Place your hope in the Lord....

Place your hope in the Lord: Be strong and courageous in your heart and place your hope in the Lord~ Psalm 27:14  
Do not despair, do not give up; but with perseverance offer both body and soul for the glory of God.  Your reward will be abundant, and I will be with you in all your tribulations. ~ Chapter 35  The Imitation of Christ.

Throughout life, we are met with many trials, challenges, hardships, disappointments.  And there are times to wonder "How can this be what is intended for me?"  We are promised the joy of life, and the trials of life.

As a little girl my sanctuary was not at home... And I learned that what I saw as normal in other homes, the homes of my friends, was not there for me.  Instead I found peace and acceptance in another place, a peaceful place, in God's house.  I learned that I could return time and again and always find what I was looking for.  Love in Christ! Jesus has always been near to me.

Years went by and I became involved in putting the lives of young people who had made
wrong choices back together again.  As a counselor, these youth were often my own age.  Our organization accepted the responsibility for taking kids out into  the western wilderness to
demonstrate good choices, wrong habits, and critical thinking and teamwork.  We returned them to their families, changed and whole again...with the Lord in their lives.  It was magic to see the
transformation that this time of teaching brought into lives that were broken after turning away from Jesus. I saw The Lord touch lives in ways that were stunning...even though one might have wondered if He had been there before, there was nothing to doubt in the end!

In college,  I chose  European study, but not just any European study.  I chose communism; to live in, study in, work under, travel through the most dangerous and horribly oppressed countries and communities in a perilous political time in world history.  And I saw the Lord work in wonderful ways in dark circumstances, in terrible trials, in violence and in oppression...Jesus was there.  ...There was a time when I thought there was no hope, no way that He could help in a place where we could not be free.  We searched for a solution but we were bound by circumstances that seemed impossible.  IMPOSSIBLE, HOPELESS, and HELPLESS.  JESUS showed us that he was there for us...there was no doubt that The Lord was working even when there was no help...

Time and again throughout my life, no matter the circumstance or how black things seemed...there is no doubt, no reason to question, no time to wonder if it is true...
John 14:6 --Jesus is the way, the truth and the life...