February Hope Whispers

February 28, 2022 Trudy Den Hoed32 Comments

Truths that Breathe Hope

❤️ GOD Values Us ❤️

“Look at the birds.
They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns,
for your heavenly Father feeds them.
And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are?”
~ Matthew 6:26 NLT ~

❤️ God Doesn’t Merely Tolerate Us; He Delights In Us ❤️

“For the Lord delights in His people.”
~ Psalm 149:4a NLT ~

❤️ Victory Is Already Ours Through Jesus ❤️

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?
Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity,
or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger,
or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say,
“For Your sake we are killed every day;
we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory
is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
~ Romans 8:35-37 NLT ~

Sometimes God Says No

🦋 “What if God’s ‘NO,’ is really a gift? His way to protect us from what we cannot see, provide something better than we can imagine, or be part of the process of growing us closer to Him.” – Lysa TerKeurst

🦋 “The key is you have to trust that God only has the best in store for you. If God says no to something, He says yes to something even greater. It is when you fully surrender all of your desires to His will that His perfect will is done.” – Nick Vujicic

🦋 “I know now, Lord, why You utter no answer. You are Yourself the answer. Before Your face questions die away. What other answers would suffice?” – C.S. Lewis

Nature Retreat

“How countless are Your works, Lord!
In wisdom You have made them all;
the earth is full of Your creatures.“
~ Psalm 104:24 HCSB ~

Thank you to my brother John
for these spectacular photos.
🙂 Please respect copyright laws. 🙂

Isn’t it amazing how camouflaged this bittern is?

Western Banded Gecko – This little gecko may have had a close call in life. Do you see a difference at the end of his tail? If a predator snatches these geckos by the tail, they can release that part and regenerate a new one! Amazing, right?

The black widow is one among several spiders whose defense strategy is to play dead.

November Hope Whispers

November 22, 2021 Trudy Den Hoed33 Comments

The Serenity Prayer

“God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.”
(prayer attributed to Reinhold Neibuhr, 1892-1971)

God’s Unfailing Love

“For even if the mountains walk away
and the hills fall to pieces,
My love won’t walk away from you,
my covenant commitment of peace won’t fall apart.
The God who has compassion on you says so.”
Isaiah 54:10 MSG

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

“I cried out, ‘I am slipping!’
but Your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.“
Psalm 94:18 NLT

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world,
that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son,
so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior]
shall not perish, but have eternal life.“
John 3:16 AMP

Hang Onto Hope

🦋 “If you feel stuck in a hopeless place today, I don’t want to rush you to joy. Maybe you need to spend a little time letting the darkness do what darkness does—nourish, strengthen, and hold. The darkness can invite us into a mystery, a place where we don’t know the answer. We know that seeds need to bury down deep in the ground, sometimes for a long, long time. Eventually, those seeds will break open and take root. But first they have to settle into the darkness. Still, that seed carries within it a narrative of hope. It just hasn’t lived into the whole story yet.” ~ Emily Freeman in The Next Right Thing

🦋 “Without dark clouds in our lives, we would never know the joy of sunshine. We can become callous and unteachable if we do not learn from pain.” ~ Billy Graham

🦋 “Hope is like the Sun. When it’s behind the clouds, it’s not gone. You just have to find it!” ~ R.J. Palacio

Nature Retreat

“There is not one blade of grass,
there is no color in this world
that is not intended to make us rejoice.“
~ John Calvin ~

Though my photography isn’t as professional as my brother’s is, capturing nature photos is relaxing for me. This past summer was a tough one and I didn’t have the privilege of going out to some of my favorite nature spots as often as I would have liked. As I was looking through some of my old photos, I decided to share some photos of my own this month. 🙂

“Just a reminder in case your mind is playing tricks on you today: You matter. You’re important. You’re loved. And your presence on this earth makes a difference, whether you see it or not.” ~ Anonymous

October Hope Whispers

October 28, 2021 Trudy Den Hoed18 Comments

When Loneliness Overwhelms

Jesus said:
“A time is coming and in fact has come
when you will be scattered, each to your own home.
You will leave Me all alone.
Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with Me.
I have told you these things,
so that in Me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:32-33 NIV

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

“Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord will hold me close.“
Psalm 27:10 NLT

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

“Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.”
Psalm 73:23-24 NASB

Kindness Quotes

🦋 “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’” – Martin Luther King Jr.

🦋 “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” – Fred Rogers

🦋 “Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.” – Jesse Jackson