On hope, trust and oceans…

If you think about it, we’re all hoping and waiting for something. We can either spend that time in anguish or we can learn something from it.

Waiting is risky business but those with the greatest faith, took the greatest risks. Noah, a hero, commended for his faith, didn’t sit by idly with a finished ark. He waited for rain never before seen.

Like it or not, I’ve learned that waiting in hope is a mandatory process of faith. This week, I find myself waiting for something big. You might say I’m in the throws of embracing the “now” and the “not yets” all at the same time. My faith is being stretched and I’m living out the fact that trusting is the key that unlocks joy. Trusting—it’s a radical step, isn’t it? It means I’m choosing to live by the conviction that something will happen, far beyond anything I can imagine. That, in fact, something is happening, right now, while I wait.

God is forging my character. That means what I become will be just as important as the thing I wait for. So to wait in hope is not just to pass the time until the wait is over. It’s all part of the process God uses to make us into the people He created us to be.

It’s definitely not easy. To wait on the Lord is to risk everything. I risk all my control, my power, my security, my heart, all of it.

And as each day passes, I’m gently reminded… Perhaps we aren’t waiting for the Lord after all? Perhaps its Him, who waits for us.

At some point, we must decide to get out of the boat and step on to the water…   

 

 

… I will call upon Your name

Keep my eyes above the waves

My soul will rest in Your embrace

I am Yours and You are mine.

The Audacity of Hope

I used to think hope was weak. I thought it represented something more like a wish or a fancy. In other words, I thought of hope as the flimsy and unconvincing cousin to faith.

Fast forward now as I’ve spent some years in the classroom of life. Turns out, it actually takes bravery and sometimes, even audacity to hope.

I’ve learned hope cannot exist without faith. Hope is holding on to something intangible, even when we cannot see the way. Hope shines a glimmer of light in the darkness.

Hope is not simply a wish after all. It is a belief.

It is the quiet expectation of God showing up and making everything beautiful.

Hope is that glorious place in-between where things are and where they’re yet to be…

During this adoption process, we’ve had some well-meaning people share their very real and tragic stories with us regarding adoption. We have no doubt, these stories were shared with us in love.

“Perhaps adopting from the foster care system is a little more risky?”

“Perhaps opening up your seemingly picture- perfect lives and harmonious home to the possible upheaval and baggage of a troubled child/ren, isn’t the wisest decision?”

“Maybe you should consider your retirement instead of adding to your family?”

The truth is, we have thought about these genuine concerns. We have pondered the what-if’s and the maybe’s. We’ve tried to imagine what our future might look like with more children and all the changes going forward.

However, in spite of these sincere questions, there is an element of hope I failed to mention. The element of holy surrender. When we finally surrender our will for the will of God’s, He seems to turn all those doubts and anxieties into hope. And as we walk closely with the Lord and learn to rely on Him for everything, that hope begins to manifest itself into trust, peace and contentment.

I’m not saying we never worry about anything around here. I’m just saying that hope, surrender, and faith are choices we make every single day.

In other words, if I were a betting woman, my money would be on God. He’s in the business of taking high but worthy risks. He’s known by names such as Redeemer and Restorer. He can make ALL things new and He has a way of giving us exactly what we need, even when we had no clue we even needed it! Then, to top it all off, He can bless us beyond our wildest dreams.

How do I know this?

Because this has been the story of my life!!

I serve a faithful and loving God who knows me and all my faults yet He still chooses to use me for His plan and His glory. 

… So who am I, not to hope?

I hope and I wait- expectant and confident in Him, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory… in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. –Ephesians 3:20-21 

We are filled with great HOPE for the New Year!

Welcome, 2014.