The Hope that is In Us! (Page 5)

The Hope that is In Us! (Page 5)

The Doors of Life

“These are the words of him who is holy and true… What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” Revelation 3:7 (NIV)             Doors have opened and closed in my life in ways that only make sense in the context of faith—a faith in God and a belief that things happen for reasons we often don’t readily understand.             I wasn’t much of a student in school. I wasn’t dumb, but I never…

He Will Not Forsake Us

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)             It was June.             We lived on a farm and, as a kid growing up on a farm, I was always on tractors and other equipment with the farm hands. I was almost three, the oldest child in the family, when my mother went in the hospital to have…

Dwell on the Good

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)             I was the fourth daughter born to a father who told my mother “no more girls.” After I was born, he left.             At seven with a broken back, I moved in with my grandparents, Reverend and Mrs. Robert G. Leetch. My grandfather was…

Bring the Whole Tithe

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse… ‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’” Malachi 3:10 (NIV)             While walking in the Adirondack woods in 1984, I realized that my life was in trouble. I had a successful career, but I was drinking and carousing daily. I felt the urge to…

Seek Me With All Your Heart

“I know the plans I have for you…. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 11,13 (NIV)             I believe God had plans for me even before I was a twinkle in my Dad’s eyes. Somehow, growing up in a happy but not particularly religious family, I always believed in God.             My earliest recollection of God being talked about occurred when I was a skinny six or seven-year-old changing…

God Has a Plan

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)             My presence on this earth was an oops! My sister was thirteen years older than me. Need I say more? When she left for boarding school, then college, my parents no longer had a built-in babysitter, so they hired me a nanny.             My Miss Horn loved…

Embraced by a Mighty Wind

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Acts 2:2 (NIV)           I have always known that God is with me, but one day He showed up in a way that assured me of His tender love for me in a way as never before.             Late one March afternoon almost ten years ago, I was sitting alone in my family room with my back to…

Love Binds Everything Together

 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:12-14 (ESV)             My sister was killed by her husband many years ago.           I thought I had put to rest the…

Knowing Our Father

“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40: 31 (KJV)             I grew up in Baltimore.             Early on, I recognized my mother was obsessed with alcohol. My father went to great lengths to try to stop her addiction without letting anybody know it existed. He shielded me as best he could, but…

Life’s Miracles

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)             My husband and I were married for thirty-eight years, the last three years of which his health declined due to a very rare form of cancer—chronic myeloid leukemia with five genetic mutations. His doctors estimated that only two hundred people had ever been diagnosed with this…