February Hope Breathers

February 27, 2023 Trudy Den Hoed29 Comments

Someday We Will Understand

Her little body wracked by RSV, Covid, and pneumonia, our 1-1/2 year old great-granddaughter, Lily, was struggling to get enough oxygen. Filled with worry, we begged God for a miracle. In the same week, God gave us the precious gift of a new great-grandson, Caynen. Grief and joy. Fear of loss vs. new life. (Thank God, the grief over Lily turned to joy when God healed her.)

As I reflected on the coexistence of grief and joy in life, I thought of how both painful experiences and God’s faithful love are a part of His weaving for our lives. We often see a messy blur of trauma, trials, evil, and injustice in the world and in our lives. But if we step back and see it from God’s perspective, we see how God is interweaving those dark times with the brightness of His new-every-morning mercies, His amazing grace, and the golden threads of His unconditional love even during those times when we didn’t see it.

We can never fully understand everything that happens, but one day we will see the full picture and be amazed by how God brought all things together to create the beauty of His purpose.

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23

Jesus replied, “You do not realize
now what I am doing,
but later you will understand.”
John 13:7

“For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

It’s the Size of Our God That Counts

“It is not the size of your faith, but the object of your faith that matters.”
~ Tim Keller

“While faith is a very precious grace, yet it is only the medium of the communication of God’s infinite love and power, and we must never put it in the place of God Himself.”
~ John Alexander Dowie

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”
~ Oswald Chambers

Nature Retreat

Photos Courtesy of My Brother

Amazing photos of a Hooded Merganser pair and of the female downing her goldfish lunch

I sure hope these robins are coming our way! I’m longing for spring!

I just came across this collage I made
years ago from some of my butterfly photos
and thought I’d share it again.
FLY FREE in JESUS!

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.

May Hope Whispers

May 24, 2021 Trudy Den Hoed18 Comments

God Promises

“Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us,
because God’s love has been abundantly poured out
within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Romans 5:5 AMP

When I checked out what posts readers are drawn to the most so far this year, I was surprised to see the top three dated back between 2014 and 2016.

God’s Plan Is Greater Than Ours

“However messed up or painful our lives are, God has a plan of love towards us. We will suffer troubles on this earth, and often we will not understand. But He is never going to leave us in them. He will help us through them. And when the pain is so deep, He can go to those deep places in our hearts and heal those broken, hurting places. The incomprehensible suffering He went through for us and His triumph over all evil will get us through whatever suffering we must go through in this life. And someday we will see the bigger picture and see how God’s plan is the most beautiful design we could ever imagine.”
Read More…

Bloom With Love Wherever God Plants You

“Sometimes our focus gets skewed in the muck and messiness of life. We start thinking everyone else is better than we are instead of remembering God uniquely created each of us with a special purpose. Each one of us is needed in His garden. None of us is insignificant in His eyes.

The Gardener delights in each of His plantings. He places each plant in such a way that it will compliment the other in the grand scheme of things. Where one serves a purpose to some souls, someone else brings what is needed to other souls. Plants are placed exactly where God can give the best nourishment to each and they can in turn pass on that nourishment to others.”
Read More…

God Knows Us Better Than We Know Ourselves

Questions we sometimes ask God and His answers.
Read More…

Do You Feel Burned Out?

What We Learn From Burnout – Jennifer Renee Watson

I applaud Jennifer’s courage to bring out the hard things about mental health and faith. We need more of that, so we can help remove the shame many are burdened with.

Beat Burnout – I don’t listen to many podcasts, but I’m glad I listened to this important talk by Suzanne, Holley, and Jennifer.

“The past year has left many of us with a weird kind of burnout. We put words to those feelings, talk through what helps, and share next steps.”

When Your Heart is Bummed Out, Burned Out – Suzanne Eller

“Burnout isn’t just about busyness. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, or spiritual exhaustion.

And that’s when it hit me. That’s where I am. I’m burned out. Burned out from the weight of hurtful discussions in our world. Burned out from trying to make sense of all of it. Burned out from feeling protective over friends walking through such hard places. Burned out from isolation. Burned out from the pandemic and all that it means.

Maybe you feel that way too.