Tag: hope

Posted in Living this Life

Let us REJOICE!

Posted on by Sara

I didn’t know 14 years ago, when I started this habit, how much it would impact the rest of my life. And today I needed this reminder, cuz truth is, it’s been a rough week … I don’t need to go into details because I suspect you’ve been through it on some level yourself.

Here’s the story: when my daughter was little, I would start each day by announcing “this is the day the Lord has made! Let us REJOICE and be glad in it!!” I would take her little baby arms and wave them in the air. As she grew, it led to full body happy dances as we would rejoice in our day.

One sad day, my little 1 1/2 year old munchkin was quite sick – she spent the day laying on me and being miserable. Near the end of the day, speaking mostly to myself, I said, “well, sweetheart. It’s been a rough day. But it’s STILL the day the Lord has made…” and with all the strength her little spirit could muster, she lifted up her arms and waved them slowly in the air. I get teary remembering that moment even now, because that simple act reminds me on a daily basis that we can rejoice even when our arms are too tired to lift.

When our spirit feels depleted and we have nothing left. We rejoice with what we have, and Almighty God will pour in what we need for the next step. Thank you, Charissa, for this beautiful lesson – I needed it today, 13 years later. My friend, in this place we are all in, this is my prayer for you this week: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

Posted in Living this Life

Laying Hope

Posted on by Sara

A few years ago my dad built a birdbox with my daughter. Every year, we have Eastern Bluebirds that visit and build nests in this box, lay eggs, and sometimes have babies.

As spring approaches each year, we have fun naming the “mom and dad” and we watch the drama unfold. We’ve had every manner of incidents with these eggs, from other creatures destroying the eggs to particularly tragic events last year with Han and Leia’s babies. We often talk about that one year we had baby birds that grew until they flew away!

So this year, we have once again welcomed a pair of bluebirds, but I have watched them with different eyes this year – partly marred by last year’s “incident” and partly shadowed by the news reports from around the world. I watched them fly in and out with twigs in their mouths, laying a perfect home for their eggs. Days passed – we didn’t see “Podo and Nurgabog”, and wondered if they’d moved on. But then today – I walked out and checked again – and there it was!

The most beautiful blue egg. And my heart leapt a little more than normal. Because in these days, we need every sign of hope we can find, right? And what is more hopeful than this? The fragile, impossible blue of this egg lying in wait for new life! Im grateful that birds don’t stop laying eggs because of what happened last year – we hold these things too closely sometimes, don’t we? Today, I want to release the concern, the worry, the memories of what has gone wrong, and I want to embrace hope – though it may seem as fragile as this delicate egg, the beauty it holds and the promise of future life is more than my heart can encompass.


“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise. Isaiah 43

Posted in Living this Life

Becoming real

Posted on by Sara

I went for a walk the other day. I saw my shadow, and a million thoughts flooded my mind. I thought of my calendar pre-March. Filled with all the sports, all the appointments, all the music lessons, all the lunches with friends … filled with good stuff. And yet part of me felt thin, a bit frayed.

“Every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain…” Ps 39:6.

I haven’t looked at my calendar in a couple weeks … it feels strange to be living this day by day existence. Strangely unfettered. I’m struggling to find the word – maybe more real?

I know we’ll all return to a new “normal” someday – but I hope we don’t lose what God is showing us in these days. May we lose our shadow existence and walk with our feet grounded in truth and our hearts wrapped around Jesus, not things and doings, for our joy.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength… in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore”