7/31/2018
God’s Women Warriors~~On the cloudiest of days, when my soul is dark and my heart is thundering~ God will give me little snippets of unexpected sunshine... Discouragement comes in many forms and often sets up camp in the deepest recesses of our hearts and minds. It’s a mental enemy that battles against us and gains it’s strength from every wayward thought our contrite heart imagines. God uses the smallest things to remind us of His love, but we can often miss it because that enemy discouragement is clouding every bit of sunshine the Savior throws our way. Sadly, many times encouragement is fleeting. It can often come in the smallest gesture of another, and change someone’s day completely. God can use all of us in this battle against discouragement. He wants us to be on the front lines, fighting for Him. He is tapping our shoulder. He is whispering in our ear~ “Go. Tell her. Speak kindness. Uplift. Encourage. My child needs your words today. They are hurting.” But we brush it off. We make excuses. We’re too busy. We wouldn’t know what to say. We don’t even know that person. And we walk away, not even realizing in the moment how desperately that person needed a word from a stranger, a smile, a hug. My grandson Ethan saw a political sign in someone’s yard last week. He asked his daddy if someone placed the sign there to tell everyone~‘Have a good day!’ 😊 Wow! We are quick to speak on politics or our favorite sports teams. We put their signs in our yards and their jerseys on our backs. We are quick to speak our disapproval of others and the choices they make- and yet, too often, words of encouragement are absent from our vocabulary. I cannot tell you the amount of times you, the reader, have encouraged me. When discouragement sneaks in and tells my wandering heart that it has no business speaking words of truth, God sends a warrior my way. Someone that otherwise would NEVER cross my path in my normal day to day activities. It astounds me every single time. He uses YOU to bless me. And that brings tears to my eyes. Let’s wear God’s words and outwardly show others the beautiful signs of our Saviors love~~ Speak those words, give that hug, send that card, bring that meal, say that prayer. Shine like your Savior and lift someone up out of the depths of discouragement. Be God’s warrior today.
7/25/2018
Every Moment MattersThere were a sea of faces all around me~ children my age. Hands outstretched, waiting to be filled with tiny, tasty goldfish~ a picture of one of the many miracles of Jesus. The 5 loaves and 2 fishes. Another day straw cowboy hats were given to every child. I can still remember the delicious smell of that straw as it filled the gymnasium. We made crafts with popsicle sticks and learned the song~ “STOP and Let Me Tell You What the Lord Has Done For Me”. I was in awe of the STOP and GO signs the leaders held up as each verse was sung. Everything was so foreign to me at the time. But I remembered. These are memories I have. Pieces of a time in my life that wasn’t the norm for my family and wouldn’t be the norm until almost ten years later. But God knew that. He was working in this little girl’s life before she could truly understand. He was whispering to my heart~”let me introduce you to my Son. One day, He will be your very best friend.” Put aside the fact that for one brief week, I was in the same church my future husband attended. Maybe he was one of the young boys handing out hats~ or fishes. Maybe he sat next to me as we sang. Maybe he even smiled at me. We never attended that church again and yet, despite moving 4 different times to 4 different cities,16 years later I met him and married him. God has a miraculous way of using everything in our lives. Everything in our children’s lives. Nothing is by chance. Nothing is an accident. God introduced a little girl that knew nothing about Jesus, to His Son~ She was only in Kindergarten. And she remembered. Vacation Bible School. God used all the workers that week, all the “behind the scenes” helpers, every craft, every snack and every prize. It all mattered. None of them will ever know the impact they made on my life that week, until someday we meet in heaven. But it made a difference in this little girl’s heart. And she remembered. Vacation Bible School. Don’t discount the importance of our children and the impact God’s word can have on their lives. Every moment matters. And 48 years later that little girl will start her 24th Vacation Bible School with her husband. Joy will fill her heart as she looks into the eyes of each little child~ And she remembers.
7/17/2018
All The World Was WaitingALL THE WORLD WAS WAITING I was sitting in the waiting room alone. The pager was on my lap and I began to wonder if its batteries were even working. I hadn’t heard a word in over 2 hours, going on 3. One of my children was in surgery. It wasn’t life threatening, but any type of surgery our children have, especially under anesthesia, can be scary to a mama. My phone battery had died, so all I could do was sit and watch and wait. I listened to all the different stories people were telling. Some small talk, some large tales, some praying. It was a rather loud waiting room but to me it seemed like a distant murmur. All I could think about was my child. I looked down at the pager again. Each time the door opened and a nurse came out my heart got anxious, but each time they weren’t there for me. Finally the Surgeon came out and told me he was finished. All was well. My heart was relieved. When our children have to endure pain, it is heart wrenching and when they have to endure something that is life threatening it’s almost unbearable. My human heart can not comprehend the unbearable and heart wrenching emotions of God my Father as His precious Son was tortured, then hung on a cross. To listen to the distant murmurings of a sinful world that watched and to wait in anguish for the words “It is finished” but instead to hear your precious child ask you- “if it’s ok, could you not allow me to go through this suffering?” Can you imagine your child asking this of you, and then having to turn your back on them? I can’t. As I looked around that waiting room, I know that I could not have allowed my child to die that day for even one of those people. But I’m not God. I couldn’t imagine the surgeon telling me my child was gone. But I’m not God. I can’t imagine the love my Heavenly Father had for a world that was waiting. A love that made Him think of everyone and turn His back on His Son. I’m not God, but I’m so thankful HE IS. Christ was there for me and when He spoke the grace filled words “It is finished” it was to the relief and redemption of the sinful hearts of all mankind. I can’t fathom that kind of love. I’m so thankful HE IS love. When I was able to finally see my child after surgery my heart was filled with joy and when God the Father was able to look at our sinful hearts through the love of His only begotten Son, it filled the entire world with joy. HE IS our joy. It is finished. It wasn’t the end that day those words were sproken, it was only the beginning. Three days later God’s precious Son rose again to live in the hearts of all humanity, if we only invite Him in. We don’t have to wait any longer. Three days later became the happiest day of all mankind. HE IS my Savior and HE IS alive! I am so thankful HE IS!
7/10/2018
Just TrustJUST TRUST
It’s not about me. It’s all about God. His power. My faith. His glory. My trust. His ways. Not mine. God used a little girl to give Namaan a message. A message that seemed utterly crazy. But it wasn’t about the act. It was about the faith in an all powerful God. II Kings 5 God used Gideon and when his flesh cried that he needed more- God said he didn’t. His ways were higher. His power was stronger. His glory was more magnificent. Judges 7 And then God said to Israel-march. And march. And march. Not fight. Not debate. Not use eloquent words. No complaining. No tiring. Just relentlessly continuing on for the kingdom of God until the trumpet blew. To simply trust and obey. Joshua 6 Pour water on a bonfire before it is lit? I Kings 18. Talk about rain when there’s no such thing? Build a boat on dry land? Genesis 6-9. Fight a giant with only a slingshot? I Samuel 17. Stand before a king until he holds out a septer? Esther. Speak before a pharaoh on behalf of a nation? Exodus 3. Kneel before God in the face of death? Daniel 6. Feed 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes? Matthew 14. Give birth to a Savior never knowing a man? Luke 1 Never abandoned. Always delivered. Abundantly blessed. Whatever you are facing, God has shown you time and time again that His ways are higher than our ways. Even when it doesn’t logistically make sense to our human way of thinking, we simply must trust. Trust. He holds the galaxies in the palm of His hands and we are but specks like the sands on the sea shore~ yet He loves us infinitely. Infinitely. He tells us to go. To serve. To believe. To glorify. To trust. Because He is all powerful and all loving. And through Him we can do anything. Philippians 4:13 Isaiah 26:3, I Corinthians 10:31, Isaiah 55:9
7/3/2018
For Women Only***FOR WOMEN ONLY*** I’d just had my first baby only one month before. Between the post baby body and hormones, my insecurities were at an all time high. Mike suggested we go out and do something that sounded fun to me so we packed up the stroller and headed to the mall. It was December of 1986. Baby Jessica decided in the middle of our mall trip that she was hungry and she could not wait. Things were different. Moms didn’t just whip it out in public and start nursing, even with a blanket covering them. So, I went out to our small, cramped car and attempted to nurse fussy Jessica under my heavy sweater and winter coat. Despite the freezing temperatures, the sweat began to roll and the hormones began to rage. The hormones were definitely winning the battle and I started to cry. When I got back inside, the first thing I saw was a full wall advertisement for Victoria’s Secret. Not life size. Bigger. Gigantic, gorgeous, amazon women with perfect hair and bodies. And I lost it. That was the beginning of the end. My insecurities got worse instead of better. I felt fat and ugly after each baby. Instead of doing something about it, I resorted to junk food and complaining. Continual complaining. “I’m so fat. I’m so ugly. My double chin, my small chest, my flabby stomach...” and on and on and on. I was defeated without a fight. And my daughters watched it all. Why do we let society dictate what qualifies as beautiful to us? Why do we allow it to dictate those qualities to our daughters? Why is it so hard to believe that we are beautiful? It starts so young and once it grabs hold, it’s hard to shake. My innocent granddaughter Ellie with her naturally curly, brown hair came home from kindergarten and told me she was ugly because her hair wasn’t straight. Or blonde. It broke my heart. She is so beautiful to me. She is so beautiful to God. How can we change this mindset in our daughters? YOU are beautiful to God. Start believing it’s true in yourself. And that’s where it gets so hard. Many of us can’t. Including myself. It’s a continual battle that I cannot seem to win. With every TV commercial and magazine cover hitting me where it hurts. Ephesians 6:12-18 So you buy books and read articles and decide you’re going to change. And the first week you get up and spend time with God and read and feel the confidence returning. You smile. You’re happy. And then you walk into the mall with your husband.... And you are defeated and complaining all over again. Romans 7:22&23 Your husband sits in silence. He has told you time and time again how beautiful you are to him. He is at a loss for words. But your daughter hears your EVERY word. She thinks you’re beautiful. She thinks you’re amazing. She’s confused. Why is this a continual cycle in our lives? Because society screams at us from every direction and we listen to them and NOT TO GOD. We don’t believe GOD’S words. I can hear some of your thoughts as you read this. “Oh brother. You’re tall and slim. Why are you complaining?” But we all have our trouble spots. We all have our insecurities. Your daughter looks at you and thinks~ “mom you are amazing and beautiful and I want to be JUST LIKE YOU. Why do you complain?” And even sadder, God looks at us and says-“I made you in MY IMAGE. You are wonderfully made. You are beautiful in MY EYES. Why do you complain?” Genesis 1:27 In a way, we are telling God~”you created the world and you saved my soul from eternal damnation, but man~You really missed the mark with this body of mine.” Romans 9:20, Psalm 8:3-4 Shame on us. Shame on me. I’m not condoning being lazy and not taking care of ourselves. It’s not ok to go buy a bag of Lays and a half gallon of ice cream and have at it every time we feel ugly~ because pretty soon, for some of us, that could be our daily diet. It’s actually harmful to our bodies in so many ways and it’s teaching our children that food is the answer. Food is our comfort. Food is our happiness. And God isn’t in the equation. Isaiah 55:2 I Corinthians 10:31 I wish I had started my healthy journey earlier but after my daughter Jessica went to college I decided it was time for change. I started working out. I ate right. I lifted. I lost weight and gained muscle. But when I looked in the mirror I was still discouraged. All that work would not take away the hidden wrinkling, sagging skin that age allows to creep up on us. It didn’t take away my hidden flabby tummy after having four children and a hysterectomy. It didn’t take away the hidden dimples (aka cellulite) I had in all the wrong places or the varicose veins that looked like a road map on my thighs. I just learned how to hide it all. But my heart was hidden too. Hidden behind push up bras, loose shirts and control top panty hose. Why was I hiding behind these things in self loathing doubt and why do I still try to hide? Because I’m not hiding God’s words in my heart. Romans 8:9-11 That’s where it has to start and that’s what we have to keep going back to. Over and over and over. That thought process is very, very foreign to so many of us. We can’t win this battle on our own ladies. We can only win with Christ in our hearts and His power on our lives. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 So this is my journey. ✔️To take care of this body He has given me. To work hard on the things I CAN change but accept the things I PHYSICALLY can not. Matthew 6:27 ✔️To continue to stay healthy, eat healthy and work out. ✔️To tirelessly play with my grandchildren and someday see them graduate and get married. (And maybe my great grandchildren one day too.) ✔️To understand that outward beauty is vanity but inward beauty is EVERYTHING. Proverbs 31:30 ✔️To focus on the beauty of my Lord and continually remind myself that when He looks at me, He sees beautiful. Song of Solomon 4:7, Isaiah 62:3, Psalm 90:17 ✔️To understand that He has made me in HIS image. Genesis 1:26-26,31 HIS IMAGE!! That’s HUGE! ✔️To look in the mirror and choose to be like Christ and not like the world’s standard of beauty. Psalms 17:15 ✔️To trust that God knew about each part of my body before I was even born. He knew about every future wrinkle, every dimple, every sag and every measurement and when He celebrated my very first birth day~ He said “perfect”. Psalms 139:13-17, Luke 12:7, ✔️To teach my granddaughters what beauty really means in God’s eyes. Romans 10:15 ✔️To show them they are strong and can accomplish anything with Christ in their heart and God by their side. Ephesians 2:10, I Peter 2:9, Philippians 4:13 ✔️To know that it’s not about me but it’s all about God. And God’s beauty shines brighter and longer and more magnificent than any wall mural this world has to offer. Psalm 90:17 And that’s all I need to know. Because I am made in His image. |
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