Planning a New Hope

I look to the mountains; where will my help come from? My help will  come from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121, 1-2) (Good News Translation Opportunity in the Midst of a Problem                This is a tale I’ve heard many times and I call it, Opportunity in the Midst of a Problem : There were some boys, I’m assuming just out of high school, traveling to Chicago from the eastern part of the United States. Late one afternoon as they were going through Goodman, the town where I grew up, their car broke down, but it was too late to get it fixed until the next day. With nowhere else to stay, the young men went up to the community college and bunked in the boys’ dormitory. That experience opened their eyes to the possibility of higher education. Before leaving this little town, two of them had decided to attend the college where they were staying. This was just the beginning of their ed ucational endeavors. After g...

"An oak tree is just a small nut that persevered against the taunts of doubt and fear." Matshona Dhliwayo For I know the plans that 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 on Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29: 11-13, NIV I Don’t Have What It Takes to Start Over or Succeed             Stories of people overcoming the odds have always been a part of my arsenal of survival techniques. There are many today who are having to reconsider their lives, start a different way of making a living, or living in fear of the future yet feeling they have nothing to offer. While considering the toll this pandemic is taking on the population, I remember a young man who attended the community college in my home town.    ...

The Sun Always Rises Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-20) New American Standard Bible Fear in the Midst of The Virus             “God, what am I going to do? My savings are plummeting, and I’m too old to start over. What about my bills?”             Though I’ve made many mistakes along the way as there is nothing perfect about this writer, I have walked with the Lord most of my life. That night, however, there was no faith, only fear. Was it possible to find hope in the face of loss? While wrestling with urgent concerns, I felt the need to remember a time when God helped me. An experience from two years before came to light:    ...