Tagged: hope

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked (John 5:5-9) Sometimes suffering can go on so long we lose hope. We lie on the mats of our circumstances and watch others rush past in pursuit of… Read More

@audreycfrank When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32). This is Mary, the one who knew she was loved by the Lord. Mary, the one who sat at his feet and listened. She was the woman who broke the cultural stereotype of the day that said women could not be students, disciples of the Rabbi. Mary is the one who “chose the thing that was better” (see Luke 10:42). One day this same Mary would anoint Jesus' feet with expensive perfume before his crucifixion (see John 12:1-8). Mary had a strong measure of confidence in her relationship with Jesus. She knew… Read More

@audreycfrank The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5) Walking in the dark night of Africa is risky. The black mamba, one of the world’s deadliest snakes, can completely camouflage himself within the inky darkness. He is one of the few snakes who are active at night and has a particular love for wood or metal that has absorbed the heat of the day.  We encountered the black mamba only once, coiled around the grating on our screen door. After a long night of good conversation and milky hot chai by lantern light, we saw our guests to the door. As my husband reached out his hand to open it the darkness moved, alerting us to the killer’s… Read More

@audreycfrank In the very place where they were once named Nobody, they will be named God’s Somebody (Hosea 1:10, The Message). I once knew a girl who was ashamed of her name.  It was an unusual name, an uncommon name, a name which caused others to ask its origin. When the unavoidable question came, the girl would avert her eyes and mumble a soft explanation that left the questioner confused but with the distinctly uncomfortable impression that this topic was complicated. Her name had been given in haste, created by two people who found themselves in more trouble than they anticipated with a baby they had not planned. In the middle of a dark and chilly night, they escaped together to another place where no one… Read More

What will you begin in 2019? @audreycfrank Alert and ready to leap out of bed at any given second, I lay in the dark and listened. The sound of a rat running back and forth on the bedpost inches from my head had me frozen in place, afraid if I breathed he might make a detour and jump on my head.  What on earth is he carrying in his mouth with such dedication? I wondered to myself. Back and forth, back and forth. Scratch, scramble, swoosh, slip, patter-patter-patter over my head. Again. And again. He was one busy rat. All of my senses were completely trained upon his every move. I was trying very hard not to scream. It did not help that my husband slept… Read More

@audreycfrank A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Isaiah 42:3 A golden fleece of evening sunlight spread over the gentle hills, inviting the village to slow down and rest after a dusty day’s work in the cornfields. The murmur of women and children as they exchanged their short-handled jembes for water buckets rose like a lullaby over the beautiful evening landscape. A shrunken old lady wrapped in the commanding red linens of a head wife made her way slowly to a young girl, flicking her wrist as she quietly instructed, “Fetch the ember.” It was time to light the fires for the evening meal. Each day, one person preserved hot embers from the previous day’s fire.… Read More

@audreycfrank Part One: When You are the One Suffering from PTSD "Don't trigger me!" one teen said to another as they dissolved into laughter. The phrase has become casual and funny in popular culture, but underneath the laughter there is a kernel of truth. For those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a trigger can come unexpectedly, throwing them into a tailspin of fear and anxiety. [tweet_box design="default" float="none"]Recognizing the signs of #PTSD and knowing how to respond can make all the difference.[/tweet_box] One of the most indelible memories of PTSD for me happened one clear morning in Africa when a trigger interupted my life, warping reality. The old green Scout was my rescue car that day, the only reliable source of transportation available… Read More

@audreycfrank Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 He told her he was not attracted to her anymore, did not love her, and had wasted the past five years of his life married to her. He wanted a divorce. She recoiled in shock, the unexpected declaration taking her completely off-guard. But they both serve in the church! He is a good father to their two children. She has done Bible studies on how to be a godly wife. How could this happen when she had done everything right? She could not believe the doctor’s diagnosis. Surely he was mistaken. This must… Read More

@audreycfrank Sometimes life, like a neglected garden, becomes overgrown with weeds. As I write this, I am staring out my window at what was once a carefully tended, intentionally planned garden of perennials. I designed the garden with the goal of creating a burst of beauty and color when looking out any of my home’s eastern facing windows. Sitting at breakfast, I could see butter-colored confederate jasmine blossoms, pink knockout roses, slender lavender blooms, orange tiger lilies from my great-grandmother’s garden, purple butterfly bushes, and wild blue violets. From the living room where my desk sits, peonies, iris, and heritage roses comforted my eyes and brought delight to my spirit. On mild days, I loved to open the windows and door, allowing the scents of… Read More

@audreyfrank I went to bed with Condemnation and woke up with it the next morning. It had started in the place of self-scrutiny, with the instruments we all like to use to measure ourselves. Beauty, Success, Energy, Health, Finance: Fill in your own tool. I had measured and weighed my Self and did not like what I saw. By the time I fell into bed I was exhausted and weighed down like an anchor chained to a shipwreck. Condemnation slipped its scaly arms around me and began to tighten its grip. By morning it had grown in strength and staked its claim on yet another day. My perceived failures stood around my bed taunting me, daring me to face the day with anything but discouragement. … Read More