Hope Victorious

  My earliest Easter memories are not of egg hunts or chocolate bunnies, although I have those memories too. The first Easter Sunday that I clearly remember was when I was 7 years old. We woke up early and drove to the tiny farming town where my paternal grandparents lived. It was an exciting morning because we were having a “Sunrise Service” outside at the location of the new church building. For months there had been community work days to begin constructing the new church. I remember being there are carrying one cinder block at a time from the pile to the men who were building. My dad and others were pushing wheelbarrows full of bricks. My brother carried two or three at a time. He and I got frequent breaks when my grandma would pour us homemade lemonade and give us cookies. We would sit in the shade of these huge oak trees and watch the outline of the walls slowly take shape on the big concrete slab. It seemed huge to us as we walked around the inside of that low outline; what woul

I find my rest in you You cover me All my rough edges You fill me up All dry and empty voids are filled with you Peace that warms me with your love For you are near I am seen, known and understood I choose to lean in and to trust you I surrender to peace You can hold what feels weighty to me I will loosen my grip I will trust you more than I trust my own strength   I let go to hold onto you My peace – my daily companion You journey with me I rest in you so that all fear, any hiddenness is released   I am occupied by peace Sure and true Deep and heavy I am sustained in peace   In peace I rise up Secure, grounded and confident I have placed my anchor in you I have found a home   A place of place in which to dwell A place from which to soar Peace has given me wings  

  Wisdom for Life: 1.      Make sure that YOU interpret your circumstances – don’t let your circumstances interpret who you are 2.      You are never too old to learn and never too young to teach. Live like you are always a student. Learn from the people around you, the circumstances, and what you witness and hear. 3.      “Busy” is a choice, an attitude – not a function of time. I decided to stop saying “I’m busy”   The truth is this: my life is full of good, meaningful things, most of which I have chosen. I am not a victim of my life or my schedule. 4.      You will find what you are looking for. Choose wisely. 5.      The world has some things in the wrong order:   Rest is not earned by work. It is much healthier to rest first and rest well so that you can work, achieve, and produce. Rest is a choice and should be prioritized. 6.      I have learned as much from the questions I have asked than from any answer I’ve ever received. 7.      Time – everyone has the same

Forgiving others is hard enough. Yet often it is so difficult to forgive yourself as well. It is a step we try to skip, a puzzle we’d rather not face. Some of us do penance; a little self-inflicted punishment that we feel is well deserved and hope is effective in preventing further pain. We have determined that punishment is in fact what we deserve, certainly not grace, surely not love or tenderness. We may be called up to forgive another, and may even see the value to ourselves. I set them free from my evaluation, my anger, and my hate. I choose to forgive them and know that doing so is beneficial to me as well. But often, even when someone has suffered abuse, forgiving others is not the deepest step of healing. It may seem counterintuitive, but to forgive yourself is often a deeper, more difficult thing. To forgive yourself is a vulnerable thing. It is complex because it involves both giving and receiving. When you forgive someone who has hurt you, you are extending them grace an