Messengers of Hope

December 2, 2013

“May the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with the hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Romans 15:13

The Almighty God shows up in desperate circumstances…Since the beginning, He has passionately pursued and yearned for His people…He has unconditionally loved and kept a Covenant Promise to a people who hardened their hearts against the Creator, the Redeemer, the God of Israel…

In this day, God shows up in desperate circumstances…as He passionately pursues, and yearns for His people; He unconditionally loves and keeps His Covenant Promise through His Son Christ Yeshua, for a people who harden their hearts against their Creator, their Redeemer, their God of Israel, the God of Jew and Gentile…

His presence is amazing, incredible, and miraculous; BUT, His silence…

The Great God Almighty orchestrated His perfect timing, in the fullness of time, with a four hundred year silence after His final words in the book of Malachi. The Great and Wonderful God spoke through the prophet, Malachi, calling His people to come back…to come back to Him, “Return to Me, and I will return to You.”

His silence…The darkness…As the people waited and waited for the fullness of time…They waited for the God of Hope to speak…to show up in desperate circumstances…and the Almighty, Faithful, Loving God, once again, spoke Light, Life, and Love into the world…

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death…a light has dawned…For unto us a child is born…And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:2-6

The God of Hope shows up in desperate circumstances…He shows up to bring Light into darkness…

“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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:11

Oh what an incredible mighty God we serve! What a glorious message of Hope for every person…for every child, for every youth. To know beyond a doubt that the Almighty Creator of the universe has a plan and a purpose for each one…a plan to benefit, to prosper…not to harm or cause injury, but to give Hope, a promise of today, and a promise for tomorrow through eternity.

…To give Light to the darkness of the known, the unknown, the future, eternity…The God of Hope!

Messengers of Hope

Christmas is a beautiful time of year…there is a magic permeating the air with Light and sound…with the Message of Hope…and I find myself, once again, watching people. I am completely aware and heart-broken that there are so many who are walking in darkness, without Hope…blind and oblivious to the Light and Life engulfing them…I love to hear about and to watch as people step out to extend a message of Hope to others who are waiting…kindness, goodwill, generosity…in the name of Christ Yeshua.

This season brings to mind countless stories of Messengers of God’s abundant Hope…The wife who is the messenger for her husband, waiting patiently for his heart to become tender to the gentle voice calling his name, the voice of the God of Hope…The parent praying and interceding and speaking truth into the life his beloved child, the child who walks in darkness…The wonderful friend who is a two-time overcomer of breast cancer, who knits beautiful scarves with her message of Hope attached to each one, to testify of the Lord’s faithfulness to give her courage and perseverance, encouraging others to trust Him…Yes, Our Loving God shows up in desperate circumstances…in the fullness of time, because He knows…He hears…He Loves…

I have a dear friend who literally looks for people to talk with and she seems to attract people who feel desperate and need a message of Hope…and she shares with them the message that God loves them and that Christ is that Hope that they are seeking. She has countless stories of encounters with people who are in darkness, feeling hope-less…at Lowes, Home Depot, the grocery store, the airport, antique shopping…She is passionate and compelled! She is a Messenger of Hope…

I am thankful in my own life for the Messengers of Hope who showed up in my desperate circumstances; at times it was a phone call; a word of encouragement; a painful truth spoken; a loving family member, the kindness of a friend, a brief encounter with a stranger becoming the Messenger of Hope…

My life has been greatly enriched and blessed as my husband and I have two married children and four beautiful grand-daughters. We have encountered many wonderful messengers…but one is particularly on my heart this Christmas…

A Christmas Carol…

Our son, Adam, met Barry at Baylor University on the first day of their freshman year when they sat next to each other in a large classroom and they became friends, enjoying many of the same interests. We laughed through the years about them both being extremely quiet, both requiring very little conversation. However, several years later, that would change for Barry as he began to date our daughter and they married in 2006…with the level of conversation drastically increasing for him as he married Christie. And now with their daughter Charlee…the quiet moments are very few!

During the years of Adam’s friendship with Barry and the years of Christie and Barry dating, Bill and I had the privilege of getting to know Barry’s parents. We determined that there were no finer people…They had loved and parented their two boys and had reared them in a loving Christian home, with parameters to insure that they were respectful young men, excelling in sports and their academics. Barry’s mother, Carol, was an incredible woman, a beautiful and loving wife and mother, and an incredible mother-in-law to our daughter…Carol was a messenger of Hope.

Carol was born in December, several days before Christmas. I was told that her father called her “his Christmas Carol…” And that she was… For those of us who knew her in adult years, she was like a song at Christmas. Her soft and gentle voice was a pleasant comfort, as she maintained a calm spirit. However, I am told that she was incredibly strong and bold in her convictions, (both sons confirming her strength and her commitment to integrity within their home. I have heard stories of how the rough-housing, rowdy boys could be silenced immediately with Carol’s firm correction, spoken with love and authority!)…and she and her husband faithfully reared their two sons to be strong, godly men…now, both husbands and fathers.

Carol’s life was a living testimony to God’s faithfulness to give His hand of courage, strength, and perseverance…through the darkness. Carol was a multi-time cancer survivor, first diagnosed after the birth of Barry, their younger son. She underwent treatments then, to overcome and twice more when Barry was in high school, and then in college. Each time, she yielded to the grueling medical treatments with courage and tenacity, faith and hope. The cancer returned when Christie and Barry began dating and she battled the enemy once again…for the fourth time…

One of the most remarkable things about Carol was a job she held at Baylor University. I have often thought about the profound impact she had on countless lives of students, bearing messages of Hope…in desperate situations. Carol was the assistant to the Dean of Judicial Affairs and had the opportunity to speak to students as their presence was requested for possible disciplinary actions within the college community.

One afternoon, I sat in the office waiting for Carol as she completed some business before finishing a wedding project with me. I saw a number of nervous students enter the office, not sure what actions awaited them…I was aware of some of the crazy, pointless, senseless, actions of students from time to time…and I am quite sure that many of them berated themselves as they took the elevator ride up the floors to the judicial office…not knowing what awaited them…many finding themselves in dark places…many in very desperate circumstances…Knowing that they were subject to university discipline, perhaps discipline of their parents, and some facing legal consequences…yes, they felt desperate…hopeless. Carol, would speak to them with her calm, gentle voice of reason…reassuring them that all was not lost…yes, there would be consequences, but not without the future and hope that God promises to His children…often not using those spoken words, but living the message of hope as she sat and talked with them as they waited…as they waited…I watched her as she was their Messenger of Hope…

Carol was given an award during her service to Baylor University and delivered a beautiful message of Hope to encourage her audience as she shared her story and her faith in her Heavenly Father who had equipped her for each day of the cancer battle she had faced for over twenty years. Carol was an inspiration to everyone who knew her…to her family, to her friends, and to me.

Carol was a Messenger of Hope…

Carol joined Christie and me on the day of Christie’s bridal portrait at Horseshoe Bay. It was a perfect day until a hook on the wedding dress caught in Christie’s hair and pulled out hair from her up-do. As I stood helpless, holding the dress in both hands to prevent further damage, Carol rushed over to solve the dilemma, with comb in hand and performed a quick fix on the bride’s hair, whispering words of encouragement that, “It would all be okay.” Christie and I believed her…and all was well, and it was a beautiful day.

On the wedding day, moments before the wedding was to begin, the zipper on one of the bridesmaid’s dresses broke. The wedding party almost went into panic mode…until Carol waltzed over and quickly sat down with her travel sewing kit and began to stitch up the gaping dress as she chatted quietly about the wonderful event…no panic…just reassurance and encouragement…that all was well…

The Messenger of Hope…for a bride…on one of the most important days of her life…and for the bride’s mom…who wanted more than anything in the world for this to be a perfect day…And it was!

Following the wedding, Carol attempted the treatments again, but after months of agonizing treatments, she realized that she could no longer withstand the enemy attacking her body. Her faith remained steadfast as her spirit quickened her resolve to prepare for her Home-going, never once complaining about her condition. Once again, in circumstances that for some would have been desperate, she was a Messenger of Hope for her family, for Barry, for his brother, for his father…for our daughter. Together, Carol and Christie cleaned out closets, organized, finished projects, made lists and left instructions for her husband as he would be running the household. During this time, a beautiful relationship grew between two women and it became a time of Hope…

Together, the young married couple walked with Barry’s parents through these difficult days, spending nights and days, helping and loving…

As Christmas was approaching, Carol’s condition began to quickly decline. Two weeks before Christmas, Bill and I visited the family. She was beautiful and gracious as always, joy-filled and peaceful. The home was decorated for the greatest time of year…their Christmas tree claiming its focal point in the living room, with wrapped gifts surrounding…Carol’s enemy could not destroy the joy of Christmas and the Hope of the celebration…God shows up in desperate circumstances…and in His presence, there is Love, Life, Joy, Peace, Hope. Once again, for her family, for her visitors, for us, Carol was the beautiful, Messenger of Hope.

And as she approached her time to leave this earth, she lived and loved and shared her Hope that the enemy could not possibly steal from her…On Christmas Eve, with her family and with our family gathered around her, Carol, our Christmas Carol, smiled radiantly and breathed her last breath here. And, because she was one of the bearers of God’s message of Life and of Hope, she walked her loved ones up to the place where she left them to go to be with her Lord and her Savior Christ Yeshua. Carol showed us so many things about grace, about love, about forgiveness, about Hope…she led her family and her friends through darkness…into the Light of Hope, as she smiled…

Just as she led the desperate, hopeless college students…just as she lead the panic-stricken bridesmaid…The sweet Messenger of Hope led her loved ones toward the Hand of the Almighty Father…

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” 1 Peter 1:3

That Christmas, the Johnson Family experienced new birth in two ways, Carol’s new birth in Heaven, and the birth of their first grand-child, Bella, born days after Carol’s home-going…New birth at Christmas!

Messengers of Hope

“…Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31, 31

Our Loving, Faithful God, in the fullness of time, sent His precious Son to this earth to walk with humankind, to lead them from the darkness into the Light of Hope which is available to every seeking heart…As a Loving Father does, He gives rest to His children, He gives strength to His children so that they possess the promise of Hope to become children of God’s abundance and of His Love and of His provision. Messengers of Hope are everywhere…in the coffee shops, the grocery stores, the airports, the convenience stores, in schools, in universities, in churches, in hospitals, in homes…God’s people have the Living Christ Yeshua within them…transforming lives from darkness to His marvelous Light of Hope…

This Christmas, I pray that our lives would be songs of truth and of Hope…I pray that we would be Messengers of Hope…showing up in desperate circumstances, sharing the Love and the Heart of Christ with a world in darkness, being the Hands of God…speaking the truth of God with our voices and with our lives, watching and waiting for desperate hearts…waiting for the fullness of God’s timing and His Hope to be revealed in each heart this Christmas and for eternity.

This Christmas, I am thankful for each one of you…and for my friends and family who are Messengers of Hope.

May your lives overflow with the God of Hope.

Joyfully,