Trudy

August Hope Whispers

The Ultimate Resting Place

Before I published this post, I listened to a song a blogging friend, Lois Flowers, shared. God knew exactly what I needed to be reminded of. Do you have questions that don’t have answers and tears that just keep on running?

“…When your questions don’t have answers and you just can’t understand it
When your mind just won’t stop running and the tears just keep on coming
You don’t have to explain it
He hears you before you can speak
Come with me, let’s take it to Jesus
This is the place you can rest for a while
If you need to just fall apart
Lay down your worry, He’s not in a hurry, take all the time you need
This is the place you can rest for a while…”

God Promises Streams In the Desert

“Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.”
Isaiah 35:6

Are you feeling downhearted with no hope in sight? Here is a powerful video to watch as you read Isaiah 35:1-7 & 10. Imagine yourself in this waste-howling wilderness and the joy you will feel as God sends streams of joy to quench your parched soul.

God Knows & God Cares

“When God sends no answer and “the cloud remain[s],” we must wait. Yet we can do so with the full assurance of God’s provision of manna, water from the rock, shelter, and protection from our enemies. He never keeps us at our post without assuring us of His presence or sending us daily supplies.” – Lettie B. Cowman

“The matters we or the world might consider trivial, He cares about and wants to remedy. He longs to relieve our worries and has promised to supply our most fundamental needs.” – Charles R. Swindoll

“God knows what each one of us is dealing with. He knows our pressures. He knows our conflicts. And He has made a provision for each and every one of them. That provision is Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit, indwelling us and empowering us to respond rightly.” – Kay Arthur

Nature Retreat

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder ~

First of all, my brother shares some bird beauty. 🙂

Elegant Trogon
Western Kingbird and Ant Lion
Lunchtime!

It was so dry here that even sprinklers couldn’t keep the grass green. Then one day God blessed us with 4 inches of rain! The next day we went to the Falls. What powerful sights and sounds to see and hear as the water rushed over the rocks and pooled out into some dry areas!

“But the most celebrated water in ancient Palestine did not come from wells; it rose in the natural springs that fed enduring streams and rivers and communal reservoirs. In the Old Testament, flowing or “living” water stands for God’s faithful and lasting provision for His people.” – Sarah Ruden

I’m amazed how God speaks straight to my heart by sending butterflies to cross my path, whether I am in the house looking out a window, sitting on the patio, walking, or riding in the car. He whispers hope, “I am with you always, My child.”

Sometimes there are situations out of our control in which we hurt for and with someone who is hurting so deeply. But God… God is still with us, even when it doesn’t feel like it, and He has the power to heal and restore anyone and to change the hardest of hearts.

How has God spoken to you this month? What has brought you hope in the midst of the hard?

34 comments

  1. Hi Trudy!

    These are amazing pictures! What a good picture of Gods out pouring of blessing in the falls. These encouraging words spoke to my heart especially the one about waiting as I am in that kind of season! Thanks for always bringing Gods love and truth to us online!

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    • Hi Susie! Yes, the Falls are definitely a “picture of God’s outpouring of blessing!” Thank you, too, Susie, for bringing God’s love and truth to us through your soul-refreshing poems and art. May we wait patiently for God’s timing and trust His way!

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    • Hi Mary! I identify with God talking to you about trust and letting it go to Him. I loved your post about making space for worry. May we take all our worries and questions to Jesus! He can give us the grace we need to release them and trust Him and His way, right?

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  3. These photos encapsulate the strength and power of rushing waters and the glory that is God’s creation, Trudy. Loved it all!
    And yes, despite how dispirited I’ve felt as of late, I always remember that God cares for me and is hard at work to bring me back to a sense of peace and serenity. I have learned, whether I wanted to or not, to wait upon Him patiently.
    May your September be blessed!

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  4. Thank you Dear Trudy for always bringing God’s hope to our hearts. Your words and the quotes you’ve shared are such an encouragement to me. I needed so much to be reminded of the gift of His living water today. And what a powerful image of those roaring rapids over the falls! God’s power can rush into our lives in an instant, even after a long dry season. Blessings, love, and hugs to you!

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    • I’m so grateful you were encouraged, Bettie. God has such good timing to remind you of the gift of His living water when you need it. “God’s power can rush into our lives in an instant, even after a long dry season.” Amen! May we wholeheartedly trust His Almighty power and His way! Blessings, love, and hugs to you, too!

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  5. That God brings you butterflies at just the right time warms my heart, Trudy! And waterfalls are always a beautiful sight to see. I am grateful to have been around waterfalls in the Rockies this summer. I think I’ll add them to my next post, so you can see them too! Blessings to you!

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    • It awes me, Lynn, that God sends butterflies at just the right time. Oh, I am so looking forward to your photos of waterfalls in the Rockies! Blessings to you, too! May His living water fill us and sustain us!

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  6. Trudy, visiting your site this morning is like an oasis! Beautiful photos and thoughts and scriptures. We have a wonderful God who knows our deepest sorrows and greatest joys, who love us, will never leave us, and always gives us hope. Blessings to you! xo

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    • That warms my heart, Gayl, that it’s like an oasis. I so want it to be. It’s tough in this world. “We have a wonderful God who knows our deepest sorrows and greatest joys, who love us, will never leave us, and always gives us hope.” Yes! Thank you. May we rest in Him who understands us and loves us infinitely better than anyone does!

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    • I’m so glad you were sweetly blessed, Linda. How sweet of you to miss me. 🙂 I can’t believe tomorrow is September already! Summer went far too quickly for me. May we keep clinging to our faithful God whose mercies are new every morning!

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    • Thank you, Lisa. That rain was so, so welcome on the dry and thirsty earth. As God’s quenching rain is on our dry and thirsty souls! I’m so glad your day was brightened. May we keep our hearts open wide to receive the Living Water!

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    • God has amazing timing, doesn’t He? I am quick to get discouraged with waiting for His time and way, but He is so patient with me! I’m glad you found snippets of hope here, Lesley. May we be filled so full of the outpouring of God’s love that it will flow out of us onto others!

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  12. I’m so glad you finally got rain, Trudy. And also that you got to enjoy the falls afterwards … they are so beautiful! I love how God uses music to encourage our hearts, as well as quotes and nature photos. 🙂 I hope you are having a restful Labor Day weekend! Love and hugs to you.

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    • Thank you, Lois. I love, too, how God uses music, quotes, and nature to encourage our hearts. And His timing is perfect, isn’t it? Thank you again for introducing me to that song. I passed it on, and it encouraged some loved ones, too. 🙂 Love and hugs back to you! May God give us grace to search out those hope gems!

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  13. “God knows and God cares.” Those are always precious words to hear and truths to believe! Our rain situation has been almost nonexistent. We got a little today but not enough to count. Yet a few hours from us, people are being flooded. Crazy weather. Again, thankful that God knows and God cares! Blessings to you, friend.

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    • Yes, that precious truth is so comforting, Lisa. No one knows and cares like He does! The weather seems to be unusual in so many areas, doesn’t it? Blessings to you, too! May we be grounded in God’s faithful, knowing and caring love!

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  14. Trudy, you are such a shining light of encouragement. So much in this post spoke to my heart today, especially when I saw “Streams in the Desert.” My dear Papaw LOVED that devotional and read it faithfully, and when he died, my sweet Mom inherited his well-loved book. She faithfully read it for many years, and now that book is mine. Papaw wrote in it, and as I read it, I can just imagine my Godly, pastor Papaw reading it, and I think of the many trials and tribulations he went through. He and my dear Mom are now with the Lord, along with my Daddy and so many others. What a comfort it is to know that the same God who saw them through walks with me now, as I face such hard trials and uncertainties. I am so thankful that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thank you for this post and all you put into it. God bless you.

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