Hope

"For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease." (Job 14:7)

"Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD." (Psalm 31:24)

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." (Psalm 42:5)

"But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." (Romans 8:25)    

Pink Roses For Ana

Our hearts grieve with the family of our friend and former missionary colleague as they have laid her to rest. But we also rejoice as we know she is with her Saviour the Lord Jesus!

Lois was known here in Brazil as "Dona Ana". Although we hadn't had too much contact over the past nine years, we are blessed to have many wonderful memories of her and her sweet, gentle and cheerful ways. Isn't it interesting how memories come pouring in when the person is gone? That is a blessing from the Lord to help minimize the pain of their leaving.

 

I think it is fitting here that I post some pink roses in memory of "Ana"...

This rose with the drops of rainwater reminds me of our tears, and especially those of her family, as we feel this sadness of our loss.


And this perfectly beautiful and flawless rose makes me think of how she is

now enjoying perfection in every way. No more pain or suffering but heavenly

joy in His presence!

   Here is one more...just because. Who wouldn't be comforted

looking at such beauty?!



"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body,

and to be present with the Lord." (II Corinthians 5:8)

"...to be with Christ, which is far better." (Philippians 1:23)

A Spurgeon Quote

"Some of your graces would never be discovered if it were not for your trials. Do you not know that your faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is often like a glow-worm, showing but little light unless it is in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star-not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity and only to be discovered in the night of adversity." (Charles H. Spurgeon)

A Little Rose...

God picked a little rose...
...to grace His home in heaven.

We grieve with our missionary colleagues in the loss of their daughter, Lydia. We will miss this ray of sunshine that blessed many lives and warmed many hearts.

"In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2,3)

My Tears in God's Bottle

Tears are important to God. He made us and our emotions in such a way that sometimes tears form as evidence of those emotions and they also act as a healing agent. Tears are not always because of pain or sadness, they can also be because of joy! In any case, we do not need to be ashamed of them. Never believe it when someone says that they are a sign of weakness. Don't forget that Jesus also cried and shed tears. Things that touch your heart and move your soul are capable of forming your tears.

A verse in Psalms has for a long time been a precious one to me for it shows that the Lord knows about and cares for whatever we're going through that is causing our tears. Psalm 58:6 says "...put Thou my tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?" I like the thought that He cares SO much for us that each tear is precious enough to store in a bottle that He has just for that purpose. Not only that, but it seems that maybe He writes about those tears in a book! How wonderful is that?!

"Thus saith the Lord...I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears."-Isaiah 38:5

Suffering

So. Everything isn't always hunky-dory, a bed of roses, fine and dandy, just the way you want it to be. Sometimes it's miserable, thorny, terrible-no good-awful, nothing going the way you want it to. No, I'm not having a bad day or anything. I have little or no complaints on this fine day. There's even a little bit of sunshine outside now and then! But I read some thoughts about suffering recently in my devotional time that impressed me and I'd like to share them with you... In the darkness of suffering, beauty can bloom. "Through affliction He teaches us many precious lessons that otherwise we would never learn. By affliction he shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections, weans us from the world, and makes us long for heaven." (J. C. Ryle) "To us (suffering) appears completely senseless and irrational, but to God none of it is either senseless or irrational. He has a purpose in every pain He brings or allows in our lives. We can be sure that in some way He intends it for our profit and His glory." (J. Bridges) So, can suffering be a perfect gift from God? You bet it can! And in the lives of His children, all suffering is a gift. Some suffering is the result of our own beliefs, lifestyles, actions and attitudes that are wrong (anti-Biblical). In that case, suffering becomes a warning-a wake-up call, if you please. This suffering only becomes a gift if the warnings are heeded and acted upon. In the darkness of suffering, beauty can bloom.

  "For even hereunto were ye called; because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps. (I Peter 2:21)

Love Measures Grief

This title and photo really need no explanation. Someone else has aptly described it as "Love much, grieve much. Love little, grieve little." One's amount and intensity of grief is measured by one's amount and intensity of love. And vice versa. Those who have experienced this know what I am talking about. As the perfect rose with raindrops, love with grief and tears is also beautiful. Love and pain, sunshine and rain, loss and gain...they are all inseparable twins of life. Each one is measured by the other, each one is nourished by the other, each one is necessary in our human lives. Without them we would not grow, without them we would not know...the pure joys of life that God, in His perfect plan for us, gives on a daily basis. Thank the Lord, there is life after grief, no matter the amount or intensity. There is love after grief for true love never leaves us. Love can be resurrected for love has life. Love IS life! God is love and God is life. God, life, love...they all go hand in hand. For this I am very grateful.