THE GIFT OF HOPE

HOPE
We can struggle in ways that unglue our usual ways of doing life during the hurting times. Hope is what we cling to.
Hope can dim, too, if life is hard enough. Yet it is hope that we look for; hope for better days ahead; hope for new beginnings; and hope in hope.

HOPE IS
Hope is present in a word of comfort, a hug, a smile, a colorful card, a kind word, a pat on the arm, a gift, lunch together. These are a few ways we encourage each other.
What may seem like a small thing when given from the heart and received in kind that has the unique capacity to rekindle hope and decrease despair.

HOPE ENCOURAGES
I have been the recipient of 'gifts of hope' on many occasions when I desperately needed them. The givers had no idea how much they helped and encouraged me.
We say "thank you" by turning around and giving a 'gift of hope' to someone else who is struggling, hurting, and in need of it.

Pay it forward.

Spiritual Life--Inspiration 8

Spiritual Life Speaks Life to the Soul

 

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and Thou shalt be saved. --Acts 16:31 KJV

 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. --Romans 10:10 NIV

SPIRITUAL LIFE is a gift. God offers spiritual life to anyone who by faith believes in Christ's offer of salvation. However, this faith is sincere in its belief. Christians are Christ Followers. They have trusted in Christ, received forgiveness for their sins, and have eternal life. Spiritual life has lasting value according to John 3:16, which says "whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." That which is eternal is in them. It is amazing how this comes to pass. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the three persons of God. Each has their own function and all three are active. In the rebirth of a soul, as the soul comes spiritually alive, it goes from spiritually dead to spiritually alive. As children of God, these baby Christians have a new identity. They are now in Christ. We could say their identity is changed from lost sinners to that of kingdom saints. Life in Christ is of the heart, mind, and soul as the spirit awakens to the truth found in the salvation of their soul. True belief is of heart, mind, and soul and is not an isolated process of intellectual apprehending of belief nor is it mumbling the right words without it involving their heart. Faith that is real believes in the unseen God and knows that without a doubt He lives. God is active in calling, redeeming, setting free, and restoring. Rich are those who are recipients of such a miraculous gift. All are welcome to enter into this blessedness.

 Dear Father God, we are astounded with Your grace. You have given us supernatural life where before we had emptiness and death. Thank you for this great gift. Amen.

To God be the Glory

Divine Love -- Inspiration 6

The Immeasurable Love of God

 Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. --Isaiah 43:19

MANY are the songs written to describe Divine love: The Love of God; Oh, The Deep Deep Love of Jesus; Jesus Loves Me; Love Lifted Me; Love Divine. God’s love is greater than can be told, deeper than can be explained, richer than is comprehensible. His love went to unlimited lengths to redeem a lost people. Father God's plan of salvation came through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. Redemption for humankind required the sinless sacrifice of God’s one and only Son. Through this, Christ offered life to an utterly broken world of sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. Jesus Christ loved them then and He loves them now. Humans cannot outspend the love of God. God’s love enfolds the downcast, implores the one in despair, gives forth to those in need, and regenerates life within a believer's soul. They welcome God's love and hold it close to their hearts. Like them, anyone who believes in their heart by faith in the gospel of Christ receives this Divine love. Happiness then unfurls in energetic liveliness seen in gracious smiles, warm hugs, and loving kindnesses. Joy, joy, joy. God’s love is like joy on steroids. Supernatural enlivening causes souls to be quickened. A welcoming posture makes all the difference. Closed arms block. Open arms receive. Embrace all God offers and showers upon you. Therein you will find streams in the desert. Be blessed by the heavenly Father's immeasurable gift of love.

Father God, may we know the love Your love in abundant measure. May we trust Your peace and joy as enough for each day. You are immeasurable blessedness. Amen

To God be the Glory

MY MOTHER'S HAIRBRUSH, PAINTING, & VIOLIN

Painting by my mother, Evelyn Brumbaugh

My mother lives in a care home these days because she must. Most of our visits have few activities, and I do most of the talking. What is meaningful, though, is being together. We have our routine. After greeting Mother with a hug, I gravitate to her nightstand. A purple brush is next to a black comb in its drawer.
     I grab the set and then begin to brush my mother’s hair. Mother has soft, curly, gray hair. I style her hair until it puffs out nicely and gently frames her face, just the way she used to wear it. A dab of lipstick on and she looks lovely. She smiles at me when I am done and thanks me. This is my favorite part of the visit.

My mother is an artist at heart. No longer does a painter’s brush move across the canvas, but I remember her at work on her beautiful paintings. Every dip of the paintbrush and dab of paint added to the scene set before her, whether a rose, an ocean view, a mountain cabin in the pines, or a pond with lilies surrounding it. They were beautiful.

Mother’s other love, her violin, now rests in quiet repose in its case between the piano and living room wall. An oval framed photograph from long ago of my mother’s violin teacher as a young woman wearing a chiffon gown, hangs on the wall. I knew that some day the orchestra concerts would come to an end, and I wouldn’t be ready. And that is exactly how it played out.
The first time Mother got sick was the day of an orchestra concert. From the hospital I called her director to let him know she wouldn’t be making the concert. That was the end of violin concerts for Mother and the last of playing her violin altogether. Violin playing had been a source of pleasure for her for eighty years, which had started with my grandma taking my mother in to Los Angeles an hour by tram for the violin lessons. Mother was six years old. I miss Mom playing her violin.

On quiet visits to my mom’s room, I play CDs of my mother’s orchestra concerts—and we both enjoy them. The William Tell Overture is my favorite selection with Phantom of the Opera as a close second. Mother loves them all.

I view my mother differently in her sunset years. All the wonderful parts of Mother’s life are remembered and appreciated. I see her more clearly than I used to. She gave so much or herself to her family. Now, during my visit to see her, she and I are content to sit side-by-side and enjoy the moment.

THE GIFT OF BEAUTY

Celebrate Beauty

Beauty surrounds us. 

Beauty unfurled-—graceful lines, smooth surfaces, varied hues of color, uneven textures, soft whispers, feather light kisses, ocean waves.

Beauty within a person comes out in shining radiance, speaking words of kindness and affirmation, gracing others with its presence.

Outward beauty may be cultivated or found in intricate design of human effort, or it may be present in exquisite offerings in nature’s grand display.

True beauty emerges in a natural form without constraint or alteration; it sings, speaks, heals, lifts, mesmerizes, grips, penetrates, gives.

A person is blessed who looks for beauty in the every day, who cultivates a sense of wonder, and who finds peace and joy in its presence.

Beauty comes from God, the maker of all things beautiful. Beauty is ours because God has given us eyes to see and hearts to feel.

• Look to the sky today and thank God for it. 
• Smell the delicious scent of food baking and thank the cook for it.  
•  Hug a friend and thank them for their friendship. 
• Clean something that needs it, and thank God for the ability to do so. 
• Listen to music and be thankful for your hearing. 
• Touch a soft pillow or the fur of a pet and be thankful for the gift of touch. 
• Taste a slice of fresh fruit and be thankful for the gift of taste. 
• Read a newspaper, book, blog, or magazine and be thankful you have something to read.
• All of these are beauties we are given as gifts to enjoy.

Thank you, dear God, for the beauty that surrounds us, speaks to us, enfolds us, and endears us to it. You are an artist with the earth as your canvass. In every petal, raindrop, smile, we see some of you and your artistry. You make our world lovely. We must open our eyes to see it and rejoice in it. We are blessed by who you are and what you do.  Amen