Hope continued

Hope

noun

1. 1.

   a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

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2. 2.

   a feeling of trust.

verb

1. 1.

   want something to happen or be the case.

It's hard to believe that it's been eleven years since Emma Hope came into the world, but it is.  Eleven years of growth, perseverance, joy, and HOPE!

It was when I was in the later stages of my pregnancy that we heard a pivotal sermon.  The preacher's point: when you can't see God's hand, trust his heart.  We could not see what God was doing in our lives at that time, only that it was scary, painful, and uncertain.  But, we chose to trust his heart.  

The Bible is clear, God is GOOD.  Not good in the way that we throw the word around, but really, genuinely, intrinsically good.  His plans are far greater than our comfort or whims.  God is so good that he sent his Son to die that we might have eternal life.  That is the epitome of good.

And so we trusted him.  "Trust and obey, for there's no better way, to be happy in Jesus" as the song goes!  And it's the truth.  We have lived our lives, and raised our children with that foundational truth.

Emma Hope is a beacon of  hope in a dark world.  She finds joy in so many things, and always defers the unknown, in trust, to God's plan.

As Emma moves into the tween, and teen years, we see the wisdom and discernment of one much older.  She displays the fruit of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)  She has great compassion for others, and is so loving.

We named her Emma Hope because in her we learned to hope in that which we could not yet see, a life that would be happy, healthy, and joyful.  But above all else, a life that would honor, and pursue God. 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Just finished drawing Emma's card!! She wanted one of The avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy characters!!

Hope she likes it!

Time Travel

If you could go back in time, to before kids, before marriage, before adulthood, that would be my weekend at my grandparents house!! Seemingly unaffected by the outside world, the house is the same as the one where I spent school holidays and many a wonderful Christmas. And though older, and more frail, my grandparents are the same people who can simultaneously love, encourage and tease you!! There's no pretension, no coddling, just love and honesty!

I'm thankful that I made the decision to visit them at this time. It made me realize how fragile and short life is. With faith and wisdom, Gran said it best, that our days are numbered, all we can do is live our best life!

So whether you are 89, 29 or some other age, don't put off visiting those you love, make amends where applicable, and remember you may not get chance to do it "later"!

What started out as an urgent trip to see my ailing Grandad, soon became a family visit of epic proportions. I didn't get to see everyone, but for 6 days, a lot was packed in.

It is definitely hard to see family once a year only, so I'm thankful especially to Scott who didn't hesitate to let me go, and hold down the fort back here, all with a nasty cold!! My home is wherever he is, happily, and without regret.

I took a LOT of pictures on this trip, which I'll share in the coming days. Pictures of people, but also some of the things that evoke simple memories of days gone by!

New York, New York

Weather may have cancelled the planned trip up the Statue of Liberty, but a weekend in NYC should be fun anyway!  Hosted by Scott’s childhood buddy Jason, lovely wife Nike and baby Maggie in Brooklyn, it was the respite we needed from our fast-paced suburban life!! (Yes, ironic to go to the busiest city in the world to rest, but there you have it!!)

 

Since the Statue was a no-go, we hit another famous landmark!  Times Square.

I love taking artsy photos!!

Our friends were dog-sitting and Toby wouldn't leave the scared little guy alone!

Great times!!

Before we left, after the weather improved we returned for a longdistance look at the Statue (left) and Ellis Island (right).  It was bigger in person!!  We'll be back for another try!

The Times Square purchases eased the disappointment!!

Are you finished?

"I'm done." I said to myself as I put my head in my hands, "I don't want to do this anymore."  I looked around helplessly and decided to pray.  "Lord, help me endure."

I felt like a child, asking the ever-present, all-rescuing parent for help.  I felt peace.  And then, then I heard this, in my heart...

He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

John 19:30b

Wow!  At no point is my level of "done-ness" anywhere close to His.  And yet, He was not done, until it was finished.  He endured, He suffered, He persevered.  "For the joy set before him he endured the cross"(Hebrews 12:2).  That joy?  Our redemption.

Jesus endured unbelievable pain, rejection, scorn and shame, to fulfill what was required by the Law, to pay the penalty for sin.  It wasn't his sin he paid for.  It was mine.  It was yours.  And that future joy, of reunification between you and your Heavenly Father, that held him there. 

So, I guess I'm not really "done"!  If he endured for me, through his strength, I can endure what I need to endure.  It pales in comparison.

Mercifully, lovingly, there was no resentment at my whining, not condemnation for my weakness.  Just love, and grace.  For He has a heart that knows far greater pain than I could experience, and a love much purer than I could ever imagine.

Wedding Bells

 

Scott and I headed out Saturday to a wedding for close friends. It was so nice to dress up, Celebrate love, and dance with my man!! Weddings are my favorite!!

 

The bride, Nichole

And the proud parents!  Mr & Mrs T - we call them our 3rd family, as Scott was adopted into their family in High School and they are special people to us.

Birthday Boy!

Chica

In August our family grew, with the addition of an 8 year old, 7lb chihuahua named Chica!

Initially we fostered her, but it became immediately clear that she and Emma had a very special bond! Emma is her person, and they are adorable together. Thankfully she also likes the rest of us, and she and Duncan have fun together.

Don’t Settle

Maybe you can relate to this in someway. I'm not sure when my hip started to hurt. I just know that I complained about it, but I didn't pray about it, I just accepted it, like it's normal for things to hurt.

It sounds ridiculous, even to me, because if somebody told me that their hip was hurting when they walk, and it would cramp up, and they have back pain, I would tell them to seek help, something is wrong! But when it comes to myself, I'm much less inclined to ask for help, maybe I even believe in some subconscious way, that I deserve it. "I'm probably doing something that causes this pain, so it's my own fault."

Thanks to Springfield family chiropractic, my hip is infinitely better. And pain I had just fully accepted, and didn't even think about, has also been addressed and healed. I can turn my head the way I'm supposed to be able to!

But I'm always looking for a deeper lesson in things. This situation is no different.

How many of us accept situations in our life, that we would never tell people we love to accept. We would urge them to do something, to make a change, to take care of themselves. But yet we, simply dwell in the pain, sometimes unaware that help is available, other times unwilling to seek it out.

It looks different for everybody. You might be dealing with physical pain, unhappiness with your body, physical addiction, or literal pain. Or maybe it's emotional, and you have been hurt, abused, or neglected. You've accepted that negativity and isolation. Or maybe it's spiritual, and you live with guilt and shame for things that you've done, because forgiveness seems impossible, even to forgive yourself.

Our world is hurting,. Every single person, scarred by sin committed by us, and against us. Many of us are either living with the pain fresh and raw, bitter and angry, or we mask it, with substances, sex, shopping, self harm, etc.

What if we can actually heal the pain, we can change things. We can be changed. Yes, we need to pray, we need God to do what he does get all of this. But we need to take the steps ourselves to reach out, to look for Hope and help. Then, maybe our healing will help to heal the world.

Listed

Toby made a birthday list! Funnily our gift is not on here, so we'll see how that goes!!

Family Fishing!

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> On Saturday we got up well before sunrise to head to Ocean City, New Jersey. We spent four hours on a fishing boat, enjoying the warm weather and peaceful time fishing. We had a $20 prize for whoever in our family caught the biggest fish, and Emma won that!
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> Emma caught a flounder, and Seabass. Scott caught a sand shark, which is really a dogfish, Toby caught a small flounder. Both kids got to hold a puffer fish!
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Gone Fishing!

This morning we spent 4 hours on a fishing boat.  We each had a rod and unlimited bait.  We stood side by side, no one had any advantage over another.  And we even had a prize of $20 to the family member who caught the biggest fish.

Yet, Toby spent over half his time NOT fishing.  Not bothered to sit or stand with his rod.  He was fine until about 3.5 hours in when he started crying bc he hadn't caught anything!!  I refused to "catch something " for him since I hadn't caught anything myself.

About 15 minutes before we returned to shore he put bait on his hook and dropped a line.  I prayed he would catch something even though he didn't deserve to!  Scott prayed with Toby to catch something.

Then the captain gave us a 2 minute warning, "fish hard, fish fast".

Shortly after, Scott heard "bring up your line".  So he did.  Then the captain told everyone to bring up their lines for the last time, at the same time as Toby pulled in his line saying "I got something!!"  And there it was, a little Flounder!

It wasn't big enough to win the competition, however, I am hoping he saw that God hears our prayers, shows incredible mercy when we don't deserve it, and comes through when you think time is up.  That is worth far more!!.

Really?

Has it really been two months since I posted?  Ugh.  Sorry if you've been waiting to hear about the crazy exploits of our family!!  I will take some time over the next week to show you some of what we have been up to.

For the record, September is my least favorite month of the year.  It is a cruelly hard transition from the 2 months of free-flowing summer in to a strict schedule of school, homework, swim practice and other commitments.  I think we maybe do ourselves a disservice by relaxing so much in the summer!!

On the flip side, we have Toby's 9th birthday (yes, 9!!) next Saturday, leading to a wedding on the 20th, and then taking the kids to see the Statue of Liberty at the end of October!!  So stay tuned for the pictures, and I'll strive to make at least a weekly post!!

Much love,

Deb