HOPE and ENDURANCE.

The world today is a far different one than what I grew up in.
When I was in college, in order to look up anything, I would go to the library and ask for periodicals to find research, or go to one of the many encyclopedias that were available.
I wonder today, if people in their 20's, or 30's and even those in their 40's have ever heard of periodicals of literature?
Today if you have a question, you just ask Siri or look it up on your phone or whatever device you are using at that moment.
The technology advances we have today are incredible. I am so mystified at what is available with our fingertips.

Yet I wonder if it is all good. Have we lost the art of communicating? How easy it is to text or snap chat or tell your Instagram story. But do we talk-really talk to people? In surveys conducted, it is known that the generations of Millennials and now Gen X'ers would rather talk via text than on the phone or in person.
For the older generations, we can get puzzled by that. So often in texts or emails what we mean to convey is misconstrued by the receiver. Words are misunderstood, and too often what was meant to be said, is now completely read in a different way.

But I digress. My job as Coordinator of Prayer and Resources for Young Life College/University has me praying for our Young Life College staff, that they would become men and women who radiate Jesus to the college students they befriend and the world around them. That by their very lives, they would convey a person who is quite different from others. I pray that they would seek Jesus throughout their days and that they would be the ones who welcome others regardless of their views on life, their religion, their sexual orientation, their politics etc. I pray daily for our staff and consider it a privilege.
I also as the Resource person, read quite a bit, so that I can recommend books to our staff on all types of subjects. (YL website under leader tools, YLC and Build). The more I read, the more I realize that there are many different sides on many different subjects. Which causes me to return again and again to the premise that in our discipling or mentoring, we need to go to the Bible first and foremost.

Romans 15:4 states:
     "For everything was written in the past was written to 
      teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the 
      Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might
      have hope."

In Young Life, we believe that the Scriptures (the Word of God) are paramount to our faith. The words found in the Bible are the inspired words of God. (2 Timothy 3:16). They are TRUTH. So we, those of us in leadership positions must teach God's truth. In order to teach the truth of God from His Word, we too must be reading the Bible on a consistent (hopefully daily) basis. Seeking to know more of God, more of His pursuit of us, more of His love and grace to us, and more of His instructions and commands to us. Because as Romans 15:4 states, the Word of God was written so that in times of trial and testings, the times of doubt or sorrow, we might be encouraged and find the hope that we desperately need.
But what if we don't know the Word? How then can we encourage others to endure through the hard times? We must be in the Bible for it truly gives us the HOPE of JESUS. The hope that we are not alone, the hope that we will endure, the hope that only can come through Jesus Christ.
The Bible is not just some men's different opinions about God, the Bible is the inspired word of God. All of it, not just the parts we like; the Bible is not a smorgasbord where we get to take and choose what we want to believe.  It is all truth-every single word that is written. That is why we, as the leaders of Young Life College must be diligent in pursuing God's truth. Our college friends believe what they read and what others tell them. Everything they look up on the internet is truth to them. And not everything is.
I believe that we need to be spending time with them in God's truth, either directly talking about what we are reading or doing a bible study that is written by a trusted source. We need to be encouraging them to view the Bible as one of the major resources in their lives, because God will never misdirect them. And obviously we need to remind ourselves of this.
Again and again, I will always stress the importance of God's word. I read Psalm 119 a few times in the year to remind myself of what God says about His Word. This entire psalm is about the significance and importance that God puts on His Word. Maybe it is time for all of us to read it today.

NOTE: Although this was intended for YLC/YLU university staff, it is for all of us.

Life can be a challenge: Hiking Quicksilver

Once upon a time, oh maybe about 17 years ago, I was in the midst of a profound depression. This time of deep sadness and melancholy had never surfaced in my life before.
I was acutely aware that I was not functioning well; meaning I could no longer fake that things were OK, that I was OK.
I took a leave of absence from my work-because I could hardly work without breaking down- and set out to get help.

During my intense counseling (did I mention that it was 3 times a week for 6 weeks, and then twice a week for 4 weeks and then weekly for months?) my wise therapist gave me 4 things I needed to do daily and one thing I had to do weekly.
The weekly "thing" was the easiest to figure out. I was to go somewhere I liked every week. Meaning: "Hello beach at Santa Cruz!"  This was highly therapeutic. I could not recommend anything more.

My daily list was a challenge at first.
I had to 1) make time for God everyday. 2) exercise daily. 3) find a hobby to do daily. 4) do something I enjoyed daily.
So this hiatus from my normal life happened in the springtime.
That year I had the MOST amazing flowers I had ever had. I nurtured my front and back yard with great care. I had revelations of how we grow as people as I watched these small plants blossom and then produce gorgeous flowers. I diligently watered and weeded and clipped back extra growth and became proud of the best garden I ever had.

From my father, I had gained a lifelong love of books. Reading became the one thing I did everyday. I read romance novels, historical fiction, biographies and some self help books. Reading has always been an enormous way for me to escape into a land I might never consider and learn things that would increase my knowledge.

Having time with God everyday was not too hard to accomplish. Only because I knew how much I needed Him. That no one could understand me like the LORD. And even though  I didn't "feel" Him much of the time, I knew He was with me.

It was the exercise routine that was at first baffling. I had a membership to a gym, but truthfully that was the last place I wanted to be because I knew too many people there. I didn't want to answer their questions of how was I, or why I was not working today. As I thought about what I needed to do, I realized that there was a wonderful park not far from my daughter's middle school that I could walk in. And it served dual purpose: I had to drive the carpool, why not volunteer to drive in the mornings and get my exercise as well.

First of all, I had just "heard" of Quicksilver. I had never actually hiked it.
This park is an amazing trail of paths up and down the side of a mountain.

Maybe from this picture you can see how you climb up the mountain. It looks easy enough. Oh how looks are deceiving!
I would begin the hike and soon I would be huffing away and thinking, "when am I getting to the top? how much farther can it be?". But then I would look up and see that I had a long way to go.
Often, I would think, I will never make this. And then to my surprise, there would be a level spot where as you kept walking, you could catch your breath and get ready for the next areas to climb. To get to the top, there was 3 different level areas where one can get a break to encourage yourself that you could make it. 
Eventually, I would make it and this is what I would behold: 

An absolutely stunning un-obstructed view of San Jose.
I would stand for a few moments and take in the beauty of the moment. And then I would make the descent down.

As I reminisced about this hike yesterday with one of my future daughter-in-laws, I was reminded of how often hiking this trail was like my life. Especially at this time of my deep depression.
I was on  road that seemed un-ending, without any possibility of reprieve. I didn't see a way to escape the hardness of what I was going thru.
Then all of a sudden, on the flat parts, I could catch my breath. Kind of like my life; I would have moments of laughter and normalcy and feel a bit like myself again. Without notice, the sadness and despondancy would come upon me again, and the road ahead was daunting. How would I make it?

Isn't that like life? Something happens and completely side-swipes us. We have no idea how we will go on. At times, we feel like we don't want to go on. There seems to be "no way out".
We have to plug along-when we don't want to at all. 
We are given no alternative. Whatever has happened cannot be erased. We didn't choose this. Whether it be a bout with mental illness like I had, or a life-threatening disease, or we lose our jobs, or even lose our way, or we lose someone who we dearly love. 
We are not given the choice in this, it has just happened and somehow, someway, we need to figure out how to navigate through this our new life.

Eventually, we figure it out.
We figure out how to live through this, even tho we never wanted to. We have moments of happiness, moments of fun. And then we wonder why or feel guilty that we feel like living again.
When my mother died, I cried everyday for four and a half months. One day I didn't cry, and I actually felt guilty-like I had quit missing her. Which I never had, but something allowed me to smile and see that life does go on.

It was like that with the situation that caused my depression.
The situation that had brought it about had not changed. Maybe I was tired of having my life hijacked by this deep sadness, but one day, I decided it was time to go back to work; time to start enjoying some things.

It was at the beach one day, that I realized again how much I loved the ocean. The vastness of it, the beauty of it. The sun was shining, I felt relaxed and realized that I had the choice to make to keep going on. It was a bit like seeing the beauty of the entire city of San Jose from the top of Quicksilver. Although the trip down the side of the mountain ( or maybe more likely steep hills) was so much easier that the ascent, there were some rough patches that I had to be careful with. But the experience of actually completing the hike everyday, made me realize that I did have tenacity to endure hard things.
Some people jog or run this trail everyday. I had challenges just walking it. That too, is like life. Some people coast easily thru the trials and challenges that they are dealt, while others have a hard time just getting out of bed to face a new day.
That does not make one person better than the other.
It just shows that we each have different capacities in how we cope.

My hope and earnest prayer is that no matter what, no matter how long it takes, that we each choose to endure and eventually see the beauty of life again.

HOPE

Psalm 17:14

"But as for me, I will always have hope."

Really? Always have hope? Is that even possible?

What about when death has robbed you of someone you love so deeply?

What about when you have lost your job and can't take care of your family and your obligations?

When you can't find a job and you have graduated from college and you keep waiting and trying?

What about when you sit beside the bed of someone ravaged with cancer?

When you see a loved one addicted to drugs and there is nothing you can do to help them?

What about when you lose the person who is most important to you?

When your marriage fails and you are alone and feel rejected?

What about those failed relationships and what the loss has cost you?

When you are failing in school and will have to give some answers very soon?

What about when the choices you make causes you to lose friends?

When your reputation has been damaged and looks like everyone is against you?

What about when your children go a completely different direction in the values you raised them with?

What about the loneliness you bear as you come out as "gay"?

These are REAL questions that at some point-some of them will probably intersect our lives.

Then, what are we to do?

Where is it you go when life crumbles about you?

Do you go to family or friends? 

Do you turn to alcohol or drugs to escape?

Do you take a trip to avoid the questions?

Do you avoid people?

Or do you keep so busy that you won't have to deal with what is going on?

HOPE is something we ALL NEED.

The word "hope" can be both a noun and a verb.

As a noun, it means: the feeling that what is wanted, can be had or that events will turn out for the best.

As a verb, hope means: to believe, to desire or to trust.

We need hope to survive. To survive the trials that life brings.

It has been well documented that people with life threatening illnesses fair much better if they have hope that things will change and get better. How else would one endure the horrors of chemo and radiation that cancer often requires?

As we go thru life, not one of us will go unscathed.

We each will battle things that will cause us to question, to wonder how we will go on?

If nothing has happened to you so far, be so so grateful.

But for those of us who have endured deaths, addictions, cancer, suicide, the end of our marriages or other endearing relationships, lost our jobs, watched our children go astray, had our dreams crushed; to go on in life requires that from somewhere, we need to find hope.

I have had my share of trials and mishaps that shook me to the core of who I am.

My mom died unexpectedly when I was 21 and I was lost completely.

My dad died years later, but that too was painful.

I have watched dear friends suffer and die with cancer.

I have had cancer.

I have watched different forms of mental illness wreck havoc on loved ones.

I have suffered the demise of friendships.

I have lost people I love dearly.

I watched my husband lose a job he loved.

Yes,  life hasn't always been easy for me, for our family.

When I was younger, I tried alcohol to ease my pain. It might have worked for awhile, but clearly, it was a temporary "fix" that didn't help at all.

The HOPE that gets me through the pain that life brings at times, is my faith in God.

HE ALONE IS THE ONE WHO GIVES ME HOPE.

HE  is the ONE who promises us: "I will never leave you or forsake you."

That is one of the MOST comforting words of Scripture to me.

GOD will be with me through EVERYTHING.

And He will provide me with HOPE that will endure.

Hope that doesn't disappoint.

Hope that will give me courage to go on, when that is the last thing I want to do.

In the hardest times in my life, I go to the book of Psalms in the Bible.

They are the ones that are so real to me. Where we find real honest despair and wondering where God is in the midst of our troubles, and then coming to the realization that He has always been there.

Sometimes He remains silent for awhile, often causing us (me) to question if He really cares and is interested in what is happening. 

Slowly, but surely, He begins to reveal Himself to us.

To help us understand He has never left us.

To remind us that HE is the ONE who will enable us to go on.

That HE knows what our future looks like.

That HE IS OUR HOPE.

I need that hope. The HOPE that things will change. That life will get better. That I will survive. That I can trust and believe and have faith in a God who won't let me slip away from Him-no matter how hard I might try.

Indeed, we all need hope.

Next time you are in the throes of despair, or the pain of life has completely overwhelmed you, I would challenge you to go to God. To seek Him, to see Him in the Psalms, and to wait for Him to give you the kind of hope that you really need and want.

Come, Follow ME

Ahhhh LORD, sometimes it is just so hard to follow You.
It sounds so simple, right?
Just follow Jesus.
But WHERE are we going Jesus?? what if I don't fit in? what if I don't like it?? What if you have the wrong person in me??
That's what I want to do. With all my heart and soul. I want to Follow Jesus. I want to obey Him always. But yet, if I'm really honest, I have to say that sometimes its just really hard.
And sometimes its hard to figure out what HE wants me to do. Where HE wants me to be.
I started reading the Gospel of Mark today in my quiet time. And twice in the first 3 chapters, Jesus says: "Follow Me". Peter dropped everything and followed Him. So did Levi the tax collector. So why is it so hard sometimes for me, for you, to follow Jesus?
Is it mostly because we want what we want? Or is it because we are afraid of what He might ask us to do?? And really?? I think my life would be simpler, more enjoyable if I just followed Jesus. If I just kept my eyes on HIM all the time.
In the past couple of weeks, I have been hurt deeply by someone. And you know where hurt leads?? well for me its been to a couple of places?? One is completely doubting my self worth, who I really am, if I am of any value whatsoever to Christ and His Kingdom? the other place is to anger.
Oh how I hate to be angry. I hate how I feel when I am angry. I hate how it can consume me. Thankfully, I have walked with the LORD long enough to realize that anger only hurts me. And that I need to forgive. So if any of my summer staffers are reading this, I too, am now doing the Forgiveness Prayer. I know it works. I know that only because of Jesus' pure forgiveness of me, that I can forgive the one who hurt me. It just takes time.
I am the leper who came to Jesus and said, "Lord, if you are willing, make me clean".
I need to be cleansed by the blood of the spotless Lamb who gave His life for me.
I have a friend who has cancer and I read her blog this am. In the midst of her battling chemo and radiation, her body has suffered greatly. But she has never complained. She has used this whole cancer to draw closer and closer to Jesus. She is certainly one of my heroes. (You are the BEST, Lynn!).
I want to be like her. I want to draw closer and closer to Jesus ...in the midst of the pain I feel right now.
I want to Follow Jesus-even if it hurts. Even in the uncertainty. Even knowing that it might be really hard.
Why? Because I have learned and realized deep down in the core of who I am, that life apart from Jesus Christ doesn't make sense at all. Life with Him, might not make sense at times, but life with Him, always has hope. I can know assuredly that I am not alone. That I believe His words to me that say: "I will never leave you, I will never forsake you"
With having parents who both died, and friends that have too, with leaving lifelong friends to move to Woodleaf when I felt so alone; I know those words to be true. They have taken me thru some really challenging times. Jesus will never leave me or forsake me.
That's why I want to follow Him. Because He won't leave me. I will never be alone. I will always have HOPE. And if you don't know this...you need to meet JESUS and be comforted by His Love, His Grace, His Forgiveness and to know His Peace.
Come , Follow Me.
Yes Lord, I will. Even if its hard, even if it hurts, even when I'm scared.