This man and his family loved our family so well. 

They used to give entire days to babysit..or maybe we should call it “entertain” our kids.  They even once invited us to visit on their family vacation.  One time, our friend visited an empty NFL stadium to prop up handmade pictures all around so that our 11 year old son could get a virtual tour.  And I remember how Him and his daughter took “Flat Stanley” to the Grand Canyon with them for one of our kids’ school projects.  I will forever cherish the recipe book that he hand delivered for our daughter.  He not only bought her this book, but he chose to go the extra mile to pick out a recipe and supply the pan and every ingredient for it.  He would surprise us with soft pretzels and New Jersey bagels, but I think my personal favorite was when he stood in my foyer not holding back the tears in his eyes as he prayed for my family.  This man, KNEW how to be a good friend.

So, our family drove a couple of hours to be with his hurting family.  Just to be with them.  We had nothing else to offer, other than our presence… but it turns out, that our presence was a gift.  Our simple act of “showing up” was used to make this shocked, grieving and newly widowed friend feel like God loves her.

Friend, I am compelled.

I am compelled to be like these friends of ours.  I want to be a good friend too. I want to love over the top.  To not question or doubt my gifts and then ultimately talk myself out of the nudges inside of me to be a good friend.

So, today, I am not sensing that God is nudging me to surprise someone with bagels, or recipe books.  I don’t sense an Him urging me to babysit for a day or provide raspberry sorbet for a mom who just needs a little time to herself.

Rather… I (once again) feel the nudge to just do my next right thing for a friend.  Funny thing is, I’m not even sure who that friend is that I am called to give to today.  So, I offer my gift to God, as a step of trust that He will deliver my gift to the recipient who needs it today.

My gift? 
My act of friendship kind of love? 

It is words that I have already written about hope.  Words that I felt God nudge me to write down maybe a month or so ago.  Words that I have questioned if there was any value to them. 
These words, a potential gift for a friend, that I have held onto and talked myself out of offering.

But, today, I want to be like our friend who is now at home with Jesus. 

I want to give without question my offering.. I just want to GIVE it.  I want to be a good friend.  I want to trust that what God placed inside of me, might be used for someone else’s good today.



So, to whom it may concern,...

Here are some words that I wrote down for you ...

May you feel God’s love as you receive this little gift of hope...

The sun rises… as well as anxious thoughts.

Because, sometimes, life is just hard.

Circumstances rock what once was thought to be stable.

Like a child innocently playing at a beautiful water's edge, the waves come and knock her over.  Again. 

Tossed and thrown by the waves, with no anchor to hold her in one safe place. 

Safety begins to feel like an illusion.

HOPE ANCHORS THE SOUL.

Hope for a changed circumstance or an improved situation?  Maybe.
I mean, that’d be nice.  So, it is asked for. 

The desire to have that thing changed is poured out into a prayer, and then another prayer.  Actually, a whole lot of soul spilling out onto a Father’s lap so that He will surely know what is longed for.

But, maybe that thing won’t change.  Maybe, like Paul who repeatedly begged to have his thing taken away from him, we beg too.  But what if God pours back, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in your weakness”.


Ok, God, I hear you. 

And, somedays that is all that is needed. 
An imagination of a supernatural power forming inside of me.  A power that can only come out of a deep, abiding dependency. 

Hope, then, anchors the soul.




Then another day passes and the hope that once was, turns back into despair.  Discouragement rises.

NOW, where might hope come from??!!

I pour my heart out as a lament.  Though my feelings are not exactly telling the truth.  The truth is, these feelings are real.

Like the sad soul in Lamentations, I repeat his words with some edits of my own:

“I am the woman who has seen affliction… it feels like God has has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;

though I call and cry for help, it feels as though God shuts out my prayer;

my soul is bereft of peace;  I have forgotten what happiness is;

so I say, “My endurance has died; and so has my hope from the Lord.”
(Lamentations 3)

These raw words are read, and comfort comes.
Atleast, I am reminded that I am not alone. 

So, I too pour out my raw self without holding back and without pretending to sound somewhat put together.  The feelings I express might not always be the truth of my reality, but the reality is, is that the feelings are true.  And true feelings are worthy of being cared for.

Just after the lamenter spills out all kinds of heavy, he somehow is able to have a mental shift. 

The lamenter then says the word, “but”.  He says, “But, this I call to mind,  and therefore I have hope:”

And then, I’m like, “HOPE?” 
He has hope?  How can there be such a change of mind?  He was just saying such awful things about his life and his view of God in his life, and suddenly he shares that he has hope?  How?  Where did that come from?

What did the lamenter “call to mind” that gave him hope?

He says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.”

The lamenter recalled God’s faithfulness. 

He had to tell his mind to remember that God’s mercies never come to an end, and they will come to him fresh and new every morning.

At some point in his past, he must have experienced God’s steadfast, unending love, so he told himself to call THOSE memories to his mind.

Hope comes from a remembering, a recalling of God’s goodness. 

And, since we are forgetful people, God urges us to “remember” by meeting together regularly to encourage each other, and remind each other of stories of God’s kindness.  He also helps us recall His love as we pass the cup and the bread and we quietly remember HIM.  His death.  His sacrifice.  His love for me, and my story. 

The greatest gift of all time, is something that we forget.  We forget how this gift empowers us to give and forgive.  We forget that His perfection is so that we don’t have to be the perfect… and neither do those that are part of our lives.  

So, we practice remembering by reflecting from past circumstances by ourselves, and with our friends. Because, the reality is, today is not our first hard day, so we “call to mind” how God helped us in the past.  We see His provision, and we remember His care.  We realize that the sorrow didn’t actually drown us.  Our heart is still beating.  Healthy choices have been made.  We were desperately weak and helpless before.  It was too big, and too hard before, and God’s strength was made perfect through that time of weakness.

The words from Psalm 40 feel like they could be my own, “He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me…;  he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth” 

It's a hope song.


He was good to me before, and He will be good to me again.

So, I rise.

I move forward into my day with the memories of His past faithfulness attached to me like a long train flowing freely from a dress. 
Like a fresh gust of wind lifts the flowing train,  memories of His faithfulness lift my spirit.  I am propelled into a new day, a new mercy, and a new hope.

The remembrances and I move forward.  Breath once again fills my lungs.  The anxious thoughts take a break, and hope grows. 

And hope... it anchors my soul.  It is firm, secure and steadfast.  The security and trust that comes from such a strong anchor, breathes freedom into my lungs, and I can actually believe that no matter what comes my way, I am safe.  That hope-anchor…  it keep me grounded, and makes me feel secure.  I need not fear for the future, because this God of all hope is anchoring me.  

And friend, I pray that this gift of remembering God’s faithfulness will bring a life-giving, soul- anchoring hope into your day, and when it does, may you share it with a friend, so that they too will be inspired to recall God’s faithfulness in their own story. 

(Click here to LISTEN TO THE RECORDING OF THESE WORDS)