“I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.”
Isaiah 49:16
ABCs of Jesus’ Love
Visit this page anytime and let me know if you’d like to add to the words describing Jesus’ love along with a verse supporting it. Remember, there is also a print-out of the original list.
This month I have added an “R” Word:
❤︎ Redeeming Love ❤︎
“In Him we have redemption
[that is, our deliverance and salvation] through His blood,
[which paid the penalty for our sin and resulted in]
the forgiveness and complete pardon of our sin,
in accordance with the riches of His grace.“
Ephesians 1:7 AMP
Books
I am not always able to keep up with the abundance of books that promote hope, healing, and freedom, so I haven’t always read every one I post here and on the Books Page. Though many are on my long wish list. 🙂 Many will be from recommendations of online friends. If you ever know of a book that is not listed and that supports this website’s mission, please let me know. 🙂
I AM: A 60-Day Journey to Knowing Who You Are Because of Who He Is
by Michele Cushatt
This summer I was so blessed as I read this devotional and soaked in the Bible passages that prove who we are because of who God is. I don’t think I can describe this book any better than through what is written at this book’s site.
“From the moment a woman wakes until she falls, exhausted, on her pillow, one question plagues her at every turn:
Am I enough?
After all, the pressure to do more, be more has never been more intense. Online marketing. Self-help books. Movies, magazines and gym memberships. Even church attendance and social media streams have become a means of comparing ourselves to impossible standards. Am I pretty enough? Hip enough? Spiritual enough?
We fear the answer is “No.”
When a brutal bout with cancer changed how she looked, talked, and lived, Michele Cushatt embarked on a soul-deep journey to rediscover herself. The typical self-esteem strategies and positivity plans weren’t enough. Instead, she needed
a new foundation, one that wouldn’t prove flimsy when faced with the onslaught of day-to-day life.”
Read more at I AM…
Michele invites us to an online experience of identity transformation from October 2 – November 10! Sign up soon as it starts next week Monday!
Hope Harbor
💞 Links That Inspire Hope and Healing 💞
💞 30 Days of Truth – Being sexually abused as a child fills our hearts and minds with lies. Michele Viscuse shares 30 Days of God’s Amazing Truth that she discovered in her healing journey.
💞 The Trauma That Arises from Natural Disasters – “Like many causes of trauma, natural disasters can be sudden and overwhelming. The most immediate and typical reaction to a calamity is shock, which at first manifests as numbness or denial. Quickly—or eventually—shock can give way to an overemotional state that often includes high levels of anxiety, guilt or depression.”
💞 American Red Cross: Disaster Relief and Recovery Services –
To reach out for free 24/7 counseling or support, contact the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs’ to 66746.
“Disasters are upsetting experiences for everyone involved. Children, senior citizens, people with disabilities and people for whom English is not their first language are especially at risk and are likely to need extra care and help. But everyone, even the people that others look up to for guidance and assistance, is entitled to their feelings and deserves support throughout the recovery process.”
Nature Retreat
“God gives every bird its food,
but He does not throw it into its nest.”
~ Josiah Gilbert Holland
I love the view outside my office window. Usually the house finches take over the feeder and the nesting places (baby ones below), but once in a while a goldfinch will sneak in. The mourning doves hang around to eat the seed on the ground. The robins like to take baths, but they’re getting scarce here this time of year. This year I saw a Variegated Fritillary Butterfly and a lot of Painted Lady Butterflies on our Salvia plants. I didn’t get clear shots of the Painted Ladies, so I included a photo of one that I took at a park. Oh, and once in a while a ground squirrel decides to show up and fill his little cheeks with seeds from the ground. I love my summer visitors!
🐾 Breathtaking Blog – I can’t find the name of this photographer, but her photos depict an appreciation of nature and are awesome captures of its beauty. – “From the moment I go into the garden and surrounding countryside, it becomes an adventure, and I’m never happier than when I spot something of extraordinary beauty, but a thing of beauty is better when shared.” (A personal note from the photographer)
🐾 Ozark Grace – Connie is an illustrator and photographer who lives in the Missouri Ozarks, USA. She appreciates God’s wonders and shares the beauty of the Ozarks.
🐾 Burrard-Lucas Wildlife Photography – Awesome collections of wildlife from all over the world by a professional wildlife photographer
Quotes
❤︎ “Hearts are broken in ten thousand ways, for this is a heart-breaking world; and Christ is good at healing all manner of heart-breaks.” – Charles Spurgeon
❤︎ “Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey, but the Kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors. No evil can resist grace forever.” – Brennan Manning
❤︎ “I know now, Lord, why You utter no answer. You are Yourself the answer. Before Your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?” – C.S. Lewis
Freed to Fly 
Dear Friend, this is a place of hope, healing, encouragement. From beginning to end, your tender words, helpful links, beautiful photos.
What a way to start my day! I appreciate you …
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I’m so grateful you find hope, healing, and encouragement here, Linda. It is my longing desire to invite readers to a harbor of hope here. Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate you, too! Much more than you know. 🙂 May we keep our eyes focused on our only hope in Jesus!
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Beautiful blessings here! Thank you!
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You’re welcome, and thank YOU, Amy. 🙂 It lifts my heart to know you find beautiful blessings here. May God bless us with the riches of His free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus!
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The photos are breathtaking! I do love my birds, too, Trudy, and we have our fair share of house finches. Boy, can they eat!
Loved the quotes, too, especially the one from C. S. Lewis – yes, God, Himself, is the answer and always will be.
Blessings!
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Thank you, Martha. Blessings to you as well! Yes, those house finches surely can eat. 🙂 It’s funny how babies as big as their parents open their mouths to be fed, but if the parent is gone, they eat their fair share at the feeder. 🙂 I love that C.S. Lewis quote, too. Yes, He is the Answer always! May we remember that daily, also when our hearts feel heavy with unanswered questions!
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Dear Trudy,
Your posts always cause me to slow down and breathe easier! Thank you for being such an encouragement from the Lord. We also have enjoyed watching the birds at our feeders this year–sometimes their antics make us laugh! And that C.S.Lewis quote is one of my favorites, especially after having read the book “Till We Have Faces,” last spring. I never felt the depth of that until I read his story connected with it. I needed that reminder today! Blessings, love, and hugs dear friend! xoxo
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Ah, to slow down and breathe easier is a blessing, isn’t it? I’m grateful you were encouraged, Bettie. Those birds provide quite some entertainment sometimes, don’t they? 🙂 I’m going to miss them when winter comes. 😦 But we will keep searching out beauty, right? I looked up that book and put it on my looong wish list. Blessings, love, and hugs to you, too! Sometimes our hearts can be heavy with unanswered prayers, but may we together remember that even in the silence, God is Himself the Answer!
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So much great encouragement here, Trudy! I’m in the middle of reading I AM just now, and I appreciated Michelle’s series too. The photos are amazing as always- I love the baby birds and the squirrel.
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I’m so grateful you were encouraged, Lesley. And I am glad you are gleaning nuggets of Truth from Michele’s book. I love that she builds our identity on God’s solid Truth. Yes, aren’t those baby birds cute? 🙂 They surely grow quickly. May we daily find our identity in Christ Jesus and His unconditional love!
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Lots of good stuff here, Trudy! You captured some really wonderful images! Thanks for reminding me of Connie’s blog. I hadn’t visited in a while. Have a blessed week, my friend!
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Thank you, June. I hope you have a blessed week as well! I love finding nature photography sites, and I am especially pleased when they appreciate God’s wonders. 🙂 Connie certainly has some beautiful illustrations, too, doesn’t she? May we always open our eyes to and be in awe of God’s wonders in His creation!
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I love all of this! Your header is stunning. And of course your nature pictures feed my soul. The book you referenced “I Am” sounds like a good one. I do ask the question, Am I enough?, more often than I would care to admit. Only God can reassure us that we are indeed, enough.
I love being back in your space. I hope to see you often! 🙂
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Thank you, Mary. I sometimes comment about the message in your posts, but I forget to write about how much I love the nature pictures. Know that I always appreciate them, and I can feel a quietness seeping into my soul when I view them. 🙂 “I Am” truly is a good book. I often feel, too, that I am not enough, and I love how Michele grounds our identity in who God is and what He has done for us. By the way, I am slowly working through your book, prayerfully looking into the Scriptures, and answering the questions. I never consider myself brave, but it is helping me to see “brave” in a whole new way. Thank you for answering God’s call to write this book! This quote in Day 6 really touches my heart – “Brave is allowing God to work in us, focusing our eyes on His truths and knowing He is in charge.” May we together be brave and focus our eyes on the Truth that we are enough in God!
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Trudy, every thought here is lovely. And the photos? Oh, you know they inspired this picture-taker’s heart. 🙂 I have heard Michelle Cushatt interviewed in a podcast. Her story is truly inspirational. I keep forgetting to be on the lookout for hope-themed things to share with you. I’ll be looking, friend! Great post today!
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Thank you, Jeanne. Often after I post a comment at your blog, I realize I forgot to mention your photos. I always love your nature pics. They refresh my soul. 🙂 Yes, Michele’s story is truly inspirational. Thank you for looking out for hope-themed things to share! May we hang onto our only HOPE in JESUS!
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Hi Trudy! That books looks wonderful. I’ll have to add it to my list :). As always, your pictures are beautiful. I love to watch birds.
Your quotes were much needed today. This: No evil can resist grace forever. So true and powerful!
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Hi Candace! Yes, the book is wonderful. The birds are starting to thin out here in the Midwest, and I will surely miss them in these winter months. I don’t remember where you live. Do you see birds in the winter? Is your daughter still into marine biology in Florida? I’m so glad the quotes spoke to your troubled heart today. It’s a comforting thought that evil can’t resist God’s powerful grace forever, isn’t it? May we cling to that amazing grace in Jesus that overcomes evil!
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Trudy, your pictures are amazing!! SO much beauty at your office window – what a blessing! Thank you so much for sharing the 30 days of Truth series. Thank you for your encouragement and support. I am so very thankful for you!
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Thank you, Michelle, for your kind words and for sharing God’s Truth taught to your heart. He is now using you to pass on the comfort He has given you! Yes, I am blessed to have such and office view. The birds are slowing down and the flowers are fading, but I’m amazed at how many Painted Lady butterflies are still flying around and resting on our Salvia plants. I’m so glad we planted them and that they are where I can see them outside my office. 🙂 I am thankful for you as well! May God heal us ever more deeply!
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Trudy- I love this thank you!! I have trouble liking myself a lot too- and struggle with comparing. God is showing me it is paralyzing and not good at all. Thank you for that lovely list of verses at the end! I need to memorize that!! The pictures of the birds are so beautiful! hug xoxo
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Thank you, Susie. Hugs to you, too! I’m so grateful you were encouraged. I know we both struggle with liking ourselves and with comparison. God is showing me, too, that it is paralyzing. It’s certainly hard to work through it though, isn’t it? May we cling to God’s Truth that we are beautiful in Him and He has created us for His own unique purpose!
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Thanks so much for sharing here, Trudy. Really enjoyed the links to the photography sites (although at first I was a bit scared to click into them in fear I would feel more insecurity around my own photography, so challenged by the ‘I’m not enough’ for sure). I haven’t been producing much art in the form of writing and photography lately, but all your words gave me encouragement!
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I’m so glad you were encouraged, Lynn. I love your art, both in photography and writing! Truly! Both have so often breathed refreshment into my weary heart. I do miss them. But I know the feeling of insecurity too well. I know I’m better at encouraging others, but I’m awfully hard on myself. It’s hard to work through that, isn’t it? May God daily empower us with His love and strength and help us to see ourselves in His eyes!
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Thank you Trudy, and for sending me more encouragement. It was such a blessing to see your card in my email! Appreciate you lots and know your words make a difference! Hugs!
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You’re welcome, Lynn. I’m so grateful you were blessed. 🙂 Hugs back!
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I love these posts so much. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures and links and quotes, Trudy! Going off now to read a few, especially the ones about the hurricane trauma….
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Thank you, Lisa. I love rounding them up. 🙂 Those hurricane trauma links are informative. We need to realize the lasting traumatic effects not only with loss of material things but also the continuing emotional effects, don’t we? I’m sure you’ve seen the trauma firsthand when you and your husband helped a relief organization in Florida. It’s so sad, isn’t it? May God give healing in every way!
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