For whatever reason, there’s a lot of books that I love that are on sale on Amazon right now…maybe because Prime Day is coming. Anyway, it’s a great sale to take advantage of.
One of my most favorite things to see and experience is a gorgeous sunrise. There is something so breathtaking about watching the sky go from dark to a little bit of light. Eventually that light begins to grow. Colors begin to streak across the horizon. Brilliant pinks and oranges and yellows break through where once the darkness stood. Then, if you wait long enough, a huge burning ball of light rises and slowly begins its ascension into the sky.
It’s an amazing process to watch, one that takes my breath away every single time. It’s the most spectacular to watch on the beach. The crazy thing about it is that it seems to go slow when you’re watching it. It seems to take forever for the sun to get in the sky if you are a bystander watching. However, if you’re at home, not paying attention, or still sleeping, it’s over and done so fast. If you don’t plan to watch it, to get there early to see it, you will wake up and it’s gone. The sun will be in the sky and there will be no signs of the brilliance that took place just a few minutes or hours before.
Matt and I watching the sun come up
Watching God Work
Watching God work in our lives is kind of like watching that sunrise. Only you get the front row seat to watch what God’s taking you through. Nobody else can fully see your pain, can understand the hurt, or imagine what you’re going through. To everybody else watching, they will simply see you in a season of darkness for a time until you come out on the other side, and they see the sun shining brightly. They miss the process; they miss the beauty of it.
Waiting for the Dark to Dispel
In our own lives, if we’re not careful, we miss it as well. God takes us into a season of trial, and it gets dark. Really dark. It’s the kind of darkness where you can’t see your hand in front of your face. In a spiritual sense, your hand becomes God’s goodness. In a season of dark, you can no longer see God’s goodness. It feels so far away. Further away still is his love. We can’t see anything but the trial in front of us.
Like the sunrise, if we wait long enough, if we hold on to faith and keep believing, the sun will slowly begin to rise. It will take some time, but the process of coming out of the darkness and into light—coming out on the other side—will begin. It’s a slow process, but it’s a beautiful one. Along the way, we will begin to see traces of God’s faithfulness, his love, his goodness. It’s been there all along, but we just couldn’t see it. As God begins to work, we will see his hand once again. Eventually, we will be on the other side of the trial, out of of that season of darkness. But if we’re not careful, we will have missed the beauty along the way.
The Morning Always Comes
Shauna Niequest puts it this way:
Because this is how life is. We get stuck in the dark, sometimes for a long time. We ache for morning. And sometimes it seems like it will never come. But this is also how life is. Dawn always breaks. Morning always comes.
From I Guess I Haven’t Learned that Yet by Shauna Niequiest
David put it this way:
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13 KJV
God’s Goodness and Unfailing Love
If you are in a season of dark right now, if if seems like your hope is gone, let me encourage you with these words.
For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation
Psalm 100:5
God has not forgotten you; he sees you and hears you. His unfailing love and faithfulness still wrap around you today. You may not be able to see it right now; your faith may not be strong enough to feel it right now. That’s okay. You can borrow some of my faith for today. When your faith isn’t strong enough, lean on somebody else’s faith until you can stand back on your own. I’ve done that so many times. So lean on my faith and hear me when I say, God is still faithful. He still loves you, and he is still right beside you. You continue to do what’s right; don’t quit. He’s going to get you through this. Don’t miss the beauty in the journey.
Seeing Past the Dark
Watch for the light. You will begin to see little signs of him working in your life after a long season of nothing. Don’t miss the little flashes of color along the way. Keep hoping, keep believing, keep growing, keep trusting. Because if you do, there are great things on the other side of this dark season.
For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
We’ve had a great start to our summer. We started out June by driving over 4,000 miles across country to Colorado. We left Pennyslvania and drove to Illinois where we stayed with my younger sister and her husband overnight. Somehow, I didn’t get any pictures of us all together. Not sure how I did that! I did manage to capture a picture of Culver’s, though. What can I say?
Culver’s
Estes Park, Colorado
After an amazing time there, we traveled the rest of the way to Colorado where we stayed with my parents. We had such an amazing time out there visiting family, relaxing, exploring, and more. We got to go to Estes Park, our favorite place to visit and had breakfast at our favorite restaurant up there, The Egg and I. Acting like tourists, we walked around and looked at all the shops, and the kids bought hats and t-shirts. We bought some taffy, the best snickers caramel apple, and dipped our feet in the freezing mountain creek water.
Family
We got to visit my parent’s church, and we got to spend time with my grandma and my dad’s side of the family while in Colorado. We always have a great time with them. On Saturday morning, we did our annual breakfast. My uncle brings his outdoor griddle and cooks up a feast—pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, and so much more. We have so much fun sitting around the table and talking. It’s always one of the highlights of our trip.
Our family with my GrandmaOur kiddos with my parents
Amazing Food
Matt and I discovered a new restaurant that was amazing! It’s called Oreganos and serves Italian food with a Southwest twist. They had the best gluten free food, which is nearly impossible to find at an Italian place. We had the best gluten free pizza I’ve ever had and an amazing bowl of what they call Alfredo the Dark. It’s Alfredo pasta, but they put a spin on it by mixing in poblanos and a blend of Southwest cheeses and top it with diced tomatoes, cotija cheese, and a jalapeño. It was to die for!
This is actually us at Nordy’s- a bbq place that we all went to as a familyOur food at Oreganos
Beauty of Colorado
We had an amazing time. Of course the scenery everywhere in Colorado is simply amazing. No matter where you look, there is something beautiful to see. Add in the low humidity, and it’s pretty much perfect!
Our Time in Kentucky
After our time in Colorado, we began the long trip home. We stopped in Kentucky to see my older sister and her family. We haven’t gotten to see them since before Covid, so we were super happy to see them. Our kids were so excited to see their cousins.
Our kids plus my niece Meya and my nephew NateMy sister and IMy sister and my nephew Jace (and Milo)
They took us to this place called Rec Bar. It was a restaurant that had three rooms of arcade games. So after you ordered your food, you could go play arcade games. It was perfect for the kids. They had so much fun! I had the best meal there. It was totchos. it’s basically nachos, but they use tater tots for the base. Then they added amazing bbq pork on top and all sorts of other amazing toppings. It was soo good!
My totchos
We had an amazing two weeks! We’re so thankful for God’s safety and for family.
It’s summer time, and that means it’s time for some extra reading and the summer reading guide.
Summer Break
I love summer break; it’s a chance for me to take a break from homeschooling. It’s also a time for trips to the beach, sitting by the pool, going on vacation, and just relaxing. If you’re like me, each one of those activities entails reading. Sometimes though, it’s hard to come up with books to read. I like having a list of good books to pull from when I’m ready to read. Book recommendations are so nice to have! So I pulled together twenty books that I’ve read and enjoyed to make a reading guide for this year.
Summer Reading Guide
Some of the books on the reading guide are books I read years ago, and some are books I read just this year. I had a hard time narrowing down the list to twenty books, but I finally did it. I can say that all of these books are worth the read!
All of the books on this guide are non-fiction. If you’re into fiction books, be sure to sign up to be on my email list for A. J. Manney Books. I’m sending out an email to my readers with a fiction reading guide.
Hopefully that gives you some ideas for books to read this summer!
Finding Deals on Books
Some of the cheapest places to find these books that I have found are Christianbook.com and Hobby Lobby. Also, don’t discount your local library. You can request books from other libraries in your district. So even though your library may not carry the book, another library nearby just might. I get so many of the books I read by doing this. If all else fails, Barnes and Noble and Amazon should carry any of the books on this list.
Past Reading Guides
I guess I didn’t make reading guides during Covid, but here’s the list for 2019 and the list for 2018.
If you read any books from this list, let me know what you thought of them!
Today is the release day for You Are Not Alone: Promises from Psalms, our newest 30-Day Devotional. As we started the new year, Matt and I made a plan for the projects we wanted to roll out this year. On our list were several devotionals, so we got to work on those. We actually didn’t have this one on the schedule for the year. We had a few others planned instead.
As we sat together on our date day one morning and talked about everything going on around us, we decided we needed a devotional that would comfort people’s hearts. So many people are hurting; our world is so charged right now. We wanted something that could minister to people who needed to be reminded that God was for them and they weren’t alone in their struggle.
Enter the You Are Not Alone Devotional. We really enjoyed creating this devotional. It’s our most favorite yet! We love it in that it can encourage anybody! It also makes a great gift to give to people when you don’t know what to say to help them. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to say to someone when they’re in the hospital, or when they’ve lost a loved one or heard bad news from the doctor. This devotional is the perfect thing to fill in the gaps when you don’t know what to say.
About This Devotional
Matt wrote this for the back of the book:
For the one who feels so lonely, abandoned even, God isever and always near. For the one whose heart breaks and feels hopeless, find hope in God’s presence and promises. God is ever and always by your side. You are not alone.
In this 30-day devotional, you will discover some of the greatest promises in all of the Bible in the collection of songs called Psalms. Learn about the six times in life we can know we are not alone. From the seasons of stess to family struggles, you will learn the promises for times of uncertainty even the promises for facing your final days on this earth.
Live Training
We did a live training recently where we discussed how to use this new devotional. You can watch that training on our YouTube page for Manney Resources here. As a part of that training, Matt created a free guide. You can download that guide here if you are interested. One of the pages Matt created was this page of where to find hope in the book of Psalms. I think it’s a great resource and wanted to share it with you.
Sometimes we want to encourage ourselves or encourage a friend, but we’re not sure which Psalm would be best to do that. This little cheat sheet helps with that.
Understanding the Psalms
The Psalms are such a rich book because they were written as songs. There are many times that just speaking doesn’t articulate what we’re trying to say or think. Yet, a song can do just that. How many times has a song caught your attention and hit home for you? Maybe it made you cry, or maybe it made you smile and remember something special. That’s the power of a song. That’s why when you read the Psalms, they just bring so much comfort and peace to our hearts.
My life verse comes from Psalms.
As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
Psalm 18:30 KJV
Something to Look Forward To
We will be doing an online Bible study this summer using this devotional and the accompanying study guide, which will release this summer. We’d love for you to join us! So stay tuned! If you’re not signed up to be on my email list, be sure to sign up here so you don’t miss the announcement or anything else from Faithfully Stepping.
Regret. It’s a word that packs a powerful punch every time we hear it. None of us want to look back on our lives with regret, yet that’s what many of us will face when we come to the end of our lives simply because we let fear keep us from doing what God put in our hearts to do.
So many of us spend too much of our lives on the sidelines wishing, wanting, and hoping instead of jumping into the ring. We dream about the book we long to write, the product that would help so many people, the blog that could make a difference, the small business we know God wants us to start. But fear keeps us back from going after that dream.
The Power of Regret
Danie Pink, the author of several best-sellers including his most recent book, The Power of Regret, collected 16,000 regrets from people in 105 countries. He says that one of the top regrets people have is inaction—not taking a chance.
He posted this picture on social media.
How many of us are living a life we are going to regret one day simply because we have been too fearful to move forward into what God wants us to do?
Reasons We Hold Back
1. We fear what others will think of us.
So often, we let our fear of what others will think hold us back. In reality, most people are too busy living their own life afraid of what others will think of them to worry about what you’re doing. And here’s the deal. So what? What if they don’t approve? What if somebody doesn’t like what you’re doing? It doesn’t matter. Our judgment comes from God. (Proverbs 29:26) It doesn’t matter what others think of us.
2. We think we won’t succeed.
We have this built-in alarm that blares loudly whenever we attempt to do something that is not a guaranteed success. Most of us can’t even allow ourselves to try something unless we are absolutely sure it will succeed. Here’s the thing; you probably will fail. There you go—your encouragement for today. 😁 The fact of the matter is we all fail. Matt and I started a business in 2011 that completely failed. Was it hard? Yes. Discouraging? Yes. But did we learn so much? Yes. Because of that failure, we knew what to do differently for Manney Resources when we launched that business in 2020. We can’t let the fear of failure keep us from trying.
3. It seems like a waste of time, money, and resources.
This one is a hard one. I know what it’s like not to have even a penny to put behind a business, blog, book, product, etc. There are so many ways to get around this. Figure out a way to start without spending any money or little money. It may mean that you don’t have all the bells and whistles when you first start, but start anyway. Just get the ball moving; the money will come in time. If you are doing what God created you to do and fulfilling the purpose he’s given you, then it’s not a waste of time, money, or resources. It’s just the opposite. It’s investing the resources he gave you. When you do that, he can funnel more towards you.
4. It doesn’t seem possible.
If it feels possible, it probably isn’t from God. The thing is that God gives us more than we can handle mostly so that we have to keep returning to him time and again. If God’s given you a big dream, go after it. He will give you the grace and strength for it. On the other hand, even if your dream doesn’t seem huge, go after it anyway. You have no idea what God could do with it once you get started.
5. We don’t think anybody will stand behind what we’re doing.
This is a lie Satan uses to keep us from doing what God wants us to do. I am always amazed at the cheerleaders God sends along the way. Often, it’s not anybody I ever thought of. Somebody sends an email, shares a post, or buys a product and reaches out to me and lets me know how much they appreciated it. It’s usually someone that totally surprises me. Don’t let the thought that nobody will get behind what you’re doing stop you, because you will be surprised. When you step out and start something, people will cheer you on. Will everybody? No. But those that don’t will fall away, and you will find the ones that do.
Choose to Simply Start
There are so many fears that keep us from wanting to move forward on what God has created us to do. We have to turn our back on those fears and just start. Today. There will never be a perfect time. We have to choose to simply start. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, had something to say about this principle in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT
If you wait for everything to be perfect, you will never start. If you wait for the finances to come in, for the support of others, for the perfect product or manuscript, you won’t ever get started. So push all that away and start. Don’t come to the end of your life and look back with regret simply because you were too fearful to do what God put in your heart to do.
I learned a thing or two about perspective the other day from my six-year-old. I took a walk a few days ago with my two youngest, Maggie and Macey. We were walking along the sidewalks looking at different houses when Macey stopped suddenly.
Macey (left) and Maggie (right)
“Look at that!” she said loudly. I stopped to see what she was looking at and saw a yard that was in desperate need of a mow. The grass was getting long, and there were ugly white dandelions everywhere. But I stopped to see what she had to say. What she said next surprised me. “That’s not fair! Look at all those wishes they have!” My girls love picking dandelions and blowing them as they make wishes.
the yard with all the dandelions
She took me by surprise, but I laughed to myself a moment later. Here, we had just walked past this yard that was immaculate. The lawn was neatly trimmed and treated; it looked like you could sleep on it and be totally comfortable. Macey walked right past that lawn and didn’t even notice it or pay any attention to it. Instead, she picked the lawn that looked like a hot mess and liked that one because it had so many dandelions.
the immaculate yard
Perspective Changes Everything
It’s so funny to me how our minds work, but this is a perfect example of how perspective changes everything. We both looked at the same yard, but our perspectives changed how we viewed the yard. I saw it as a yard full of weeds that needed to be mowed; Macey saw it as a field full of magical wishes.
So often, how we see life and how we react to it is simply a matter of perspective. We see one thing, and somebody else looking at the same thing sees something completely different. That’s one of the reasons we have to be so careful when we’re talking with other people about our opinions, views, preferences, and more.
A New Friend
This week I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective and how it shapes so much of how we act, what we think, and what we say. On Sunday, I talked with a lady I had met for the first time. We were at a baby shower and ended up talking with a group of people for a few hours. She was so easy to talk with and had such a great spirit. She was just one of those people you want to hang around with a little while longer.
Towards the end of our conversation, we got to talking about shingles. I don’t even remember how. Matt told her I had a bad case of shingles after Madison was born. So she asked me about it, and I told her about the pain and how it was hard to do anything for the pain because it was nerve pain. She then proceeded to tell me that she understood all about nerve pain because she has Fibromyalgia.
Chronic Pain
She could have blown me away. I had no idea she dealt with chronic pain; she was so happy and fun and easy to talk to. As soon as she told me that, my respect for her increased even more. When we got home from the shower that night, Malachi told me that he thought she was a really nice person. She even made an impact on my kids.
The fact of the matter is, she has every right to be miserable and cranky. She lives with chronic pain and all the problems that go along with her disease. Yet, she’s chosen to make the most of it. She laughs and carries on and enjoys life; she doesn’t let it get her down.
Some of My Favorite Verses
It makes me think of some of my favorite verses in a very obscure book of the Bible.
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Habakkuk 3:17,18
It’s Always a Choice
Even though absolutely everything is falling apart around us, we still have a choice. We can choose to rejoice in God. It’s a choice, just like anything else.
If we can choose to rejoice no matter what; our perspective will change. We will begin to look at the circumstances around us through a different lens. That lens will help us to refocus and shift our perspective so that we can begin to see and understand life the way God sees it. We can begin to see a field of weeds in our lives as so much more. We can see the mess in our lives turn into a field of wishes. It’s all in our perspective.
For More Encouragement
One of the books I think of when I think of changing our perspective is Kisses from Katie but Katie Davis Majors. This book will stay with you a long time and change your perspective about life and how good we really have it.
I absolutely love these new covers on these journals! I’m going to be honest. You all voted on your favorites, and the overwhelming favorite was the Rest in God’s Love Journal. Matt and I both were surprised as it wasn’t a favorite for either one of us. But I have to say…now that I have it in hand, I love it!
I’m so glad you all voted for this one and pushed us into doing this one. I think you’re going to love it as much as we do. We are really happy with how how the other two journals turned out as well. I picked the Morning by Morning Journal. That was my favorite cover. I will be using that one as soon as I’m done taking pictures of it.
The coffee and Jesus Journal was the second most voted for cover. Matt has already claimed that one to use for his morning time routine.
Here’s an inside look at the journals, in case you’re interested. Each journal is exactly the same inside. The Faithfully Stepping Journals are six-month journals.
Now is the Time!
If you have been wanting to get a morning time routine started, now is the best time! Grab one of these gorgeous journals and get started today! You can read my post, or you can watch the free video series I created on how to get a morning time routine started.
We teach the 30-to-THRIVE System for our morning time routine. You can read the post to learn how to do it, but here’s the simple formula.
Find These New Journals and More!
You can find everything you need to get a morning time routine started including a free morning time guide, as well as devotionals, journals, and books from Manney Resources.
If you get a morning time routine started, I would love to hear about it. Respond to this email or reach out to me on social media. Snap a picture of your morning time routine and let me know how it’s going!
Do you have a dream that seems so far out of touch? Maybe God placed something on your heart years ago, and you’ve been following him every day but things just aren’t working out. Sometimes it feels like that dream seems so far away, and you just want to give up on it.
The Dreamer
There are some verses in Psalms that talk about the boy we know as the dreamer, Joseph.
Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
Psalm 105:17-19 NLT
These verses catch and hold my interest because of how things play out. God sends Joseph to Egypt not as a hero but as a slave. So, he already has a hard go of it. Then things get worse for Joseph. He ends up in prison, hence the bruised feet with fetters and the neck in an iron collar. Joseph didn’t do any of those things, and interestingly, neither did God. God orchestrated the events to bring Joseph to Egypt but then it’s sort of hands-off for a while. God uses this time and these circumstances to test Joseph’s character.
Joseph’s Dreams Come to Pass
Then, God sets things right for Joseph. Suddenly, the clock speeds up and everything falls into place for Joseph.
Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free; the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household; he became ruler over all the king’s possessions. He could instructthe king’s aides as he pleased and teach the king’s advisers.
Psalm 105:20-22
God had a plan to make Joseph’s wildest dreams come true. He had such an incredible plan for Joseph’s life, but it wasn’t quick and it wasn’t easy. What if Joseph had given up? What if he had given up and walked away from it all because in his mind, things would never work out? We know just how much Joseph would have missed out on, had he done that.
Walking Away from Our Dream
What we don’t know is how much we are risking if we walk away from what God has for us. How much are we going to miss out on if we don’t stay at it, if we don’t follow the dream God gave us? We could be so close to a breakthrough. God could literally be moving things right now in your life or mine to bring things to fruition that we never thought possible. But if we walk away from it, we won’t ever see those blessings. We won’t ever see those dreams come to pass.
I know it’s hard. Seasons of trial always are. You may feel broken right now and don’t think you can stay in the fight. I’m telling you, you can. You just have to focus on staying in the fight today. Just for the next hour, the next minute. What does staying in the fight look like?
Staying in the Fight
It’s staying with your husband and not giving up on your marriage. Getting up early and spending time with God in his Word and journaling even when it feels like he is so very far away and silent. Showing up for church, even when your spirit isn’t in the right place. Praising God and singing though your heart feels so heavy it might break.
It’s smiling and encouraging someone else when they have no idea how much you need the encouragement yourself. Giving towards someone else’s need when you don’t have enough money for your own bills. Loving on that neighbor who is so frustrating and causes so many problems. It’s choosing to show up in love and faith today and live the life that God’s called you to live to the very best of your ability.
It’s simply choosing to take the next step today and then the next and the next. I call it faithfully stepping. One day at a time. One moment at a time.
The Dream Fulfilled
I wonder if Joseph woke up one morning and walked out on his terrace and viewed the whole land of Egypt before him as his beautiful wife came and stood next to him and his two boys ran around them and wondered at the sheer goodness of God. I wonder if he thought about the fact that nothing in his wildest dreams as a boy-dreamer came close to the things God had ordained in his life.
I think he did. He had to have. He was the dreamer and once a dreamer, always a dreamer. The thing about a dreamer is that they always wake up. A dream always ends and reality always comes. In Joseph’s case, the reality was even more beautiful than the dream. God wants that for us too; we have to simply continue to keep faithfully stepping until the dream comes to fruition.
With Easter this weekend, I decided to pull an excerpt from my husband’s book, Six Days to Sunday. We drop into the scene where Mary has just been to the tomb and realized it’s empty.
Mary’s Sorrow
Mary stands outside and weeps (Jn 20:11). Peter and John go back to the room to report their findings to the others. Mary stays put at the tomb and looks for herself. But when she enters, she sees something Peter and John didn’t see—two angels. “Why are you crying?” they ask.
“They’ve taken Jesus,” she says.
She turns and sees a man standing in the entryway of the tomb. “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” he asks.
She turns back to where the grave clothes are lying. “Friend, if you’ve taken his body, please tell me where you’ve put him, so I can care for his body myself,” she says, thinking the man is the caretaker of the garden cemetery.
Jesus Calls Her Name
Mary is distraught, looking at the place where she thought she would find Jesus’ body. She’s lost in thought and then hears something so strange, yet so familiar… something she’s heard a hundred times and longed to hear once more, something she thought she would never hear again.
“Mary,” Jesus says. In an instant, she recognizes his voice. She turns. “Teacher!” she exclaims.
It’s that moment of shock when the hair stands up on the back of your neck. Your brain sends a rush of emotion and feeling from the back of your brain, down your spine and through your fingertips, and down to your toes.
Mary has her Hope Restored
Hope was restored. It wasn’t over. It wasn’t a dream. He was alive. He spoke to her. “Don’t touch me just yet. I need to go to the Father. Go back and tell the disciples what I have told you.”
Mary’s faith comes back. Her heart swells. Her confidence is restored. If she had any doubt about Jesus before, one word sent those doubts and fears fleeing, never to return.
She runs to the disciples to tell them the news. “He’s alive. Jesus is alive!”
“What are you talking about? Are you sure you saw him? This can’t be true.” The disciples were stunned in disbelief. How? How in the world is Jesus alive? And then they ask, “Are you sure? How do you know? What did He say to you?”
“He said just one word. He called my name,” she said.
Mary has her Faith Restored
The first step to restoring your faith happens when Jesus calls your name. How does he call your name? It’s him calling you in a sunrise. It’s Jesus calling you in the downpour of a rainstorm. Hearing his voice in the coo of a newborn. It’s the laughter of a child, the smile of a man standing with a sign asking for help from a dirty roadside, the touch of a hand, a hug from a friend, the kiss of a loved one. It’s Jesus calling you.
He says, “I know you. I haven’t forgotten you. Of all the people I could be reaching out to, I choose you. I know you lost hope in me, and I know you didn’t understand. You got hurt, and you lost faith. I saw the pain in your eyes and the hurt in your heart. But I’m here. I’m calling you. I’m calling your name because I know you. I know your name, and I am here for you.”
Our faith is restored when we simply choose to hope once again.
