Category: Hope

God hears hearts

11/19/2015

There is a little boy in Alabama who cannot speak. His name is Rory. He has Apraxia of Speech. It is a disorder in which the brain doesn't send the right signals to the nerves which control muscle movement required for normal speech development. Yet his mama and his papa believe in a God who opens hearts, minds and yes even tongues. They believe in hard work and never ever giving up. They work tirelessly with their son and a speech pathologist to reopen and re-establish neural pathways to loose the tongue to speak, all the while battling their own health issues and financial set backs the enemy hurls at them. Yet that enemy cannot defeat them. They get angry at the enemy, but they don't stay there. They choose to live in daily celebration of the Lord of life, not letting the circumstances of life rob them of their trust in the great Jehovah God. And so they labor on, undaunted, tenaciously working for their son to find his voice.

I believe God hears Rory's voice. Today. Right now. This very moment. God bends down ~ how beautiful is that~ that our great Jehovah bends down, gets really really close, leans in, and listens. He listens to Rory's voice because he hears Rory's heart.

And Rory has quite a talkative heart. He visits with God a lot. His mama has made him a special prayer board. And she prays with Rory every single day. Rory thanks God for the things he enjoys, especially those Panera Bread soufflés. He asks God to help him grow and learn to love Him more every day. He also prays for others, for those that he loves dearly, and those that need some special help. You can even see my name on that special list! Yet at the top of his list of prayers for help you will see these words : To find my Voice.

I think Rory was aptly named. For I believe one day, not only will he find his voice, but he will ROAR! And he will use that voice to glorify God, and to speak of the great things God has done, for God is giving Rory a story to tell. A story that ultimately will be told by Rory ~ in his own voice ~ to others. They will listen, their hearts will be stirred within, and they will come to know and worship the great God who bends down to listen, the all powerful Jehovah God who hears hearts.

As long as we have breath ~ our God will hear our heart. He will bend down to hear the heart that is crying out to Him, singing to Him, whispering to Him. What a blessing!

Authors note:
Thank you Monica, Scott and Rory for allowing me to be a part of your journey. I am yours in prayer ~ as long as I have breath. (Photo and graphic design credit to Monica)

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Taking hope to children behind bars

12/13/2013

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One might assume that most children in America have at least heard of the Bible, and of Jesus Christ, and of the beautiful stories taught in sunday school.
But a handful of men from our tiny congregation who weekly go to a local juvenile correction facility tell us a different story. They go to hand out Bibles, and spend an hour teaching the boys and girls, from ages 12 to 17. Every week my husband comes home amazed at what these kids don't know, things that we take for granted everybody in America knows. We tend to think we need to go off to a foreign land to teach the children about God. Not so, those children are right in your back yard, no matter where you live, from New York City, to the Bible belt.

My husband tells me these kids seem so innocent, like it is hard to imagine what they could have possibly done for a judge to issue some tough love and incarceration time, which is usually about 8 to 12 weeks long. These kids are not in for violent crimes, it may be petty theft, or drugs, or vandalizing. These kids seem hungry and eager to learn. We don't know anything of their home lives. Some may come from affluence, some may come from poorer means. Some are raised in a religion, some are not. Some have been disciplined harshly and some have never been disciplined. Some have been ignored and some have been indulged. What they have in common is that they are in need of love, attention and guidance, things that can be unintentionally neglected by parents of any income level or any spiritual background. So some men from our congregation go weekly, and try to show them love, attention and guidance by teaching them those wonderful, powerful, life changing stories from the word of God. The men are prohibited from 'proselytizing' them to Christianity, but they are allowed to teach those Bible stories, and more importantly give each child a Bible of their own.

Most of the kids seem genuinely interested in what the Bible has to say, making frequent comments and asking questions. Here is a sampling:

"You mean the story of the animals and the ark and the flood is real? I mean it's in the Bible?"
"Will you mail my mom a Bible?"
"My parents won't let me keep this Bible."
"I've been reading my Bible, mister, I am up to Genesis chapter 31."
"If God didn't want Adam and Eve to eat from that tree, then why did He put it in the garden to begin with?"
"Can I keep this Bible? Really?"
"You know, I was leaning toward being an athiest, but now I am not so sure."

Every week, I look forward to hearing about the kids at the detention facility. Whether there are twenty in attendance or four, each week my husband comes homes with a humbling perspective from those kids. . I pray for them. I pray those Bibles will stay with them and they will continue to read their Bibles. You see, I identify with them. Oh, I was never in a juvenile detention facility, but at 16, I experienced some pretty dark moments, and ran away. Praise God, I was found before nightfall. A few days after I was found, I received a Bible in the mail. No return address, no note, just a Bible. One of those 'easy to read' translations. And so I began reading it. The day I got that Bible, I got HOPE. Hope that there was something more to life, than what I was experiencing. It took me a while, but eventually I became a Christian. My Christian journey began with someone giving me a Bible. I still have no idea who this person was, and wonder if they ever knew how it changed my life.

Our little congregation has no illusions that these kids will attend our church. That is not our aim. Our aim is simply to teach a child in need, to give a Bible to each one, and pray that they would read it, and that the sword of the spirit - the Holy word of God- will do its work in their hearts and lives. We may never know the final outcome, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that a child who didn't know the story of creation, or of the flood, or of Jesus on the cross, now does, and that child now has his or her own Bible. We just want to give them hope, a real hope which does not disappoint.

Romans 5: 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

1 Thessalonians 2: 13 And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men but for what it really is, the word of God, which performs its work in you who believe.

Are you in need of some hope today? Go get your Bible, open it up, and just read. That is where you will find your hope. It is what I pray those kids will do, and it is what I pray this blog encourages us all to do; to just open up and read His word- His life changing, hope filled words.

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The gift of an empty jar

7/11/2013

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An empty jar. Just waiting to be filled. Oh all the possibilities of things that can go into this jar. I see an empty jar and think of the ripening tomatoes in my garden and filling this jar with homemade salsa. Others see it and see a money jar, a jar to toss their spare change into. Or a jar for crayons, or hair bows, or you name it. The jar can hold a multitude of things, or it can remain empty.

Empty jars aren't much fun, except for the possibilities, the hope of what they might hold, someday.

HOPE

Hope is a powerful word. Hope is something we don't see, yet hope can bring us a powerful gift, a vision of what could be.

Hope left by itself will not fill a jar. Hope needs companions. It needs determination, and dedication and desire.

I just finished reading an amazing book, that made me think of hope. It was filled with determination, dedication and desire. It is a true story about a young girl who was raised by drug addicted parents in New York City. A young girl who as a preteen, wound up homeless, completely by herself. Many people failed her; parents, other relatives, teachers, and social workers. Her life was spiraling down the wrong path, and she felt like a helpless, hopeless participant in her life.

Until, one day. The day hope entered her world.

I won't give the story away. You really need to read it. But, when she found hope, coupled with the three D's, determination, dedication and desire; her world changed. Oh, she was still homeless, sleeping wherever she could. But she went back to high school at age 16, with all her worldly possessions in her backpack, along with her heavy textbooks. She completed 4 years of high school in just two years with an A average!   While homeless! That is what hope can do. She wanted a different life, and knew no one would hand it to her. But hope could, and it did. She got that different life, she earned a scholarship and was accepted into Harvard. I am not giving the story away, because it is in the title of the book, Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray

Hope is a powerful thing. It can change lives, it can change us. As Christians we have a hope that is beyond what any hope in this world can offer. We have the hope of eternal life with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 3: 5-7   We have the hope of comfort through any tribulation this world might bring. Romans 5: 3-5

Let's look closely at a few scriptures on hope.   (emphasis in all the scriptures below is mine)

Romans 5: 5 says,
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8: 24 says,
For in hope, we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly expect.

Hebrews 6: 18b-19 says,
...we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast...


Hope is a gift, a gift that does not disappoint. Just like that empty bottle, we don't see anything in it, but it is full of possibility. So it is with hope. Hope is not something you can see. Yet, hope brings with it a feeling, a possibility, a dogged perseverance to keep on going. Hope gives us a strong inner encouragement, an anchor to keep us steadfast to keep on going. It brings to us determination, dedication, and desire for something better.

What do you hope for? I am not talking a casual wish, but real genuine HOPE. You and I are that empty jar, daily we fill our jars with something.

Fill your jar with HOPE, and you will not be disappointed. It will give you the persistence, the determination to give you the victory in the trials of this life, while you await the great homecoming of heaven!

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Authors note:

While reading the story of Liz Murray, I couldn't stop thinking of Katherine, one of my former students. This is for her.
To Katherine, wherever you are. You were my Liz. You walked in the first day of class, and I immediately judged you. You walked proudly and unashamedly into a sea of freshly pressed clothes and lilly white faces; you with your gothic look, a stark contrast to everyone else present. I was so wrong. I grew to love you. I think you taught me more that I may have taught you. I knew you had a hard life, and sometimes slept on a park bench. Yet, you were always present, and so smart. Even though we shared many a private talk, and you became one of the students I will forever carry in my heart, I wonder, did I give you hope?  When you looked in my eyes, did you see someone who believed in you, who knew you could do it? Because I did, and I still do.

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Welcome! I pray the words I write will encourage reflection within and deeper study of the Word of God, which is able to build us up, equipping us to be victorious as we journey through this earthly life.
May we all earnestly seek the things above, not the things of this world.

God hears hearts

Taking hope to children behind bars

The gift of an empty jar

Posted by
Singing like a robin
daughter of the King
forgiven
joyful
soul strengthener

Categories

Welcome! I pray the words I write will encourage reflection within and deeper study of the Word of God, which is able to build us up, equipping us to be victorious as we journey through this earthly life. May we all earnestly seek the things above, not the things of this world.

God hears hearts

Taking hope to children behind bars

The gift of an empty jar

Posted bySinging like a robindaughter of the Kingforgivenjoyfulsoul strengthener

Categories

Welcome! I pray the words I write will encourage reflection within and deeper study of the Word of God, which is able to build us up, equipping us to be victorious as we journey through this earthly life.
May we all earnestly seek the things above, not the things of this world.

Posted by
Singing like a robin
daughter of the King
forgiven
joyful
soul strengthener