January Hope Breathers

January 28, 2023 Trudy Den Hoed26 Comments

God’s Wings of Faithful Love

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“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.

Our daughter caught this amazing two-sided view of a sun dog, caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere.

January Hope Whispers

January 31, 2022February 2, 2022 Trudy Den Hoed27 Comments

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“And my God will supply all your needs
according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19 NASB
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“He who did not spare His own Son,
but delivered Him over for us all,
how will He not also with Him
freely give us all things?”
Romans 8:32 NASB

What Is Empathy?

🦋 “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” – Harper Lee

🦋 “An exchange of empathy provides an entry point for a lot of people to see what healing feels like.” – Tarana Burke

🦋 “Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’” – Brene Brown

Truly, no one can show perfect empathy like Jesus, but through Him we can empathize more with others. “The Gift of Presence” by Linda Stoll is a great example of empathy!
“No judgement. No opinions. No pontificating.
I felt validated. Heard. Safe to be myself, all kinds of messy, imperfect, and flawed.”

Nature Retreat

“All my life through,
the new sights of nature
made me rejoice like a child.“
~ Marie Curie ~

Thank you to my brother John
for views of unique species
and to our son Glen
for the beautiful sky views.
🙂 Please respect copyright laws. 🙂

Unique Species

Out of 750 butterfly species in North America, the Western Pygmy-Blue is the smallest. Only 3/8 to 3/4 of an inch!

Can you believe this is actually a butterfly? A Western Giant Swallowtail can disguise itself as bird poop! (Correction: This is actually the Swallowtail still in its caterpillar stage. Still amazing though!)

Spectacular Sky Views from the Dominican Republic

February Hope Whispers

February 23, 2021 Trudy Den Hoed33 Comments

God Promises Us

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
Jeremiah 31:3

“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10

Hope Quotes

“What I needed was hope. Optimism is seeing how circumstances will get better, but hope is seeing God’s love and care in the midst of bad circumstances. Hope is the refuge in uncertainty when optimism runs dry.” ~ Bonnie Gray

“Our hope comes in Jesus, even when He doesn’t do what we want Him to do. Even when He doesn’t fix what’s broken in our life… When Jesus is with us, He’s our anchor in the rough waters of a troubled life. If we want to survive the storm we need to cling to Him like the salvation He is.” ~ Laura Story

“God has graciously, lovingly and compassionately taken each piece of the jigsaw that was pulled out and scattered. He has then placed the pieces so perfectly back to where they came from. The difference about the pieces this time is that they are much stronger, and much more refined.” ~ Francesca Price

“…I’m an empty page
I’m an open book
Write your story on my heart
Come on and make your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be your work of art
Won’t you write your story on my heart…”

Nature Is a Retreat of Hope

“There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks.
Most of the time we are simply not patient enough,
quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.”
~ Linda Hogan ~