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And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5 Hope and disappointment do seem to go hand and hand. I think that is the reason why this scripture is so hard to accept or understand. We all have hoped for something and been disappointed. I hoped to grow up, get married, raise a family and be able to provide a wonderful life for them. Have many of my hopes been realized? Yes, I guess they have, but not without some very difficult trials along the way. Serious illnesses, severe financial struggles, marital strife, emotional and psychological pain all have led to some very trying disappointments in the midst of this hope. Recently I had some profound encounters with hope that gave me a deeper understanding of the relationship between hope and disappointment. My [...]

Anyone who cares for a person with brain injury knows that routines are very important to help them organize their day, memory and indeed wrap their brain around the tasks ahead. Truly, all of us function best with routines and order in our lives, though some of us like it better than others. I land somewhere in the middle. I like order and routines, but I also like to go with the flow. I oftentimes have to go with the flow, even if it is rushing through my day like a dangerous river, in the form of a medical crisis or event demanding all of my attention. To facilitate structures, routines and help my daughter to learn the difficult concept of time, we have developed a specialized planner. In this planner, there is a calendar which is specifically made for Johanna, complete with picture cues and bold lettering and diminished [...]

In the dark of night, in the prison of addiction, God offers us freedom as we surrender to grace. “During the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out and said, “Go, take your place in the temple and tell the people everything about this life” (Acts 5:27). These words jumped off the page of my Bible as I was reading them the other day. In context, they refer to Peter and the apostles and their miraculous release from the prison they had been thrown into for preaching the gospel. It was an unjust imprisonment prompted by the jealously of another group of people. But what struck me is that every person can relate to the feeling of being imprisoned, if only in our minds. We can be imprisoned by judgmental attitudes, hatred and un-forgiveness. When we are unwilling to love and forgive [...]

Eileen Benthal's week brought lessons in responding with grace, as her youngest child underwent three brain surgeries at NYU medical center in Manhattan, where she is recovering in pediatric ICU. I spent last weekend away on a women’s retreat. I was leading the worship for 80 women who took time away from their busy lives and their families to commune with God and fellowship with each other. It was a beautiful retreat, filled with inspiration, laughter, tears and prayer. The presenter, Kathleen McCarthy, was excellent. She is a mother of twelve and a grandmother of fifty. If I thought that my life was complicated; compared to her life, mine is a walk in the park. When her children were younger, their house burned to the ground and they lost everything. When her youngest was just 18 months old, her husband was diagnosed with colon cancer and died. A few years [...]