2 Corinthians 9:8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others Right now I’m holding onto this verse and others like it. I get overwhelmed, and sometimes feel beaten down, by our financial situation (so does half the country, I imagine). But God has faithfully provided for our needs over and over and over, sometimes in surprising ways. For example, about a month or two ago our budget was short by around $500 or so… not a happy place. John had done some work on the side and expected to make about half of what we needed from this job. When we received the check it was for exactly how much our budget was short that month!!! How cool is that?! God does provide, but it’s easy to miss it or forget it. Right now I’m working on the board of a new school that is being planned. It’s so awesome and I’m SO excited! Briefly, it’s going to be the first platinum rated “Green” school in the country. But, most awesomely (is that a word), the entire curriculum that I am working on is based on project-based and experiential learning! It integrates the students into their community as they learn, and it provides counseling centers and other services for both students and their families. It is amazing!!!! It’s a huge undertaking, and sometimes it seems like it will be impossible to get the funding we need to build this school (oh, and it’s not some fancy place that only a few really rich kids can go to… it’s affordable and we hope to scholarship anyone who can’t afford the TINY yearly fee – it really is tiny – like less than one month of daycare in my budget). I have to remember that God knows all the details of our plan and already has everything we need provided for. Trusting Him is where faith gets built. But, one of the reasons He is so generous with us is so that we will be generous with others. Hope Inspirational Schools wants to give back to the community in order to be an example to others, but also to provide an alternative for student who have difficulty learning in a more “traditional” manner. I also know that while my family doesn’t have a lot to give, we do like to give. There’s a joy that comes from knowing that you’re doing the right thing and that it’ll help someone. Easy? Not always. Amazing? Always. If you’d like more information about this school, check out the website (please don’t judge based on how it looks – it’s VERY much a rough job and is in the process of being reworked).
Romans 15:13 So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Two thoughts today: 1. Redemption – what?! More fancy Christian-ese? Redemption just means the act of purchasing back something previously sold. And, no, I’m not talking about salvation. I’m talking about hope. John and I had the privilege to speak at a youth event at a school this week. We were the “what not to do” and “consequences” portion of the event. We were also the visible proof that even when we make mistakes there is hope. Our messages were one that, while we reminded them that there are consequences to their actions, there is redemption for a life gone astray. Both John and I have had things happen in our lives that caused us to go off the path that God originally intended for us to be on. My prayer has always been that God would use those events to reach others (heaven knows, if I had to go through them they’d better be good for something!). And God redeems the past – He takes the years that were lost wandering and restores us to the place He has for us and the plan He has for us. 2. Hope – Interestingly, my life has been filled with various types of hope lately. I spoke about hope in the section above – hope that God can bring light out of a dark time in my life and hope that He will redeem my past and create a beautiful future. The other hope I’ve been spending a lot of time with lately is actually HOPE Inspirational School (http://www.his.edu – still under construction). It’s a school that I’m actually getting to help found! It’s based around experiential and project-based learning. It’s environmentally friendly. It’s community outreaching. It focuses on addressing not only the intellectual growth of its students, but also the emotional, physical, and spiritual growth. It’s incredible! I’m totally not doing it justice in my meager description. Give it a week or two and check out the website for a much more eloquently put description.