Happy Saturday!!

Happy Saturday! Mine started with a dance class, then a coffee date with some lovelies, and now I am getting packed to go meet some friends in Manhattan Beach before we go stay the night in Huntington.
It's a good day.

I wanted to share something with you real quick before I go get in the shower...
it's about hope.

Sometimes life is complicated. Most times actually.

We get going in our day and it is easy to miss the other faces and lives that we are encountering as we move from one task to the next.

But then there are those few precious moments when we are aware of the people around us.
Like in the elevator. Or while pumping gas.
Or waiting for our lattes at Starbucks.

We see them.
We may even feel like sharing something with them..
like something about Jesus that just might change their lives.

But then we get complicated and started thinking of all the ways it will fail...
and ultimately our thoughts keep us silent.
"I don't know what to say"
"I'm going to sound like a big dummy" :)
"I'm going to be that girl..."
"They probably don't want to hear what I have to say"
"What if they ask me about the Bible... I don't even know the Bible..."
....

I know... I go through it too.

But you know what I am learning?
I am learning that this world is like a desert... lovely in photographs and yet somehow leaving us tired, dry, longing for refreshment, and thirsty.

Thirsty for hope.

So this morning, as I was waiting for my latte, I decided to skip the thoughts and just get straight to talking to the woman that was standing next to me.

I had noticed that she looked beautiful, so I started by telling her that.

She was shocked initially, and said, "Nobody says anything nice so I didn't realize what you said..."

See? We can imagine all kinds of scenarios of people rejecting our attempts to extend love, and some of them may actually happen, but most of the time... people will receive it with authentic gratitude.

Her name is Lisa, and after a brief friendly conversation, she shared enough with me about her life that I was able to pray for her throughout my morning.

In fact her struggles are not far from things that I have also walked through, so in compassion,
I immediately went to God in prayer. I asked Him if there was anything more I could do to help her & He brought a scripture to my mind, so I wrote in on a scrap piece of paper and brought it over to her. Really, it was nothing. Just a little note that took two minutes to write out.

But she appeared encouraged and that's really all I wanted.

That's what hope does. It fills us with courage to carry on.

Scripture says in Colossians 1:27,


"...God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."


Christ in us, the hope of glory. That is what we carry everywhere.
So friends, let's be bold this weekend to share that hope. I will try to do it more too.
Because our wonderful world is thirsting for it.