King Sized Hope

King Sized Hope

The word "hope" is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Hope is the chauffeur that drives me through the day. When there is nothing else, there is always hope.

I recall a woman who came in our store often, who lived a very hard life. There seemed to be one thing after the other going wrong in her poor family. She often would come into the store and buy only one or two small items at a time, for money was short and they struggled to get by.  Her husband was ill and disabled, her children were often in trouble. But this dear woman always had a smile for everyone she met. She was the one who cheered others up daily!

I can still hear her say, "Even in the word hopeless, there is hope. And it’s easy to take hold of when I recall all that the good Lord has already done for us."

 

But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD ,

I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Micah 7:20

A beloved book in the Bible to find words of hope is the Psalms. In here we connect in kind with David’s prayers and supplications to God in his trials and tribulations. The miracle of hope for him was discovering over and over again all God had already done for Him. Thankfulness for God’s unfailing love turned David’s heart from hopeless to a hopeful every time.

 

It’s too easy for us to forget to be grateful in the midst of our trials, sorrows and situations. But oh, how awesome and inspiring when we recall just how vast is God’s compassions and mercies, new every day, and how big our God really is!

"Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light" (Psalm 36:6-9 NIV).

 

It’s too easy to put in God in a little box of hope when in truth He is God of the King-sized never ending- everlasting hope.  

 

“When we thank God for everything that comes our way, we can enjoy a deep contentment in God that makes every difficult circumstance in our life bearable. We actually share in the miracle of God’s ability to change lives and circumstances through our attitude of gratefulness.”-Mary Dunham Faulkner from: Gentle Wisdom from Tough Times.

 

“King Sized Hope” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© May 16, 2017

 

He Still Meets With Me Today

 

He Still Meets With Me Today

 There is a seldom used two lane country road running beside the Beaver Valley Store that makes it way upwards in the hills called Larson Lake Road.

 This old road was called Larson Lake Pass in the early days, as the old locals loved to tell us. They would say over and over again, “Many a model T would steam up before it reach the top of that hill. Looks kind of small now, but not to us back then.”

 I loved this little road in those years my husband and I ran the old Beaver Valley Store. The hours we put in were long as we worked from early dawn to late at night. Soon I found this little road became my path to peace, quiet and new strength obtained as I prayed my way to the top alone with the Lord.

 It was kind of scary at times too. Not from people but possible encounters with critters. Once I saw an old black bear-but thankfully, he didn’t see me. I delighted in the spring time to see trillium growing thick along the ground, and bright purple fox glove standing tall and straight along the way. The delicate sword ferns decorated the base of the evergreens and the fragrance was so sweet from the wet cedars.

 Half ways up the road a little spring bubbled out of the side of the hill and I would stop to watch as little birds drank and splashed about, and the swallows dipped to scoop up mud for their nests. In the old days some people even got their water here, as it was good and sweet.

Jesus answered.  “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-15 NIV

 Every time we come away alone with the Lord in the secret place in our heart we’ll hear Him say: “Come away with Me beloved, come and drink from My living waters and you’ll never be thirsty or lonely again.”

Now still, when I go for a walks in the morning, even though my footsteps are a bit shaky and slow, I still hear the song of that little singing spring, and rejoice knowing Jesus still meets with me today.

 

“He Still Meets With Me Today” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© May 9, 2017 Photo by Dee Kamp

 

 

Our Stops as Well as Our Steps

 

sunrays through the trees by Dee Kamp

 

 

Our Stops As Well As Our Steps 

Little Blue has been one of the best investments our family has made in a little pickup truck. There are a ridiculous number of miles on it, but it always starts up and is a mighty little work horse. That is until one rainy day while driving along and the defroster for the windshield stopped working and the heater quit. You could run one or the other but not both! And sometimes we had many stops before going on once again with a short in the wiring somewhere.

“Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love

 for I have my trust in You.

Show me the way I should go,

for to You I lift up my soul.” Psalm 143:8 NIV 

We took Little Blue to our local mechanic, but he was unable to help us and suggested another fellow across town. Just driving there took two people to navigate and keep the windshield from steaming up wiping continually for the driver! One of us had to wipe and clear the windshield so the driver could see enough to stay on the road.

The second fellow who worked on Little Blue did so for three days and he tested everything he could think of to find the problem—but to no avail. Was this end of the best truck ever?

Once again we were sent to another mechanic who it was said, loves electrical challenges. By now we had little hope, but we took what seemed a long trip out into the country side where we eventually met a man standing by a huge gate to a farm, who looked indeed, more like a farmer than a mechanic. He waved to us to follow him down a rutted tractor path and we bumped across a pasture finally coming to halt while he swung open the doors of a cavernous old barn.

It had been more than week before we heard from him. Finally one day when the call from him finally came and he was shouting so loud into the phone Bill had to hold it away from his ear! All we could really hear was very loud noise in the background with his words barely audible.

 When his words finally came through to us more clearly, we jumped for joy when we heard him say, “Your little blue pickup is fixed! I dug and poked around until I found one burnt out wire! Come and get your truck!”

Though it often takes much effort to find the person and place to get something we need fixed up and running again, I sensed this one of God’s little lessons on how we should never give up, have faith in Him, and press on until a solution is found, even in a most unexpected place and person.

Our God is able to heal and restore what is broken in our lives and He is able to help us with our stops and is faithful to guide us in all our steps everywhere, everyday.

 

Our Stops as Well as Our Steps” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© from His Word March 6, 2013

 

 

He Never Loses Sight of Us

Cannon Beach Oregon By Dee Kamp

Good morning! While we were traveling to our latest destination to the ocean last week, both Bill and I started laughing about the remembrance of one of our first times we stayed in a little cabin over looking the ocean years ago in a huge wind storm. Humor often is the lifter of our fears.

He Never Loses Sight of Us

It was dark, very, very dark with no object visible anywhere in the rented cabin at the beach on the Pacific Ocean. The power had gone out with a flash and a bang loud enough to wake us up in the middle of the night. Having been a city dweller at the time I was startled at how unbelievably dark it was in that little cabin.

As I got out of bed I had to crawl on my hands and knees in an effort to avoid tripping and bumping into furniture, over suitcases and- our black Labrador retriever named Lady! That black Labrador in the dark was in perfect camouflage from my sight.

I felt absolutely silly trying to make my way to the bathroom on hands and knees in the cave like darkness.  I whined in dismay to my husband, “Are you kidding me? You really didn’t bring a flashlight?”

“If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest ocean,

even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around to become night-

but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.” Psalm 139:9-12 NLT

 

It was difficult to hear much over the wild growl of the gale wind slamming our abode. But what came through to me loud and clear was my husband’s gentle laughter as he climbed out of bed to assist me and the wild thump of Lady’s tail warning me where she was. How comforting it was to know I wasn’t alone in the darkness.

Though it’s impossible to see in the dark of night and the dawn seems so far off times to us― its faith in God that will see us through. Its confidence in the all-seeing God who gives us courage and strength when we need it the most. It knowing though we can’t see God― He never loses sight of us.

 

“He Never Loses Sight of Us”  by Deanne Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© May 2, 2017