Hope.

Hope.

What is it?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Hope: 1. to desire with expectation of obtainment. 2. to expect with confidence: Trust.

"Hope is the belief, more or less strong, that joy will come; desire is the wish it may come." - Sydney Smith (18th centuary writer/clergyman)

"Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords." - Samuel Johnson

"'Hope' is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without words And never stops - at all." - Emily Dickinson

"Hope is putting faith to work when doubting would be easier." - Anonymous

Do you have Hope?

Job 11:17-18 17Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. 18 You will be secure, because there is hope you will look about you and take your rest in safety.(NIV)

Psalm 9:18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. (NIV)

Isaiah 40:30-31 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (NIV)

Jeremiah 29:11-12 11For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12In those days when you pray, I will listen

Romans 15:13 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. (NIV)

Proverbs 23: 14 Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off (NIV)

Lamentations 3: 19-22 19I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. (NIV)

Psalms 31:24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (NIV)

Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (NKJV)

I have The Hope.

1 Peter 1:3-4 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you

Do you?

Beside You

Today I found myself thinking about the song Beside You by Marianas Trench . Then I started thinking about my blog post Alone? Or Loneliness? I thanked God that I had Him. That I was indeed not alone. But then I started thinking about those who do not understand The Father who loves them. They have no clue that they are loved in an incredible way. I started to consider that when they’re alone and people fail them, they do not have Jesus to lean on. Then I started wondering if I am a person who's willing to stand beside someone even if their world is falling apart.

Am I willing to hold someone who's falling apart? Do I attempt to comfort those who are hurt? Am I one who tries to comfort those who cannot be comforted? Do I cry with those who don’t have enough tears? Am I reaching out to a broken world?

And even more than just reaching out. Am I showing them a Jesus who can comfort and heal when all else fails?

Matthew 5:3-8

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Beside You -- Marianas Trench
When your tears are spent on your last pretense
And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defense
When it's in your spine like you've walked for miles
And the only thing you want is to just be still for a while

And if your heart wears thin I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you
I'll be right beside you

When you're overwhelmed and you've lost your breath
Where the space between the things you know is blurry nonetheless
When you try to speak but you make no sound
And the words you want are out of reach but they've never been so loud




Jesus has called us to reach out. To show His face and be His hands. To comfort others.
So if your heart wears thin I will hold you up and I will hide you when it gets too much.
I'll be right beside you.

The Ascendancy of Callow Fish

Today I have discovered a wonderful gift. The power of Sushi.

At 6 o'clock Liz and I met up with Pastors Rick and Tiffany from New Hope Foursquare at a Teriyaki and Sushi restaurant for dinner. It was delicious. Now the entire time we were eating, in the back of my mind, I knew I that had ultimate practice right after. But the sushi kept calling me back and I could not ignore it. Needless to say, I ate a lot.



At 8 o'clock practice begins. My stomach was growling in protest as we began our warm-up lap. It was going to be a long night. But then I noticed something amazing! After warm-ups we throw the disc around, and tonight my throws were amazing! Solid, fast, to the reciever. Forehand and Backhand. It was incredible! And then the drills began. Instead of my stomach causing me problems my cuts were great, sprinting was easy, catching the disc...okay yeah, I still struggle with that one... but! everything was great. Then it was time for the long pass drill, but by then I knew the sushi was giving me some outerworld power. Long pass after long pass I dove. (For whatever reason Devin was just throwing the discs too far). I was as graceful as a swan, going all out, sacrificing my body. It was amazing.

Unfortunately...by 9:30 the sushi powers had faded. I was back to my okay self. I finished the last 30 minutes of practice tired, sore, and thoroughly proud of myself.

So next time you have a big game coming up, an intense exam, or going home for the weekend:



eat sushi.

Alone? Or Lonliness?

I have recently been savoring a book given to me by one of my best friends Liz called The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord.

“Could it be possible that being alone does not have to mean that you are lonely?”

I’ve read this book before. I’ve read countless lines like this before. But in the season of life I am in now, the timing of this sentence could never have been more perfect. “Could it be possible that being alone does not have to mean that you are lonely?” I know it is not just possible, I know it can be true.

Everything about this next leg of this race is new for me. After 19 years, I no longer live with my family, no longer live in Oak Harbor, no longer have a solid church family right at my doorsteps, and I am no longer in an easy, comfortable place. And though I have felt a much deeper loneliness before, I still feel alone at times. Transition has been more of a challenge than I had anticipated. I am very blessed and I have family and friends who support me no matter what, but yet, sometimes I still feel isolated. Perhaps it is because I do not see them on a daily or even weekly basis. Regardless, I have been struggling with feeling alone. It is not the “I don’t have enough social time” or “I need to hang out” lonliness, but something deeper. I have been realizing that over the past year or so I had been fighting my “loneliness” with being social. I was spending as much time as I could with people so I wouldn’t feel lonesome. But that wasn’t it. It was not until I was forced into many quiet alone times (ironically) that I have discovered what the issue was. I was searching for community, friendship, relationship in people before I was searching for it in God. I took times of aloneness as a sort of solitary confinement; something that I could not enjoy. But now I realize that alone time is a time for growth. To be drawn closer to God.

Hosea 2:14 “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there,” (NLT)

Hosea 2:14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.” (NKJV)

Jesus is leading me to the desert, to the wilderness. It is here that He will draw me in, comfort me, and push me beyond what I perceive is possible. I’m being lead to aloneness, and I’m excited.

I am alone frequently. But I am no longer lonely.

"My love is over, it's underneath. It's inside, it's in between."

Have you ever questioned God, asked Him where He or His Love is? "Why did this have to happen?", "Why am I still hurting?", "Why am I suffering?", "Where are You when I need You most?".

I am most positive that at some point you have. I have. We all have. I doubt Him much more than I should. God's plan swings a certain way, it hurts, and I don't get it. Things happen that I don't want. Faith becomes a little bit harder; loving others becomes a battle. And yet through all my suffering and pain: through my confusion and uncertainty, I know God will remain faithful.

This morning's devos:

James 5:11 (NKJV)
Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord-that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

If you've heard the story of Job, you'll know that he was a Godly man. (Check out the book of Job!) In fact, he was such a follower of the Lord that the devil asks that he hurt Job to prove the only reason he was faithful was because of his wealth, family, and blessings. The devil takes away everything: his riches, his children, even his health. But in the end, God blesses him with twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10).

A lot of times we see this as God planning out pain for Job. That "God hurt Job because He knew Job would stay faithful.". But that wasn't God's plan at all!! "Indeed we count the blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord,"!!! The ending was God's plan to begin with. But God, in His infinite wisdom (which I do not understand at all. And it's a good thing I don't have to.) allowed pain to happen. BUT it wasn't His intended plan.

I have to remind myself that God does have an intended plan for me. And although He allows painful things to happen, He never planned for them. I will continue to trust my Jesus and know that His Love is here.
Check out this song by Tenth Avenue North! So good!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw_8o85lFxA

Times by Tenth Avenue North (My favorite lyrics of the song below)

"Well, My love is over, it's underneath.
It's inside, it's in between.
These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.
The times you're hurting. The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I'm there through your heartache. I'm there in the storm.
My love I will keep you, by My pow'r alone.
I don't care where you fall, where you have been.
I'll never forsake you, My love never ends. It never ends."

Calisthenics

So....

Being here at Western, I have not had so much physical exhertion since my soccer career ended! Let me share with you my typical week.

• Everyday I walk 1 mile loop to and from school 2 to 3 to 4 times a day. (For all you non-math whiz's like me, that's 2 to 4 miles a day.) Uphill.
• Twice a week I run that mile loop.
• Three times a week I have ultimate practice for 2 hours. (Lots of sprinting and throwing and sprinting and catching. And did I mention sprinting?)
• Twice a week I have weight-lifting. (Which unfortunately is kicking my butt since my shoulder injury is acting up and I can't do pushups.)
• Three times a week I climb the stairs of a 5 story building to the top level. (Yeah calves of steel.)
• And every so often I go walk around Bellingham just for fun.

The conslusion is: I'm going to get be in great shape! Yeah!
...and I'm stinking sore all the time.

Procrastination at its Finest.

No, not really.

But school is boring. I find myself having to write a rhetorical reading analysis on two articles addressing the issues of packaging of food and what is has done to our society…and I don’t want to. Although I find the reading very interesting and the assignment relatively easy, I seem to have been stricken with a nasty disorder: laziness.

So here I am, sitting at my desk, in my nice folding chair, listening to my playlist (that includes Paramore, Emery, The Classic Crime, and others that make up the back bone of my music), and writing about basically nothing. At least it’s better than being on Facebook (which is going under “routine maintenance”) refreshing my home page over and over, waiting for a status to comment on. As I was sitting here, contemplating on what to write on, a thought came up on how God uses our failures and mistakes. How God chooses to redeem us! And not just once, after we’ve said the “Jesus, come into my heart” prayer, but on a daily basis. And He doesn’t just redeem our mistakes, but others as well. When people hurt and fail us. When they abandon us. When they break our confidence (intentional or not). Our Father redeems that too! Though He does not plan pain for us (Jeremiah 29:11-13), He will use everything for the good (Ephesians 1:11). He’s taken my insecurities, wounds, disappointments and used them to reach out to others. Because of the experiences I’ve had, I am more able to relate and empathize with others. In essence, He takes our piles of ashes and turns them into crowns.

He does this for His own Glory. That we, broken vessels, can be used for good. Even though we’re not perfect, cracked in fact, He’s given himself to us!

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. NLT (emphasis added)





So in procrastinating my homework, I have stumbled upon a truth that comes up over and over in my life. And instead of indulging on these concepts by myself, I decided to share them with you.


Now….back to homework…

Enigmatic Introspection?

Blogging....I've been sucked into this cyberspace of communication.

I'm not sure how to approach this expedition of sharing my thoughts. My first conclusion was to be funny! Everyone loves reading comedic writings. I sure don't want my blogs to be boring...how horrid would that be? But I realize that my strengths do not lie in humor....or humor that everyone else gets (I personally think my jokes are hilarious...but no one else agrees). My second notion was to be philosophical! People like questioning and listening to theories on the purpose of man's existence, religion, theology, etc. But…alas…I’m too lazy. I barely understand my own speculations…so how would I ever put them into words on a computer screen?!! My final thoughts to sound insanely smart and use big words like “hippopotamus” and “antidisestablishmentarianism”. But…no one would understand anything!!!

Conclusion: I fail at blogging.

But wait!!! What’s this?!!….I have successfully created a blog of my very own! My own thoughts, reasoning, deductions, findings!

I guess it’s not as hard as I initially assumed. Weird.