Day 12: Hope

Hope abides; therefore I abide.
Countless frustrations have not cowed me.
I am still alive, vibrant with life.
The black cloud will disappear,
The morning sun will appear once again
In all its supernal glory.

~Sri Chinmoy

Day 10: Hope is the thing with feathers…

Hope  is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited

Day 9: Moving out of fear….

I’ll admit it.   Fear is a huge battle for me.  It looms large in the middle of the night, seizing me just before the dawn.   My stomach clenches and at times I can feel the panic rising up.   I am learning however, that I do not have to be a victim to fear and each time I find myself a bit stronger a little more able to take away it’s power…
My road map away from fear….

• First and foremost I seek God.  I ask Him for His comfort, peace and wisdom.
• Second, I tell myself the the truth.   It won’t always be this way and things are rarely as bad as they seem in the middle of the night.   I speak affirmation to myself, sometimes I even say it out loud.   For instance last night I woke up to feed our 2 week old foster son and was gripped with a common fear: what if I have cancer, and I don’t even know it….(the scars from losing a son and then an uncle to cancer are still very close to the surface).   The truth is that even if I did have cancer, God is my refuge and keeper.  He has numbered my days.  I do not need to fear death because I know the author of life.   Another common fear that attacks me: what if the economy crashes again??   The truth is that God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory, and He has never allowed the righteous to be forsaken.   Chances are if you are trapped by fear you will find a carefully crafted lie hiding behind the door.  The truth really does set you free.
• Finally I focus on hope.   Hope is a vacuum that sucks out all the fear.   I give my energy to those things that lift me up, to my hopes and my dreams and I focus on the wonderful faithfulness God has already shown.

*sorry guys, I am bit behind, holding babies takes up a lot of my time these days….

Day 8: Where does hope come from…

In my journey learning to parent two traumatized children with attachment issues I read a lot.   In one book I found this thought particularly profound:

At the core there are really only two emotions: love or fear.  Every other emotion or reaction stems directly from one of  these two places.  You are either operating out of fear or you are operating out of love.

The Bible tells us that perfect love casts out fear…where there is love there is hope.  Hope squashes fear.
Are you without hope?  I challenge you to take stock: where are you operating from?  Are you angry?  Frustrated? Discouraged?  If you can answer yes to any or all of this then friend, you have moved from place of love to a place of fear.   The good news is, you do not have to stay there!

Day 7: When the world tries to steal your hope…

Have you watched the news lately?  Government shut downs, shootings, more corruption, more greed, more hurt….little hope.  Where do you hide when everything, everyone around is crying recession or worse?
If your hope is in this world then I am not sure there is much lasting hope to be found.  What we need is a shelter in the storm.  We can hope (and should!) that the powers that be will get it together soon and the government shutdown won’t continue but in the end people disappoint us.   What we need is a hope that does not disappoint….
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God….and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:2,5

Day 6: The Lord is my portion….

 

therefore I have hope.

The Lord is my portion.  But what does that mean?

Portion:

1:  an individual's part or share of something: as

a :  a share received by gift or inheritance

b : dowry

c :  enough food especially of one kind to serve one person at one meal

2:  an individual's lot, fate, or fortune :  one's share of good and evil

I am still learning what this means exactly, day after day of walking with Him slowly teaches me that He is all I need, He is my source of hope.

We recently walked through some difficult days financially.  I begged God for this one thing and in the end I had to let that thing go.   I searched the scriptures for His promises, something that would quiet my heart and reassure me that we would not hit that one milestone I was so afraid of….I read that He never leaves us forsaken, that our seed will never beg for bread but in my heart I knew He was whispering:

If you lose it all, can you still believe and know that I am enough?   What if I say no again?   Can you surrender this also, and still hope in me?

We didn’t lose it all but I did have to let go that thing that I treasured so much.  It hurt, I won’t lie but you know what?  He was, He is, He always will be enough.

The Lord is my inheritance, my good thing….I have hope because I have Him.   And because I have Him I am enough because He is more than enough.

Day 5: It just might be hope….

I love this song.

 Hope has a way of turning it’s face to you, just when you least expect.  You walk in a room, you look out a window and something there leaves you breathless….You say to yourself, it’s been awhile since I felt this but it feels like it might be hope.

Hope does that sometimes.  It catches you off guard, it takes your breath away, it reminds you: not all is lost…
But this I call to mind therefore I have hope:  the steadfast love of the Lord never fails, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.  The Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.  Lamentations 3:21-24