hope – Page 3 – The Oaxacaborn Blog

a little glimpse

July 22, 2010March 21, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

yes, i know. i haven’t been blogging much (at all?). but really, blame it all on our little kumquat. for such a tiny little human, he/she sure has a very strong opinion of how i should spend my days. (i.e., kneeling in front of the porcelain throne.)

mom recently gave me a framed version of this lovely Mary Cassatt image:

and can you guess where i hung it? yes. above the porcelain throne. i like that reminder it gives me. this too will pass. for such a time as this. everything in its season. how a very brief trial will reap unspeakable rewards.

i can see a little glimpse of what’s to come in that mary cassatt image. the look on the mother’s face. the curly-haired child. the cup of coffee.

and i’m filled with such joy.

worry

December 13, 2009March 21, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” -Corrie ten Boom

i needed to hear that word, last night, as i was labeling boxes and stacking them in the living room. we’re only maybe three or four boxes into this process, but the tears did come. the tears and the worry and the sense of displacement. and then in that moment in my mind, i heard the perfectly husky voice of rich mullins, singing with reckless abandon into an old cassette recorder, singing,

“You did not have a home / birds have nests, foxes have dens / but the hope of the whole world rests / on the shoulders of a homeless man.”

and I was reminded that the Son of Man had no place to rest. and then i saw a message from my daddy, and he said, “i am so happy to hear you have a place to rest your head.”

and i have courage and hope to press on.

“for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you.” -deuteronomy 12:9-11

“the Lord takes by it’s corners this ol’ world and shakes us forward and shakes us free to run wild with the hope.” -rich mullins

i am running wild with hope. and the sky is about to rain.

Poetry & Words

i dream again of a new-soul star

November 17, 2009March 21, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

i dream again of a new-soul star
made of the same dust
as these two-ones, and
the pearly newness of
a freshly-made life,
with eyes of green, as yet unseen.

already, beside the calm-blue waters
one waits, hand-made and still,
having not yet crashed through the cosmic firmament
but ready, when the time is right,
to fly on eagle’s wings,
through the stars and heavenlight

into these waiting arms.

Poetry & Words

hope is written on the walls.

November 9, 2009March 21, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

once again, shanley jo inspires me to write. she keeps writing, even when times aren’t exactly the best. times weren’t the best this weekend. i worked and cried and cried and worked some more. i felt further away from my dreams than i ever thought possible. i felt my life was so many leagues away from everything i ever thought it would be. i nursed my disappointments and choked back tears i didn’t even know i had inside of me. i even started crying myself to sleep, but my dear husband bundled me up in blankets and brought me back out to the living room and encouraged me to watch something funny with him, instead of crying alone in the dark.

also, he holds me and tells me its gonna be okay. this is so much better than logical persuasion, so much better than a list of facts of why i shouldn’t be sad.

he writes down verses like romans 5:3 and folds them up and puts them in my lunch, and he reminds of these verses even when, like this weekend, i didn’t feel close to the hope in romans 5:3. i felt like i was still on the perseverance and nowhere near the hope.

“We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

God really wants me to “get” the hope thing. i’m a slow learner who doesn’t like to be disappointed. and to me, it just seems like expectations and hope can be dangerous. yet the Lord says that hope doesn’t disappoint. reminders of hope were everywhere this weekend, even though I felt like the darkness would not lift. on Friday night we listened to The Music Room at Bloom Coffee and Tea. the lyrics touched me. i fought back the tears, because the words were piercing my heart and stirring up too much emotion, and i couldn’t stop seeing HOPE literally written on the walls in between the soft babble of tiny children’s voices and laughter.

The Music Room playing at Bloom Coffee + Tea (Shane Grammer art in background)

“I gotta believe that it’s still worth fighting, I need to be told that it works out fine in the end. Loneliness shakes up the pain inside me, within the span of a midnight drive.” -The Music Room

“The road is narrow and I’ve sure it’s not paved, but don’t give up when it gets tough, no you’ve got to stay, ‘cause I know the Giver and He’ll take you away” -The Music Room

i’ll fight on. i know that i know that i know hope does not disappoint. and i know it’s gonna be okay. and hope is written on the walls.