Tagged: hope

If you missed Part One in this series of Stories of the Redeemed, click here. Last week you heard Cecilia Sakatira’s story of how the Master Weaver gave her a new vision and purpose out of a time of darkness and suffering. She is the founder and director of Creative Hands, a ministry that empowers women on the refugee highway in Greece to find gainful employment and learn about the Messiah. This week, read with me as she shares the story of one woman at Creative Hands whose unraveled life is being woven into something new and wonderful.       For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.… Read More

For Celeen, a meditation on Psalm 34   I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth Even as bombs destroy my home and the provision of my people.   My soul makes its boast in the Lord; Let the humble hear it and be glad As the bells ring over Beirut Above the chaos of hope disappointed.   Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt his name together! Over the burned landscape of our dreams.   I sought the Lord, and he answered me And delivered me from my fears. Rise, little one, go to your mother’s room where you’ll be safe.   Those who look to him are radiant, And their faces shall… Read More

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8 Ever feel like your life is a movie, maybe a blockbuster, maybe B-rated, but an epic tale nonetheless with an original soundtrack narrating the minutes and the hours? The soundtrack tells a story, sometimes before the story can be seen on-screen. Today I stood on the balcony just beyond my writing desk and listened for what the soundtrack of my life might be saying.  The base rumbled low, harvest tractors crawling back and forth, back and forth, loaded down with piles of juicy grapes. Dissonant tenors struck in minor notes as children kicked a soccer ball around the village square. The… Read More

In the region of Abruzzo, Italy, amidst rolling hills of vineyards and olive groves, is a fountain. It flows with new red wine and is free to anyone who finds it. The fountain intentionally sits hidden along what is known as Il Cammino di San Tomasso, or, The Path of Saint Thomas. Pilgrims may stop for a drink on their way to the Basilica of Saint Thomas the Apostle, a beautiful twelfth-century church sitting beside the sea in the quiet town of Ortona. In 1258, a captain brought the remains of Thomas the apostle of Jesus there to be venerated and protected deep within its walls.  Thomas is famously remembered as the Doubter. Honest pilgrims will admit The Way of the Doubter is a well-worn… Read More

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne (Hebrews 12:2). Everyone eventually faces a season of letting go.  Sometimes we are ushered into this inevitability without warning. The day we raced through midnight chasing the helicopter that bore our son to a burn trauma center was one such moment. The night my best friend sped over twisty mountain roads to the hospital where her dying daughter lay was one such hour. Strange and terrible that so many seasons change in the darkness of night. Sometimes we know a season of letting… Read More

To read Part One of this series, click here. After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and anchored there. As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized Jesus (Mark 6:53-54). When the winds of the storm alter your course, you may be tempted to think you’ve failed. Not only does Jesus send us into storms, but He also allows storms to change our plans. To bring us to an entirely different destination than the one originally intended. In Mark 6, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to Bethsaida (see Mark 6:45). After an exhausting, terrifying night straining against the oars, Jesus came to them, walking on the raging sea. When they finally… Read More

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. Joel 2:25 They sounded like tiny tap dancers in chaos. Wings flapping, jaws chomping, they stumble-flew all over each other, ravenous. Like a cloud they swarmed; like a machine, they destroyed. Up till now, I had only read about locusts. Today, outside my window in Africa, I was witnessing their demolition derby first-hand. Amidst the whirring, clacking cloud of little winged invaders rose another sound… a keening. The kind reserved for death and funerals. The villagers were mourning the loss of all they’d worked so hard for. Their families’ sustenance. Their livelihood. The very food… Read More

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 It came in strange gift wrap, not at all what I expected. But the gift was right there inside. I turned it over in my hands, joyously held it to my heart, and wondered at the mad methods of my Lover. The gift was exactly what I asked for, really. The wishing began slow like a tingling thrill that rises up quiet from the deep spaces of our souls, growing in intensity as it climbs, until it bursts out all over us, covering us in hope. I wanted a life change. I asked Him to rearrange me on the inside, to remove me from me and fill me… Read More

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured…so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:2-3). I discovered an early Christmas gift this week, tucked away in the pages of Hebrews. Jesus wrapped it Himself for each of us in His own humanity when He was born on Christmas Day. And this is a gift we need now more than ever. Jesus learned Endurance from the moment He took his first frosty breath as a newborn, gulping in the frigid night air of a stable in Bethlehem.… Read More

[caption id="attachment_3700" align="aligncenter" width="596"] For my mother-in-love, a Master Gardener who taught me the fruitful practice of hard pruning.[/caption] I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful (John 15:1-2). Well, it seems we are all going to have a holly, jolly, pruning Christmas. The Oxford Languages Dictionary defines pruning in various degrees: trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth. cut away (a branch or stem). reduce the extent of (something) by removing superfluous or unwanted parts. December is a bit… Read More