HOPE

It's a cold and frozen day, with ice on the roses and wind playing the frozen leaves of the pecan tree like chimes.
As we wait to see if there will be snow or only cold, my daughter practices a song for Sunday-  Winter Snow .
And I think of how He comes when we seek Him-
His Spirit comes, soft and slow, and fills our hearts with HOPE.

And in this first week of Advent, I search for hope and find it- in the hard and hurting moments, in the joy and the pain.  My HOPE is found in the Word, in Jesus, Immanuel- God with Us.

This God, who comes to earth as a babe, walks with us in our mess and our madness.
This God with Us who takes our sin and our shame upon his sinless Self, and dies for us.
He now LIVES, now LOVES, now ABIDES with us, and brings us HOPE.

HOPE even in the pain of losing a beloved friend this week.
HOPE even when lungs harden and breath doesn't come, and the doctors say there is nothing they can do.
HOPE when I stand in a hospital room holding my grieving friend, praying silently for mercy.
HOPE as we wait, and her husband breathes his last, and he is gone.
HOPE in the dark days following death, when the calendar marked with cruise, is replaced with a casket.
HOPE when even though we know this is real, it still isn't yet on so many levels.




Yes, even in death there is HOPE.
Because heartbroken as we are right now,
we know, without a shadow of a doubt,
we have all confidence in our HOPE in HIM-
that one day, some day, we will see our loved one again;
and we shall see JESUS, He who is our only HOPE,
face to face.

And so, as we gather to sing and pray, laugh and cry,
and say goodbye for now-
we HOPE.















And on this wintry day, when my heart hurts,
I search for gifts of HOPE from World Vision, Harvest of Hope, IJM-
gifts of animals, seeds, medicine, Bibles.
Help and hope for those who can't help themselves.
And I smile, knowing that along with these small gifts
will come a greater gift-
hearing the story of JESUS, our HOPE and HELP.  

And I smile as I remember last Sunday,
when I gave the teens a sheet with
I HOPE
I HOPE
I HOPE
I HOPE
I HOPE
scribbled on it and asked them to share their hopes with us.
And there, amidst the hopes for passing grades, college, and family were these:
"I HOPE to go to Africa"
"I HOPE to go on many mission trips"
3 friends, all desiring to take HOPE in JESUS into this world.
And that my friends, brings me great HOPE and tremendous Joy this season.


 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

What are you hoping for this season?
What gives you hope these days?
Who are you hoping in?

To Live in Hope, Joy, and Celebration

We can only live the changes we wish to see: we cannot think our way to humanity. Every one of us, every group, must become the model of that which we desire to create.
We must break the obsolete social and economic systems that divide the world between the over-privileged and the under-privileged.
Each of us, whether government leader or protester, business executive or worker, professor or student, share a common guilt.
We have failed…through our lack of responsible awareness…and thus added to suffering around the world.
All of us are cripples—some physically, some mentally, some emotionally. We must, therefore, strive cooperatively to create a new world.
There is no time left for destruction, for hatred, for anger. We must build, in hope and joy and celebration. ~Ivan Illich (1926-2002), Celebrations of Awareness, 1971

Pondering those words today...

What does the Lord require? (That one I know- Micah 6:8)
How do I walk this out?
How do I live the changes I wish to see?
How do I build in hope?
In joy?
In celebration?

Questions...lots of questions.
The Lord's answer: Isaiah 58

Help me, help all of your children Lord, to
bring life to the waste places,
bring healing and hope to the hopeless,
live and build in hope, joy, and celebration...for You, because of You!

HOPE in HIM!

I've found that when I finally get to the end of myself, to the place where I know that God has to show up, because I am totally helpless and done for otherwise...That is when I find hope.


Because as long as I'm trusting myself or some other human to rescue me from the latest disaster (A Series of Unfortunate Events could be an accurate title for life at the Love's over the past few months.), I'm preoccupied with all the what if's and maybe's. But when I finally surrender and say, "OK Lord, You have to do this, because I can't!", the stress decreases, joy bubbles up in my heart, and HOPE flies in and perches in my soul. I love that line from Emily Dickinson. A painting of a branch holding a bird's nest, lettered with Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul hangs in my living room.


When my hope is in HIM, I can rest and trust; because He is good and what He does is good (Psalm 119:68)!


I also find that when I quit striving and just hope in Him, often the most wonderful surprises happen, because He is infinitely more creative and imaginative than I could ever be.

Place all your HOPE in HIM!


To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.

Do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in you

will ever be put to shame,

but they will be put to shame

who are treacherous without excuse.
Show me your ways, O LORD,

teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.
Psalm 25:1-5


I love this song by Third Day, echoing the words of the psalmist...My Hope is in You!