Hope Blossoms

     There's something about Spring, about seeing the new life bud forth that instills in us a sense of hope.
When I walked to my favorite spot in our backyard, I looked up at the green leaves sprouting from our orange tree. But what I desperately wanted to see was some sign of an orange blossom, no matter how small. I crooked my neck back, staring into the twisted branches, just hoping that our tree would hold the promise of a fall harvest of oranges.
     It's a spring ritual--a trek I make each year across our small green patch of lawn to gaze upward into the citrus trees in our backyard. I'm looking for the new life, the promise that this fall I can expect something about life to be the same. There will be joy if there are blossoms. So many things in life change, and we just need assurance that something we have always expected to occur will once again bear fruit for us. It gives rhythm to our lives.
     With my neck craned and my eyes searching, I found a bud--the tiniest burst of a promise. I scanned longer and found some larger buds crowned in white. As I came around the tree, I found a gold mine of hope. My heart soared, as hope welled up within me.
     When we hunger for hope and none is blossoming around us, when we long for something in our life to remain the same--stable, when we are looking for new life, we will find it all in Jesus.

     "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:23-24 NIV 

     What hope has the Lord shown you?



    

From My Heart to Yours,

The Lord is My Strength

Sunrise Across the Arizona Sky

     "Lord, order my steps today. Make me strong, not for the sake of possessing strength, but to make me sufficient for the crisis moments in my life and in the lives of others who reach out to me."

     These words inscribed on a tiny, glossy strip of card stock sit on my placemat at the kitchen table. Each day I have the opportunity to read these words and be reminded of how much I need the Lord's strength to get through every moment of every day.
     But I had not read those words for several days. When the crisis slammed into my heart yesterday, I curled up into a ball wracked with anger, hurt, and hateful thoughts. I wondered how I would make it through the searing pain. A pain so intense there seemed to be no HOPE for escaping it.
     Friends and fellow believers sent their heartfelt prayers to the throne of our merciful, gracious, and strong heavenly Father. His arm stretched down through the glorious morning sky and lifted me from my bed of pain and set my feet on His path. He poured forgiveness into my soul. With His shield He protected me from the onslaught of the enemy and my own thoughts. Music filled with worship for the One who loves us poured into my heart and eased the pain.
     How could such a change come about in just an evening? Only the Lord could perform such a work in answer to the prayers of His people.

     "The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is My God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him." Exodus 15:1-3 New King James

From My Heart to Yours,

Touched By His Work

"His word thundering so wondrously, 

  his mighty acts staggering our understanding.

 He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!'

  and the rain, 'Soak the whole countryside!'

No one can escape the weather--it's there.

  And no one can escape from God."

Job 37:5-7 THE MESSAGE, NavPress, (c)2005

      Last week we had the privilege of watching lightly falling snow turn our desert into a winter wonderland. School children's delightful squeals pierced icy air as they watched feather-sized snowflakes drift from grey skies across their campuses. White fluffy powder was squished hard into balls and flung at classmates--a rare treat for desert dwellers. By early afternoon, the skies closed their storehouses and the wintry mix of snow and rain began to melt as blue peeked through the clouds.

     Climbing from the downtown sector, I wound my way home. The snow that had fallen steadily for hours blanketed golf courses and softened the look of prickly cacti with mounds of white powder. The wonder of such beauty could not escape even my anxious heart. The pure, white snow was breathtaking. A glimpse of the beauty of its Creator. And my heart could feel His touch.

     A grey fog began its silky movement across the mountains once again. The landscape stilled in the hush of a silent prelude to more gently drifting powder from the heavens. A friend and I sat tucked inside a coffee shop sharing warm conversation as we watched in awe the beauty floating outside the window. Voices whispered their words softly in imitation of the delicate portrait forming before their eyes. Time stood still 'til the quiet of evening fell upon us.
    And we left wrapped in His inescapable love as He blanketed the earth in snow.

From My Heart to Yours,

 

My Hope Comes From Him

Winter's Deep Freeze Has Left the Branches Bare

      My hope has been placed in so many things, in so many people. I depended on circumstances, or well-thought-out plans, maybe a job, but most especially a particular person in whatever season of my life on which to hang my hope. If whatever I was hoping for would come to pass, then I knew I would be at peace and filled with joy.
     But time and again, whatever I had hoped in would bring satisfaction momentarily and then that situation  would either crumble or the person prove to be imperfect, human, unreliable. And like a blustery winter wind that strips the trees of their last autumn leaves, my hope would be ripped away once again.
     Sometimes, what I had hoped for would last for a season and I would snuggle into the comfort of having that which I most desired wrapped securely around me. However, while enjoying that one thing I had so hoped would yield peace and joy in my life, another problem would arise in my life. Now I was juggling two or more circumstances that needed to exist in my life so that I had hope.
     For a long time and through many people, the Lord has been pulling me toward the truth about HOPE.
In Him alone will I find a steady HOPE. A HOPE that will not waver with the circumstances in my life nor the people or seasons of my life. It will not be easy to let go of my other hopes. And it will not be pain free. I will cry as I realize what I so desired to give me hope is just a passing vapor. And I will struggle as I still fight to hang my hope on that which can never satisfy.
     In Him alone is my HOPE.

     "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my HOPE comes from him.
     He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
     My salvation and my honor depend on God ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
     Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." 
     Psalm 61:5-8 NIV

     The leaves of autumn may have been blown away with my dreams, but may my soul rest in God alone for He is my HOPE.


     How have you found Hope? In the darkest pit or on the mountaintop?

     
    Still Counting the Gifts and Joys as I keep my eyes on the real Hope:

 937) Hugs and compassion from oldest son
 938) Insight from the Lord on how to help the kids I teach
 939) Joy internal~not caused by outward circumstances
 940) Freezing temps and wrapped in coats, scarves and gloves that resembled "Nanook of the North"
 941) Bare branches stripped of last weeks autumn leaves stand stark but strong against the blue sky
 942) Seeing teachers from my old school
 943) Answered prayer in hearing from the Ombudsman of my son's ship~peace of mind
 944) An email at last from our youngest son who is deployed on a Navy vessel
 945) Visiting with friends
 946) Two solid nights of sleep
 947) Lord, your Word, Your Peace, Your Love that turned my bitter heart around

  

From My Heart to Yours,

 

HOPE

     "I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121: 1-2 NIV

     I've never quite jumped on the bandwagon of finding one word that I thought would describe the Lord's focus for my life each year. Perhaps I never sought the Lord for that one thing He hoped to accomplish in me or that I hoped would change in my life. Perhaps I misinterpreted the idea of finding one word as contrived or as a sign of a super-spiritual group of Christians who were on a higher level than I.

     In my earlier years as a Christian, I do not recall the emphasis on finding one word that would be my focus for the new year. However, I do remember one New Year's Eve when we attended a gathering of our Christian fellowship where each of us picked a tiny scroll-like paper tied in ribbon from a decorated basket. The opened scroll was intended to reveal a Scripture verse that possibly would whisper the Spirit's voice to our hearts--to that secret area of our hearts that could only be touched by the Lord. My verse involved humility. I was hoping that my uncoiled scroll would carry the promise of the hope of answered prayer for a much desired child.
     However, the Lord wanted to reach deeper and farther into my life. That verse on humility and the spiritual work that would be required whispered to my heart for years to come. It stretched into every area of my life and I often found myself asking the Lord to accomplish His work in this weak vessel. Removing  the pride is an unending work.
     When, I saw the Faith Barista's call for "the word" each of us was pursuing this year--or being pursued by the Spirit in us, I heard in my heart the whisperings that had been drowned out by so much disconcordant noise.
     HOPE~I needed HOPE for this year. HOPE to give me strength, HOPE to give me trust, HOPE to know that God is in control when my world is spinning out of MY control. The Lord wanted to give me HOPE to sustain me.
     Gone were the doubts of why people picked a "word" for each new year. I knew in my heart that God had a word for me this year.

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

     Interestingly enough, a close friend of mine started a jewelry business last year and felt impressed by the Lord to have business cards made with the above Scripture. Her hope has always been in the Lord and she trusts Him in this new endeavor that He has established before her.

     Throughout this year, I will be looking for nuggets of wisdom concerning the HOPE the Lord is offering me.

From My Heart to Yours,

Linking with Faith Barista