The Fight for Hope – Page 9

When You Don’t Feel Like A Ninja

My daughter threw a sticky ninja onto our dining room ceiling this week. He has been there all week, just holding on. This sticky ninja perfectly describes the climate of our home All five of us are just hanging on while school-chaos, work-chaos, life-chaos swirls all around us.

We are usually pleasant people to be around. Pleasant people who can speak in complete sentences. But in this state of done-ness, we’ve settled for conversations that sound like:

She did it to me first!

Stop looking at me!

Go away!

Turn that music down!

It’s as if we are all wearing sandpaper on our skin, constantly abrasive, constantly irritated.

And our emotions are all over the place. Yesterday I had one child skipping around, excited about a field trip, and one child sobbing on my shoulder, I’m sick of school! Then I sat down and cried for half an hour about my son’s upcoming graduation from 6th grade. They were happy-celebrating-a-milestone tears, but they were still tears.

This milestone is hitting me hard and my husband is baffled. It’s just 6th grade, he keeps saying. But it’s so much more. I feel like we’ve come so far. I went from holding an infant, feeling the full responsibility of parenthood for the first time, to beholding a 100 pound man-cub standing in front of me. It’s just a bit overwhelming.

What about you? How are you these days?

Is life swirling around you, too? Are you just holding on, waiting for a chance to catch your breath? Are you feeling D-O-N-E?

I keep telling my 6th grader. You are so close to the finish line. Keep going, keep doing your best. You will be glad that you finished well.

And I want to whisper those same words to your heart and mine. Keep going, keep doing your best. Keep fighting for hope, even in the darkness. We never know how this stage in our journey will impact the next. We never really know who is inspired by our perseverance until it’s all over.

Hang on, my friend! Hang on like a sticky ninja!

Fighting For Those Who Can’t

I love this picture.

This, to me, is a picture of hope. It looks like it was painted by a happy girl who is excited about a birthday or a special occasion.

But it wasn’t. And that is what makes this a perfect picture of hope. This little hope fairy in all of its pink glory was painted by a young girl in an orphanage in Ukraine.

The orphanage she lives in is drab. Grey and neutral colors are everywhere, except for the art room tucked away in a large classroom on the second floor. It seems as though all the colors in the rainbow have been reserved for that one room in the entire orphanage.

And this is where our little hope artist painted a sweet fairy with her arms open wide, inviting life in with a smile on her face.

This little girl painted hope when her circumstances pointed toward hopelessness. She painted hope when nothing encouraged it. She painted hope even though nothing changed day after day.

This girl is a fighter. A hope warrior.

This picture makes me want to stretch out my hand to encourage this young hope warrior. I want to say “Don’t give up! Keep hoping. Keep your arms open toward life!” I know that there are days when her circumstances mock the spark of hope in her heart. I can hear their dark whispers: “You are nothing. Nobody wants you. What a waste.”

I want her to win.

I want her to experience the beauty of redemption .

Fighting for hope means clinging to redemption. It means believing that God can redeem- buy back, rescue from loss, ransom in full – situations and relationships in our lives. Because of the beauty of redemption we can stand firm and yell what Dan Allender calls “the quintessential cry of hope” in The Healing Path

God turned into good what you meant for evil. (Genesis 50:20, NLT)

I call it the war cry of hope fighters.

Fighting for hope means believing change can happen. It means leaning forward into each day, fighting for traction, for momentum that can move us forward – even an inch.

And that’s the thing about fighting for hope. As we fight we recognize other hope warriors and we want to cheer for them. We know how hard it is to keep hoping and we know that hope is worth fighting for.

Fighting for hope for those who can’t means reaching out a hand of encouragement to speak truth: This is not the end. God will work. And in the reminding, God shines and the darkness fades.

Would you like an opportunity to encourage a fellow hope warrior?

Let me introduce my friends Slavik and Alonya. They live out the beauty of redemption and they are some of the finest hope warriors I’ve met.

They began the Nasledie HeritageFoundation because they wanted to serve orphans and troubled children in Ukraine. They saw great needs all around them and began reaching out. Instead of getting overwhelmed and saying “The problem is too big. What difference could we make?” they stepped out in prayer and began making a difference in the lives of children.

Today they have teams that go into 18 different orphanages to do winter and summer camps, Christmas programs, and fun activities wrapped in the hope that only Christ can bring.

And when war began in Ukraine, they saw an opportunity to reach out to the refugees pouring into their city and they raised money to open a place to minister to these people in need.

To find out more about their amazing ministry check out their Facebook page – Nasledie Heritage Foundation – and their blog at nasledieukraine.blogspot.com. This site shares the story behind the ministry as well as opportunities to get involved.

Fighting for hope on behalf of those who can’t nurtures a spark of hope in their lives. And hope only needs a spark to grow.

Lego Organization System In 4 Easy Steps

If you’ve ever stood in the doorway of a room littered with LEGOs, wishing for a way to organize the colorful mess, this post is for you. If you’ve experienced the agony of stepping on LEGOs with bare feet, this post is for you. You, dear friend, fully understand the connection between these tiny blocks and the fight for hope.

Legos are amazing. These little bricks have unlocked the imagination of children and adults all over the world for decades. LEGO’s founder, Ole Kirk Christiansen, created the name “LEGO” from the first two letters of the Danish words LEG GODT, meaning “play well“. I think he named it perfectly.

My husband has been building with LEGOs since he was five years old. He still has many of his pieces from his childhood. Since Lego hasn’t changed their style of bricks since 1958, all Lego pieces are compatible. As our children have discovered LEGOs, we’ve added to Stephen’s childhood collection.

In 2014 the LEGO Movie brilliantly built a plot around real issues that happen in LEGO filled homes. For example, the writers of this movie completely captured a father-son discussion that has happened at our house. In this scene the dad discovers that his son, Finn, has been playing with his Lego city.

The Man Upstairs: You know the rules, this isn’t a toy!

Finn: Um… it kind of is.

The Man Upstairs: No, actually it’s a highly sophisticated inter-locking brick system. Finn: But we bought it at the toy store.

The Man Upstairs: We did, but the way I’m using it makes it an adult thing.

Finn: The box for this one said “Ages 8 to 14”!

The Man Upstairs: That’s a suggestion. They have to put that on there.

So when is a toy not a toy? When Daddy is playing with it, of course.

The plot of the LEGO movie boils down to the struggle between Lord Business and the Master Builders. Lord Business wants everyone to build LEGO creations only by using instructions. He intends to superglue the LEGO world to make sure everything stays in place.

The Master Builders want to build things they create in their own imaginations.

This struggle is real, people. Within my own home, there are people on both sides.

Stephen, admittedly, is the Lord Business of our home. He lives by the principle that once something is built strictly by the instructions, it stays together. (Though he hasn’t mentioned using it, I’ve hidden the superglue just to be safe.)

The girls use instructions. But occasionally, they flex their Master Builder muscles. Ellen created these cute little ducks in a pond.

Anderson follows the instructions the first time he builds something. After that, he uses the parts to build something else, usually a spaceship. And yes, it drives Stephen nuts.

As these different types of builders began using the same LEGOs, chaos ensued in our home. No one could find the pieces they were looking for. As they searched through one container after another, and the Lego pieces scraped across one another, the horrible, maddening raking sound was unbearable.(At least to this non-Lego person.) Something had to be done.

Stephen wanted to be able to find the pieces he needed. The kids wanted to be able to play freely with the “highly sophisticated inter-locking brick system”. I just wanted a central place to keep the Legos so I could stop stepping on (ouch!) and vacuuming up (oops!) stray pieces.

Then Stephen came up with a system that restored order in our home (at least where Legos are concerned.)

Goal

First, Stephen figured out his goal. He wanted to organize the LEGOs in a way that would enable him to minimize the time spent searching for pieces, and maximize his chance of finding the pieces he was looking for, as well as maximize his building time.

2. Supplies

To reach his goal, he ordered four sets of Sterilite small 5 drawer units. The bottom of each set is removable so that you can actually stack the drawers.

3. Divide

He divided the Lego pieces into three main types: bricks, plates and specialty pieces. These types were sub-divided into groups according to size and shape. For example, he divided the specialty pieces into mini figures, wheels, axles, and hinged pieces.

4. Label

He labeled each drawer according to its contents. He had enough 2×4 bricks to fill an entire drawer. But he had fewer 2×2 and 2×3 blocks, so he combined those in one drawer.

It soon became apparent that 20 drawers were not enough. Right now we have 60 drawers. And everyone can find the LEGOs they are looking for, whether they are using instructions or not. I consider that a complete success!

If this system doesn’t quite meet your needs, design your own. You can begin by answering one question: What is your goal? You have to know where you want to end up before you know which way to go!

Bonus

During this process, Stephen discovered the Lego Digital Designer at Lego.com. This free program allows builders to design their own Lego creations digitally. Once the design is completed, the program creates instructions and a materials list. You can then order the pieces from Lego.com or purchase them at a Lego store.

This incorporates the best of both sides of the struggle: build your own creations with instructions. The power is endless! The program even has that hideous raking sound as you look through the Lego pieces, but there’s a mute button for that!

Amazing facts about LEGOs from National Geographic for Kids:

Seven LEGO sets are sold by retailers every second around the world. During the Christmas season almost 28 LEGO sets are sold each second.

Laid end to end, the number of LEGO bricks sold in a year would reach more than five times round the world. On average there are 80 LEGO bricks for every person on earth.

According to the Huffington Post, LEGO Duplo bricks (the large ones for little kids) can connect with regular LEGO bricks. Even though they are eight times the size of regular bricks, the DUPLO LEGOs connect perfectly with the regular ones.

This post was originally published on the Investing In a Child blog at stefanicarmichael.wordpress.com

People With A Power In Their Hearts

I have the privilege of living and working at French Camp Academy, a Christian boarding school tucked away in French Camp, MS along the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway . It is a place where people fight for hope every single day.

Students are here because someone in their life wanted a change for them. An adult in their life believed they were worth fighting for. And, over time, many of our students grow to believe that as well.

Fighting for hope isn’t glamorous. It gets REAL around here, especially when hopeless-ness rears its ugly head. But I love being in a place where young people are surrounded by adults who want to see them succeed. I love being one of those adults cheering them on.

I had the opportunity to write a post for the French Camp Academy blog this week. It is called People With A Power in Their Hearts. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of life at French Camp.

To read the article, click here.

Sparks of Hope

I didn’t expect to find hope when the words were flying and the tempers flaring. But hope has a way of showing up in the most unlikely places.

I was hovering, trying to do damage control while my daughters argued. I don’t even remember what they were fighting about. I do remember that they were both wounded, and I knew I couldn’t fix it for them.

They sat across from each other, glaring, arms crossed, locked in a stubborn standoff. Suddenly real words, words with feelings attached, began flowing and the walls crumbled.

One of my girls broke down, and I watched her sister reach out to comfort her. No apology had been offered at this point and it would have been easier for her to keep her arms crossed and her heart closed.

But she didn’t.

I was overwhelmed to see my girl reach through her hurt to comfort the one who hurt her. Through her action she said My love for you is greater than your offense toward me.

And that gesture, in that moment, was a spark of hope.

Sparks of hope are vital in the fight for hope because they awaken a quiet, fierce strength inside of us hope warriors. A spark of hope stirs our courage and reminds us that hope is worth fighting for.

Sparks of hope happen all around us, tucked into unsuspecting moments. The question is, Do we see them?

It could be a beautiful sunset.

Or a Bible verse on a drive through window.

It could be a word.

Or it could be in the way love responds to hurt.

Each of us fight battles as we live, day-by-day, in this broken world. If we keep our eyes on the battle we are sure to grow weary. But when we recognize the sparks of hope around us, we find rest in the midst of our battle.

As we fight for hope, we strengthen our “fighting for hope” muscles and sharpen our eyesight so that we can see and celebrate the sparks of hope all around us. When we celebrate these moments, we remind those around us to keep fighting for hope. And it goes on from there.

What sparks of hope have you seen lately? I’d love to know!

Keep On Fighting

If your fight for hope isn’t looking like you thought it would, if you feel discouraged about your journey, if you just want to sit down and give up, this song is for you today.

Keep on fighting – Out of the dark into the light – It’s not over

Hope is rising – Never give in – Never give up – It’s not over

The Beauty of Redemption

I love words and meanings. Lately I’ve had my sights set on the word Redemption and these hope-filled phrases: to ransom completely, to rescue from loss, to release, preserve, deliver by any means, rescue.

The Old and New Testaments paint a beautiful picture of redemption through verses like these:

“But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol…” Psalm 49:15

“Into Your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” Psalm 31:5

“The Lord redeems the life of His servants, none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.” Psalm 34:22

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14

From these verses we see that God is a God who fully rescues, who delivers by any means, who buys back.

I think this is beautiful because there is a lot in my life that needs to be redeemed. This truth is comforting: If God fully rescues and preserves and delivers by any means then my fight for hope is not in vain.

Fighting for hope means clinging to redemption. It means believing that God can redeem- buy back, rescue from loss, ransom in full – situations and relationships in our lives. Because of the beauty of redemption we can stand firm and yell what Dan Allender calls “the quintessential cry of hope” in The Healing Path

God turned into good what you meant for evil. (Genesis 50:20, NLT)

I call it the war cry of hope fighters.

Fighting for hope means believing change can happen. It means leaning forward into each day, fighting for traction, for momentum that can move us forward – even an inch.

It means going to counseling to find out why an addiction has a hold in our lives. It means believing that a day will come when that hold is broken.

It means eating well and taking care of ourselves. It means doing what is best, not easiest. It might mean moving closer to someone who is hurting, or it might mean pulling away from someone who is self-destructing.

Sometimes it means waiting.

But fighting for hope always means believing God will bring good where darkness meant it for evil.

I clearly remember the day God asked me to stop running and become a fighter for hope.

Before that day I knew that trials were part of life in this broken world and that God could help me through, but I had no clue that God would ever ask me to walk through a trial purposefully without knowing the outcome.

We were seven years into our marriage and the masks we’d been wearing were coming unglued and sins hidden too long in the dark began pouring out.

I wish I could say that I accepted my fighter of hope status with great zeal. Instead I sat weeping on the edge of my bed “I can’t do this. It’s too hard and it hurts too much. I want out.” And God answered me as clearly as if He’d said it aloud. “I want you to walk through this. I will be with you.”

That was 16 years ago this month. And the journey has been filled with chasms where I got lost, and mountain tops where I thought the trials were over. In the dark chasms I lost hope, I lost my footing, and forgot that God ever promised to be with me.

But he was with me through every step. He is still with me. And when I begin listening to lies whispered in those dark chasms He sends in truth so I can find my way out of the darkness.

Things do not have to stay where they are right now because God is a God who fully rescues, at all cost, buys back, and restores.

The beauty of redemption.

Do you have a Redemption Chapter in the story of your life? Or are you in the middle of a journey now? Can you see the beauty of redemption in your story?

Happy New Year!

As we move into a new year and I think about my blogging adventures, the word that comes to mind is thankful. I stepped into the blogging world in July and since then people from 30 countries around the world have clicked on my site. Around the world! It boggles my mind. I know that behind those numbers are real people who took time out of their busy lives to read my words. Real people who, hopefully, were encouraged or challenged by what they read.

Here’s a recap of the past few months on erinulerich.com:

I’ve had the opportunity to share parts of my life, my story, with my readers in hopes that they would find connection or encouragement through my words. I believe tracing God’s Hand through our story, through the dark times and the joyful times, is powerful.

I’ve written about one of my favorite topics : the importance of fighting for hope in our lives.

In October I joined an amazing community at www.write31days.com and wrote for an entire month about Truths That Make Life Beautiful. I divided the month into three truths: You are loved. You are not alone. You have purpose.

This was my first experience being in a blogging community, and I loved it. It was so much fun that I’m going to try it again. In the next few days I’m joining another community for a new series. I’ll share those details with you soon!

Thank you so much for reading my words, for your comments, and your “likes.” I want you to know that I pray for you as I write each post, because my desire is that my words would speak life to you and always, always, point your heart toward God.

I’m looking forward to walking into 2016 with you!

If you would like to receive my posts directly to your email, please click the Follow button on the sidebar.

Christmas Hope

I’m typing this in the days between Christmas and the New Year. The days when we are coming off of the crazy December schedule. The days when I’m least likely to know what day of the week it actually is. The days when I can just breathe.

But I didn’t want to leave the Christmas season without writing about Christmas Hope, because this year this truth grabbed my heart in a way that left me breathless.

John 1: 14 describes Jesus’ birth with these words “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

He calls Jesus the Word made flesh.

The more I’ve let this phrase turn over in my mind, the more I’ve fallen in love with Jesus, the more I’ve seen that it really is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance, and the more I’ve been convinced that others need to see God’s kindness flowing through His people before they are going to want to know God.

The Word of God has a very specific job and an all- encompassing reach. ^“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:22)

In his commentary on Hebrews, John Calvin says “This means that it [the Word] tests the whole soul of a man. It inquires into his thoughts and it searches his will and all his desires. It means that there is nothing so hard or firm in a man, nothing so deeply hidden that the efficacy of the Word does not penetrate through to it.”

God has given His Word the task of penetrating to the most secret thoughts of the heart.

In His interactions with people throughout the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus did exactly that. He brought to light the thoughts from the innermost recesses of hearts. He scattered the darkness so that people could see Him.

The Word became flesh and drew sinners to Himself.

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:17

He came to say There is something missing in your life. I know you sense that. I know the darkness is overwhelming. I have come to shed light and give you life.

In a religious society that thought rule-keeping was the way to holiness, Jesus taught that obeying out of love for Him was the way to know Him.

We can get to know Jesus by reading through the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In these books we can see His gentleness with those who were struggling, with those who didn’t even know they needed Him until He spoke to them. We can see His compassion.

The Christmas Hope is that Jesus came to show us what God is like in order to draw us into relationship with Him. He knows us and wants us to know Him. The Christmas Hope is that this broken world is not the way it was meant to be and it’s not the way things will always be.

When Jesus begins to scatters the darkness inside our hearts, His light will shine into our world, and those around us will be drawn to Him. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us to bring hope and light into a dark world.

And today, whether it is Christmas time when you read this or not, I hope you will allow the Word of God to touch your heart in the places where the darkness has convinced you there is no hope. I hope you will ask the Word of God to shine His light, scatter the darkness, and show you what it truly means to know Him and live.

Finding Hope in the Waiting (Part 2)

When we can’t see the end of the waiting, it is easy to lose hope. Finding Hope in the Waiting (Part 1) describes how God used a decade of waiting to draw me closer to Him.

During the waiting I was frustrated that God was making me wait. I let Him know just how frustrated I was, but I never took into account that He knows how hard waiting is. He knows because He also had to wait.

The first Christmas was the answer to a very long time of waiting on both sides of eternity. God’s people had been waiting for God to deliver them. And during all that time, He had been waiting too.

Throughout the Old Testament, His heart cry is repeated: “They shall be my people, and I will be their God.” And after all that waiting, at just the right time, He stepped into history. He stepped into our space and time, not to thunder from a mountain top, but to become one of us.

He came to deliver us, but also to be with us. To walk in this broken world, to feel the pull of sin, to feel every emotion we feel so that He can be with us in every way.

Why would He do this?

“Christ has put on our feelings along with our flesh, not only to show Himself to be truly man, but to be taught by that very experience how to help our miseries; and that, not because as Son of God He needed such instruction, but because only thus could we grasp the concern He has for our salvation. Whenever we are laboring under the infirmities of our flesh, let us bear in mind that the Son of God has experienced them too, to encourage us by His power in case we are overwhelmed by them.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, Hebrews and 1&2 Peter)

He did this to show us the depth of His love, grace, and mercy toward us. He walked in our shoes so that we would trust Him with our hearts.

This love, grace, and mercy is described in Hebrews 4:12-16.

^“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

After describing how nothing is hidden from God – not even the thoughts deep within our hearts that we would never bring to the light of day – in case we start to despair, the writer of Hebrews begins to describe how Jesus was tempted in every way as we are. He fought the battles waging inside of us – each one of us – and he WON! – not to gloat over us, but to say “I know the battle. Come closer and find your strength in Me. Come, and receive forgiveness. Take my hand and I will fill you with hope. Come to the throne of grace in your time of need, with confidence, to find help.”

What would our lives look like if we really believed that He is with us? If we felt His comforting arm around our shoulder when fear haunts us, when grief stalks us, when hopelessness threatens to drag us down?

Would things be different if we remembered that He also wrestled with fear, that He fought against grief, that He destroyed hopelessness so that we could too.

What if we cried out to Him and heard Him say, “I’m with you. We will walk through this together.” or “I created all that you see. I hold all things together. If I hold the molecules of your body together, I can work in the details of your life.”

And when we seek to know Jesus, we find it comforting that nothing is hidden from God, because it means that God knows everything about us. He ended the waiting time and became one of us so that we could know Him, too.