Tag Archives: Christianity

Best Advice Ever

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Today is my birthday…

And in my new post for Candidly Christian, I am sharing with you the best advice I have ever received in those 40 years.

40 years… crazy right? And as you can imagine, I have received a lot of advice over those 4 decades.

A lot!

Some of it I want to forget, and some of it I want to remember forever….

What is the best advice I have ever received? Can you guess? Find out now!

Have you checked out Faith Talk?

Faith Talk is an anthology that I had the opportunity to be a part of! Check it out and order your copy today.

Truths To Remember In The Unknown

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What do you want to remember in the unknown?

I was just talking to someone about this yesterday. She is making a move in her life, and she said that there was so much unknown. But she was so excited about it. I am not one of those people. The unknown doesn’t excite me (usually… every once in a while it does).

I usually walk into the unknown with enough faith to just take the next step. But a few weeks ago, the unknown felt overwhelming… almost crippling.

That is what I am sharing about in my latest post for Candidly Christian.

Let’s Talk About Faith!

Faith Talk was written by about 20 Christian women who aren’t afraid to be real about life, faith, and everything in between. These women are living life with Jesus, and they’d love to share the hope they have in Christ. Come alongside them for a little Faith Talk.

I am honored to have gotten the opportunity to be one of the contributing authors in this book.

You can preorder Faith Talk now on Amazon.

Read More About the Unknown

Who Am I?

Remembering God

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Does anyone like FaceBook memories? Today I was reminded of a few significant events over the past 9 years, and 11 months. And today, I’m remembering God is God. He is good, and He is faithful.

But 9 years and 11 months, that is how long I have been in my 30’s. The day I turned 30, I thought I was going to be sad, but I actually wasn’t. I was relieved that my 20’s were over.

I walked into my 30’s with hope, not that my 30’s would be easy, but with expectancy of what they would hold.

As I turned from 29 to 30, I was engaged, and planning our wedding/life together. I was working in a “mom and pop” retail store, and living in the same house we live in now. My faith was growing, and I was getting more and more involved with different ministries at my church.

The future looked bright, and full of hope. But the hope wouldn’t be found in what was expected. Quite the opposite. And I want to share with you some of what this decade held because if I could describe it in one short sentence it would be this:

God was faithful.

When I look forward to the future, I usually look forward to the good that will come. I usually don’t… let me rephrase that… I never look forward with the anticipation of disasters, loss, grief, and just flat-out “crazy” situations. Yet the future can hold some of those (or a lot).

The future of my 30’s held a bit of all of that, and more.

When I began my 30’s I remember telling God over and over that I would do anything He had for me. And every time I told Him that, I meant it. I am not sure I realized at the time how difficult faith can be. Most of the times when I told God that, I said it expecting everything to be rainbows and butterflies. Easy almost. But I have definitely learned what Paul says in Romans that hope that is seen is not hope at all.

And in looking at my Facebook memories the past couple days, I am reminded of 2 specific and significant events in our life. The day I miscarried a baby that I didn’t know I was carrying, and the day we were preparing for a category 5 hurricane named Maria was going to crash our 5-year anniversary vacation.

I was confident in 3 things in those events. God was faithful, and He was going to use this to show He was good. And that He works all things together for our good because we love Him but even more so, He loved us first.

What I Learned In My 30’s

As I end my 30’s, we are in our 9th year of marriage, with the dog we got because I wasn’t ready for a baby, our firstborn Charlie who is 7, and my baby Olivia… who is not a baby, she will be 5 in November. God has surely given so much this decade. That would include this blog that is about 7 years old now, and a passion in my heart that I couldn’t just do nothing with.

I also end with a lot of crazy stories, because life has had its challenges. Like the fore mentioned hurricane. And that is where I want to focus because that storm was the biggest turning point for me, especially for my faith.

So what did I learn the past 9 years and 11 months?  What do I want to remember?

Remember that He can, even if He doesn’t.

We live in a day and age when so much of what we are surrounded by offers us comfort. Simple things we take for granted, that we think we need. Everyday conveniences.

When we heard the hurricane had strengthened to a category 5, we tried to get off the island. Usually, an everyday convenience is being able to book a flight, and sometimes in only a matter of minutes! But this time we tried pretty hard to no avail. We knew God could have gotten us off the island before the storm. And it would have been a good story… But He didn’t.

It is kind of like the Israelites trying to get out of Egypt right? He could have gotten them out the second that Moses came to tell them that God had heard their cry, and they were soon to be free.

He didn’t do that, and it wasn’t because He wasn’t going to do it. But things actually got worse for them way before it got better.

And a lot of times God will allow us to walk through difficult circumstances, not because He doesn’t love us, but He knows that growing our faith through hard circumstances is more important than keeping us protected from them.

God’s power is also shown more in our weakness and when we can’t claim any less than God’s hand in our lives.

Remember that the battle is not ours.

“The battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15

I am going to be honest here and say that the battle is just too big to be ours. In a way, we are kind of caught in the middle of it. God and Satan battling for our hearts.

But please remember this:

God and Satan are not on the same playing field. We may live on the earth that Satan roams like a lion, but God created the ground that we walk on. That means God is in control.

Satan is a fallen angel, God is the LORD. And Satan’s desire is for us to rebel against God, and to have the worship that only belongs to God. His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy.

God’s heart is for us to know His Son, so we can have abundant and eternal life.

The events before, during, and after the storm, were situations that were way bigger than ourselves.

In the few days that followed, with no communication, no television or internet to see how bad things were, we only knew what we could see in front of us, and what was told to us by the few people that we came across (some of it true, and some of it wasn’t). The battle was completely out of our control, the storm was too large.

We could only “be still on know He was God.”, and trust He was in control.

Remember that our story is for His glory.

I actually don’t like having good stories to tell. I really don’t. In a way, they can make me roll my eyes and think “what else can happen?”. Because good stories, are usually filled with craziness. They are the “you’re not going to believe this….” stories.

And I feel like I just have too many of those. I mean, have you read my blog?

However, the ending of the story has always been “But God.” We have always looked back and seen His hand of protection, grace, guidance, and love. He has taken care of all of the largest of details, and tiniest of details. He has always been more than we could have ever asked or imagined. And I know He always will.

So what do I want to remember? I want to remember God.

A Lesson From My Dad About Not Giving Up

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Don’t give up! Keep trying. Said Charlie.

It started out as a normal day on the boat. We were on the island and trying to catch some fish.

We actually caught a lot of fish. And big ones too for so early in the season. Charlie was really excited, however, one of us wasn’t catching many fish (my husband). So Charlie was encouraging him, telling him to not give up. And realistically, you will never catch any fish if you give up. Continue reading →

Who Am I?

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Have you ever been lost? Or felt like you were lost?

We were at the playground today and as Olivia was playing I moved from where I was to another spot in the play area to sit.

I thought Olivia had seen, but she went to where I had been sitting to ask me a question, and she realized I wasn’t there.

“Oh no” she said. She didn’t freak out as she said it, but she had never been lost before. I wondered if there was a part of her that felt panic at that moment.

It was only a handful of seconds before she caught my eye, and a big smile returned to her face.

“Mommy” she said.

“I am right here Olivia.” I had known where she was the entire time, but she didn’t know that. And I will probably always remember the smile she had when she realized that she was “found”.

I am not really sure she would know what to do if she was actually lost and actually couldn’t find me. That thought kept going through my head. Have we ever talked about this?

I don’t really do well when I get “lost” either. And by lost, I mean when I lose my gaze on Christ. when I am like a lost sheep, wandering around without my shepherd.

Who Calls You By Name?

Let us take a look at a little snippet of the life of Moses. He had fled Egypt to live in Midian. He built a life there. A good life, marrying a priest’s daughter, and tending the flock of her father. He was a shepherd.

At this time God’s people were in slavery in Egypt and had cried out to God.

God heard their cry. Remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked upon them and was concerned for them.

Now it seems like Moses had a decent life there. Life seemed like it was pretty good. But one day he is tending flock in the wilderness, on the mountain of God (another name for Mount Sinai), and notices this burning bush that isn’t burning up by the flames.

So he goes over to this bush that had caught his attention and God begins to speak to him, and gives him a mission. It was a large task. He was to go and lead God’s people out of Egypt, out of captivity.

“Who am I?” he asked God.

It is funny now that I look at it. Because when God called out to Moses from the burning bush, He called Moses by name. Twice actually, which is a big deal in scripture.

God knew exactly who Moses was. He knew why he had fled Egypt.

God knew his true identity. He was the son of a Levite, which stemmed back to Jacob.

Moses was an Israelite. He was one of God’s chosen.

He knew his mother had hid him, when he was a baby when all Hebrew boys were ordered to be killed. And that when she could no longer hide him, she put him in a basket in the Nile river, I can only imagine in hopes of his survival.

Moses was known, and was sought after by God.

He created you. And He calls you by name.

We can’t see beyond today. But we can know the God who does, the One who calls us by name. He responds to us when we question, and feel alone, with the same thing He said to Moses. “I will be with you.”

When considering God’s voice, I want to share something I noticed. I am quick to listen to the voice of the enemy. The voice that says I am not enough, I will fail, that His word isn’t enough. And the voice that says I should just quit. And I will say to God “Who am I?”

Ready for this truth? It is so good. Like so good.

The enemy doesn’t call you by name. He knows your name. But he doesn’t call you by name. Ultimately he is a stranger to us.

God says He is with you. It is a promise.

 John 10: 3-5 (paraphrased) says “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. He goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Your Father knows your name. He is a good shepherd, and would leave the flock of 99 to find the lost one. Then He will put you on His shoulders joyfully, and invite others to rejoice with Him. (Luke 15: 4-6)

‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ Luke 15: 6

God called Moses by name, and Abraham, and Jacob, and Peter, and Martha, and Mary.

But God calls you by name too.

He will never lead you to question your identity in Christ, and who you are to Him. And you are not lost, when He calls you found. You are chosen, and loved. Cared for. Adopted, and accepted.

Who am I? This is who you are.

You are His daughter.

He knows His plan and His purpose for you as only a good Father would. And His plan for your life is good, and it will glorify Him.

He cares for you like a shepherd. And He holds you in his arms and carries you close to his heart; as a mother does with her young. (Isaiah 40:11)

When the question “who am I?” runs through your head, I pray you rest in that beautiful truth.

The video below paints a beautiful picture of how Jesus loves us.

Brielle is a beautiful little girl who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma in June of 2020. I have followed their journey since shortly after that. From what I have seen, for them it has been a journey of faith. I feel incredibly blessed that Brielle’s mom Kendra allowed me to share this with you all!
Brielle loves Jesus, and has had that smile that you see in the video through many challenging days. These moments captured on video were a dream come true for Brielle, and I hope that you see God’s love for you in a new way through her love for Him.
He walks with you. Carries you. Looks into your eyes. Sits with you, and holds you in His arms.

To follow more of Brielle’s journey and to see where she is at now, follow them on Instagram. Their story will surely bless you. Ps- maybe grab a tissue for this!

Where Hope Is Found

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Where is hope found?

Have you ever felt like you are on a boat in the middle of nowhere, drifting, and not knowing if you are safe, or will run aground or sink? You maybe have lost hope, and wondering if you can find hope again. And where is hope found, if it has been lost?

You are not alone. 

In my new post for Candidly Christian, I talk about anchors and the anchor for our soul. Hope.

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Is Faith Really Enough?

A Pony Tale

 

Is Faith Really Enough?

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She is usually the go-with-the-flow child. The comfortable in most situations child. But when Olivia gets uncomfortable she comes and sits next to me. She will then tell anyone who tries to play with her that she just wants to sit by her mom.

This year we put her in camp, and usually, she likes to be with her friends and runs into excitement in her class each day. She will hug her teacher, with a big smile on her face.

But when I dropped her off at camp the first time, she looked really unsure. Almost uncomfortable.

I guess she trusted me enough to go in when I told her that she would have a good time, even as she sat down and looked unsure of what the day may hold.

Trust: A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of something or someone

Trust. It is kind of a funny thing right? Trust when you can not see. Or when everything seems new and different, and the outcome you desire isn’t exactly guaranteed.

Maybe you feel like you are in a room that you have never been in before, with your mother telling you to have a good day, but wondering if everything is going to turn out okay.

Or, God leads you to the unknown, and you are completely unsure how things are going to turn out. Your strength is turned to weakness, and you have no choice but to have faith and trust Him, and cling to the promise that He will work all things for the good of those who love Him?

Been there. Done that. And eventually designed the t-shirt that says “There is hope”.

Let us take a look at Jacob for a second. He didn’t exactly live an honorable life. He lied, manipulated, and cheated his brother out of his God-given birthright. And by that I mean he dressed up in Esau’s clothes to have his brother’s scent on him, and his mom dressed his hands and neck with goatskin so that he would appear to be hairy like Esau.

(The Bible is not boring my friends)

He basically had no reason to believe that God would be for him, or with Him, or eventually bless him.

And out of fear of his brother’s anger towards him, he runs away to the land his uncle Laban lives. He falls in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel, gets tricked into marrying her older sister Leah, builds a life there, and has a bunch of children (that is another story).

Years later God leads him to go back to his homeland and promises him He will be with him and he will have a fruitful life. But just because God promised this, doesn’t mean that Jacob just had faith that God would work it all out.

Faith: Complete trust or confidence in something or someone.

He had a lot of fear of what Esau would do when he heard he was coming back. He sent his messengers ahead of him so that he could hopefully find favor in the eyes of his brother. And in response is told that Esau was coming to meet him along with 400 men.

And Jacob did what any normal human would do. Even though God had continually assured that He would be with him, Jacob prepared for the worst and begged God for the best. And by prepare I mean, he prepared by means of human strength. He divides his people, herds, and flocks as well in 2. That way in case one group perished, the other may survive.

And out of fear and distress that Esau would attack, He prayed to the God who he knew he was unworthy to serve. Then sent gifts ahead of him in hopes to appease his brother.

Let me just say quick, sometimes God will give you a really detailed plan on how to move forward. Like when Noah built the ark, or when King Solomon undertook plans for building the temple. Exact. Details.

The 3 Precious Words…That We Don’t Like

And these types of plans are my favorite! But these are not the types of plans that God gives us a lot of the time. A lot of the time we will just be left with the assurance that He will be with us. And with that we can only do one thing. Just. Have. Faith.

And that is what happens here.

Back to the story. During the night, he was left alone and ends up wrestling with a man (who ends up being God). The man realized he could not defeat him, and strikes his hip and dislocates it. He then demands that God blesses him.

He probably doesn’t expect God to ask him what his name is, and then change it.

And it is changed because Jacob prevailed.

I have never noticed this before, or kind of maybe glossed over it, but when Jacob was wrestling with God… God didn’t just “bless him” like he demanded and change his name. He took away his human strength, so that he could rely on nothing more than God, Himself.

God will take away the things we rely on, more than we rely on just Him.

I have been here friends. Uncomfortable with what may lie ahead.

Was my mountain a spec of sand compared to what Jacob faced? Yup.

Is Faith Enough?

But I will tell you that God’s plans for our lives work much better when we come to Him in the complete faith that He alone is able. When our insecurities, and fears, and doubts, and strengths and weaknesses are set aside because we know the God who calls us to step out of the boat called “comfort” so we can keep our eyes on Him and walk on water.

Please hear what I am not saying. I am not saying that God won’t work because of shortcomings. He will. He is God.

What I am saying is that faith is enough. Faith is more than enough because we have a God who is holy, and sees beyond today. He sees beyond our circumstances and our fears.

We serve the God who goes before us, and who is with us.

We can do what He says, as He says. Nothing more. Nothing Less. His word stands firm, and is more than enough. His promise is more than enough.

When He says to go do A, B, C, X, Y, and Z… you can trust His plans. And when He says to go back to your homeland and He will be with you, you can trust His assurance. You can take every step in complete faith that He has gone before you, and He is with you.

What happened next?

God was faithful. That is what happened next. Jacob approached Esau and bowed to the ground 7 times as a sign of respect.

Esau ran to meet him. Hugged him. Threw his arms around him. And. They. Wept.

Jacob was met with God’s faithfulness. And this isn’t the end of Jacob’s story. He trusted God, he walked in faith, and God’s promise was true. He was fruitful as promised, and the 12 tribes of Israel stemmed from his bloodline.

As for us, we will be met with God’s faithfulness as well when we walk in faith. We don’t need to worry or wrestle or add more to God’s plan than He asks of us. We just need to have faith.

4 Reasons Not To Follow Jesus

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Why should I follow Jesus?

I can tell you a ton of reasons that you shouldn’t. But I share with you today on Candidly Christian 4 reasons not to follow Jesus. And they probably aren’t what you would think!

It is always ironic when I write these posts 2 months before they are actually posted. This weekend, I got the opportunity to interview one of my dearest friends in front of a room of 150 women. She has been arrested for the sake of the name of Jesus and carries the joy of the Lord. That joy really defies her circumstances.

And after she shared, we were on our knees praying that when Jesus asks us “Are you going to leave too?” our answer will always be “Where else would we go?”

Why shouldn’t you follow Jesus?

My friend knows all too well, the reasons why the answer to that question could very well be “because it is too hard.” Just as many of us possibly could.

But today after sharing 4 reasons why you shouldn’t follow Jesus, I share 7 reasons why our answer to Him should always be “Where else would we go?”

And as you read, that is my prayer for you. That you always answer Him saying “where else would I go?”

Miss My latest Posts? Read Them Here!

A Pony Tale

There Is Hope

A Pony Tale

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So this is not a pony tale, or a story about a horse. But the story is kind of hilarious, as I couldn’t stop laughing when I told my husband about it for the first time last night. I actually don’t think I think I finished the story, so he will hear the end of the story just when you do!

So we begin the pony tale…

So when I lived in California I did some really great things. You know, living the life of a California girl spending a lot of time at the beach, having the desire to learn to surf, and I even got a little dog… I mean a Chihuahua because that’s what you do when you live in California.

I had another desire, I wanted long hair that I could curl, like those beautiful beach curls. And want to know what was popular at that time? Hair extensions.

So I did my research (okay spoiler alert, apparently not) bought 100% hair extensions that matched my hair color and highlights. I made an appointment to get them put (glued) in. It didn’t take long, and by the end, I had beautiful extensions.

I was really happy with them, it seemed like a great choice. And that was until I washed my hair the first time.

The extensions immediately looked terrible. And they felt worse. It felt like I was running my fingers, and brush through a pony tale, like you know, horsehair.

The painful truth.

And after doing some real research, just because a package says 100% hair, doesn’t mean it’s human hair. Actually, that is a big sign that it is horsehair. I also learned that it would say 100% HUMAN hair, if in fact there was human hair in the package.

Oh and then I was told that you should never wash extensions….um how are you supposed to wash your hair?

Anyway… That isn’t the worst part. The worst part was really painful.

The worst part was that it looked so bad, that I needed to get the extensions out of my hair. But they were glued in by this thick black glue.

I have sensitive hair, so it was painful. What we had to do was basically yank it out. So we got a good adhesive remover, and over the next several hours applied adhesive and gently as possible inch by inch we loosened the glue and pulled the strands until every extension was out.

What you see isn’t always what you get.

Sometimes we just don’t do our research well enough, and instead, take everything at face value. And then we end up in a ridiculous amount of pain.

What we see isn’t always what we get. Sometimes things are packaged and marketed in a way that seems better than it actually is.

Satan has a marketing plan too. and we need to be careful so that we don’t buy into it.

Satan’s marketing plan is a lie. And if it’s not a lie, it’s so distorted that it can’t even be compared to the truth.

It may seem really good. And it may even seem true, but if you really take time to think about it, and dig into it… his fingers prints will be all over the scheme.

Let’s Take A Look At  Eve’s Encounter With Satan.

Let’s take a look at when he meets Eve. He refers to God, as “God”, and not Lord God as He is previously called. Deceiving. Minimizing God’s holiness, and in doing so making His authority seem not so authoritative.

Satan wanted Eve to question God’s importance and did so by downplaying it.

Next, he tries to get Eve to question what God actually said to her. Have you ever read instructions and then basically forget what you read and then do it wrong because you forgot what the instructions said?

Eve does this here. God tells Adam to not eat any fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan just takes the truth and completely twists it here asking Eve if God really said not to eat from ANY tree in the garden.

See what he did there? He completely over-exaggerated the truth. God said one tree. Satan said any tree. Big difference. ( It would be like if God said don’t read that trashy romance novel, and Satan was like “did God say not to read any book?”)

And then Eve, trying to stand her ground, says God said not to eat from the fruit from the tree of the center of the garden or touch.

God never said anything about touching the fruit.

Did God Really Say?

I love this portion of Hebrews 6.

 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

So how do we know/remember what God really said and what He promises? How do we know His unchanging nature, and not downplay His everlasting authority?

By knowing Him. Knowing His character. Knowing He is Lord God, and what He says. And we know what God says by being in His Word, and treasuring the fact that what He says is truth, and firmly fixed in heaven.

I am always amazed at what the Bible actually says, and it says more than we sometimes think it does. His word is pretty clear on the way, the truth, and the life.  We want to take everything at face value, and not do enough digging to find the truth, but each decision matter. And how we go about what is marketed to us matters so that our decisions don’t leave us with the pain of “ripping our hair out”… or horsehair out (go ahead and laugh… I am!) literally and figuratively.

So no this was not a pony tale, but I hope you got a good laugh, but were more so encouraged to look at everything a little more carefully…especially God’s word.

 

There Is Hope

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This year I decided to do something that I have never wanted to do before. Plant flowers. I guess I didn’t really decide to though. They were 2 potted hydrangeas and were supposed to go to one of my dearest friends, but she didn’t have a place for them. She wanted me to take them and care for them.
The problem was, I am not a gardener… by any means. I love fresh-cut flowers, but I have no desire to care for plants. And by care for, I mean actually plant them and try to keep them alive.
If any of you know about hydrangeas, you know that they are “sensitive”, to say the least. I texted my friend and said that I had no clue how to even plant them. I mean it seemed simple, but transplanting flowers that hate to share their space with other flowers (yeah, try to put them in a vase with other flowers and they will be dead in hours) didn’t seem like a hopeful task.
So I dug a couple of holes, one on each side of my garden, in a place where each plant would get sun, and shade, I watered them and prayed these flowers that hated to be transplanted would survive.

Job 14:7-9

For a tree there is always hope. Chop it down and it still has a chance – its roots can put out fresh sprouts. Even if its roots are old and gnarled, its stump long dormant, At the first whiff of water it comes to life, buds and grows like a sapling.

One had no problem. The other one withered by the end of the day. However, by the morning its petals were alive again.

Unfortunately, that was this plant’s story every day. Every morning it was alive and happy and flourishing, and by the end of the day, it was as good as dead.
After day 4 of this, I realized that regardless if I watering this, that the afternoon heat was going to end up being the demise of this beauty.  The only chance this plant had was if I moved it again. This time to a place that had more shade during the hottest times of the day, and by the other plant that was thriving.

What is hope?

I realized I was playing with fire here. This would be the 3rd time this plant was moved around. This plant that doesn’t like to be moved around.
I didn’t think there was hope for this little beauty, but it thrived. It was planted in a place where it would get exactly what would need. Enough water, sun in the cooler parts of the day, and some shade in the hotter parts of the day.
Life can feel like that plant, right? You don’t know how you are going to survive. Life doesn’t seem very hopeful. Circumstances keep cutting you down, and maybe when you think things are looking better, that is exactly when you feel like you are withering.
Maybe hope doesn’t seem to be sprouting anywhere, and like everything around you seems dead, with no water in sight. No matter how hard you try, things just don’t seem to be getting better.
There IS hope, but hope may not be what you think it should be.
Hope isn’t going to be what is seen, or maybe even what we want or expect. Because hope what is seen is not hope at all…

For I know the plans I have for you…

There is this great verse in Jeremiah 29:11. Most of you have probably read it, sometimes at beautiful events of celebration. But this was said when God’s people were in exile in Babylon. It was not a good time in their history, definitely not a time when they were showered with God’s blessings.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
These words were spoken during suffering. Along with words that follow that basically mean “bloom where you are planted.”
The problem is, sometimes it’s not easy to bloom where you are planted, because you can’t bloom without water…
And our living water is Jesus Christ.

Hope- elpis: the expectation of good. Joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.

There is hope. In the good times, in the bad times, and the days when you feel like you can’t go on. There is hope, just like there was hope for that beautiful hydrangea plant, and the trees that are cut down that get a scent of water come to life.

Hope is the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.

And here is what happens when we trust in the Lord, or put our hope in Him… when we abide in Christ, plant ourselves in His word, and believe His promises. We will be like a tree planted by the water, whose roots grow deep. The deeper the roots, the stronger the tree. We won’t fear when the heat comes, we would thrive and not worry in the dry seasons, and even in the fire… we would still bear fruit… but not because of anything we have done, only because His promise is true. And when our hope is in Him, we won’t be put to shame, because He sustains us.

It’s been a few weeks since I replanted the hydrangeas. They are creating new blooms almost every day, and are about twice the size as they were a few weeks ago. I still need to take care of them. They don’t automatically care for themselves. And here and there the flowers wither, and I need to make sure they get extra water so they keep on thriving. But there is hope for them… and with water they grow and bud just as His word says.

We talked a lot about hope today, and I wanted to leave you with 6 Bible verses that share about what hope is, and what hope does!

Hope is…

Hope doesn’t disappoint and doesn’t put us to shame. (Romans 5:5)
Hope that can be seen is not hope at all. (Romans 8:24)
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. (Isaiah 40:31)
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5: 3,4)
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15: 4)
We can hope in what we profess, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)