she God gave her a baby. I was there. I, in fact, in that place of serving, serving, helping her with the baby. I even learned a lot for myself. So, whatever you think is good, do it in terms of giving. Is it your service? Serve God in the house of God, you have to serve. In the community where you are, you have to serve. Look around. What do you think your community can volunteer somewhere where you know that your service will touch life? What thing that is to amazing, even unbelievers know this principle and they are doing it. How much more we believers, when you put your mind into it, you say, God, I want to do this for you. Not because I'm bribing you, not because I I want people to see that I'm doing it, but I'm doing it because I need to do this. It's your command. And while I'm waiting, I can't be idle, I have to do what you've asked me to do. It's a normal thing that I should give as a believer. So I need to do this. I give my time in serving you. Is it in the church where I am or where I'm volunteering in the community where I am? And um, is it your money? If God leads you to give your money, give. There are many people who say I don't know where to give. There are many places to give. And then some people often say, I don't have much. So, how do I give? I don't have much. I wrote it down that there is always a place you can give with the amount of money you have, with the level you are, there's always a place to give. Like, I'm sorry, I'm gonna use pounds because of where we are, even if it is a one-pound thing or gift that you get, that is giving. And God knows your heart, He knows that I'm I'm using finances now. How about the time? God sees that you're pursuing in your time to a particular cause, which is kingdom, and make sure it's a kingdom-bound thing, and then He will He will reward you. See, sometimes I see this thing as like there is a core, and you keep putting things into it, keeping putting things into it. God knows that you're putting things into your putting your time of service, you're putting your money, you're putting your your service, you are giving, you are whatever you're doing. Is it giving in preaching, in doing the word of God, doing the work of God, preaching to others? That is it. You're putting it in when the cup is full, he will he would reward you accordingly. That is the way I say so. Giving is very, very important while you're waiting. You can't stay without giving. Well, I wrote it down while we're waiting. My husband and I, we had to pick up in Africa. There are many children that can't even drink clean water because they don't have it, they can't even eat food because they don't have it. So, those are places that you know that if you sow into this one, it's not for pride, it's not because you want anybody to see what you're doing. Those children may not even have met you physically, they may be writing letters, but they don't know you. What that thing you're doing will go a long way, even if they don't pray for you. God Himself knows that you've done something and he will reward you. So don't expect that. Oh, I need to give to bribe God. It doesn't work that way. God knows our hearts. That's why he said, if you're giving, give genuinely. If your service, you're giving and you're serving God and you're murmuring, you're doing He knows that's why it's to say you can't hide it from God. He knows you, He knows your heart, and He will reward you accordingly.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you so much, Amy. Please, can you just tell us? So, after that waiting for six months, you were waiting when the once the referral for you to be referred in six months. So, what happened?
SPEAKER_02:Um, so like I prayed, though God, before these six months, please. I the way it's going is like you don't even want to use this because I heard it clearly that he has done it, he would do it. He told me so. So, but Mia, I was like, okay, let's do the normal process, let's follow the medical process and do more checks to see that we are fine. So that's why we went into doing this, which is very okay if you if you if as ignorance is not good, so it's better you do the right thing. You may need to talk to somebody about that thing you're waiting for. It could be just somebody you're talking to and then it's sorted. So, whatever it is you're waiting for, make sure you're informed, make sure you find out, go deep and make your findings, do what you need to do while praying. So while we do we did that, we did all. The medical thing waiting, and then it still ended in waiting. That's to show you that God wanted to do it instead. He was just allowing us to do all that. He just waited for us to finish our job. So when it looked like, okay, now the reverse has come, yeah. Maybe I'm going to go to the medical to now. So that maybe so I don't give glory to the medical aspect. He now said, okay. And then I prayed that prayer, and um, there was a vow also made to God, which is this book that I wrote. Yeah, me normally I'm not a writer to this part. I'm not a good writer, but because I made this vow to God, I had to just do it. So while I waited, I heard it clearly from God in one of our meetings. We were having a powerful worship session, and I just said, God, clearly, you needed to write this experience now. I needed to talk to people about it, what you went through in terms of um your waiting season, what you did, the hope. The people need hope, they need faith, they need all that. Oh God will just tell me you need to write it down. And I agreed. I said, Okay, God, I've heard you, I'm going to do it. So, and after all these things going on, we're still waiting for um the call from the fertility clinic after the referral was made. The date was about June or so. So, before that, June, we're just moving uh to a new house. Um, you know, I went through that process of doing um tests, pregnancy tests. For those that we have waited for the fruit of womb, we know what I'm talking about. You know, when you every month you're hopeful, okay, we do pregnancy tests, you keep doing and it's whispering negative, then it's as if everything you go down again. Let's wait for next month. Next month comes, we do the same thing. So I got to that stage that I just my husband and I we came together and we said, Okay, no more of this. Um going into doing a pregnancy test, raising our hopes. Is see so we just said, no more of this, we are relying on God, and we decided to live our life and live it well, serving God. So I told we told ourselves, I'm not doing any pregnancy test. So for you to even know, I had an extra pregnancy test. Wow, because I said we are not doing it again God and keep waiting for him. He said he would do it. He has he said he has done it, not even he will do it. He said he has done it, he said we will do it. Let's leave it. So let when we're moving house, and I'll record. Oh, I saw okay, we're moving things from the bathroom. I saw that pregnancy test, and I was like, Oh, I I had this. So I was like, instead of moving this one to the new house, let me just use it and then so I threw it away, and uh I just started to use it as you as I'm talking to you that back then, that particular time, I was already having symptoms of uh my menstrual period coming, so I was feeling the signs because it was just I think a day two, yeah, and I was like, okay, let me just do it and throw it away so I don't have to move with it to the new house. As I just did it while I sat down to use the dip, I just heard it. That was the Holy Spirit again telling me what if it is positive. I said, I'm not going to put my mind in this one again. So that you as human that that shake was there in me. I said, Don't I won't put my mind in this again now and raise my hope. I have left it for God. So I just did it. My dear sister, it was a positive result. I was like, What human beings? God will help us. Do you know I still did not believe that it was the correct result? I said, This thing, I've left it for a long time, it has expired. I told my husband, please, when you're coming by, help me by pregnancy. So for you to know that I said, No, I don't believe you know when you voted for something for long. I read it from like the Bible says it was like a dream when God turned the captivity of Zion. That's what happened. My husband bought, I think he bought two more or so. So that was a breakthrough. It was not even that date they gave me, it was not up to like we didn't get to that date they gave me for the clinic appointment. God answer just the way we created. I was like, wow. So I even still had to go and call the the my GP and say, Um, I've been waiting for it. So I've been trying. They use the word trying, I've been trying, and it looks like I just did it as it's looks it's positive, showing positive, but I've I don't know. I need to do blood tests to confirm it. So my the person over the phone said, Okay, I'm going to pass it to a doctor. The doctor was speaking. The doctor called me and said, If you have done three tests and it is positive, it means that you are pregnant. You told me, you know, these things are correct. So if you are pregnant, you don't need to do that. She just told me, Congratulations. That's when it dawned on me. So it is true.
SPEAKER_05:Oh my god.
SPEAKER_02:So that you needed to see me that day. I just went straight to the altar in my church on Sunday. I went to thank God because I just knew that my my my my thanking God is not that I didn't believe that God would do it, but you know, I we got to the stage that I was we changed our prayer point to pray for God to give us um the ability to wait well. So that was my thanking God is God. Thank you for giving me the ability to wait till this time that you've answered me. Because I knew He He told me already that He was gonna do it, he has done it. So my prayer was now like back then we're praying the days to wait. God help us not to shake, our faith will not shake, that nobody will not listen to what is going on, suggestions that are not good. So that was our the what we're focusing on. So I was going down there to the altar to say thank you, God, for helping me through this waiting, because it was it was just God that helped us through the waiting. Believe me. Many have not even waited to that time if they wrote many have waited more than that and are still waiting. So if if God saw it fit that that time, that waiting has come to an end. That was what I went to thank Him for for seeing me through that waiting. Me and my husband, ah, another thing is to have a good husband that would join you.
SPEAKER_03:God bless you, Mr. Mr. Bong.
SPEAKER_02:So that was it for me. We didn't go for the fertility thing again, fertility thing. But did it?
SPEAKER_03:So wow, wow, your testimony is so powerful, and I'm so glad you you honored your vow to God. And for anybody that is waiting, it's not only for a child, you're waiting for anything. This, this, this book, this concise book, right? The waiting time, I would highly recommend it. When I was reading it, I was just marking stuff, marking points in it. There are loads of Bible verses, there are loads of reflection, declaration, and there is also a generous thing, there's devotion as well that you can just go back and read over and over again. You know, there's this book, The Miracles of Something, Waiting Time. There's this book, I would say, for every believer, this book is is also highly recommended, just as they they have another one. I just want to say thank you. But before you go, thank you for your time. Thank you, God, for honoring his word in your life. Thank you for the way God refined you and your husband throughout this process. Thank you for preserving the seed that He gave to you and now is a full human being. I am just really, really grateful. I just want you to pray for those that are waiting, and after that, you tell us how you are able to um to rest, because we always do that at the end of this program. What are you the things you do to rejuvenate? So please just declare words on those that are wait.
SPEAKER_02:Let's pray, Father. We thank you. We all the praise, oh God, for every son, every daughter of yours that is in their waiting season as we speak now, as we pray now, we thank you because there are reasons why they're waiting, and you know best. Father, we ask, oh God, that you reveal it to them in the name of Jesus. Amen. Father, the longing for them to even seek your face to know what you're saying concerning their waiting season, Father, give it unto them. And as they seek your face, as they come to you to hear you, Lord, speak to them clearly in the name of Jesus. Father, everything that has delayed them, everything that has caused them to keep waiting for long, maybe they are waiting time at aspire, but they're still waiting because of ignorance or because of one thing or the other. Father, Lord, we pray, reveal it to them so that they will walk on it in the name of Jesus. I'm praying, oh God, because as they go, as they as they seek your face more, Lord, more revelations they will receive. And they are waiting in the name of Jesus. Father, Lord, as you did it for me, you gave me testimony, you turned my life around by giving me this great testimony. And you said I should write it down. I obeyed you, Lord, and I've written it down. Lord, I pray that as you did it for me, you would do it for them in the name of Jesus. Anyone waiting for the fruit of the womb, anyone waiting for concept uh for for for for a marriage, is it a man or a woman waiting for their own life partner, anyone waiting for healing, Lord? And it's like it's taking so long. Anyone waiting for you concerning a good job, and it's like it's taking so long. What I pray, whatever it is anyone is waiting for, let them receive you. Oh, do it for them speedily in the name of Jesus. But that Christmas also, I pray you give it unto them because we have a time kept for our waiting, which you're pruning us, you're pruning them, you're passing them through that just for them to be ready before you release. Father, in that waiting time, they will not fail you. In the name of Jesus, they will do what creators are doing and they will not fail you at all. In the name of Jesus, Father, we silence every noise around them that will lead them not to focus on you in their waiting. Father, they will focus just on you and you will show what for them in the name of Jesus. Thank you because oh Lord, you've heard an answer. Oh, as they declare things, oh, as they declare your word through the scriptures and through the this this book, the waiting time, as they declare it, as they make reflections, Lord, Father, let these things walk in them and let it bring the answers in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you so much, I need thank you so so much. Please can you just tell us how you rejuvenate just in two minutes? How do you spend time to rejuvenate? Share your you know your your rejuvenation tips with us, like in general, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, in general. Oh okay, in terms of resting, in terms of firing up. So I do a job that I I leave very early, I wake up early from maybe around five, and I move, leave the house five maybe 5:30, and then get the bus and run around till six. I close at six and then I get back home around eight. So that's like my kind of uh pattern, and in between, I still do other things. I do church, I go to church, I serve in other places, and I do I'm studying also, so it's a lot, and I'm also a mother, I'm a mother, I'm a wife, so that's a lot. But how do I rest? I try to do one thing at a time sometimes. So, like, um, I try to like today I put down what I wanted to do, and I just ensured I scrabble time for this and time for rest because if I don't rest, I won't be able to finish up and do other things. So, like I had to have it like today, I wasn't working, I went somewhere else, I went for my studies, I kept time to rest. So that really helps me. If I'm able to lie down, have some time to rest, that helps me even throughout the remaining part of the day sorry, days in this week. So that's how I've been going on with my schedule. Schedule, I schedule rests into my plan, especially when I'm off, like I'm not walking to it. I make sure I rest, and then also I do what I can do. So back then, I used to do oh, my house must be sparkling. Um, my plates is yes, it's good to do that. I also do that, but when you need rest more than those things, you have to do what you can and try to get that rest, then come back to finish it. Do those so those little tips help me.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know if that's no, no, that's that's that's sufficient. Time management, schedule rest and also listen to your body, be in tune with your body, and just follow through what you need pattern. Thank you very much. This tiny, I really do appreciate you coming today. Your story, so please go and get this book. Is it available on Amazon?
SPEAKER_06:Yes, on Amazon. Do it in time.
SPEAKER_03:All right, I'll put a link in the description on this podcast as well. Now we've come to the end of this episode today. I just want to thank you. If you've not subscribed yet, please subscribe if you have not like, share, comment, what's to that for you? We want to hear from you. Write what's to that for you in this segment today. Thank you so much for joining us. I remain your host, Abia Sonia, until we're coming away again. Take care and God bless.