Hope

So, I was not sure what I wanted to blog about today. How real should one get? How much of yourself to you expose? But then we are called to share life together. To be real together.

 As wonderful as the ship is, we are flawed, broken people. Forgiven, but stilled flawed. We will never do everything right. We bump up against each others edges. We irritate, we comfort. We learn from each other. We fall short. There will never be enough time, enough ships, enough people or enough resources to meet all the need.  Because of that, it is important to be able to think about hope.

Many of our patients spend a large portion of their lives in longing. Longing to be whole. Longing to be included. Longing to not be rejected, or despised.  For different reasons, many experience isolation due to their medical problems. People tell them they are not welcome, they are cursed, that they or one they love should just die, or worse be killed. 

Enter Jesus

From the moment they arrive it is our goal to introduce our patients to one who knows exactly how they feel.

³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.  Isaiah 53:3

Long before the first cut of the scalpel, or the first bandage change, our patients begin to experience the love of Christ flowing through these flawed vessels. Through the broken cracks, the light shines through. For most, it is a light they have never seen. It is surprising, unexpected and even hard to believe. They experience someone looking them in eye, reaching out to touch them, kindness, compassion, and yes even love. Often they become aware Slowly the guard comes down, hearts open and smiles appear. Slowly hope is born. Hope for something different. Hope for a different look. Hope for a different walk. Hope for a different life. And sometimes by God's grace alone, hope for a different eternity. 

Hope is so important.  Not only for our patients but for us as well. It is likely that each of us have something we are hoping for. It may be a new job, a spouse, a child or something only known to your and God. I want to encourage you to keep hoping. God has not forgotten you. This week I am studying in Genesis and have been reminded that Sarah waiting 90 years to be a mother. Even years after God promised her motherhood she waited. She got tired of waiting. She tried it her own way with not the best results. In the end, God was faithful.  Friends, do not give up, and do not try to resolve it your way. Trust God. He has a plan. You are part of that plan. 

I was reminded this week of my own deferred hope. Something that has been making my heart sick. Waiting for years for someone I love to choose to follow God. To surrender to Him, to see His way is the only way worth walking. How I long for it, and wait, and wait and wait. All the circumstances around me say it will not happen. But God. He reminds me of hope. He renewed my hope this week through a friend who has been waiting on the same desire. We spent an afternoon sharing our hearts, our fears, and our longings for our loved ones.Years of wishing and wanting and disappointment.  Both feeling a bit sad and maybe a little hopeless, a little sick. But then God......in the way only He can, shows up. Just a few hours later, about 12 to be exact, she was able to share with me that on that very night, her loved one stepped into the kingdom of eternity. The walls came down, the seed sprouted and belief and faith were born in a new heart. Praise God. I am so thankful. Thankful for the joy that my friend and her loved one can now share. Thankful for her hope fulfilled. Thankful that another soul knows the one who made them. And I am truly thankful that the Lord let me have a glimpse and a reminder that it is never too late. That He is on the throne. That we can put all our hope in Him. I will keep praying and keep hoping.

Praying for you and yours.