A Word for the Women of the Midwife Birthing Throne/Mantle Sisters, I write to you as a woman who has lived a few lifetimes in one. Over twenty years in uniform. Health scares that brought me to my knees. Burying nearly my whole family before I turned sixty. I don't say this for sympathy; I say it because I've learned something in the living: the older and wiser we grow, the more we can quietly lose sight of our purpose, because sometimes we’re chasing trends that are no longer relevant for us. Maybe you know the feeling. The children are grown and building their own lives, yet somehow more people depend on you now than ever. You've spent years pushing other people's dreams until you're burnt out from pushing. The finances aren't where you thought they'd be. You've given so much of yourself, and still, you know there is more in you. Something not yet born. The Word I Believe God Is Speaking Here is what the Lord has been showing me. If you've ever listened to women describe natural childbirth, you know that no two stories are alike. The same destination, a child in her mother's arms; but every journey is dramatically different. Every birthing process is different. I wonder if many of us, women full of gifts, visions, and dreams, are trying to birth what God placed in us through the same canal someone else used. We chase the trends, the platforms, the branding, because that's what the world tells us success requires. Meanwhile, the still small voice keeps whispering: “Do something different. Dare to be unseen. Dare to be ignored. Dare to be who I called you to be without anyone knowing your name.” That sounds strange to us, because we've been conditioned to believe every purpose comes with a billboard. But what if God is inviting you to serve Him incognito for a season, and He Himself supplies every need, even to overflow? Think of David: anointed king yet formed in fields where no one was watching. He was content, but never complacent. The hidden place was not his punishment. It was his preparation.

For seven years, God carried a revelation inside of me called "Root Cause Analysis." Since then, it has evolved. Then a yard project changed everything. My husband and I decided to cut down four trees on our property - two in the front yard, two on the side of the house. What looked like a simple landscaping decision became one of the most profound deliverance revelations God has ever walked me through. The two trees in our front yard had been there for eighteen years. They grew tall, mature, and strong. That larger tree gave shade to the Hostas in our flower bed - plants that thrive in shaded places. In that season, the tree served a real purpose. It protected what grew beneath it. But while the tree gave shade, the grass around it struggled to grow. Weeds kept returning. The roots had taken over so much ground that the lawn could not flourish the way we envisioned. God spoke immediately: some things in our lives served a real purpose in one season. They gave us shade. They protected us. They helped us survive. But when they remain too long, they begin to block what God wants to grow next. Some patterns protected us before they imprisoned us. Some coping mechanisms shaded us before they stunted us. Proverbs 4:23 says to keep the heart with all diligence because the issues of life flow from it. Every issue above the surface traces back to a root growing beneath it. You pray about the fruit. God wants to address the root. This July at Birthing Throne Ministries, we go underground. Drop your biggest recurring pattern in the comments and let's trace it together. 👇🏾 Read the full July blog in the classroom (Watchman's Brief). Join us LIVE Wednesday, July 8, at 7 PM EST.