Trees we plant today are forests we enjoy tomorrow.
Mothers are out world. Sisters are our sky. Daughters are out stars. Women are our universe.
Matshona Dhliwayo is a Canadian-based author and philosopher. Born in Zimbabwe, he shares his unique look at life throughout much of his writing.
The location of Hope County can’t be found on any maps
Perhaps hope resides in our caring hearts, ready to tap
Last year’s drought
Brings misery and dried-up hope
Optimistic farmers seed spring crops with unwavering hope
A nearby processing plant
Will close soon with vanishing hope
Hurting families look to God for new hope
A nation’s inner fiber
Torn and ripped apart with faltering hope
Martin Luther King proclaims a message of rebuilding hope
A man sits despaired and forlorn
Being laid off with a future that offers spiritless hope
Receiving a new job brings praise to a God of immense hope
A crime-ridden neighborhood
Breathes each day with an absence of hope
Community spirit and love return with true hope
A charred Apollo spacecraft
Dashes an American moon journey with little hope
Neil Armstrong walks on the moon with restored hope
A scorned and forgotten child
Feels left out at school with fading hope
A passionate teacher smiles and brings refreshing hope
A middle-aged woman
Receives news that her body is filled with cancer and no hope
Prayers intercede filled with cancer-free and grace-filled hope
A sin-filled world
Awaits a Savior with never-ending hope
God sends His Son to deliver eternally-filled hope
Our world contains many places
Where hearts are filled with everlasting spirit and hope
Let’s never turn-off for a second our amazing hope
The Bible speaks a great deal about hope. Search for numerous examples such as from Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
As never before in this generation, we realize that we are dependent upon God for protection and strength. Our resolve is firm because our refuge is based on the eternal foundation of the living God.
From 2 Timothy 2:19: “But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness.'”
From Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Facing challenges
Darkest, stressful times
Feeling need to flee
Days no longer rhyme
Cresting floodwaters
Race seems lost, no doubt
Overwhelming doom
Path blocked, no way out
Inner voice speaking
Quitters never win
Winners never quit
Life’s new road begins
Looking to Jesus
Faith’s firm cornerstone
Enduring His fate
Never feel alone
Hearing His message
Persistence wins out
Yielding victory
Timeless turnabout
From James 1:12: “Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
The Cross is not a mere event in history; it’s a way of life! Take up your Cross DAILY, Jesus said!
From Matthew 16:24: “Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If any wish to come after Me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.'”
John Piper (born 1946) is an American pastor, theologian, and Christian scholar. He is the founder and teacher of desiringgod.org.
Grandparents Herman and Annie experienced a most unusual courtship. Little did they know where life planned to take them in the years to come.
Herman was born in 1890 in Brainerd, Minnesota. He moved to North Dakota in 1911, then to Forsyth in eastern Montana. In 1916, as Europe filled with the winds of war, he arrived in Billings, Montana. He had been hired to be a mail carrier.
Annie was born in 1895 on a small farm in Harlon County, Nebraska. Not even a blizzard dared to delay her birth. Her early schooling was spent in a sod school house. In 1915, her family moved to Leavenworth, Washington where she finished high school, worked in a photo shop, and was employed as a staff operator by the Great Northern Railroad.
Both of their unassuming lives intersected along the railroad tracks of the Great Northern. Herman was traveling to Fort Lewis outside of Seattle on a troop train. He was being trained to serve in the American army which was shipping troops to Europe during World War I.
Along the rail line, many young ladies passed out slips of paper with their name and address. Herman received one from Annie. Later, he sent her a card, and thus began a courtship by correspondence.
The two of them met briefly at Fort Lewis before Herman shipped out to France. Upon returning safely from the war, Herman met up with Annie to be married in 1919.
They moved to Billings where Herman still found his mail carrier job waiting. Together they raised a large family of six sons and two daughters. Ultimately, the siblings witnessed the blessing of 32 grandchildren.
This story recalled the start of my father’s family. Being the youngest child (born in 1935), Jim started a family of his own with the birth of his first child in 1956 (Richard). Eventually the family would number five sons and one daughter. My youngest brother became the final grandchild when he was born in 1967.
Praying
For neighbors
Spreading Good News
Christ walks with us
Supporting
Praying
Holy Father
Hearing His wisdom
Spirit’s light ends darkness
Renewing
Praying
For adversaries
Sharing Christ’s love
Division begins to soften
Healing
This series of poems (written in the German-inspired style of Elfchen or Elevenie) shares a total of eleven words in each poem, with a sequence by line of one, two, three, four, and one words.
The writer’s first job is not to have opinions but to tell the truth . . . and refuse to be an accomplice of lies and misinformation.
The fear of becoming old is born of the recognition that one is not living now the life that one wishes.
Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist. Many of her works were published as essays.
I may not be able to change the world I see around me, but I can change the way I see the world within me.
From Genesis 1:27: “So God created humans in His image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”
John Maxwell (born 1947) is an American pastor, author, and speaker. He has written numerous books about leadership, with a Christian point of view.
Stirring in early morn
Feeling approaching tide
Future’s hope now airborne
Flying without clear guide
Standing still at crossing
Waiting for next green light
Future now crisscrossing
Hiding in hopeless night
Looking for place to rest
Stumbling along dark road
Future stalls at hill’s crest
Spilling hope’s heavy load
Waking to darkest gloom
Hoping for one sure thing
Future trying to bloom
Hanging on threadbare string
Seeing fresh hope renewed
Shifting life’s paradigm
Future no longer skewed
Finding success to climb
Big Sky Buckeye 