Travels with Hope: Keep a Grip on Hope!

It is me again! I am sitting here relaxing on a lovely Labor Day weekend. I've been eating oatmeal, drinking coffee and just enjoying silence. It has been quite pleasant. On Tuesday at the weekly International Departments prayer meeting I shared Lamentations 3: 19 - 36 (The Message). I thought I would also share it on my blog.

19-21I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there's one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22-24God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left.

25-27God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It's a good thing when you're young
to stick it out through the hard times.

28-30When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.
Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
The "worst" is never the worst.

31-33Why? Because the Master won't ever
walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
in throwing roadblocks in the way:

34-36Stomping down hard
on luckless prisoners,
Refusing justice to victims
in the court of High God,
Tampering with evidence—
the Master does not approve of such things.

-Lamentations 3:19-36

Update on Life at Convoy:

I have been asked to work on the Short-Term Teams Program at Convoy of Hope. So, I have been working on this and will continue to work on this program. I have been having meetings, setting up meetings and creating proposals. I appreciate all your prayers and support as I go ahead in this endeavor. I am planning on heading down to El Salvador both in September and October. Then in Novemeber I will be heading to Fresno, CA to attend a Convoy of Hope Outreach. I have never been to one, so I would like to see this part of Convoy.

I have posted some pictures below of the Artwalk. The Artwalk is an event in downtown Springfield. They have it once a month. During this month's Artwalk, the Randy Bacon Studio (a local photographer) featured Convoy of Hope. We had one of our trailers out front and the tralier was turned into a gallery of photos and stories. Inside the studio there were various tables on Convoy of Hope's various programs. I helped work the Nutrition of Hope/Haiti table. I had nothing to compare it to, but it seemed like there was a lot of foot traffic aka successful =).

* For those that are interested - Convoy of Hope is working on creating School Kits for the children in our partner schools in Haiti. If you would like to donate school supplies or would like to make a kit send me an email. I will send you the information for the school kits and/or contact information for Aimee Rose who is working on the School Kit Program.

Enjoy the pictures and Have a Wonderful Day!

Me at the Nutrition of Hope/ Haiti Table.

Mud Cookies (Pies) - These are made and sold in Haiti. They are made of dirt, oil and flour. Apparently the pregant women in Haiti crave them because of the lack of iron in their body.