Lately I have been focused on the word “hope.” The world seems to be full of desperate people in need of “hope.” Hope is confidence to take a leap of faith. Courage to believe. Vision to see the extraordinary. Bravery to allow yourself to dream, to envision a new season of life. And to see the possibilities within the impossibilities, that is where hope lives.

When the disciples walked with Jesus they dared to be different from the leading religious leaders of their day. Daring is not something we think of when walking with Jesus but it often is. We are individually created with our own unique features unlike anyone else (for a reason); Full of our own capabilities, talents, and endless possibilities at our finger tips should we reach, should we stretch, should we try! We were not created to fit in a mold but we were made to stand out and be bold! The disciples were bold enough to step out in faith and adventurous enough to go with Jesus on His ministry journey.

(Yes I have a love for fairytales, fantasy and sci-fi)-When Jack traded his cow for beans he dared to dream his life could be more. When he climbed up the beanstalk it was audacious and risky, he did it anyway. Let me define hope: hope is a confidence which is an assurance that good and light still exist when darkness seems to surround us. Hope is an anticipation that we are not stuck in sin that which keeps us apart from God. Hope is an expectation that God will show up and rescue us as He has promised to do so. Hope is the ability to maintain joy even in the most dire situations because one has faith in God’s capability and timing. Proverbs 23:18 For surely there is a future,  and your hope will not be cut off. God never cuts off hope but sustains it!

I would say to you today and everyday climb the beanstalk… see the wonders in the journey in the climb up and don’t be in a rush, enjoy your view. Let hope wash over you from where you are at in life. The hope that God not only has a plan for the present but for tomorrow as well. Arthur pulled the sword, Alice fell into the rabbit hole, and Jack climbed the beanstalk… Those are fictional characters but you are real!  And oh, the place you can go with the hope of God in your mind, written on your heart and displayed for all to see.

Venture to hope. and dare to share it.

Good Afternoon Ladies…

PS. Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment – Napoleon Bonaparte  (never give up!)

Today a chapter ended and another one opened in my life. It was the closing to an era I thought would never end.  I would like to have some majestic words of wisdom or deep insight but I do not. The truth of the matter is seasons change in the climate and seasons change in our lives, its just the way it is.

I sit here not with anxiousness but with an eager heart. I am going to move forward not with dread or fear but with anticipation of what God is going to have me do next because I know He is not done with me. As this season closed I am leaving with an expectation that God has a plan and that He will lead me to it. There is hope in expectancy!

I don’t know what you are facing in your life but I want to encourage you that hope is not far from your reach. Believe and achieve reach for the sky or as the sign in my office says Pray Big!

I think when a chapter closes in our life we have a tendency to think it’s the end, life is over  with the best behind us. Not true. The best is yet to come! God told Jeremiah (29:11) ¹¹ For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.

If we break this scripture down it means God has plans for us to thrive or succeed (prosper means to flourish). His intentions are that we have a life filled with confidence in Him, anticipation that He hears us, that He will never leave us, and that He will provide for us. We are not doomed and we do not have to stay in despair (even if the season is changing and we are running around saying the sky is falling because after all that is how we feel on the inside). We are not tethered to a season that has expired but called into the present, a fresh season full of possibilities. There is HOPE. Hope is seeing the possible in the impossible.

The BEST IS YET TO COME! Why? Because you have not reached your final destination yet… the best is yet to come so enjoy the journey, find joy in the little things, and have a thankful heart regardless of your situation. You were made in the image of God, He predestined you for GOOD things, and You are still a work in progress. The best is yet to come… forward is the future and forward faith will shoot you… C.S. Lewis wrote “there are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

Oh the wonders Alice discovered when she fell down the rabbit hole… sometimes we just have to jump in faith to discover all the curiosities and marvels God has planned for our life.

We are not meant for  just “better” we are made and destined for the BEST…(because we are created out of the BEST!)

I hope you start your week off with child-like curiosity in steadfast faith that helps you see the awe of God in the wonders of the world around you… the best is yet to come.

Good Evening Ladies…

PS. “Have faith in your journey. Everything had to happen exactly as it did to get you where you’re going next!” Mandy Hale

This past week and half has been one of tears, hugs, prayers, and deep contemplation. My heart has borne the pain of realizing that the season I am in is coming to an end, change was inevitable. Change. Change is difficult, change is hard, change is scary, change brings uncertainty. Walking into the unknown is frightening at times.

Often when change pounces upon us we long for what we have to leave behind. We pine for the past instead of marching forward into the future. I love that God does not tether us to the past but He does ask us to relinquish control to Him so He can move us forward. Faith requires trust especially when God is changing things up. God is always moving, always working, always connecting to people and so… we should be too.

When Jesus hung on the cross, His broken and bruised body, spiritual and emotional turmoil, He was still working. His season on earth was coming to an end but there was still work to be done. He left a living example that plays in my mind over and over again. There is still work to be done.

I am not injured, I am not suffering, I am not wounded, but still there is the faintest breath of pain on my heart. It is not yet an ache, but a muffled pain, it is not sharp like that of losing a lover, and I cannot exactly put it into words, it is new, and I am unsure how to describe it but it stings ever so much and with it comes tears.

Yet there is hope and I am reminded of all the possibilities of what this new season before me could be and it leads me to faith in God, trusting God’s wisdom and timing. It is slightly uncomfortable because it stretches my faith and pierces my heart but trust is like an arrow. You have to release it in order for it be airborne, anchoring into a new ground, a new work. I will pray, I will wait, I will study the Word, I will pray, I will wait… and repeat until God gives me revelation.

As I sit reflecting back on the last seven years  I come to the conclusion that there is no time to sit and grieve over the past, to sit and yearn for a season in my life that has ended. Why? Because God has work for me to do. So in the mean time I will continue to connect to people; thus, connecting people to God’s hope and love, there is still work to be done regardless of my pain… if not me to do it then who? Questions we should ask ourselves as we face the mountains we are to climb and uncertainty hovers over us like a rainstorm that threatening to drown us…

Good Morning Ladies…

PS. My hope is not dead! Psalms 39:7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.