Think Spring -- Hope Chronicles 6

In 1989 I finished up my sophomore year of college. It was reasonably warm in southern Indiana. The first or second week in May, I headed north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Cedar Campus. We were suppose to arrive, on Saturday. But for a reason that escapes me, my sister and friend and I couldn't leave until Saturday evening. We drove 16 hours through the night and got there just in time for worship Sunday morning. We were tired and a little ragged from the trip.

As we were driving we had to turn the heat on. On the other side of the 5 mile Mackinac Bridge, we were greeted with the sign, "Think Spring." Though it was warm where we came from, it was still a bit chilly in the UP.

Flash forward. It's Dec. 29th in central Illinois. It's cold and grey out. All the Christmas festivities are done. People are coming out of their turkey comas to discover that life on the the other side of Christmas isn't much different than life before Christmas -- with the exception of the amount of debt they are carrying. That, of course, has grown. If they had to go to work this week, the week seemed to drag on and on and on even though if was a "short" work week.

I've found myself feeling a little glum. From the way people around me have been acting, I think they have felt that way as well. So, what do these two stories have to do with each other. More than you might think!

Let's start with the present day. It might be easy to drift off into hopelessness. We are in for 3-4 more months of cold and gray skies. There aren't really any major holidays to break up the monotony. (Okay, there are things like Lincoln's Birthday and Martin Luther King Day -- but it really depends on where you work if you get to have those things off. And then there is Valentine's Day -- the ultimate Hallmark Holiday. But enjoying that one depends on if you are with someone or not. So, my point stands. There aren't any major holidays for everyone coming up soon.)

Even though it was May that year of the all night trek to camp, spring was slow in coming to the UP. And if I recall it correctly, it was gray.

But I like the outlook of those "uppers." They knew that spring was coming and they were focused on it. It's amazing that the image of that sign has stuck with me for so many years. I think of it now as an image of hope.

So, what are you focused on just past Christmas? Has the reason for the season been abandoned? Are you dismayed, as I often am, by how far you have yet to go in your spiritual life?

As Christians Paul tells us that the "hope of glory" resides in us. He writes in Colossians 1:21-27:

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel . . . . Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. "

Christ in you - the hope of glory. How amazing is that? It is not yet fully manifested, but it is there deep inside you and me. Like bulbs planted in the fall that will not blossom until spring, so is God's hope in you. It is there. You have it already. It just may not be in full bloom yet. But it will be. Do not worry about that. When you are dismayed by how far you have to go or how long you have to wait, Think Spring. Think Jesus. That is where our hope lies.

Expectations -- Hope Chronicles 5

Recently, I overheard this conversation between two men. The first announced happily that he had received a $300 bonus from his company. The second man was less enthusiastic. He said, "Well, you want to know what I got? A $25 gift card. Enjoy yours . . . ." Actually, he pretty much slammed whomever gave him that gift card.

There is a big discrepancy in the amount of money received. I will grant that. However, I wonder about the circumstances around the gifts. Does one work for a small company and another a large one? Were the gifts from the company or the individual bosses? What were the thoughts behind the gifts?

I was actually a little taken aback. There was so little gratitude for the gift given to the second man. Clearly he expected more or thought he deserved more.

I like to give gifts but I hope the price tag attached isn't what the people see. I hope they see the heart behind it. I hope I receive gifts being grateful for what has been given rather than looking at what I would rather have had or comparing it to what someone else received.

This week I've been reflecting on the three Wise Men (also known as Magi or Kings) that followed a star from far off lands to see the King of the Jews. In Mathew, they initially stop at King Herod's palace to ask where they can find this new king. It seems realistic that since the star was announcing the the birth of a king that they would find him in a palace. Herod doesn't know of this new king but is suspicious and asks them to find him and return and tell him where to find the new king. But God warns them of returning to Herod.

Tradition often indicates that the Magi show up the night of Jesus birth. But in Mathew, it indicates that they found Jesus in a house rather than a manager. Either way, manager or house, it was probably an infinitely more humble dwelling than they might have expected for a king! They seemed to initially think that they would find him at the palace.

My take on this is that they didn't find quite what they expected. They could have turned away, convincing themselves that this was somehow a mistake -- this isn't where you find kings. However, this did not deter them from worshipping Jesus. They were willing to have their expectations adjusted. As a result, they didn't miss out on a unique opportunity.

Which are you like? The Magi or the second man in the story above. When things don't look as you had hoped or anticipated do you reject what is offered or take it gratefully?

I would like to be like the Magi, but I think that I am often like the second man. Maybe not so much with gifts but more with my circumstances. Things look nothing like I dreamt of as a child or even what I dreamt of a year ago. I need to be reminded that my hope is in a living God who know what is best for me. He gives good gifts to his children -- even when I don't always understand them.

My prayer is that I would be able to fix my eyes on that hope and the good things He has given.

The Answer -- A Story of Hope

Hi to anyone who stopped over regarding my question on Lysa's blog -- http://www.lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/ (If you didn't come from there you should stop in. It is really interesting and fun.) I asked the question in the comment section: Which country occupied by Germany during WWII save the majority of it's Jewish population (about 90%)?


The answer is Denmark! We don't hear about that all that much, but it is a great story. They were occupied and the Danish government learned about the impending roundup of it's Jewish citizens about 3 weeks before it was scheduled. They placed smuggled them out in false bottoms in fishing boats and saved about 3,000 lives. I think that is amazing!

I also think it a story of faith and hope. Denmark was an occupied nation and those involved risked much to smuggle their friends and neighbors and strangers to safety. They put faith into action. I also think they put hope into action. Without hope of success, they would have ignored the problem and many innocent lives would have been lost.

Hope -- it is reaching and reaching and reaching. It is action in the midst of adversity and going against the odds because we know the One who holds us in the palm of his hand.

Choose Hope -- Hope Chronicles 4

My chosen profession is counseling. I am currently starting a private practice after having worked in the field for 5 years. It's a challenging profession because you are often dealing with people's misery. Happy people (unless they are at the end of counseling or maybe in it for mental maintenance) rarely see a counselor. One thing that has struck me is that misery is often the result of seeing life as out of control. Life "happens" to the person rather than them having any control over it.

To be sure, there are things in life that do "happen" to us: death, sickness, an accident, etc. But we often have a choice as to how we will respond to these things. That choice often makes all the difference.

The actor Christopher Reeve once said, "Once you choose hope, anything's possible." Well known for his roles as Super Man, Christopher Reeve later took a fall from a horse and became a paraplegic. So, how can one who was confined to a wheelchair and unable to do the most basic of things, have hope? I believe that it is that he chose hope.

Choosing hope is not an easy thing. It takes determination and a mindset that pushes back the darkness. I struggle to make the choice to choose hope. But knowing that it is a choice, I believe, is the first step. For when we do not think we have a choice in things, we sink into misery. Sometimes the evidence of the choice to chose hope are in the small things for me: putting on a smile, biting back the harsh word, even getting out of bed on the days that depression sinks its teeth into me. They are all choices that make everything else possible.

Hope Skates -- Hope Chronicles 3

Yesterday, I turned 39. I had a very busy birthday. My friend, Jill, took me to lunch. She knows that I am concentrating on hope, so she made me a lovely bookmark with the word hope attached to it. And it was good just to talk about it some with her. It struck me later that I said, “I’m working on it . . . .” Yes, hope is something that can be worked on. It’s making a determination to change your mindset. That takes a lot of work.

While yesterday was a very good day, today I was reminded of how far I have to go in the hope, grace, and faith departments. I knew it was snowing last night. So, when I woke up this morning, I knew I would have to shovel my way out. Before getting ready for church, I pulled on some jeans and boots and headed outside. I was dismayed by the amount of snow we had gotten. Actually, the way my drive is situated, a lot of snow blows into my drive way in huge drifts. Not only was it a lot of snow, it was heavy.

Shoveling made me think about Bill, a friend who died last spring. He spent last winter shoveling my drive for me. As a result, I turned a bit melancholy.

Then I went in to shower and change and realized that there were problems with the toilet. After 15 minutes, things got fixed, but I was even more miserable.

I arrived at church being glad that it was an “off” Sunday for me. I run power point for the service 1-2 times a month. I was looking forward to just receiving and not worrying about cues and flow and all of that. But, there was a monkey wrench in things and I ended up needing to put the slides together in under 10 minutes and run the show. I confess that my heart was not in a good place. I cried through a few of the songs, staring resolutely at the screen and hoping the sound person wouldn’t notice.

I had a choice. I think I made the wrong one today. I let the situations get the best of me. Instead of fixing my eyes on Jesus, I looked at my circumstances. I missed out on an opportunity to serve with a grateful heart. I missed out on counting my blessings when my thoughts turned melancholy with the snow.

Hope is active. It is often a choice.

The other part of my birthday I spent with some children I really enjoy. Six of them I know well: Kolya (13), Austin (11), Alex (10), Addie (7), Elena (7), and Grace (5). I do things with them on a regular basis – but usually in sets of 2! Last year, I took Kolya, Austin, and Alex ice-skating. They loved it. I’m a horrible skater, but I enjoyed how much they liked it. My friend, Allison, went along. (She is Grace and Elena’s mom.) I figured the price out and for the group discount we needed 10 and it would mean 2 more could go for $2.00 more than what we would pay for 8. So, I called up Erica (9) and James (7) to see if they wanted to come. I didn’t think they had probably ever been, so I thought it would be a treat.

It was. Everyone seemed like they had a good time. But it struck me after church today, how hope skates. I think hope skates like James and Addie. It was the first time for both of them. They were fearless. When they fell, they got right back up and shot off again. No holding onto the wall for them!

It’s not that we should never be cautious. It’s just that sometimes our caution keeps us stuck by the wall rather than whizzing around the rink. Hope takes risks because in the end it trusts that things will be okay. It says, “I may fall, but I can get back up.” It says, “I know the ONE who will always give me a hand up.”

There is a certain abandon about hope. Hope skates without the wall.

Hope Dwells With Us -- Hope Chronicles 2

This past year was a rough one. A year ago last fall, I fell off a horse and broke my tailbone. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt something so painful! I couldn’t walk or sit comfortably. I couldn’t bend without aggravating it. I resorted to a donut pillow to make it through work.

At the end of March I was playing Hide-and-Seek with my 5-year-old niece. As I stealthily tip toed up the stairs, I missed a step and fell all the way down the stairs. I sprained my ankle, my knee, and fractured a couple of fingers. I suppose I should have been grateful that it wasn’t my dominant hand, but do you know how many things require two hands to do them? I made huge messes in the kitchen and because of my ankle and knee they were painful to clean up.

Within a month, a dear friend had died and I was an emotional wreck. I ended up with major stomach problems. I couldn’t keep anything down for 8 days and had to go to the ER to get fluids.

I mention all of these times because they are times when I felt helpless to do even the most basic thing. And with that helplessness came a sense of hopelessness. What was the use of trying?

Recently, I was watching a TV show. They referenced Dante’s Inferno. In the story, Dante visits the eight circles of hell. The quote they referenced was a quote on entering hell, “Abandon hope all who enter here.”

Abandon hope. Most of probably don’t like the sound of that. I don’t know that Dante’s description of hell is accurate, but in this one thing, I think it is probably right. Hell, it would stand to reason, would be a hopeless place.

I admit that there are times that I’ve abandoned hope. I tell myself that things won’t get better. I say that I could pray but God wouldn’t hear me. I tell myself all the things that are wrong with me. My thinking often does me few favors in times like those.

Luckily with prayer, counsel, and sometimes medication, I’ve come out of those dark places of the soul.

But really what brought me out of those places was that even though I may have abandoned hope at times, hope –the HOPE – has never abandoned me. In fact, that HOPE – Jesus – came from heaven to earth and then to the cross so that I would never have to truly be without hope.

Matthew 1:22-23 says, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ – which means ‘God with us.’”

Immanuel. God with us. I remember learning once that the more literal translation means something along the lines of “He will pitch his tent among us.” In other words, he wasn’t just passing through. When God came to his people, he dwelt among them, lived among them.

And His presence remains with us to this day. Immanuel. God with us.

We may abandon hope, but HOPE never abandons us. HOPE goes to the ends of the earth so that we know we need never be without hope. Immanuel. God with us.

Hope in a Time of Silence -- Hope Chronicles 1

Can you imagine it? The nation of Israel was use to regular contact with God – even if they didn’t always like what they heard. But then the prophet Malachi spoke. He spoke judgment on the people and their leaders. Through Malachi, God declared that Israel was profaning His name. Malachi 1:10 says:

"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.

God calls them out for bringing injured, crippled, or diseased animals. He calls out the priests whose teaching, rather than building up the people, has caused them to stumble. He calls out the nation of Israel for marrying the daughter of a foreign God.

But then comes a promise that Israel has heard before in Malachi 3:1. "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. And in Malachi 4:1-3 1 "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.
It is what they have been longing for years and years and years. It is promised again. How their hearts must have leapt!

But then another warning at the very end of Malachi: 1 "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.

And then, probably the most terrifying thing that had ever happened, happened to Israel. God was silent to the nation for 400 years.

So, what happened over those 400 years? Scripture is silent there. But my guess is that the remnant that God speaks of elsewhere in Malachi was faithful. They kept the stories alive. The people must wait for the Messiah. They must remain faithful even in the time of silence. They had to hold on to hope.

• What is hope? I looked it up on Wikipedia. This is some of what I found. I’ve included the parts that I think are applicable to Biblical hope:
• Hope implies perseverance. Hope is holding on when you cannot see the outcome. For some of us, that holding on is like being in a tug of war. We strain against that which would pull us down. For others of us, we are holding onto a life line – maybe the side of a cliff and struggling to wait for our rescuer. (We’ve probably all been there at times in our lives.)
• “Hope is often the result of faith in that while hope is an emotion, faith carries a divinely inspired and informed form of positive belief. Hope is typically contrasted with despair, but despair may also refer to a crisis of faith . . . . hope caries a connotation of being aware of a spiritual truth.”

Today, at church, Mark Savage spoke about Mary being a person of faith. He sees this in her response to the angel telling her that she will bear the Son of God. Hers is one of immediately submitting to God’s will. There is not questioning, no “How can this be?” or “What will people think?” And she would have had a legitimate worry as to what people might think! If she was believed to be an adulteresses (and she might have been seen this way because being betrothed was being married without the physical relationship), she could be stoned. Honestly, I think that would have worried me. But Mary completely and immediately submits to something she cannot have fully comprehended.

It is faith, but it is also hope. It is hope because it shows that even though God had been silent for 400 years, Mary still chose to believe that God would fulfill his promise. She was part of Israel, hanging on to the edge of the cliff waiting for a rescuer, a redeemer. Faith and hope is what kept Israel believing the Messiah would come. Faith and hope is what made Mary answer the way she did: "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."

May we all have the faith and hope of Mary at the this holiday season.

Hope Chronicles

I've decided to take an adventure in hope this year. Actually, it will be a year and some change! My goal is to reflect on hope through the week and write about those reflections once a week. If you have stories or reflections about hope, please let me know and I will consider including them. Actually, I'd love to know what you think about hope! My hope is that it will be a pleasing fragrance to God and uplifting to you and me.

Writings

I love to write. One of my favorite Christmas gifts as a child was a little blue typewriter when I was 10. I wrote and wrote and wrote. In junior high, we got a computer. My sister and I wrote and wrote and wrote on that. Even though we weren't playing games, we actually frustrated my mom with how much time we spent on the computer.

I was blessed during my tenure on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to be able to help with a book: Faith on the Edge: Daring to Follow Jesus.

Currently, I am working on a book proposal. Please pray for that.

However, if you are interested in other things I've written, here are some links to published pieces:

Acquainted with Grief -- Published by Proverbs 31 in their magazine, August 2009.

The Determined Life-- Published by Proverbs 31 in their magazine, November 2008. This is a link to the original article on my blog.

The Moon

Faith on the Edge: Daring to Follow Jesus

Amy's Story: When There Are No Words

When We Watch Our Friends Grieve

Hope For Struggling Chapters

Favorite Quotes

I love quotes and verses and inspiring words. This is where I share some of those inspiring thoughts.

Enjoy!

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Fix our minds . . . .

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

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C.S. Lewis

"Lucy, he said, "we must not lie here for long. You have work in hand, and much time has been lost today."

"Yes, wasn't it a shame?" said Lucy. "I saw you all right. They wouldn't believe me. They're all so --"

From some where deep inside Aslan's body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl.

"I'm sorry," said Lucy, who understood some of his moods. "I didn't mean to start slanging the others. But it wasn't my fault anyway, was it?"

The Lion looked straight into her eyes.

"Oh, Aslan," said Lucy. "You don't mean it was? How could I -- I couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I?" Don't look at me like that . . . . oh well, I suppose I could. Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you. But what would have been the good?"

"You mean," said Lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out all right -- somehow? But how? Please Aslan! Am I not to know?"

"To know what would have happened child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."

C.S. Lewis

Prince Caspian -- The Chronicles of Narnia

It is a serious thing to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship or else a horror and a corruption such as you meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long, we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of those overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealing with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people.

C.S. Lewis

Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty and treachery. We ought to hate them. Not one word of what we have said about them needs to be unsaid. But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things in ourselves: being sorry the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is anyway possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere, he can be cured and made human again.

C.S. Lewis

The good news of the Gospel is that God draws straigt lines with crooked sticks.

C.S. Lewis

If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and help others do the same.

C.S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

It would be nice and fairly true, to say that "from that time forth Eustace was a different boy." To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.

C.S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

C.S. Lewis
The Weight of Glory

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Thoughts on our journey . . . .

It is never as important to God where you are on the journey, as it is that you are indeed on the journey. Where you are going is what matters to God, not where you happen to be at the moment. You may start with God no matter what mess your life may be at the present time.

Ben Patterson

Waiting

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Friendship

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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J.I. Packer

What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it -- the fact that He knows me. I am graven on the palms of His hands. I am never out of His mind . . . . He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when His eye is off me, or His attention distracted from me, no moment, therefore, when His care falters.

. . . There is tremendous relief in knowing that His to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on a prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me.

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God's Presence

My servant, I have come into the house --

I, who know pains extremity so well.

That there can never be the need to tell

His power to make the flesh and spirit quail.

Have I not felt the scourge, the thorn, the nail?

And I, his Conqueror, am in the house.

Let not your heart be troubled, do not fear.

Why shouldst thou, child of Mine, if I am here?

My touch will heal thy songbird's broken wing

And he shall have a braver song to sing.

Amy Carmichael

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Max Lucado

Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks and be there in the flesh to see our reaction.

Max Lucado

God Came Near

Such moments are necessary because they remind us that everything is okay. The King is still on the throne and life is still worth living. Eternal instants remind us that love is still the greatest possession and the future is nothing to fear.

Max Lucado

God Came Near

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Hope

How bizarre that we, the first to hope in Christ Jesus, should so quickly forget the majesty and power of the One we love.

Julie Ann Barnhill

Exquisite Hope

Hope is an amazing thing. It is not only something to aspire to attain, it is also something to aspire to give. Hope becomes a two-edged sword within us. Like a pendulum, it cuts in equal swaths in both directions. One swing cuts a path toward freedom and release, the other toward fulfillment, grattitude and joy. Either way . . . hope gives life.

Kim Meeder

Bridge Called Hope

Every closet, cupboard, and cranny . . . all lay bare before hope's cleansing brilliance. Its heat within our heart expands, stretching our thoughts, ideas, dreams, and beliefs beyond any boundary previously known.

Hope makes us bigger.

In every honest, balanced, and meaningful way . . . hope stretches us to a new capacity . . . a previously unkown capacity to change.

Kim Meeder

Bridge Called Hope

To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime.

Erich Fromm

When I was a child, I was disappointed to discover that the moon was just a giant rock that didn't even have it's own light. It seemed so large in the dark sky that there had to be more to it than that. It dawned on me tonight that there really might be more to it than that. The moon reflects the sun's light. Perhaps God placed it there in it's reflective capacity to remind us that even in the dark of night the sun is still shining.

Amy L Brooke

God's Work In Progress, 6/2/2008

Hope is hearing the music of the future before it's played. Faith is the courage to dance to it today.

Mary Felhake "Old Quarry Road"

I still believe in Hope -- mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.

Moly Ivins

If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. and so today I still have a dream.

Martin Luther King, Jr
The Trumpet of Conscience

None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.

Pearl S Buck

The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Winston Churchill

All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope.

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.

Lin Yutang

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Grief & Suffering

God may not have intervened, may not have stepped in to undo what broke our hearts . . . . We may not understand why God intervened for Peter and not for James. Why some and not all? Why then and not now? All that disciples know is a point in history that gives us hope in tragedy, a point of divine intervention that spans all time: God raised Jesus from the dead.

Robbie Castleman, et al

Faith on the Edge: Daring to Follow Jesus

If they had to die, I would have loved to have known in advace, so that I could take each second spent with them and know to hold on to it, instead of assuming there would be a million more. If they had to die, I would have loved to have been there to be the last face they saw, instead of his.

June

Jodi Picoult in Change of Heart

Life has a way of pointing out, with great sweeping signs, that you are looking at the wrong things, doesn't it? It was when I started to admit to myself that I'd rather be dead that I was given a child who had to fight to stay alive.

June

Jodi Picoult in Change of Heart

"Family's not a thing, it's a place," Shay said softly. "It's where all the memories get kept."

Jodi Picoult in Change of Heart

Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love?

Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish?

June

Jodi Picoult in Change of Heart

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Good and Evil

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

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Lysa Terkeurst

Nothing in life is certain. Circumstances roll in and out like the ocean's tied. The unknown can sometimes seem so frightening as we ponder all the tragic possibilities that we know can and do happen to people. We catch ourselves wondering what the next page of life might hold. We can't stop or control the things that roll our way any more than we can stop the water's edge. But we can make the minute by minute choice to let our souls rest in God.

What Happens When Women Say Yes To God

I stopped thinking about the what-if's and let my soul simply say, "Okay God in this minute I choose to rest with you. I will not let my mind go to the minutes that are coming. I will simply be in this moment and face it with peace."

What Happens When Wome Say Yes To God

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Choice

One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
Tis the set of the sails
and not the gales,
That tells the way we go.
Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The single clenched fist lifted and ready,
Or the open hand held out and waiting.
Choose:
For we meet by one or the other.

Carl Sandburg

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Gary Haugen
Just Courage

And how far do I go? To be brutally honest, as far as I am safe. As far as I am in control. as far as the risks feel manageable. As far as my sphere of certain competence will take me.

And consequently in my secret most honest moments, I sense it doesn't take me very far at all. (p. 13)

One of the local staff members pegged the odds at about 3 percent -- and then added, "but with God, 3 percent can become a majority." (p. 21)

We must seek to rescue our neighbors with dedication and urgency with which we would go about trying to rescue our own family or even ourself. In a world of injustice, loving intervention on behalf of the oppressed is simple obedience to Jesus' must fundamental command to love our neighbor. (p. 75)

. . . . I'd like to be brave, but I'd also like to be safe. My heavenly Father, however, loves me deeply enough to tell me the truth. He says I can't be both brave and safe. He wants me to be clear that I have to decide -- and he wants me to choose to be brave, which means choosing not to be safe. (p. 114)

Clearly , some suffering is part of God's will. It isn't necessarily the suffering itself that is God's will, but rather following the will of God in a fallen world will generate suffering in our lives. There are two things that are always the will of God and almost always dangerous: telling the truth and loving needy people. (p. 115)

I am much more interested in telling Jesus and others what I believe, but Jesus (and the watching world) knows that what I truly believe will be maifested in what I choose to do. (p. 125)

And in presenting before us the struggle for justice, our Maker asks: Do you want to be brave, or do you want to be safe? Jesus wants us to realize that its a choice, and he wants to help us make the joyful choice. Most importantly, Jesus wants us to know that he takes care of us so well that it is actually safe to be brave. (p. 109)

Pictures

Me Over the Years -- Click here to see me through the years -- 1968 to 2008

August 2008 -- Our church recently moved. We managed to load in an hour, make one trip, and unload in 2 hours. I've never seen anything so organized. To see pictures of the move click Move That Church.

October 2008 -- Our Church relaunched KidStuf. For pictures click here.

June 2008 -- I had the opportunity to go to She Speaks in Charlotte, NC. It was a wonderful time. Want to see pictures? Click HERE.



KidStuf at Crosswinds

About Me

I am what I term a Christian "thinker." Some people would call me traditional and others would call me liberal -- it depends on where they are at on the spectrum of things. I believe there is value in traditions as long as we understand that they are traditions. At the same time, I don't always toe the line on what tradition might say. I believe God's word is higher than tradtions and that is what I am called to follow. So, to some that makes me seem liberal. But I beleive there are absolute truths and these come from God. So, I don't easily fall into the liberal camp.



I am also a writer and co-authored a book called FAITH ON THE EDGE: DARING TO FOLLOW JESUS. It is published by InterVarsity Press. I spent 11 years on staff with them working with college students. Now, I am doing a myriad of things.

Here are the things I hope people say about me: Amy loves God, is loyal, caring, and friendly. I don't know that I achieve all of those all of the time, but I hope it is true most of the time.