Hope Chest

Hope is a powerful thing! It replaces panic with peace, fear with strength, anxiety with comfort. It calms the “what if’s” in life and is simply a game changer. Hope is contagious! I am excited to share nuggets of hope with you from my personal “Hope Chest”! It may be through a scripture, a quote, a short story, or a photo. We hope the result is a nugget of hope you can carry throughout the day to make your day a little more “hope filled and joyful!”

What's in your cup?

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? "Because someone bumped into me!!!" Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. *Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.* Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get rattled. *So we have to ask ourselves... “what's in my cup?"* When life gets tough, what spills over? Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions? Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it. Today let's work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.

Jojo Bennington

A lesson from Job

I love the verse that comes at the end of Job. “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you!” I pray this prayer when the winds of life threaten to knock me to the ground, and life seems at its most bleak. I don’t want to only hear about God; I want to see Him and commune with him in the dark places of my life. Sometimes we must let go of our well-laid plans—the ones we make for safety and security—so we can grab hold of God’s purpose for our lives. His purpose and the story He wants to write with your life are always good. Trust Him. You have an author Who is intimately acquainted with the story and is writing those restoring chapters at this very moment.

"My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you." Job 42:5 (NIV)

The Journey to Soon

I have learned that what we do with “The Journey to ‘Soon’” is vitally important. Waiting does not necessarily mean passivity. Waiting works us over, making us pliable in the Potter’s hand. He molds the wet clay and forms a real grown-up person out of the child in me. So I am learning to take action while I wait. “Waiting on the Lord” does not mean putting on hold everything else in life until the prayer is answered, the situation redressed, or the nightmare over. “Waiting on the Lord” means cultivating an attitude of trust, casting the bundle of personal cares on Him while we busy ourselves with whatever duties we must do. And then He takes care of the rest!

Lisa Bain

Encouragement from Lisa's Blog

Seasons of Silence

Hello? God, can you hear me? Is anybody out there? On my way home from a meeting, I drove through heavy construction, and something felt off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I felt it deeply enough that I prayed for protection. “God, please send angels and just get me home safely.” Despite the lowered speed limit, cars were racing by, dodging cones and passing one another. Suddenly, ...

“Furry Friends and Healing Hearts”

Did you know sitting with a smiling lamb can lower your blood pressure? That’s what I felt as I sunk into a chair with Bradley. I had just ended an emotional week, but those stressful feelings melted away as I stroked the lamb’s fur. He was patient, understanding this was exactly what I needed. As a therapy animal, that’s his job. Bradley knew I needed some end-of-the-week therapy. When people ...

“Life Lessons Unleashed: Insights from My Therapy Dogs”

Following another visit to the hospice, my heart felt heavy with emotions I couldn't quite put into words. Then, out of nowhere, Mabel Joy stopped in her tracks, her eyes meeting mine as if she knew exactly what I needed. It was as if she could sense the weight on my heart, just as I could feel hers. Without a word, we found ourselves sitting together on the curb for ...

“The In-Between” – Resurrection is coming

As I sat in my prayer chair this week, I thought about the moments before and after Easter—the in-between moments. How would it have felt to wake up on the Saturday after Jesus was crucified, pulling yourself out of bed after you’ve watched hope die? The cross was the opposite of what Jesus’ followers had imagined. They thought He would usher in a bright future, but instead, He endured brutal ...

A lesson from Samuel

As I reflected this morning, my thoughts tenderly centered on my grandson, Sam. His innocence captivates me, as does his straightforward way of sharing thoughts directly from his heart. His enthusiasm for cake and cookies is beyond words, capturing a joy and marvel that's truly heartwarming. Amid these reflections, I came across my verse of the day, Matthew 18:3-4, which states, “Unless you change and become like children, you will ...

Lessons from a master gardener

Mom had a green thumb and so does my sister. Me? Not so much. If a cactus survives in my house for a week, I get excited. As a child, I watched Mom plant flowers and work her garden in a way that seemed effortless. She knew what to do and, like a talented gardener, when to do it. I have a vivid childhood memory of our front flower bed ...

Brokenness, Battles, and Empty Buckets

She held a small wooden cross during every chemo treatment. I sat beside Mom on this day, praying for no side effects, but also prepared for a deep talk. She was on a mission, and she looked at me with a serious, loving look that I knew well. Her crooked finger pointed at me to make sure I listened.“Lisa, it’s about giving. It’s about purpose. It’s about knowing you are ...

Your ordinary is extraordinary!

“I feel so ordinary, so small and insignificant”. Have you ever let that negative tape swirl inside your thinking before? Feeling like what you do simply doesn’t matter? One precious lady shared with me recently about how everyone else was doing grand things, but she was at home and could not do all those wonderful things she saw others doing on social media. This lady was the caretaker for her ...

The power of kindness

As I sat in the middle of a five o’clock traffic jam, something in the opposite lane caught my eye. An older man had opened his car door in the middle of traffic and was struggling to get out. He looked so much like my father that I had to catch my breath. Why was he getting out of his car in the middle of traffic? He was having difficulty ...

Grief

Grief is a sneaky and unpredictable companion. Today marks exactly two years since the sudden loss of my father. This week, I found myself sitting in the same hospital room where he was two years ago before his journey to heaven. It brought a flood of emotions back to the surface as if it were yesterday. Recently I sat with a dear friend who was walking through grief. She lost ...

Behind the “seen”

A precious friend and I shared a hug, knowing it would be the last time we would see one another. Literally. She was scheduled for surgery, and after she came out of it, her eyesight would be gone. Cancer had robbed her of vision, but it couldn’t take away her smile as she opened the care box in front of her. It was filled with items that she would carry ...

But God.

But God”……. I have whispered those words more times than I can count this last year. The news of losing dear friends to unexpected illness. “but God”…… Praying for those who are dear to me who are walking through some impossible situations…..”but God”…. Heartbreaking goodbyes……”but God”…. Standing for healing of some precious family members….”but God”…. Betrayal and broken trust….”but God”… At times the heaviness palpable, but just two words always ...