August Hope Whispers

Trudy Den Hoed34 Comments

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?

Nature Soothes the Soul

Trudy Den Hoed22 Comments

As early as I can remember, nature was a solace to my soul. There was always something that drew my heart in and calmed me. Even before I appreciated the Creator of it all.

When I couldn’t be outdoors, photos of nature drew me in. As a child, I loved a large nature scene in our living room. I remember it had trees and water. It was such a calm scene, far from all the evil and pain in this world. When my thoughts were jumbled, troubled, and confused, I loved to imagine myself sitting on the bank feeling the coolness of the water on my feet.

I’m now 66, but I still imagine myself sitting or walking in calm nature scenes. 🙂 When the cold winters keep me housebound, I sometimes search out old photos, including the one above from one of my favorite nature retreats. Now wouldn’t it be lovely to sit on one of those rocks and soak in the sights and sounds?

Here are a few more pics from this soul-soothing retreat:

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?” – St. Augustine

I am always delighted when my brother in Arizona shares photos with me. They always refresh my heart. He graciously allows me to share them with you.

Monsoon Season
Double Rainbow!
Isn’t this breath-taking? A rainbow of hope!
Mountain Pygmy-Owl
Northern Cardinal (Molting Juvenile)
Green Kingfisher
American Coot
Clark’s Grebe
Clark’s Spiny Lizard
Chipmunk
Cicada

Summer Hope Whispers

Trudy Den Hoed24 Comments
Words from iBibleverses.com

Who God Says We Are

When times are tough, it can be easy for us to slide back into the rut of our insecurities and feelings of worthlessness. But the truth is, that even though we may “feel” insignificant and inadequate, God declares and maintains we are beloved, chosen, and favored!

🦋 What Would You Name Yourself? by Vaneetha Risner

“What we tell ourselves in our suffering powerfully shapes how we experience it.

Are you telling yourself that you are beloved? If you are certain that you are unconditionally and extravagantly loved by God, it will give you courage and hope, convinced that whatever is happening to you cannot be anything but God’s best for you. 

So what would you name yourself today? Would you name yourself by how you feel and the narrative that you subconsciously replay in your head… forgotten, unloved, undone? Or can you name yourself as you truly are… beloved, chosen, favored?”

🦋 Who God Says You Are by Nancy Beach

“One morning I opened my Bible and read today’s key verse: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. Beloved, we are God’s children now” (1 John 3:1a, 2a).

Beloved. Valued. Belonging. Accepted. Wanted.

Regardless of what others say or do, our identity rests secure in who God says we are. He says we are beloved. He says we are cherished for who we are in His eyes, not because of something we’ve done or not done. We are precious in His sight, one-of-a-kind, created for a unique purpose.”

God’s Whispers of Love

When we feel unloved
God whispers His Truth
My child, I love you with an everlasting love!
With unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself!

When we feel ugly
God whispers His Truth
My child, I have wonderfully created you
And I delight in your beauty!

When we feel dirty,
God whispers His Truth
My child, I have purified you
And made you whiter than the snow!

When we feel defeated,
God whispers His Truth
My child, in spite of everything that happens to you,
You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you!

When we feel rejected and deserted,
God whispers His Truth
My child, I will never ever abandon you
I am with you always even to the end of the world!

When we feel at a loss about what to do,
God whispers His Truth
My child, no matter the situation or the chaos,
I am still in control and will get you through this!
Just keep taking one step at a time.
You don’t need to understand,
You just need to hold My hand.

(Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 139:14, Psalm 45:11, Romans 8:37,
Psalm 51:7, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20)

“Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
    Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
    Your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is Your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter
    in the shadow of Your wings.”
Psalm 36:5-7

Nature Retreat

”Go out, go out, I beg of you
And taste the beauty of the wild.
Behold the miracle of the earth
With all the wonder of a child.”
~ Edna Jacques ~

I love walking along the trail near the river, soaking in the sights and sounds of “the beauty of the wild” as the author of this quote puts it. Every bit of it still fills me with “the wonder of a child.” The heaviness in my heart over all that’s going on in this world seeps away as I remember how God has clothed and preserved the beauty of His creation and He is still in control.

Now for the grand finale of photos… My brother John recently discovered Great Blue Herons cough up pellets of the indigestible parts of the food they eat just as owls do. Okay, so I said “Gross!” when I first saw it. But it still fascinates me how God has equipped some birds to do this. Can you imagine what a belly ache all those indigestible parts would cause otherwise?