Memories to cherish

Family times....

When dreams don't come true...

When dreams don’t come true.

I started these musings earlier this year, then stopped because I did not feel worthy to expound on the subject. I really am not more qualified than I was, but since it is a very real part of life, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on hopes and dreams.

…I know that several weeks ago I wrote an entry called “When dreams come true”. God has blessed me in so many incredible ways, causing dreams to come true in my life, dreams I thought would never become reality. Dreams that I didn’t even realize were a dream until they happened, and then I saw how much God knew my heart and just what I wanted. Scripture sure has it right when it says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 12:13

So what do we do, how do we handle the “sick heart” part? Hope has been my theme this year. At Christmas, I went to the clearance section of Menards, and purchased a small sparkly sign with the simple word “Hope” on it. I hung it on my bedroom door as a daily reminder, even taking it overseas with me! Hope is the way out of despair. Hope is the tonic for a sick heart. Hope is one of the ways God uses to lift our eyes and heavy spirit above the clouds of despair and heaviness. If we have lost hope, something is wrong. We are sick, we are not at the level of health we should be. We need healing, we need to be restored.

“The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds…Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Selections from Psalm 33

It has been my experience that Hope can only come from God. It is not something we can create in ourselves. We absolutely do not have the strength to do it. We have to depend on Him, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Consider these words:

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” Psalm 62:5

“By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.” Psalm 65:5

I myself have experienced this. I have been to “the ends of the earth” and across “the farthest seas” a few times recently, And I can testify that God is there. He can fan the faintest flame of hope that is sputtering to survive whether you are on a snowy mountain top, or in a hot desert. He loves it when we turn to Him, acknowledging that we are bereft of hope, and ask Him to plant it there in our heart anew. He loves it when we humbly ask, because we are lifting our eyes above our circumstances to meet His eyes alone, and there, and only there will we find hope once again.

“The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love..." Psalm 147:11

And then He comes. He brings that healing we need at the moment. He encourages us with the sweet gift of the Holy Spirit, and He says to us, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope!” Jeremiah 29:11

“This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lam. 3:21-26

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” Psalm 43:5

I am sorry that this was not a post about Africa like I promised. But it is a post from my heart. I will write about Africa soon, I promise. It was another amazing dream realized. I just needed to encourage you and me to look once again to the source of hope. That’s where our dreams stem from.

Life in another world...

Second Post of Africa

Vignettes of Ethiopia

Worship in the woods...

It has been a long time since I have posted, has it not? I have been so very busy. As some of you know, I am heading overseas once again, this time to Africa! I will be gone May 3rd-17th, so I would appreciate prayers if I ever come to mind. I am getting really really excited about it! I will not be able to post about it as I did in Switzerland, but perhaps if we meet face to face...

I came across something I emailed to a few close friends last spring, just about this time of year, and thought it might be fitting to post since I feel the same way this year! I hope you can get something out of my random ramblings:

5-9-07 I definitely decided as of this morning, from what I have experienced so far in life there is no better way to greet the day, than starting your morning in the woods. Nah and Pa and I went turkey hunting - this is opening morning for Nah's season. Oh, I love it! I had to share some of my highlights for you who could not be there with us. As we left the house (a little later than we preferred because Pa needed a latte :P) the sky was a gorgeous cobalt blue, clear as can be with the moon shining brightly overhead. The woods were quiet and very damp from the rain the night before. I got shivers from the sheer beauty of it all; white apple blossoms floating down from the heavily loaded tree, the air heady with the scent of it. We trampled down fresh perky little violets as we turned left near the bridge, and listened to the gobblers making their racket to the morn. Pa led us to the place he called in three gobblers last season, Nah and I took one tree, and he sat with the call a few feet away at another. Every joy has it's sorrow I suppose - the difference with spring hunting as opposed to fall is trading sitting perfectly still in bone chilling cold snow to sitting perfectly still to horsefly sized mosquitoes eating your ankles! They sipped of my infested blood right through my wool socks over and over. Darn mosquitoes! I hope they get Lyme Disease - serves 'em right!

The thing I love about turkey hunting is the way the gobblers are SO STUPID and talk back to anything! (I do feel a little sad though, killing them when they are in love.) The pheasants and turkeys were keeping up quite a conversation this morning: "gobble, gobble" "screech, screech!" You do have to be awfully still, though. Nah has a face mask, but I am brown enough I don't need one, so long as I don't smile. Below us in the mist filled field I caught sight of three deer, "enjoying the morning" as I told Hannah. She retorted that they were not enjoying the morning, they were being deer.I missed having Christian there, his eyes always water so cute, and he scowls at me if my tummy growls. (HE hardly lets you even shower the night before - "why do I smell rose?!!") :] In the distance we could hear the grouse thumping off, as Pa kept up the hen call, though not nearly as often as Nah thought necessary. When he tried the old gobbler call, it was all I could do not to succumb to gales of laughter. It sounded like an old turkey dying of cancer. Even the deer raised their heads and peered wonderingly in our direction. The woods stirred with the customary breeze as the sun breaks the horizon. It feels like God's way of waking everything up. How I love spring! The birds were practically deafening in their love songs, and only raised their voices over the wind. It's a perfect place for worship and prayer. I love praying in the woods in the morning - were it not for fear of bears, I think I would every morning!

Hannah decided to try another spot and since I have to work today, I knew I didn't have time to settle in again and get back to the house in time to prepare for the day. So I came in to write to you and run before I shower. As I headed back to the house, the beauty literally took my breath away. All I could say over and over was, "It's so beautiful, God! You did a perfect job!" The mist was in the valleys, the dew on every blade of grass, and have you ever seen sunlight filter though a apple blossom? The horses stood in the mist as the sun rays shone through. I wished I could have stayed out all day. If you ever need a morning fix, feel free to come out! God is pretty lavish with His generosity and gives us quite a few out on Hilly View Farm.