Hope Comes Full Circle

Posted by RJ Thesman

Recently, I attended an event where I sat at a table with several older women. Lovely women—all of them. Accomplished and happy within their retirement status.

But as they began the recital of their health challenges, I realized I was the only one at the table with my original hips and knees. Thank you, God !

At the same time in history, our family is watching my great niece grow. She discovered her toes, lost her first tooth, and is now learning to balance for her first steps.

As children, we focus on our physical bodies. Discover who we are and what we can do. What our laugh sounds like and how our tongues curl to say first words. Every experience is an adventure, a beginning in finding our authentic selves.

During our last act, we again focus on our bodies. We realize how much of our physical space is now limited. We have fewer choices, depending on which health issues we face.

As children, we do not worry about scheduling doctor visits or paying for them. As seniors, our schedules are owned by one clinic after another. And finances depend on insurance payments or the network.

But again, we focus on our physical bodies—the challenges and the discovery of the next thing. No longer an adventure, but more of a ‘What now?’ attitude.

If only we could have the mindset of children. To realize that even within the aging demographic, our bodies have been wondrously created and have served us well. These shells assigned to us have enabled us to do life, sometimes more easily than other times. But still adequately performing the task at hand.

Sure, it would be nice to feel once again the energy and joy of youth. To run with abandon and not tire. To sleep through the night with dreams of tomorrow’s adventures. To wake without stiff joints and gleefully bound out of bed to face a new day.

Someday—in our spiritual bodies—we will transport without boundaries. Move without pain. Doctors will not be necessary, and energy will be boundless.

In the meantime, maybe we can focus more clearly on the hope set before us and less on the creaks and groans. Maybe we can be more intentional to live our lives with hope-filled attitudes and be more like the children we once were.

Find some hope with these devotions. Day by Day: Hope for Senior Wisdom.

Hope’s Interpretation

Posted by RJ Thesman

As my son deposited his first check from a ‘real’ job, I encouraged him to give some away. “Even if you think you don’t have enough to spare, give anyway. You’ll discover God’s math is different from our math. He can make money multiply out of nothing.”

Through the years, I have underscored this principle in various Bible studies I taught or printed articles I wrote. God’s math is indeed different.

But God’s interpretation of our language is also different. Scripture uses phrases to indicate time as ’soon’ or ‘in a little while.’

We think of ‘soon’ as at least within the week if not the day. But Jesus promised to come back ‘soon’ — thousands of years ago.

In Psalm 37:10, the poet David states, “A little while and the wicked will be no more . . . but the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.”

‘A little while’ from the writing of David’s words has now been a very long while. Generations of innocents have been affected by wickedness. The meek folks still do not enjoy peace or prosperity.

Perhaps these time-sensitive statements are merely metaphors and not to be taken literally. Or maybe when they DO come true, looking back — we’ll forget how long they took to actually happen.

Sort of like that last month of pregnancy that feels like you’ll be pregnant forever. Until you hold your newborn in your arms and realize those nine months of growing another human inside you are finished.

God reminds us that his ways are not our ways. His thoughts so far above us. Like his interpretation of math, the timelines of language differ within our finite minds.

And since God is timeless, our role is not to determine the times and seasons, not try to figure out if these are indeed the ‘last days.’ But to just live patiently each day, doing our best to love God and love others.

We can only leave the math and the timelines to an eternal God whose final use of superlatives promise hope:

I will NEVER forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
We will be with the Lord FOREVER (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Surely I am with you ALWAYS (Matthew 28:20)

We cannot live with a self-imposed timeline. We can only live Day by Day.

Though and Yet

Posted by RJ Thesman

‘Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines. Though the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food. Though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls . . . ’ (Habakkuk 3:17 Amplified).

Sometimes we think the Old Testament has little to offer in our modern 21^st century world. I beg to differ. Most of us are living in some sort of ‘though.’ Some more intensely than others.

Below is my offering:

Though the Oklahoma wheat crop — our family farm — is dying, turning yellow from the drought
Though counties around the farm grow lush and green from clouds of rain while our county remains cracked dry
Though evil continues to win its earthly battles
Though groceries and gas prices continue to rise but income does not
Though chaos explodes around us every day
Though government systems still do not ‘get it’ and fill the air waves with empty promises
Though babies are shot through car windows
Though deception digs deep and destroys logical thinking
Though groups of believers suffer from the consequences of one person’s sin
Though my prayers go unanswered after years of lament and pleading
Though illness threatens the corners of life in spite of healthy lifestyles
Though God continues to practice patience when everything in me screams for justice

‘Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will exult in the victorious God of my salvation. The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, my invincible army. He helps me make spiritual progress even in the places of trouble, suffering, and responsibility’ (Habakkuk 3:18-19 Amplified).

Yet the true God is the One I have chosen to believe
Yet Jesus is the final vindicator
Yet justice, mercy, and peace will eventually define us
Yet God can restore what has been stolen
Yet the provisions I need will somehow show up just in time
Yet government systems are mere shadows of God’s eternal design
Yet truth is still stronger than deception
Yet God can heal at any time and in any way best chosen for the situation
Yet the Creator God creates in me
Yet God’s patience is a precursor to his merciful justice
Yet the Almighty Peaceful One sustains me within the chaos
Yet God loves every one in the entire world
Yet God can rain down his blessings of moisture at any moment and create a storm out of a tiny cloud
Yet even when the harvest does not show up, God can still provide
Yet even though it sometimes feels naïve, I will continue to believe in the abounding love of God

The Old Testament prophet concluded with his belief system, and so can we. All it takes is merely gutsing out a germ of faith. We can find our hope by living in the ‘Yet.’

For more information about faith, check out Uploading Faith: What It Means to Believe.

Three Steps to Hope

Posted by RJ Thesman

Psalm 37 has long been a favorite passage. Outlined and highlighted in various versions of my Bibles. A familiar place to reflect on the variety of its meanings.

This year I returned often to verse seven and found a three-step formula to ease me through the cold gloom. A stairway opened toward Hope.

Be Still. The exact opposite of how so many of us live our lives. Until we are forced by sickness or vacations or circumstances to stop the frantic pace.

But more than a physical slowing down, this concept shifts us back to first gear. The ‘Be Still’ step indicates a mindset reboot.

To cease striving for perfection
To stop trying to figure out why prayers are not answered
To trust that a higher motive will provide the acceleration when it is time to move or change

Being still is that place of ultimate trust where we rest in the love that will not let us go. And know that God’s desired outcome will be the best for us.

Wait Patiently for God. Many Type A’s like me do not do well with the idea of waiting. It feels too passive. Too scary to wait until someone else or something else determines a direction.

Yet this waiting is not a passive work, for patience requires an inner ‘whoa’ when we most want to act.

Patience again reminds us to trust the process. To be careful with our interpretations of ‘Go.’ This waiting determines to be grateful for the pause. Sincere about letting God’s work have its ultimate timeline.

This step forward lives without regret because we anticipate the day we can say, “Oh, that’s why it took so long.”

Do Not Fret. ‘Fret’ is rather an old-fashioned word, but I like it better than ‘worry.’ It implies more anxiety, an actual mind-racing and finger-snapping type of stress. Like the worry stones we used to wear down with our thumbs.

Like when my mother said, “I’m sure stewin’ about that.”

To cease from fretting means we inwardly step back. Let our worried souls unplug. We purposely commit to be still. To wait patiently. To move to the place where we no longer even think about the problem.

To not fret takes an intentional leap toward a trustful gratitude. It releases the problem and refuses to grab it back. It believes the issue will eventually resolve as all problems must — one way or another.

Be Still. Wait Patiently. Do Not Fret.

Three steps that lead us toward a hope-filled peace. A result that creates healthy soul care when we need it most.

Follow these three steps through the devotional book, Day by Day: Hope for Senior Wisdom.

Hope Searches for a Song

Posted by RJ Thesman

My deck umbrella waves in the slight April wind as I ponder in its shade. God has granted a beautiful spring morning. A time for reflection.

So beautiful outside yet not so lovely within.

Every stinkin’ day for several weeks, some type of something has gone wrong. It seems as if my life is shadowed by chaos.

My dryer stopped heating.
My emails stopped sending.
The cat’s breast cancer rapidly accelerates. Grief threatens.
I miss my son.
My team lost in March Madness.
My back fence succumbed to the Kansas wind and collapsed in the grass.
Identity Theft from my taxes has caused a whirl of challenges.
My car developed a strange online feature that needed a reboot from the mechanic.
My phone is elderly and starting to show its need for a younger model.
A client is suffering, and I grieve with her.
Et cetera

And yes, I know others are struggling with much worse. Whenever I see a report from Ukraine, I want to grind my teeth. Except the dentist said I should not.

‘Count it all joy,’ the book of James demands.

I am not in a joyful place. It worries me that my joy is so affected by temporary circumstances. How will joy then appear when something more dreadful happens?

‘Come unto me,’ Jesus said, ‘all who are weary and heavily burdened. I will give you rest.’

Not the rest that revives during a week in the New Mexico mountains. But the emotional and lovely rest of a contented soul.

I think of several brave women I know who live with chronic pain. They must find their joy even within the midst of the struggle. Every. Single. Day. They give and live and do what they can while setting healthy boundaries. My she-roes, every one of them.

But I cannot reproduce what they own. My joy button needs to be re-set, and I cannot find the mechanism.

I DO know joy resides within me. This fruit of the Spirit is guaranteed to Jesus followers. So I struggle to find it on this beauteous April morning. Somehow, just knowing God is present with me and around me causes a sudden blip of peace.

The author of Psalm 68 urges me toward nuggets of hope:

Let the uncompromisingly righteous be glad. Do not compromise my own joy with a focus on the bad stuff.
Let them be in high spirits. Maybe a piece of chocolate or a glass of red wine will bring those high spirits? Neither of these treats grace my pantry, and I don’t feel like driving to get some.
Let them rejoice in God. Keep journaling about gratitude for what DOES work in my life.

So I try to ignore the taunts of discouragement, realizing writers often morph into melancholy. Especially when we are about to write something important. Hmm – maybe this is a spiritual attack on my creative juices.

Instead, I focus on the positives of my life. Speak words of gratitude for a beautiful day, for seeds sprouting in my window, for the promise of spring flowers that will cheer me.

Ignore the frailties of my humanity and instead remember ‘the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me.’ Awesome thought.

There it comes —a bubble of joy. It resurfaces and lights my inner core with its purity.

God sends the sound of a goose to make me laugh. A chickadee feeds on my deck, his black and white wings beating in worship. God’s presence begins to rise within. I praise him for this alpha moment and hope it will keep rising.

Joy responds as Hope returns.

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Searching for Hope

Posted by RJ Thesman

A massive earthquake in Turkey. Another black boy murdered. The diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer. Alzheimer’s. Kidnappings. The war in Ukraine.

It’s enough to keep us from watching the news. In fact, I am limiting myself to only one short news show per day. Check out the 1440.com for an alternative.

Sometimes life unravels a world away as we watch, and sometimes it knocks at our door. What do we do when the unraveling becomes personal? When we cannot find hope? When we’re ‘supposed’ to know the answers and walk a life of faith with a smile on our faces and hope in our hearts?

We Grieve. We admit the truth to ourselves . . . that life on this earth is a struggle. No matter how we try to protect ourselves or our loved ones from tragedy, it WILL eventually find us.

So we take some time out and grieve. Whatever that looks like. Tears. Screaming into a pillow when the children are asleep. A bag of dark chocolate or a gallon of ice cream — no judgment here. I have tried both.

Vomiting our guts out with words in our journals. Sometimes my journal page ends up with holes in it because I press my pen so hard into its lined relief. Searching to find a bit of solace. Tearing out pages and burning them to eradicate my angry words.

When we fail to grieve, we internalize the sorrow. Then depression and life-long anger can claim our souls. Bitterness begins to shadow us, and we isolate in fear.

Better to admit it when we’re trudging through the pit. And find some relief in letting the pain go.

We Find a Friend. During the last few weeks, I have needed the company of friends. One day was particularly difficult. But I knew I had to get out of the house and connect with another pilgrim.

So I texted a friend for a lunch date, and we met at Third Space in Bonner Springs, KS. If you’re in the area, plug this amazing coffee shop into your GPS and drive there immediately.

Over plates of turkey-avocado-spinach-wraps, I shared my struggle. My friend listened. Understood my grief and my anger at the injustice. Gave me some ideas for how to deal with it. Promised to pray.

The release of sharing helped me make it through the day. And the warm spinach wrap was also a comfort. Sometimes all we need is a good friend and some good food. In that order.

We Admit Our Helplessness. Sometimes we can follow our to-do list and resolve whatever is happening. But often, we find ourselves unable to do anything to solve the particular problem. The systems work against us. The mountain is too tall and too cold to climb.

As one of my friends says, referring to A Tale of Two Cities, “It is certainly not the best of times. It is also not the worst of times. But it is a time we have not experienced before.”

It is much easier for me to figure out Plan B and make sure it happens. As a firstborn with an extra dose of life-long responsibility, everything in me wants to solve this problem. I am willing to do anything to make it go away and restore what has been stolen.

But I cannot solve it. The systems are stronger than I. The dynamics must work themselves out, and I must let go of Plan B, C, D, . . . . My self-sufficiency has met its match, and I lose. Pluck another grey hair. Plaster moisturizer on new wrinkles. Grind my teeth in frustration.

Maybe my letting go will release other powers to do what is right. If only they will choose the right way. But what if they don’t? So I go back to grieving, journaling, finding friends who promise to pray, stay busy, and try to find the zipper that releases hope.

Yes, I know many of my followers are thinking, Why don’t you just trust God? I do trust God, and I know that ultimately he is the one who restores our broken lives.

But a lifetime of experience has also taught me that restoration does not always happen in this lifetime. Sometimes the eternal plan is the outcome, way beyond my Plan B and much deeper than I can even imagine.

And that’s when the pain intensifies. Even as I repeat Bible verses, engage in my personal communion time, and beg God to show himself mighty. A sliver of hope seeks a good result. Logic reminds me that the resolution may remain hidden.

One step closer to vaulting over that mountain does not mean I will conquer its summit. But at least in the trying, the energy required for movement can elicit some hope.

Ultimately, we just keep breathing, living, and praying that the God who knows all things will somehow make a way through. And that what is broken will eventually be fixed, even if it takes eternity to finish it.

Living day by day requires a daily reboot. Find yours in Day by Day: Hope for Senior Wisdom.

Hope Deferred

Posted by RJ Thesman

Petting zoos are not just for children. They can be a peaceful haven for adults like me who grew up on a farm and still nurture a country heart.

So I was excited to find a petting zoo at one of the local fall festivals. I was eager for the sensory experience of touching and smelling animals, conversing with these splendid creatures of God’s design.

Until I stepped inside.

About ten sheep needed shearing. They wore their wool like heavy armor while children dug fingers into the nap. Ducks and geese stood in a small pen, so crowded they could barely move. No water source so they could drink and play.

One pygmy goat, obviously used to feeding from children’s pudgy hands. He nuzzled a few pellets. Refused to eat more. Again, no water source.

Then I saw her. An older goat lying in the shade, far away from the others. I knelt beside her. Petted the blonde and white stripe on her forehead. No response. No movement except a slight flutter of her long lashes. I checked for the movement of her breath and was relieved to see the rhythms of inhalation.

“I’m sorry, old girl. You don’t feel good, do you? And no one is taking care of you today.”

How long had she lain there with no water and no desire to eat? Was she weary of being taken to a common pen each day for the entertainment of humans? Did anyone care about her physical and emotional health? Who was responsible?

We are encouraged to care for God’s creation which includes the animals (Proverbs 27:23). To honor our shared life that originated when God spoke, “Let there be….” To provide for the weak and care about the suffering, no matter the species or the nationality.

I wonder if I should report that petting zoo to the ASPCA. Would my actions save the life of that sweet goat or would the operators merely move it to another location and find other unwanted creatures to exploit?

The patriarch Job shared a message regarding the importance of God’s creatures, “For ask now the animals, and they will teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character]; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.

“Or speak to the earth [with its other forms of life], and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare [this truth] to you.

^“Who [is so blind as] not to recognize in all these [that good and evil are promiscuously scattered throughout nature and human life] that it is God’s hand which does it [and God’s way]?

^“In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:7-10 AMPC).

Hope should color our actions so that we appreciate and care for all of creation. So that we fight to preserve the precious green spaces that give back oxygen. So that we honor the Creator by protecting his work. So that we touch the sacred places around us with intention to leave them better.

So that we share hope with broken people and even, forgotten goats.

Check out the beauty and poignant prose in The Church of the Wild by Victoria Loorz. I am halfway through and loving every nugget of truth.

RJThesman.net

Author | Coach | Speaker | Editor

finding hope

Hope Comes Full Circle

Hope’s Interpretation

Though and Yet

Three Steps to Hope

Hope Searches for a Song

Searching for Hope

Hope Deferred