Though it linger.

I will take my stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what He will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time;

    it speaks of the end and will not prove false.

 Though it linger, wait for it; 

    it will certainly come and will not delay. Habakkuk 2:1-3

Dear Father in heaven, in quietness we come to You and ask you for Your Spirit. We ask this especially for the time of waiting still required of us as we hope and strive for light to come, for light to shine where there is so much darkness. We must not despair of our inner life even when life around us rages as if it would suck us down into its whirlpool with no way out. But You will guard us. Watch over us so that we have hope and joy in You. Amen. - Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

Every now and then they met a crabby pants, but not so much.

Splendor and honor and kingly power are yours by right, O Lord our God, For You created everything that is, and by Your will they were created and have their being. A Song to the Lamb

So last night Tim and Jenny and Momma and I gathered around the candlelit table and told stories. Tim and Jenny have just returned from a journey east, north, south and back again west with their cute little orange and green and crème trailer with every detail perfectly sweet.

And it was a trail of hope in spite of the new dark headlines and old battle scars pressed into myriad historical markers that attempt to drive fear and doubt spikes deep into our hearts. Not just the ripping upward mountain peaks and the fields full of shimmering harvest and rhythmic waves upon the lakeshore. Rather it was the flowing river of image bearers who welcomed them with humility and grace and kindness and yet another cup of coffee all across this great bigness of a continent.

Let me not forget the belovedness of each being today as I step out the door this morning into to do lists and traffic and dusty billows of wind. Let me pause and remember.

Blessed be Thou, most gracious God, that again Thou hast brought light out of darkness and caused the morning to appear! Fill me Spirit, I pray Thee, to keep myself in continual training for the punctual fulfillment of Thy most holy will. –John Baillie

Splendor and honor are Yours, O Lord our God, now and ever shall be. Amen.

And all I really had to do is stand up straight, look her in the eye and say, "No."

For God alone my soul in silence waits; truly, my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold, so that I shall not be shaken. In God is my safety and my honor; God is my strong rock and my refuge. Psalm 62:6–8

When Jesus was at dinner in his [Matthew’s] house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the upright, but sinners.’ Mark 2:15–17

…You’ll laugh a bit like it all doesn’t matter, or least doesn’t hurt, and there will be broken eggshells left on the counter and broken promises left after the fact and the real, exposed truth of it is, after it’s all said and done? Is that under it all, we’re right broken.

No one knows but you do war every single day with the slanderous voices in your head and you wrestle a bit with the death dark that encroaches around the edges of everything and you’re never the only one: anyone who gets up has to push back the dark.

I’m standing there in front of the mirror.

Standing there, looking right into me and the abyss of the mess of me that I’ll never get all right. And it comes down to this:

Christianity is the only hope for this broken world because there’s no other way for the broken to get the nails they need to rebuild.

That’s what this week needs, that’s all this week needs most:

More than needing schedules and productivity, this week will need a Savior and a prayer.

God’s not asking me to produce — He’s asking me to pray.
God’s not asking me to climb ladders — He’s asking me to kneel and let go. –Ann Voskamp

So today part of my lesson plan on scientists includes a story from my middle school when I stood up (rather inadvertently) to a bully who shoved and taunted me every single day on the way home from school.  Because pretty much I am one who caves into bullies. If someone acts angry or disgusted or disappointed I will cower quickly. Which is not the way to go. And the point of my story is going to be that scientists, world-changers, have certain characteristics like courage and creativity and a desire for truth.

And today, Lord, let me remember the truth that You came to seek and to save those who were lost. Which is every single one of us.

My hope is in You.

And no one else.

Especially me.

And You are my courage. You are my creativity. You are the Truth. The Way, The Truth and The Life.

Glory.

So what if Time’s got hands on a clock — it’s God who has His Hands on the universe.

Open my eyes, that I may see the wonders of Your law. Psalm 119:18

And Ann Voskomf’s story for yesterday opened up with one arrow. A yellow arrow on a signpost pointing to Hope. And it is a good story, with lots of bold-faced truths. But the Big Thing is that He holds Hope in His hand. Who believes in unseen things, in impossible things, in the things you can’t measure and control and deduce and reduce and wrap up in a reasonably neat and timely package and who in this cynical world remembers how to find Hope?  And it is not my job to measure and control and deduce and reduce and wrap up in a reasonably neat and timely package.

My job is to say, “Lead and I will follow.” One arrow at a time.

And the cool thing about taking Everette on long walks through the desert to the park is that her eyes are open. And she notices every tiny thing and she constantly opens up her arms and mouth in awe.

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”  [Kuyper]

“Joys are always on their way to us,” writes Amy Carmichael. “They are always traveling to us through the darkness of the night. There is never a night when they are not coming.”

Because there is never a night where joys are not coming to us, there is never a road that can’t arrive at Hope. Circumstances can go ahead and run out of time — but the courageous refuse to run out of hope.

We can always hope because there is always joy traveling to us down the unexpected roads.

And because the thing is: Hope always has a cost and hope is always worth it, because who wants the cheap and deadened alternative?

And I rode right up A Mountain this morning with a pretty loaded pack. And gold gilt duct-taped sunflowers from Nicole. And I am so very curious. But peaceful. Because over and over again I learned on last summer’s trip that I was absolutely clueless about what lie ahead of the next curve.  Except for being completely enveloped in God’s unconditional love. His tightly knit, wrap around love. And Nicole and I kept whispering, “This is amazing.”

My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.