High, in the sky, apple pie hopes

I had some random thoughts today.

The theme of my thoughts?

Hope.

But not just any flat-out-boring-sized human hope will do.

As in, "I hope it doesn't rain today." 

or

"The only thing I can do is hope and pray for the best."

or

"I hope to make a difference in the lives of others."

or

"I hope for world peace."

Blah, blah, bland.

These kinds of statements don't necessarily focus on hope, hopefulness, or the hope that is to come in the situations aforementioned. Rather, they disgustingly focus on the hopelessness within the situation(s) at hand, put 'prayer' as a last resort, and depict 'hope' as a destination that may or may not be attainable on this train-ride-go-around of life.

And, let me tell you people, that kind of hope simply won't do.

Which is why I'm not referring to that kind of hope….

I'm referring to something more.

A much greater Hope altogether.

In Goof Troop The Movie, dad and son are pictured singing at the top of their lungs as they go about their way on a road-trip-vacation-of-sorts. (I looked for a YouTube link to show you what I'm talking about here, but I couldn't find it…. so just trust me on this one.) In the cartoon video blast-from-the-past from my dear sweet childhood, this dad-and-son-duo sing their lungs out about some guy who has Hiiiiigh hopes. Yup, to quote them directly, "He's got Hiiigh hopes. Hiiiigh hopes. High, up in the sky, apple pie hopes." 

I wonder…..have you ever had "high, in the sky, apple pie hopes" about something, someone, some circumstance at hand, or some situation to come?

If so, what happened when you beefed up your hope a notch-'er-two and stepped onto the scale to measure what you gained from it all?

Restored purpose...

Increased faith?

Overflowing love??

Indescribable joy!!!

Or nothing at all.

Sometimes, we gain tons by adopting hope by the truckloads. 

Other times, we come up empty-handed, broken-hearted, and left yearning and "hoping" for more.

(Interesting how cyclical that type of thinking is, isn't it??)

Either way, whether we hope tons and gain tons or hope tons and gain nothing, every day there is still always a reason to hope.

Hope high.

In the Sky.

Apple Pie.

Hope(s).

The bland kind of hopes we normally settle into simply won't do.

Live life hopeful that the next big breakthrough in your life is right around the corner.

More than that, walk confidently with the knowledge that Jesus, your ultimate Hope, is standing in your corner ready to move on your behalf. He not only walks beside you, but He also goes before you. Protects you, and fights for you in ways that your comprehension can only scratch the surface of.

No matter what challenges life is throwing at you today, embrace Hope to get you through.

(Oh, and while I'm at it, can I mention this one little tidbit?!

Not only is Jesus (a.k.a. the Hope of the world) in your corner fighting on your behalf…..

He's also the heavy weight champion. :) )

He'll always break the scales we measure by. 

Go rest your faith and place your hope in that. :)

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Out of sheer personal curiosity and for no clear objective-meeting reason, I posed this question to my students a handful of weeks ago.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Other than just learning more about my students' ambitions and passions, I'm not really sure what I was looking for with this exercise.

Did I want a pat on the back or credit for the things my students would go on in life to accomplish? Not necessarily. 

Did I want confirmation of what I already knew about my students' goals - the far-fetched ones and the practical ones alike? Possibly.

Was I prepared for what I heard next? No, not at all.

Aside from my boys that wanted to become professional Halo gamers/testers, I had a good portion (dare I say 2/3) of my class say they wanted to be….. wait for it…. a TEACHER when they grew up.

Wow. Perhaps, God's using me to do something right in the lives of these kids, so that they want to grow up and be a TEACHER just like ME. Or perhaps, they're all just bossy little stinkers and like the idea of having no homework and telling everyone else what to do. hah. The world may never know. I think it may be best to leave that part up for personal interpretations.

But, believe it or not, the 2/3 majority of my students wanting to be a teacher when they grew up wasn't the most interesting part of that conversation.

What happened next was.

As we were sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce on the reading carpet and giving our answers in a circular fashion, the student to my right finished his answer. So, naturally, I looked to my student on the left (thinking that MY answer to the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?" was pretty obvious).

I was wrong.

Way wrong.

The student to my right said, "No, Miss Hill. Now it's your turn."

Ummm………….awkward silence.

To clarify, I asked him, "You mean, what do I want to be when I grow up?!?"

"Yes." He was serious, too.

As I looked at the faces of my little darlings, I noticed they were all awaiting - anticipating, even - my answer.

Surprisingly, I wasn't sarcastic or even the slightest bit sassy with my answer to them.

I was gut-level honest in what I said next:

"I love teaching you guys and thought that's what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I also really love to write. I think one day I want to 'grow up' to be a writer…like an author… of a book."

And as crazy as that sounds…. guess what? They were okay with it. One little girl even requested two copies of my first book. One for her, and one for her mom.

While the memory of that conversation on that day really makes my heart smile, my curiosity still lingers….

What is it you REALLY want to be when you grow up?

The kid in you and the kids around you believe you can do it.

Start today.

And stop at nothing.

The "Sinful" Woman

The "Sinful" Woman

I grew up in what I would call a level-headed, balanced, talked-about-and-lived-out kind of Christian home, faithfully attended a good-'ole Southern Baptist church, and dedicated thirteen years of my almost-perfect-attendance to a Bob-Jones-KJV-only-type Christian school. With the combination of these three "extremes" (if you will), I feel like God well-rounded me, humored me, and taught me many, many life lessons about Him, His standards, His grace, and His unwavering love for me - no matter what.

While I agree theologically on some things that go on at Bob Jones, I wouldn't exactly say they've got it right on all accounts. I'm not down with blue-and-pink-genderized sidewalks, nor am I offended if someone flashes off their un-panty-hosed ankles in my direction. However, after reading through and teaching a Bible lesson to my students out of the Bob Jones curriculum today, I have a whole new respect for the writers at BobJonesPress.

Why?

Because, despite all outside, "legalistic," old-school, non-factors aforementioned, they got something terribly right. 

In short, today's lesson was on forgiveness. It began with a list of items we should "put off" as Christians (Ephesians 4:31), continued with things we should BE (Ephesians 4:32…which happens to be my mom's life quote for my siblings and me….for possibly ever and ever), and culminated in examples of who Jesus forgave.

Who was on the list?

In the words of BobJonesPress, the "sinful" woman.

Wait…. who???????

I'm glad you asked for clarification. I was curious myself. I mean… aren't we all "sinful" women (and men)? I was reeeeaaaaal curious as to why BobJonesPress decided to write her up this way - until I saw the reference.

John 4. Go read it, if you get a chance. Pretty please.

In an attempt to explain this difficult situation to 9 and 10 year-old kids, I'm guessing BobJonesPress decided to blankly term the woman as a "sinner." Something we can all, young and old alike, relate to, right? My student-kiddos didn't seem to mind grasping that concept today. Details aside, we all sin, right? Right. 

The sinful woman.

People glanced at her quickly enough to judge her and shallowly enough to separate themselves from her.

Jesus conversed with her long enough to love her and deeply enough to heal her.

See the difference?

It's not in who knew the details and who didn't.

It's in Who aided her to the place of deliverance (and who didn't).

All husbands (and live-ins) aside, this woman was simply a "sinful" woman.

She needed saving.

She needed help.

She needed healing.

Just.

Like.

The.

Rest.

Of.

Us.

Sad thing is….she didn't just exist in Bible times.

She's all around us today.

Are you judging her by her life's dirty details? Why? Her sin already demands its own nasty consequences.

Are you spurring her on to knowing more about her Divine Deliverer? Why not? "Your light should SO SHINE before men that they see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven."

He delivers you.

He'll deliver her too.

Now, let's get to work forgiving… just. as. we've. been. forgiven.