Hope in the Home Stretch

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  Romans 5: 1-5

36 weeks ago I began an incredible journey.  A journey I felt ill equipped to take.  A journey that would lead me through pain, suffering, periods of extreme loneliness, frustration, hurt, and sorrow.  Equal to the bad came blessings of joy, peace, friendship, prayer, strength, wisdom, perspective, respect, and hope.

Tonight, I will take my final chemo injection.  On Sunday, the 24th at 11:00 pm, a mere 6 days away, I will take my last set of medications.  Praise the Lord.

I have been asked several times over the past few days, "Aren't you so excited?"  Funny how life works.  I am not sure how I feel.  I will try to articulate it.  The short answer is of course I am thrilled to be in the home stretch.  But the emotions of ending a 9 month journey are not easily set into neat lines.  

I am still incredibly tired.  The extreme anemia that has accompanied my treatments, leaves me breathless and exhausted most of the time.  I have a severe sun sensitivity and the heat makes me physically ill.  My tongue and taste buds are swollen and burned making it hard for me to enjoy food and sometimes hard to eat at all.  There is no timeline on the reversal of these affects.  It could be as soon as 12 weeks, it could be years.  While I am concerned about the length of time in which it will take for me to actually feel better, I remain filled with hope.  

My marriage:  There are no words to accurately praise the husband who has taken such good care of me these last nine months.  John has brought me every meal, helped me in and out of bed, taken care of our children, prayed for me, walked beside me and after a couple of rough months in the beginning, devoted his love, time and energy to me and our family, while working a full time job.  In a very backwards way, my illness has been a blessing to our marriage.  John has stepped up in an incredible way, growing as a man, a father, a husband and a son of God.  I want all of those things to continue once my treatment is over and my life starts to return to some sort of normal.  I want that incredible man to continue to be changed and continue to grow, so I remain filled with hope that it will be so.

I am filled with happy tears and emotion as I have been somewhat of a rock these past 9 months.  I have only cried 5 times due to my illness (not counting tears in church, because those don't count!)  Twice the past two weeks, when in the sheer craziness of life, I just couldn't handle it anymore.  But now the tears are tears of, "I did it".  I am almost through.  I did it will little complaint, I did it with a great support system.  I did it with lots of love.  I did it with so many prayers that God surely thought, I had rallied an army of prayer warriors.  I did it with encouraging texts, notes, cards, and food.  Yes, more food than a family can eat, made by so many loving hands.  I did it with friends who picked up my kids, loved them and made them secure.  Yes, I did it with the faithful assurance of a Father who has provided in ways seen and unseen and I did it filled with Hope.  Hope that I would not be disappointed and Hope that Joy would come every morning.

I am filled with gratitude and a heart that can not even begin to thank every single person who has walked with me. There will never be anything I can do or say that will even convey how much I appreciate you, love you and have been encouraged by you.

Am I excited?  Yes, I am.  I will be more excited when I swallow those last disgusting pills on Sunday.  

Hope, it is a funny 4 letter word with a huge impact.  I remain in that hope as I face an uncertain recovery and a few years of testing that will determine if the liver disease is gone forever.  I remain hopeful that those tests will all return negative time and time again.  I remain hopeful that my recovery will be short and my health will rebound quickly.  I remain hopeful that my family will get the mom/wife back that they long to have, sooner rather than later. I remain hopeful that I will be able to put pen to paper and write out my full testimony one day of God's amazing provision in my life.  I remain hopeful that the perspective and lesson's learned during these 9 months will be reflective in my every day life for years to come.  I remain hopeful that as I have changed and others have changed that we can use our newfound joy to impact others.  

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

6 more days and I will be basking in the Glory of a healed body and savoring the Hope of a future that is wide open.  Praise the Lord.

Thank you all for walking with me, God put me in Charlotte when I didn't want to be here.  He surrounded me with love, friendship and an awesome church family.  He built a huge protective barrier around me so that I would be well covered during this storm of life.  

Today, he has bestowed on me a crown of beauty, instead of ashes.  He has given me the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  (Isaiah 61:3)  and always a Hope that will not disappoint.

I will update as the final tests are administered and the end is really the end.  You all remain in my prayers, and I ask to remain in yours as well. 

I can do all things....

I want to share my testimony not to convict, condemn or even persuade, but so that if any bit of this might help even one, I pray to the Lord, that it will.

You see, I might know a tiny bit about suffering, joy, peace, and consuming love.

In my "Life" testimony, which I will not share today, I have faced more kinds of suffering than the average human being.  I know that may seem hard to believe but I assure you the things that I have endured in this human body should be enough to cause bitterness, anger, resentment, frustration, and I am not even talking about my current situation faced with illness.

I will start as Paul would start, full of Thanksgiving for each of you (1:3) .  You have remained in my heart and prayers even though I have not been able to be with you.  I am so thankful for the provisions you have provided for me and my family and do not take for granted the time and effort you have spent in sending your love and care.

I sit here and reflect on my life events and my current situation: bed bound, hungry for friendship, lonely for companionship, in a body that is weak and broken and think of how I "should" feel.  According to the world's standards, I should feel disappointment, frustration, anger, pain, and loss.  But assuredly I share with you that I rejoice that I do not live by "this" world's standards but the standards of the one true King and I am content to lay in bed, understanding that even in this, there is an opportunity to learn and share the gospel.

While Paul was in physical chains, I am in chains to my body.  While Paul was suffering because of his belief in Christ, I am suffering because of an illness, but believe that through the suffering, I too can be used.

Paul asks the early church in Philippi to unite, looking after not only your own needs but the needs of others.  You might ask, how am I possibly serving the needs of others, while constantly thinking of my own needs and illness?  

Several months ago, a plea went out through our church.  It was a plea I had heard time and time again, "We need Sunday School teachers".  While selfishly serving my own wants and needs at the time and my complete and utter lack of desire to serve in Sunday School, I turned away.  I made excuses, other's would surely "FEEL" called to step up and out and serve in this area.  After all, I knew I wasn't feeling called.  Not only was I not "feeling" called, I simply didn't want to do it either.  And of course there is always the great excuse, " I already serve in so many other areas, let the children's ministry find those who aren't serving already... I would sure hate to rob someone who IS feeling called of the blessing of working with the children"  No, I wasn't going to do it.

I don't know what happened, or why, perhaps it was Paul's amazing example, but mid summer when the cry and call went out again to our entire congregation, I said yes.  It was small and quiet and honestly, was a bit resentful, but it was still a yes.  Not a joyful, shout out kind of yes, but still a yes. I figured, I could "get through" a year.  What I failed to see at the time was that while "I" was not being specifically called, our church; Weddington United Methodist was calling all of us to unite and help, putting the needs of our children above our own needs.  I tell you, humbling myself so that resentment did not boil over, was hard.  Why couldn't others step up?  Why did I have to do it?  At the time I didn't know that I was going to be going through my treatments.  A few weeks after making this commitment to our Church and our children, I found out I would be undergoing 42-48 weeks of intense liver treatment.  It would have been so easy to walk away.  I wanted to be obedient to our Lord, but the excuses crept in.  I was scared.  I was scared of the unknown.  I was scared of not being able to be who I wanted to be, or do what I want to do.  Thankfully Paul reminds us that we are, "to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose"  (2:13)

Yes, I was scared but in continuing to work out my salvation, God was working within me to prepare me and equip me to lead these children even with the unknowns of my treatment looming before me.  I decided to stop complaining and arguing with myself and to "hold out the word of life" (2:16) to reach the hearts of the children God was placing in my future.  You see, it was easy to look out for my own interests (was I going to be too sick, was I going to like the kids, was I going to even enjoy being with children in general) but doing the work of Christ was what the church was asking of me. (2:21)

As Paul reminds us to not put any confidence in the flesh of this life, and all confidence in Christ Jesus, he reminds us of the intensity of his old way's.  He also reminds us that though his life has been completely altered by being a follower of Christ, he remains imperfect (3:12)

As did Paul, so do I.  Doing my best to forget the past and straining toward what is ahead.  Notice, he doesn't say, "easily and joyfully and without burden running toward what is ahead".  He say's straining, straining toward what is ahead.  Reaching with all of his might to press on toward the goal to win the prize!!!  Yes, that sounds right.  (3:13-14)  Straining, reaching, pressing forward.  On towards the goal and the prize, eternal salvation!!

Paul also calls us to live up to what we have already attained, what do we know to be true?  Unite, serve, love, forgive, bless, be blessed, surrender, press replay and try again.... we all have this option.

My favorite passage from Philippians is 4:4-9 and is my life verse and is a beautiful part of my testimony.  "4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

"We are to Rejoice in all things!  When we are anxious we are to pray and present our requests to God....I am living proof that the Lord does indeed provide a peace that transcends all understanding.  Ok, I may still be working on my fear of flying, but he has provided peace in more situations that I can list in this summary.  Prayer, it works!  Petitioning God for our needs, it works!!

In this relationship, we are to put into practice what is noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy.  I think this is what I was missing when my still small voice said, Yes.  I wasn't looking at our children's ministry as right, pure, lovely, excellent or praiseworthy.  Yet what could be more pure and lovely than that of our children?  Those we are tasked to raise up and lead from this generation to the next?

I am thankful for the many gifts you have provided to me and my family during this time of need.  I am still learning to be "content, whatever the circumstance" (4:11)  I do however, count on the promise that, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" (4:13)

I would like to sit here and tell you how easy suffering through this illness has been.  I would love to tell you that teaching between 25-38 children every week has been a piece of cake.  Let me tell you what I have learned.

Not by my strength but through the Unity of being part of the Body of our Church, I have learned...

1) Every child deserves to have an opportunity to learn about our great Lord.  Growing deep roots now, while they are eager to learn will help them either remain in the faith (as my father taught me) or to return to the faith as so many often do after college.
2) Children want to love you and want to be loved.  It is pretty simple like that.  While I would never consider myself to have a high tolerance for silliness, the wiggles, roaming hands, etc...  I have learned that God grants great patience to those doing his work.  It is rare that I am frustrated with the children in my class.
3) God has given me strength.  It would have been easy to walk away during my treatments, however, God gives me the will, want, and physical strength to stand before those children and teach every week.
4) In the struggles of my illness, I have been forced to be still and quiet.  Can you imagine?  Me?  Still?  Quiet?  It is true my friends.  It sure makes it a lot easier to find peace, patience, understanding, and yes, even a love for children that are not your own, when you can more clearly hear Him.
5) You don't have to feel personally "called" to answer a United "call" from our church.  God has blessed me in so many ways through these children.  I will tell you this, it is easier to preach and teach the word to open and willing children than to try to share the gospel with closed minded adults!

Believe it or not, this is not a plea to jump into children's ministry, this is my testimony and mine alone.  You, however, may have other things that have been heavy on your heart.  I promise you that when you sit in the will of God, you will be blessed beyond measure even if you do so while suffering.


Press on my sweet friends and do so joyfully.  Even if you have to dig deep to find that Jesus joy, it is there, I promise you.  I have always had a healthy dose of Joy, but I am starting more to appreciate a joy that can only come from obedience to our Lord.  While my joy has been altered these last 33 weeks, it has not been stolen.

Finally, a mother of one of the children in my Sunday School class said this to me: " I love that you don't consider it as 38 children to teach, but 38 hearts to reach"  Wow!  There was nothing more powerful than that statement.   I am reaching hearts for Christ, while my body is suffering.  I pray that it will continue to be a fruitful ministry.

When Fear Sets In

So...I will admit that although I would love to say that I live in absence of any fear, I have two gigantic fears that overwhelm me. One fear more realistic than the other. One a fear that every parent has, the fear of something bad happening to their children. The other is not only a fear but a flat out phobia. I have a fear of flying. As in, flying on airplanes. It is actually not so much the fear of flying that really bothers me, rather the fear of falling: translation- crashing.

So what happens when your two worst fears collide at the same time? Physically, well...we won't go there, but it isn't pretty. Emotionally and mentally, it is exhausting - draining - overwhelming. Because a phobia is an irrational fear, there is little anyone can say, or anything that can be done to combat it. It quietly slips in and takes over every rational thought.

Fear Number One: In a little over a week, my husband and I will be leaving our children for the first time in our married life. They are going to be in excellent hands with my sister in law. They could not be going to a more loving, caring, amazing environment. However, I will not be with them. Not only will I not be with them, I won't even be able to reach them quickly should something happen.

Fear Number Two: Leaving our children, also means boarding an airplane for a trip over the ocean. My heart is racing just thinking about it and my stomache is well doing things that aren't pleasant.

Satan has decided to use my weakness and turn it into a playground. Preying on my fears there have been multiple signs that I should not go on this trip. A trip, that is much needed by my husband and myself. The signs have been hurtful, cruel, playing on my weakness as a mother especially. A few of these signs have put a fear into me that is much much worse than any phobia.

As I was sharing with my LIFE group from church some of these "signs", a very wise girlfriend pointed out to me, that these were the wrong kind of signs. She reminded me that God does not give us a spirit of fear. (2 Timothy 1:7) and that God would never do something to hurt me, scare me, and make me generally crazy.

So, I have been doing everything I can do. I have prayed. I have asked friends and family to pray for me. I have asked for a blessing. I have gone to the alter and laid it down. I have put it in my special box where I put things that I am struggling with as I hand them over to the Lord. I have done just about everything except one: Get into the Word.

Now, I know better than this. I know I need to be in the Word regularly to keep me strong. I know that I need to be relying on God's promises. I have been looking here, there and everywhere for some sign that I should or should not go on this trip and yet I have ignored where the most valuable information is kept, my Bible.

Today, one of my dearest friends sent me a prayer via email. Her prayer for me was directly out of scripture. Romans 15:13 " May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in him"

Then, out of the blue, I decided to click on my blog. I have not done this for months with no real inspiration to write. There on my very own blog as my theme verse I have written: Psalm 34: 17-22 "The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles but the Lord delivers him from them all, He protects all his bones not one of them will be broken...."

Finally, I was singing the words to one of my favorite songs right now called No Matter What. As I was singing the words, "no matter what, I'm gonna love you, no matter what I'm gonna need you, I know that you can find a way to keep me from this pain but if not, I will trust in you, no matter what."

Signs....I have been looking for them everywhere. The signs I had been getting were delivered straight from the Enemy. But today, God answered back and slammed Satan down. The signs I have been gifted by a mighty God today are signs of love, hope, trust, re-assurance, and promise. Yes, these are the signs that push down fear and deliver us from the unknown into the hands of the all knowing, all powerful Jehovah.

I wish as I wrote this I could say that all fear as been banished from my heart. I can say that I feel 90% better than I did before today. So I still proclaim my weakness and ask for your prayers.

But I am also proclaiming today that I will trust in the Lord, my God to give me protection, safe travel, protection for my children and to work inside of my marriage...No matter what....

A Remembered Message -

This message was one I delivered at a Women's Retreat Last Fall. It is nice when God gently reminds us through our friends of the messages he has led us to deliver. I had not thought about this message in a while and it came at a very appropriate time in my life. Renee captured the message and wrote a beautiful tribute. To read other messages from Renee visit her blog at "By His Grace, For His Glory" @ www.rmyers.wordpress.com. Thank you Renee.

The Broken Shells - Renee Myers
June 25, 2009

A broken shell sits atop my roll-top desk among other sentimental treasures. Two other broken shells sit on my bathroom counter among a few seemingly ‘perfect’ shells. The shell on my desk is from our recent Spring Break trip. The two on the bathroom counter are wonderful reminders of our women’s retreat, held at the beach last fall. It was there that I learned to treasure the special beauty of broken shells.

I’ve always collected shells. At age 47 I STILL can’t resist picking up shells as I walk along the beach, and I LOVE to walk along the beach! I used to only search for unbroken, whole shells. However, now I see special beauty in the broken shells, too. I learned to appreciate the beauty in broken shells after hearing one of my friends excitedly share the story of how God had spoken to her during her early morning walk on the beach at our women’s retreat. I don’t recall exactly what she said, but the lesson God wanted to teach her was something like this:
We, like shells, get tumbled around on our journey. Sometimes we take hard knocks and get battered around by life, and these rough times can cause wear and tear, cracks, and even break us in places. Other times we allow ourselves to remain dormant in troubling situations and ‘barnacles’ of anger, resentment, jealousy, pride, doubt and other negative influences begin to attach themselves to us. Eventually we’re like the broken shells that wash up upon the beach, but that’s ok! As the friend who shared her story says, it makes us ”beautifully broken”. God sees beauty and opportunity in our brokeness. It’s in those times and places within us that He can do His best work!

We are ALL broken shells! None of us have arrived where we are today completely unscathed or untouched by life situations. Each of us has experienced pain, fear, disappointment, loss, illness, injury, and the list goes on. It’s been through those times that we’ve had the opportunities to grow, mature, and become even more beautiful! Since becoming a woman of faith, it’s been in those times that God has shown Himself most beautifully to me. In fact, if you look closely at what appear to be perfect shells, you’ll see many scratches, marks, and imperfections. Pssst…people are like that, too! They might look all perfect and whole at a quick glance, but if you look closely you’ll see signs of imperfections – in EVERYONE!

Many people pass by the broken shells on the beach or even toss them back into the ocean. They might do the same with us, but not God. He sees the beauty in us no matter what! It’s when we wash up on the shores of life looking broken, damaged, and having signs of wear and tear that He most wants to be with us! He wants to be the first to pick us up so He can add us to His collection of the “beautifully broken”, for it’s in those times that He truly can create beauty from the broken times of our lives.

It’s quite appropriate that God shared this lesson with my friend because she calls herself “beautifully broken” in the title of her blog site, Beautifully Broken Amanda. How about you? Are you ready to call yourself Beautifully Broken? If not, please let God turn your brokeness into beauty as only He can. And, you know what? It’s because of the broken places on the outside of the shells that I can see the special hidden beauty on the inside of the shells. Haven’t we always been told it’s what’s on the inside that counts? God bless you and your brokeness, too!

Dear God, Thank You for making beauty out of the broken places of my heart and the broken times of my life. Help me to always see the beauty in the brokeness of others, too. And Lord, please help others in their brokeness, too. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

That Girl

Psalm 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Years ago I lived in a Townhouse community. The rows of two story units adjoined together in groupings of 4. In townhouse number one lived a single lady with her young son. Day in and day out she would whip her car into her parking space and blaring from her windows, which always seemed to be down, was Christian music. Sometimes the music moved her so much that as she drove with one hand she was praising with the other uplifted. Often times you could hear her singing along with the music. Other days, the car was filled with the sound of a sermon she was listening to, no doubt at the time on cassette tape. If she was not in her car, it wouldn't take long before you could hear her music or sermon coming from inside her unit.

I have to admit, that although I was a Christian, I felt weird being around THAT Girl. I thought she was crazy. I thought she was too obsessed with her music and tapes. I thought something was wrong with THAT Girl. I couldn't place my finger on it, but I was pretty sure that no one in our little group of four really cared much for THAT Girl and as a matter of fact, none of us ever talked with her or invited her in, because well....she was very very strange.

I mean with all that praising going on, we were just certain THAT Girl was no fun at all. That Girl probably spent every waking moment on her knees. I will even admit to thinking, that is no way for a child to see his mother behave. My word, THAT Girl is going to turn off her son from religion forever.

No one really wanted to know THAT Girl.

Fast Forward fifteen years. I think of THAT Girl every once in a while and I smile. I think of her long brown hair flowing with the wind as she drove. I think of the constant joy and warm smile she was always willing to give. I think of her young son who always seemed to be dancing and happy. I think of the music that I would hear or a clip of one of her sermon's on tape. I think of how I never heard her gossip (as we had done about her). I thought of how, when her windows were open, her home always smelled inviting.

The reason that I often think of THAT girl, is now, fifteen years later, THAT girl is ME. I laugh as I drive singing at the top of my lungs to the praise music that fills my car. I get tears in my eyes as my two young daughters sing along with me. I will often purchase a sermon from our church that particularly touched me and listen to it again. In warmer days, I open up the windows to my home and the girls and I sing and dance to our Christian radio station. In church I am the crazy girl with her hands thrown up in the air when a song moves me to do so, or a loud Amen when the pastor or speaker really touches my heart. I am the one who would love to invite you in, if only you would let me.

I am sorry for the way that I treated that girl. I never even knew her name. I pray that she would know that she is thought about and loved by the person who would not give her the time of day fifteen years ago. My eyes are full of that wet stuff, as I think of the opportunity I threw away to get to know someone who was probably pretty amazing and how ashamed I am that my judgement of her was so harsh. I pray that one day I will get to see her again, and throw my arms around her and together we can sing praise to our Lord.

Maybe you have a THAT girl or guy in your life. Give them a chance. Let them share their love and joy with you. Because you never know when THAT girl will be YOU.

Whose FACE are you seeking: The Facebook Experiment

"Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore." Psalm 105:4, NKJV

So, I caved. A few months ago all of my friends were raging about Facebook. You know, the computer site where you sign up with all your vital statistics, and put a big old picture of your face on the front. It is really cool, you can search for old friends, keep connected with current friends and stay in touch with family. You can post pictures, take fun quizzes, etc... You can even have a dog that you pet and play with and feed. I finally decided to give it a try when my niece said, "Aunt Amanda YOU DON'T HAVE A FACEBOOK?" You would think I had committed some sort of cardinal sin. I all of a sudden felt every bit my age. "A facebook? Ugh, not you too!" So...feeling like the uncool Aunt that I had all of a sudden become, I took the plunge and plugged into this cyber world we know as Facebook.

I realized quickly that it was going to take every bit of my willpower to stay off the computer. I had people immediately request to be my friend! Woohooo, people want to be my friend! I had old high school and college classmates to catch up with, friends from other States to look up. Oh, and let's not forget my newly formed family tree so that my whole family could be involved with one another.

Pretty soon people were sending me plants, bling, scrapbook supplies. By sending and receiving plants I could actually help the environment. By sending people virtual scrapbook gifts, it made them smile. I could add all sorts of applications to my facebook and chat with tons of people who had fallen by the wayside over the years.

In the beginning, I was spending A LOT of time on the computer and a whole lotta time on Facebook. One day while I was happily letting my free time sift like grains of sand through the hourglass I heard a still small voice, "Whose face are you seeking today?" Of course I just chalked it up to my new obsession. Then I heard it again a bit louder this time, "Daughter, Whose Face are you Seeking Today".

Oh Boy....I knew what was coming. I had spent so much time searching for Faces, that I was forgetting the most important face of all. God. I had not cracked a bible in day's or dropped my head in earnest prayer. I had not spent my "free" time wisely. I was so wrapped up in seeking the face of others, that I forgot to seek the Face of my BEST friend, the one who never fell by the wayside over the years, the one who carried me through every tough time, the one who loves me so much he sacrificed His only Son for me. I forgot to seek the face of God.

I was ashamed. How could I let something so "innocent" suck me in so fast. In reality, my "obsession" lasted only about a week. Then I turned it way down. As I focused on the Face of my Lord, I was able to visit Facebook at a more moderate "check in" level and I would go weeks without checking it at all. I realized that although I love finding and catching up with old friends, it doesn't mean a whole lot if I am not checking in and catching up with my Best Friend.

I would challenge you to ask yourself honestly, Whose Face are you Seeking Today?

Will you find me on Facebook? Yes, I still love some of the wonderful friends I have reconnected with. The difference is that before I seek a new Facebook friend, you will see me seeking the Face of God first.

Overflowing with Hope: My Out of Africa Experience

“The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him." 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 (Rom. 15:12-13).

It has taken me a week to sit down and compose this blog. During this season, this Holy season as we celebrate the birth of Christ, we will get many emails, Christmas cards, and blog entries that are meant to inspire us, fill us with joy, love and peace. We will go to church more, sing Christmas carols and open packages filled with fun things. We will say Merry Christmas to those we know intimately and to perfect strangers. We will freely share the joy of the season with everyone. Isn't it funny how one holiday can do so many of the things God commands us to do daily?

If instead of saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone from loved ones to cashiers, we said, "Do you know my Christ in which CHRISTmas stands?" or instead of saying "Thank You" we said, "I am thankful FOR you my brother/sister in Christ", wouldn't we be one step closer to sharing our joy and love and fulfilling the Great Commission?

I recently had the amazing opportunity to see the Daraja Children's Choir of Africa, perform. These children were rescued from oppression, disease, illiteracy, famine, and so many unspeakable things. They were plucked out of these terrible circumstances by The 410 Bridge and given HOPE. The Hope of a new life, the hope of being clothed, fed and cared for. The hope of being loved beyond borders and the Hope of a new life with Christ Jesus.

As the music started they swayed back and forth, they clapped, they danced and then they began to sing. It was all I could do to keep the tears hidden. They sang of God's great love and mercy. They sang of peace and joy. They sang of victory from the grave. They shared memorized scripture verse and what each verse meant to them. But mostly, they shared the hope of a life in salvation. One little boy cried with every word he sang and you could feel his love and joy pouring out with each tear. Oh, that we should feel so much joy and freedom. Oh, that we should love without fear and share so freely. Oh, that we should give of ourselves 100% to perfect strangers without shame or embarrassment or inhibitions.

These children are overflowing with hope. They are a living example of sharing so freely the love Christ has for them and their ultimate salvation in His love.

My friends, we are called to do the same. I challenge you this busy season filled with gift lists, shopping, stress of finances, everyday frustrations, to overflow with the Hope and Love of this season. I challenge you to change your way of thinking and how you approach your every day.

I am grateful for those children. For they taught me a great lesson in humility and hope in every circumstance. I want to sing, dance, and shout out, overflowing with hope that My Jesus Loves Me and He loves You and through him we are all free to experience this most Holy Time, His time, His birth and through this our salvation is guaranteed.