No Longer Ashes

“Our hope is not in who governs us… or what laws are passed.
Our hope is not in what job we hold… or where we live.

Our hope is in the power of God working through His people.”
~ author unknown

“This I recall to my mind… and THEREFORE I have hope.
‘The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
Therefore I have hope in Him.

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.

It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3

Sometimes we forget that our hope is not in those around us… or in our circumstances…
Our hope is not in how much money we make… or who is sitting in the White House.

Our hope can only come from one source… anything else is FALSE hope.

Today we remember our Lord dying on the cross for each one of us.
We remember the cost of our sin… death.
We recall the hope that His death gives us!

It is in these times that we must recall where our TRUE HOPE is.
The Lord’s compassions never fail!

This last week, I had our oldest (10) read Proverbs 3:1-12 for his quiet/journaling time.

I was excited for Liam to read this set of verses. I remember my parents having my brother and I memorize this section… and it has always stuck with me – especially one of my favorites, Proverbs 3:5-6.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understandings.
In all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will make your paths straight.”

I shared what these verses meant to me with Liam… and he chose to journal about them the first day. I enjoyed watching him understand the meaning of these verses. It’s always fun to be the teacher and see your kids truly grasp something so meaningful, isn’t it?

Little did I know that this week – my son was going to be the teacher.

Liam chose to journal about Proverbs 3:9-10.

“Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the first fruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

He wrote out the verse and was so excited to tell me about what it was saying… I smiled as he found joy in reading the scripture and we talked about what it meant for US to give our first fruits to the Lord. Then he proceeded to draw a picture representing what he was journaling about.

He drew a picture of a barn and a couple of storage buildings… all completely overflowing with different crops (corn, wheat, grapes, other fruit, etc.)… he pointed out how the doors couldn’t even shut they were so full! He could hardly hold still as he shared how blessed this farmer was.

I was ready to move on to our writing assignment for the day and Liam stopped me…

“But, WAIT! I’m not finished… there is MORE!!”

He proceeded to draw mountains in the background… and on the mountains were crops growing all with an OVER abundance!

Then I realized that the lesson was really for me.

How many times am I ready to move on… when the Lord says, “Wait, I’m not finished… there is MORE!

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think!
(Ephesians 3:20)

I missed most of the service at church on Sunday because I was enjoying teacher Tom’s lesson in my kids’ Sunday school class. By the time I made it upstairs, it was more than half over.

Even so, the message that morning was for me.

When we think of Christmas…
We think about this precious child, a baby…
Jesus…

God’s son sent to earth…
And, at some point we recognize this amazing paradox of the King of Kings laying there…
in a stinky stable…

I wonder…

Why, Lord, did you come in such a way? It isn’t right… you are GOD – at the very least you deserved a throne when you came to earth.

I think over the years… as this question has been asked… it seems to get brushed aside – as something I just won’t ever understand.

Yet, last Sunday… this question was addressed – and the answer brought me to tears.

You Are GOD…

creator of this earth…
creator of every living being on this earth…
You Are KING of KINGS…

Why did you humble yourself to become a baby that would be born to poor parents and be placed in a feeding trough to sleep?

“It is simply who I am”

God is LOVE… true, unselfish, unconditional, sacrificial… LOVE. He doesn’t just love me… He doesn’t just love you… He IS Love.

“It is simply who I am”

His character wouldn’t allow him to come any other way.

What an amazing God we have!

Merry Christmas friends…

May your Christmas be filled with celebration and a glimpse of understanding of how much God loves you!

… nah… I don’t think so…

although the thought did cross my mind…

“Is starting a blog about… well… my thoughts and feelings… my discoveries in this life… and whatever else I feel like sharing going to just suck all my time (that I don’t have) away?”

maybe… I guess…

But, I have learned that writing and sharing is an incredible outlet for me…

it helps me deal with the stresses in my life…

it helps me put things in perspective…

you know?

So – I’m not even going to consider this a waste of time.

I’m going to consider it necessary with where I am in my life right now. I am always with my children – whether it be teaching them formally in academics… training them to do chores around the house… preparing food for them… I am always here… And, I need a place to escape to that is just for me and my friends… unless we have the opportunity to go to my new favorite coffee shop in Cannon Beach… or hang out at the Bean Scene in downtown Sunnyvale, California… this will have to do.

It isn’t a waste of time…

It is about sanity… and about recording the journey…

join me?