Love and Hope

You are the Father to the fatherless

The mother to the orphan child.

You are the open arms to the prodigal,

Grace to the harlot daughter

You are the kiss upon the widow's lips

Life inside the barren womb

You are the vision in the eyes of the blind

The song inside the ears of the deaf.

Shores of Grace by Nic Billman

We don't have the ability to love everyone in the world, but God does. Every time I sing this song, it makes me think of particular people. People who are on the verge of divorce, or the middle/highschoolers in hurtful situations. And it makes me love God even more, knowing that He loves those people and hasn't forgotten them.

And a tidbit about hope. Another favorite quote that popped into my mind today. (I never forget my favorite quotes).

And whenever I see a first novel dedicated to a wife (or a husband), I smile and think, There's someone who knows. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just believing is enough.

-On Writing by Steven King

I thought of this quote when I was worshiping, so it must be related to the previous song. I was thinking that I'm so incredibly blessed to parents who really really believe in me. My dad always supports my decisions. My mom always tells me that I can do it. Even if she doesn't tell me that, even if she tells me the opposite, I still know she believes in me. It's like she believes in who I am, even if she doesn't believe in my abilities.

I think you can believe in someone without believing they will succeed in that particular thing. It's believing in who they are, and who they can become. It's believing in their potential in God's Kingdom. That God can use them, and that they can grow to love God obsessively and leak love everywhere. even if they fail in the immediate thing ahead of them.

And I just wanted to note that this is so weird that I'm thinking about hope and believing in people's potentials. Because a few weeks ago, I would have rolled my eyes at this stuff. When people told me "Jamie, I believe God will____[change]__ you", I was like okay thanks. but in my head I was sort of like whatever, that just sounds corny. The idea of hope was kind of foreign to me. And sort of disgusting because it was opposite of the pragmatic satirical sarcastic smart-ass comment mindset I had. Sort of like "don't be ridiculous and talk to me about hope. be realistic; I know how life works, and it works like this: just do it. Stop the psychobabble"

Amazing how a godly mindset is the opposite of a worldly mindset.