Tag: hope breathers

January Hope Breathers

Trudy Den Hoed26 Comments

God’s Wings of Faithful Love

❤️❤️❤️
“Like a bird protecting its young,
God will cover you with His feathers,
will protect you under His great wings;
His faithfulness will form a shield around you,
a rock-solid wall to protect you.”
Psalm 91:4 VOICE

Jesus Longs For Us to Find Refuge Under His Wings of Love
Blog Post Excerpt and Prayer from 2019

“Though a bird will give its life for its young, there are times when it has no power against much stronger enemies. That will never happen with God. He is invincible. There is no enemy too strong for Him. We can always find refuge under His Almighty wings of safety in the storms of life. 

And there will be storms, because we are part of this sinful, fallen world. As long as we are on this earth, physical, mental, and emotional losses in various forms will continue to cause heart-rending grief, anxiety, and fear.

We all need a Shelter, a Refuge, a Safe Savior in these storms.”

Lord, thank You for loving us so much and longing for us to take shelter in You. Please help us to trust You with all our hearts. Take away all the roadblocks that keep us from fleeing to find refuge in You. Take away all the trust issues we may have in our hearts. Take away all our self-sufficiency. Please help us to snuggle underneath Your wings of loving care with all our restlessness, anxiety, and fear. Help us to picture Your protective wings around us whenever we step forward into places or situations that make us feel so afraid and untrusting but yet will help us on the road to healing the brokenness within us. Help us to be dependent on You and Your all-sufficient grace in whatever struggles we go through in this life. Thank You that Your wings of love and safety are invincible.

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Learning To Tell God the Truth

“…We are crafted for communion with our Creator, built to share both the marvels and the mess of this life with the One who knows the beginning and the end.

Lament isn’t merely complaining about God. It’s being honest enough to bring our complaints to God. It’s not raging behind God’s back. It’s turning back to the One who is able to handle our anger and our questions, our discouragement and our despair.

Lament is processing grief in the presence of Love…”

Alicia Bruxvoort in It’s Ok to Be Messy: Learning to Tell God the Truth 

We Have True Value in God

“The devil has convinced so many people that they are worthless. Each of us needs to stop and remember the cross – at the cross we will discover our true value – for it is here that we discover the price God was willing to pay for us, the depth of His love, and how much we are worth to Him.” ~ Roy Lessin

“Just think, you’re here not by chance, but by God’s choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else – You are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can’t give you. He has allowed you to be here in this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.” ~ Roy Lessin

“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.” ~ Brennan Manning

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

My brother got up early one morning and took this spectacular slice of beauty!
From their home in Arizona, he zoomed in the distant mountains. More beauty!
Another slice of beauty from one of our sons when their family visited Maui.
Also from Maui
Our daughter caught this amazing two-sided view of a sun dog, caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere.

New Year Hope Breathers

Trudy Den Hoed30 Comments

Were you devastated from heartaches or losses of one kind or another as you closed out 2022? Has it continued into 2023? I’m so sorry. No matter what you’re suffering, I pray God strengthens you with His measureless grace and pours His peace into Your hurting heart.

🦋 “God has a heart. And it hurts.
Not with just a few drops of ache,
not just with a slow drip of sadness —
His whole massive heart fills, swells,
burns with this raw, relentless pain.”
~ Ann Voskamp

God’s Grace Is Immeasurable

❤️❤️❤️
“So here’s what I’ve learned through it all:
Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord,
and measureless grace will strengthen you.”
Psalm 55:22 TPT

As I look back to 2022, God truly has been generous with His boundless love and His all-sufficient grace. Does that mean it was free sailing without any struggles? Not at all.

There will always be trials on this earth, but God has promised His measureless grace to get through them. I am such a worrier and feel so helpless to “fix” things, but God is infinitely patient with me. I continue this life-long learning process of more deeply trusting God and leaving all worries and troubles in His Hands. To repeatedly surrender my heart and past, present, and future life and that of others to Him and His faithful love and infinite and powerful grace. To remember to relinquish the things I can’t change and to believe they are better off in God’s hands than mine. But also to seek His wisdom, guidance, and strength to have courage to make a difference wherever He places me.

❤️❤️❤️
“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

Nature Retreat

I’m so grateful to receive photos from warmer climates during these cold and snowy winter months! The first 6 photos are of Arizona birds from my brother. 🙂 The rest of the photos are ones my niece took recently on her trip to Hawaii to visit her daughter who lives on the Big Island and studies and rescues sea turtles. 🙂

American Robin
Bridled Titmouse
Hermit Thrush
Arizona Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Burrowing Owls
Love this view with the lighthouse!
Another Ocean View
Sea Turtles
Green Sea Turtles
Waimea Canyon

Advent Hope Breathers

Trudy Den Hoed30 Comments

Advent – A Season of Anticipation

We wait, we watch, we hope:

⭐️ As we celebrate the Lord Jesus’ humble birth on this earth because He loves us so deeply

⭐️ For our hearts to open wide to receive the Tidings of Great Joy, either for the first time or by renewal

⭐️ In eager expectation for the second coming of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ

“And the Word became flesh,
and dwelt among us,
and we saw His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father,
full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14

Advent Bible Verses

⭐️ 6 Passages to Read for Advent

⭐️ 25 Hope-Filled Advent Bible Verses

⭐️ Bible Verse Advent Countdown for Kids – Free Printable from Happy Home Fairy

Advent Quotes

“The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.” ~ Henri Nouwen

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“You could more easily catch a hurricane in a shrimp net that you can understand the wild, relentless, passionate, uncompromising, pursuing love of God made present in the manger.” ~ Brennan Manning

“Let’s approach Christmas with an expectant hush,
rather than a last-minute rush.”
~ Author Unknown

Songs of Hope

🎶 10 Songs of Hope to Prepare Our Hearts for Advent

🎶 12 Traditional Christmas Carols

🎶 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
by Casting Crowns

Nature Retreat

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
Psalm 19:1

Some beautiful sunset photos one of our granddaughters took. 🙂
I love watching the sunrises from our bedroom window. It’s amazing how not one scene is the same and it can change so quickly.
God Is With Us!
One of our sons was at a home ministry conference and someone driving past took this photo. Can you see the cross?