To Be...Hopeful
He is so hoping he can get to one of those ornaments.
Such joy and sense of accomplishment!
A brand new crawler with high hopes of going where he wants!
The playpen is on the way.
December 24
Hope "a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen."
We have cut way back on the gift giving aspect on Christmas. We no longer gather as a family, so the joy that comes in watching someone open what you have given doesn't exist. The pressure of fulfilling all those expectations of what someone is hoping to receive is gone and we long to just spend time with those so precious to us.
This year our church led us into a process of giving to our community. It has been so much fun to give in a wide variety of ways to people who are not hoping or expecting anything, but truly surprised by the generosity.
Six different giving opportunities took me to some places I've never been. As we entered one trailer park, a man came out to me and said, "I can tell y'all aren't from around these parts." My heart was convicted as I thought, "Yes, I am from here. I've driven down this street to take my children to play with friends further down the road. I've just never turned into "these parts."
When David was on the run from Saul, he went to some different parts of he country hoping to remain alive! He went from playing a harp in a palace to hiding with misfits in caves. Truthfully, I'm a misfit full of hope of becoming all God created me to be."
Listen to David:
"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you." Psalm 39:7
"But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more." Psalm 71:14
"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope." Psalm 130:5
What is our hope centered on? Self or being made acceptable to God?
Paul said:
"By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God. Christ has also introduced us to God's undeserved kindness on which we take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. But that's not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love." Romans 5:1-5
What is our hope centered on? Self or being made acceptable to God?
Paul said:
"By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God. Christ has also introduced us to God's undeserved kindness on which we take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. But that's not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love." Romans 5:1-5
It is a gift from God to put our hope in Jesus and what He has done for us. The best gift has been given!
Please continue to pray for Rachel and add our daughter in law, Jenna, to your prayer list. She has been hospitalized with an infection and as of last night was not responding to the antibiotics. God hears the prayers of his children.
I pray for these cherished women as David prayed in Psalm 143:1,11
"Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief...For your name's sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble."
Another opportunity to steal away with Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLhaZIBSpo
