hope Archives - karin madden

October 16, 2012 by Karin 2 Comments

Feeling Wrecked? (#16)

PROMISE #16 ~ GOOD (for those who love Him)

Feeling wrecked?

A little broken? Slightly cracked? Discouraged? A bit more than rusty?

Feel like you could use a tow?

Like all the running and racing and trying… is getting you nowhere?

I do.

I’m pretty tired at the moment. Staring at a screen, thinking of God’s promises… wondering why I chose to pursue them… day after day… for 31 days straight.

I did know, of course, that I would find 31 and so many more. I did know it would be a challenge to sit and focus for a piece of time every day. I did know that… probably, somewhere in the middle of the journey… I would get worn, frustrated, just a little bit wrecked.

I prayed that when this time came… He would push me right on through.

please give me the extra adrenaline to race to the finish

Legs numb, knees wobbly, heart stretched.

Well, no surprise, He just answered.

His repetition, His prompting, His words through an encourager… hook right up to my beaten frame… and pull.

(by the way, Mater lives… and in our ‘hood)

He allows my back wheels to spin… to feel the journey beneath me…

while He takes the burden ~ and steers.

Propped, pulled, and placed… right here.

For a much-needed tune-up.

He provides the fuel, the oil, and becomes the engine again. Just after I let go of this wheel I am clinging to so tightly.

It really is all about the journey… and the destination.

Worth every minute… potholes and all.

Are you in a place that could use a tow and a tune up?

PROMISE #16 ~ God promises good for those who love Him.

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

October 1, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

31 days of God’s promises (#1)

#1 ~ PEACE

Have you ever made a promise?

Have you ever broken a promise?

Have you ever wished you had kept your promise?

Have you ever wondered why you made that promise?

Have you ever met anyone who keeps all promises?

Same here.

I have heard the words…

God’s promises

… too many times to count.

I know a few of them. My kids ask me what they are. I don’t have the answer. I want to know the answer.

I know God has made many promises to us.

I know God never breaks a promise.

I know God will always keep His promises.

I don’t know what they are.

I want to know. My little ones want to know.

I am going to spend the next 31 days looking for them…

PROMISE #1 ~ God promises peace to his people. (a comfort to this warrior’s wife)

Psalm 85:7-9

Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation. I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

September 25, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Through the eyes of a child

I open my eyes. This new day cracked through the sky to reveal the glorious sunlight. I hear my mother, my father… they are speaking to someone outside these mud walls. I hear my mother… joyous tears. My father… with a voice… different. I have not heard this sound from him before. Hope?

I hear the animals. We have two. The bleating goats… a milk provision. My brother and sister like to walk with them. I hear the stirring of the land. This land of ours used again and again, by my father and his friends… in hopes that it will yield… something… anything to give us a meal. I hear the gathering of my friends. It is time to walk for the gathering of our water.

The night is done. I am relieved. I am afraid in the night. The darkness smothers our two room hut. The sounds of the night here pierce my skin and frighten me. I pray for morning. I pray for the sun. This morning… different. I hear the voices. I sense… this change. Joy?

I smell the waste. Our village has no good place for waste. The smell of it rises with the sun. The heat burns the odors into the air. I have always known this smell. I wish I could wash it clean. My mother runs to wake me. I smell the salt of the tears on her cheeks.

Wake up

Wake up

She whispers in my ear. I smell her warmth… the dirt driven deep into skin by years of labor. Working to keep us alive… fed… sheltered… clothed. We can not pay for school. I wish I could read. I have heard of others… a few… who have this chance. I have heard them speak of Jesus. I want to know this Jesus that they speak of.

someone has come!

someone sees us!

someone sees you!

They have come to tell my parents of a sponsor. Someone has seen me. Someone has chosen me. Someone has brought a new sound of hope to our life. Someone has brought a smell of joy to this home. Someone has seen us.

I follow my mother. To see this visitor. I see. I see the smile. The joy in my parents. I feel a hope. I have not known this hope before. I look into the eyes of our visitor. I see love. I see compassion.

C atch the ones who have fallen aside, unnoticed, alone, forgotten, afraid, hopeless

O ffer a hand, a heart, a hope

M ove the despair from the eyes… replace it with joy

P repare a new heart for a new faith… a new birth into a great Kingdom… the only Kingdom

A ccept the prompting from Him… a nudge… a beckoning to open hands… fully

S ee the person… the child… behind the suffering

S hare the love of Christ

I gnore the lies that it will not make a difference… every. one. matters. every. single. one.

O ffer a chance to learn… to leave the poverty behind

N urture a desperate soul… in desperate need… of love.

(photo credit – Compassion International)

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

September 11, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Dear God… (a love letter)

Dear God,

This suddenly makes You so much more real to me. Writing a letter, putting words on paper… I only do that with the people I love, the ones I can touch. Writing this letter makes me realize with a jolt… that You are so very real. I spend so much time thinking about You, speaking to You (mostly in my mind… though I am learning to speak out loud. Speaking out loud just makes You more real to me. I’m not one to talk out loud to no one, after all). I spend time talking with my kids, my husband, my friends, my parents… about You. I have written about You so many times. I wonder why I have never written to You? I read what You have written to me. I suppose You might enjoy a letter, too. Real words about real love.

The words come a bit more slowly this way. Funny how I am laboring to say just the right thing… hoping I will somehow impress You, make You love me more, see me for who I am. The words I write… I want them to show You how well I can put words together, but I suddenly gather that You care more about how well I can put Your words together. What have You told me in Your letters to me? So many lessons, so much Fatherly advice, direction, instruction. Love. That’s it. The message in all of Your letters. Love. You want me to love You, and You show me how… by loving me. You are doing a much better job than I am. Then there’s the other part… loving others… more than myself. You, better job, again. I really want to be more like You.

You have lovingly taken me along my path in life and picked me up when I failed ~ even when I didn’t know I was failing. You pointed me in the right direction, again, gave me a pat on my back… words of encouragement… and Your love. You gave me a most incredible husband, and are showing me how to get through the messy selfishness in marriage. You gave me six kids! That’s a lot of kids. I never dreamed…

You gave me a desire to love my six pack of kids so much that I would place You directly in their sights. This was all a bit foreign to me, but You nudged me along and whispered words of encouragement when I doubted. You have touched me.

One night, while I was up too late… You opened my eyes. You opened my eyes to small faces on a screen… after I had tucked my six small faces into their warm beds. You opened my eyes to the need behind the young eyes. A need I had pushed into the background of my mind ~ assuming someone out there would take care of them. Somebody out there had to notice. Suddenly I started to cry like I hadn’t cried in quite a while. I realized I was the someone out there who needed to notice…

Their names are Elie and Myrlande. They live in Haiti. My kids were so excited when we printed out their pictures from the Compassion sponsor page that they went running to Daddy, as he walked in the door at the end of the day. Two more kids! I couldn’t believe the joy we felt. It was surreal. Like we had just reached out across the waters… and touched them.

We pray for them every day. The greatest thing is… my little ones pray for them before I can even get the words out. We have prayed for them especially now after Hurricane Isaac swept across Haiti.

Letters. Writing letters. I write to people I love, the ones I can touch. How odd that I haven’t written to You before. You are touching every part of my life, of my husband’s life, my children’s lives… Elie and Myrlande’s lives. That’s it! It’s how You want me to touch their lives! You touch us as we touch each other… with love. A love greater than that for ourselves. The words are beginning to come more easily now…

You want us to love with more than words… more than speech. You want us to love with action… with truth.

Thank you, God, for letting me come to You. For blessing me. For blessing my husband and my children. Thank You for using us to bless.

We are blessed to be a blessing.

Thank you for Your words… thank you for loving us with your Word.

All my love,

1 John 3:18

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

September 5, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

The Beautiful Outcome of Compassion

New photos on our wall.

The week painting our kitchen and den ~ a fulfilling task while my warrior was away for a training exercise.

Mom, can I help?

Pleading eyes… asking for just a chance…

Hmm, maybe just a little.

Painting, decorating, arranging photos are my greedy tasks… I enjoy the finished product… and give myself a little pat on the back when I am done. These questioning young eyes want a chance to get in the game… they want to be a part of this… to have just one chance…

Ok

I smile… knowing the joy these helpful hands will feel… just to have been a part of this… to make a difference… to see the change.

Rooms painted, photos fresh from a beach vacation carefully placed… I grin… the young eyes light up ~ the work completed. The beautiful outcome. The faces of my young children peering from photographs… beautiful young faces.

Beautiful young faces.

What if these photos had a different background? What if there were no vacations? What if my children had a different background? What if they had been born in a different place? A different zip code? A place of different opportunities? A place with little… or no opportunities? A place with few helping hands? A place praying for more helping hands? What if…

We gather at the computer… our speedy Mac, that takes us anywhere in seconds.

Can we look at their pictures?

Mama, can we help?

I smile…

Maybe just a little

it may be just a little for us… but so much more for them…

We click… we see…

Pleading eyes… asking for just a chance…

The faces we see… like my own, but different…

These questioning young eyes want a chance to get in the game… they want to be a part of this… to have just one chance…

My young ones, drawn in by the faces, the places, the stories…

Mama, can we help?

I smile… knowing the joy these helpful hands will feel… just to have been a part of this… to make a difference… to see the change.

The beautiful outcome

We click… two times. Their names are Myrlande and Elie. They live in Haiti. My children pray for them, they think of them, they write to them. They realize just a little bit more… the blessings we have are blessings to be shared.

September is Official Blog Month at Compassion International. The goal is to find sponsors for 3,108 children in the month of September. For $38 per month, a child will receive opportunity…

these children served by Compassion receive, among other things: the opportunity to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus; regular Christian training; educational opportunities and help; health care, hygiene training, and supplementary food if necessary; a caring and safe Christian environment to grow in self-confidence and social skills; personal attention, guidance and love.

I look at these opportunities and see what my own children receive… without having to ask. For the cost of a toy, a Wii game, a new pair of shoes… these kids… with different zip codes… receive ~ a chance.

Will you go there? Take a look at these beautiful faces… with the questioning eyes… these faces that pray so much for just one chance…

Will you join us to pray for them?

Will you consider sponsoring just one child?

1 Peter 3:8

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Feeling Wrecked? (#16)

31 days of God’s promises (#1)

Through the eyes of a child

Dear God… (a love letter)

The Beautiful Outcome of Compassion

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