Hope Rise Run

By Amy McClelland

(the woman in our photo)

Small problem. How do I write a post on 'Hope, Rise, Run' when I just cried at the mechanic's? 4.45pm on a Friday afternoon when nobody wants another job, their best offer being to keep the car until Monday which would render me cold, carless, and stranded; and so the lip-quivering, shoulder-shifting sensation starts- 
along with that ever-helpful phrase in the back of my mind 'If only I had a husband.' That valiant spouse who would arrive in his chariot, get the car fixed, and sweep me off into the sunset to comfort me after my minor drama. At least I could be grateful that my hair was long enough to disguise the unsightly tears dropping off the end of my nose as I was bluntly told 'not today.'

Of course it all came good and the tears didn't last; just part of the fabric of everyday life. But as I look at the flyer for Illuminate 2016; the woman standing tall and strong above the city, arms outstretched in freedom or in flight, I think- why can't I be more like her? Because, actually, I am her.

When life throws its stresses and strains (big and small) at us, or it just doesn't look like the plan we had carefully laid out, how do we maintain a heart of hope and keep running with intent? CS Lewis wrote 

'If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world,'

and it makes sense that we are programmed to constantly desire more, when we were created by One who never ceases desiring more for us; but I don't necessarily read Lewis' reflection as a call to passive acceptance of circumstance. Why? Because we are promised 'a hope and a future,' and again, and again, scripture reveals to us that God keeps his promises.

God reminds Joshua (Joshua 1:1-6) that the land he is about to take was 

"just as I promised to Moses," "the land that I swore to their fathers to give them"; 

a reassurance that the step Joshua was about to take was into an inheritance that was already his- but he still had to take it. God tells him, 

"you shall cause this people to inherit the land"

- once more, the promise was always there but it needed someone who was willing to activate it. What if Joshua hadn't trusted? What if he'd resigned himself to accept less than he was destined for? Joshua had 'living hope'. The sort of hope that expects and anticipates the manifestation of things hoped for. He trusted God's promise and bypassed a hopeful 'maybe' to a hope-filled certainty, leading God's chosen people into the promised land.

I want to live hope-filled, expecting the Father to reveal His plans and purposes for my life that go far beyond anything I could imagine. That might involve the previously mentioned husband, children, and it might not. That can sometimes be hard to say (or write), but hope isn't about carrying a shopping list to God. To me, it's having faith to trust that He sees the plan and purpose for my life and to expect to see and hear it revealed to me. The process isn't always shiny and pretty; choosing not to be buried by circumstance, or fears, or feelings can be messy. 

I look at Hannah, who could have lain down when things felt hopeless, but chose to stand and take her burden to the one who made her, rising up in spite of her own feelings. If she hadn't, what would she have missed? I don't want to miss something along the way because I didn't dare hope, because it isn't just about me- hope is contagious and the world is crying out for it.

On Sunday we sang,

'Only You can move the mountains, 

Only You can heal our land, 

Christ alone our hope and glory' (Tim Hughes)

There it is. He is our hope, and when we start to carry the living hope that has been placed within us into the world around us we are lifted out of our own circumstance and into mountain-moving territory. We become part of someone else's story. Someone equally loved, equally important to God, and who he has placed in front of us so we can be the activators of His promise of hope. 

I move the Illuminate 2016 flyer aside and look at my photograph tucked behind; shining little African faces clamouring to be in shot and one translucent redhead in the top corner. All joyful, all hope-full. Two weeks ago I got to speak to an assembly of 400 young people about building a well in Uganda; but more significantly about the power of watering a seed of compassion and releasing hope. When we do this, like the eagle, we can not only rise above the storms in our own lives, but we can use the stormy currents to lift us higher and closer to our Father.

That's my challenge. To remain in His hope; standing over circumstance rather than crumbling under it. Assuming that vantage point and asking for eyes that see and ears that hear where His hope is most needed, closing my ears to my 'If only' and listening out for His 'What if?'. 

We're all in a race, and I want to run it well, but I know there will be challenges. We can stumble, hit rough patches, just run out of steam, and that's when we need our cheerleaders. Not in the showy, rehearsed, sequinned sense; but those women who lead the cheer for other women, who sharpen and encourage, calling out the gold placed within us and illuminating, and holding us accountable to, our real identity when fear tries to crowd in on our faith. 

We're all the woman in the poster; hopeful, expectant, equipped; with a city, a workplace, a family, a nation, placed on our horizon and waiting for a release of hope that will rise amidst promise.

'but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.' Isaiah 40:31

Transition Part 2: Becoming unstuck and new beginnings

By Karise Hutchinson

When I wrote my blog last October before the Women's conference I was in a period of transition.  Well and truly "stuck in the moment".  But, I had no idea how close I was to becoming unstuck and totally unprepared for the next chapter in my life! 

At this time and standing on the steps at church one Sunday morning my brother shared a picture he felt God had given him for me. He said that while naturally it was soon to be winter, God was bringing a new season of spring time into my life.  Excited that the time of transition I wrote about was coming to end, I waited with anticipation for the next chapter to unfold.  Well (deliberate pause).... How I interpreted this new spring season couldn't have been more different from what God had in store! 

Only 6 weeks after posting the blog I found out I was pregnant.  This came as a huge shock.  For those who don't know us, at this point Ali and I had 3 children, our oldest 17 and youngest 7.  Our family was complete, or so we thought!  I feel it is important to share that when I found out I did cry and struggle at first to come to terms with this new season.  I had made plans about work and life.  Having a tendency to want to control and a perfectionist streak, I thought I knew where I was going as I moved from point A to a defined point B in my story.  Foolishly I had put what God could do in my life in a box. My box.  But, God had something more beautiful in store for me and my family.  A colourful spring time beyond our imagination- Samuel Elliot Hutchinson born on 4th July 2016.

As we dedicate Sam on Sunday with our friends and family at CCV, I reflect on the last 12 months and find I learned 3 important truths about the season of transition.  

First.  It is somewhat like labour.  It may be slow and protracted, but there is purpose in the pain.  When we allow God to give us what we need in the next chapter of our lives, it comes in His perfect timing.

Second.  Point B can turn out to be something quite different to the original plan.  We can plan the next stage of the journey, but often God uses the time of transition to reposition us for something different. He knows what is best for us (we really don't!) 

Third.  God is faithful to the end.  For those still waiting, place your trust in the Lord.  He knows the beginning from the end.  As I wrote before, He is the author of your story and your story is far from over.  He always works everything together for our good. 

Having a baby at this late stage in my life (my 40th birthday present!) is like starting again. But, that's the beauty of new beginnings.  When we walk with God, our life is a never ending story.  If you don't do (or can't do) anything else, take time to thank God for this season.  For you and me the best is yet to come.

"But now I am found..."

By Jade Brolly

Praying it is an encouragement to anyone who has that person in their life who seems so far from God, disinterested or even hostile at the mention of Jesus...I wanted to share the story of how I encountered Jesus.  

I grew up in Australia, and was raised in a Christian home with two siblings. I was always taken to church and remember loving Jesus from a young age.  I knew He was my friend, He loved me and it was joy to sing to Him and sing about Him. But by the time I was 10 or 11, I didn't know that anymore. 

A series of painful things at home and sudden changes, one being my parents divorce, left me in a place where I didn't know God was near anymore. I believed He existed but I didn't believe in His love. That pain, anger, disappointment, and fear created in me a real resistance to God over the years and Christians especially. 

I was definitely a moody opinionated teenager and when asked I often said I was an atheist. It felt easier and safer to rely on myself than turn to a God I didn't know anymore and was sure wouldn't want me. At 14, we moved to Northern Ireland as my mum recovered from cancer. She was recovering but needed the extra family support here. From that point our dad cared for and raised us. It was safe, stable and for the first time there was no expectation for me to have a faith or attend church. I embraced that freedom and didn't give it much thought again until university.

I would say that my world was really small because I was at the centre of it. I relied on and trusted myself above anything else. Then I got sick, didn't get onto the course I had my heart set on, and was struggling with a relationship that wasn't healthy or positive at all. I started another course and kept up my public persona of someone who has it together, is always smiling and partied a lot. But there were more than cracks in it, the things I propped myself up on were crumbling and I wasn't coping. I tried 'fixing' things about myself on the outside, hoping things would get better but nothing worked and I read so much self help stuff!!

Spiritually I was very open and didn't have any problem believing in the supernatural so I began searching for answers in that, but had already ruled out Christianity. I studied the New Age and Buddhism personally and for university. In a way, it suited my default of self-sufficiency because those practices are about achieving enlightenment through self-perfection, or actualisation or whatever jargon. During this time I kept encountering Christians. On my first day of university, people were handing out Gideon bibles. I kept it even though I wanted nothing to do with all that. On nights out I remember leaving the club and people were handing out sweets to us at 2am. I knew they were Christians and seeing that unsettled me so much, in a good way, that I had to go and ask them why they were here. The answer I got was something like, 'we want people to know we care'. Then in the New Age teachings, Jesus was mentioned over and over, albeit as being a good spiritual teacher not as God. 

Finally, I felt compelled to look up the scriptures being quoted and had that Gideon Bible. The Holy Spirit changed my life as I started reading those.  He came and made it alive, and real and recognisable to me as a living supernatural Word about a living supernatural God who speaks and moves today for everyone. For me. And that He is near and involved in our lives, not doling out orders from heaven, keeping himself apart from us. 

I had met a woman, Judy, on the same course. At first I didn't know she was a Christian. I just knew something was different about her and it drew people. And I just wanted to be around her. And as I began exploring scripture and talking about it she encouraged me so much. For the first time, through her, I was seeing what a life of faith and risk looked like up close. For me, it confirmed that what is in scripture is for now. Then, before even giving my life to God, He began giving me dreams that I knew were from Him. 

I spent about 6 months journeying this, attending church with another friend, looking for God to speak and it got to the point I knew I had to give my life, speak it out loud and declare I am his. I didn't know how to do that but that Gideon Bible came in handy again because the prayer was in the back of the book. And that was another start. It is amazing to me because God knew how to speak to me, how to get around my defences but oh so gently do that. The Christians I met along the way couldn't know how their actions were used to stir me and Judy couldn't have known we would meet or the impact that would have on my life. But God did.  He is so faithful, so concerned about the details of our lives and the depths of our hearts.

I'd like to leave you with one of the earliest dreams I felt was from God for me. I didn't know it was a reflection of a scripture until I had shared it with Judy and she pointed me to 1Peter 2:5.  I was looking at a building, like a smaller scale pyramid.  But I could see each individual stone. They were translucent, each differently coloured and shimmering with life. But each stone had a crack in it. I knew each had this, a fatal flaw that made it unsuitable to build with conventional logic. Yet each WAS used, was so so beautiful and the structure was holding. It was unified and just fit perfectly, majestically. And as I looked I realised that the stones were people, living breathing, uniquely individual people. Being built into something amazing and made more than able by God.

"you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ."

Wide Open Spaces

 By Danielle McElhinney

I have written for the Real Women Blog before. I can’t believe that was almost 2 years ago! You can find it on 2^nd March 2014  with the title: “Living in a Box.”

In the last blog I described my experience of lacking confidence and feeling small and boxed in. I had allowed disappointment and insecurity to build walls around me, hemming me in.

I remember at the time of the last blog that I felt I was on the precipice of something new. God was reviving old dreams and was speaking fresh hope into me. Although my life looked the same on the outside, I knew that something was awakening inside me; I could sense a new wind blowing. I shared the following scripture

Isaiah 54:2-3 NIV“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left...”

And I gave the warning call “Girls, watch out because I’m stretching out!”

This blog is a catch up on what has happened since then and where I stand today.

In March 2014 I was a stay at home mum. I had had a few part time, temporary or casual jobs but really hadn’t been back in the workplace for 9 years. Well, 2014 was the year to change that. I had been volunteering with Melanie Gibson at the Foodbank for about a year, when a part time finance job was advertised in the church office at CCV. Melanie (my cheerleader) convinced me that I should apply for the job. I was terrified! As I left the interview I was convinced I had just made a fool of myself and that I could never show my face again. However, to my amazement I got the job! Miraculously, Donna Finney, my boss, saw potential in me and gave me an opportunity that I am still so thankful for. My job has been one of the catalysts for the most wonderful changes in my life.

Practically, being back at work has given me a structure and purpose that I was lacking and really needed. Truthfully, I think I had been a stay at home mum for too long and it had made me bored and lethargic. Mentally, work has stretched me till my head hurts. Nevertheless, I have loved learning new things and have been pleased with myself to set and achieve new goals. Whoever says working for a church is an easy ride needs to spend a day at CCV office, we work hard!

In all of this I have grown in confidence. I think I am becoming more and more “the Danielle” I was created to be. Just the other day, one of my colleagues gave me the greatest compliment by saying that I was doing a good job and that they could see so much growth in me. This confirmed so much of what I was sensing in my spirit but wondered was I imagining it.

Probably the biggest influence for change in my last year has been having the opportunity to join the Encounter School of Mission. We are a group of students who are hungry to learn more about God and to see more of His power in action through us. My faith life has been rocked at the core by this experience. I have received teaching which has radically changed how I see myself. There is no more room for self-doubt and insecurity. I am completely convinced that I am loved by God, that He is pleased with me and that the dreams in the depths of my heart over the last 20 years are from Him and are going to come to pass.

This fundamental identity shift has given me the confidence to lay down my fear of what others think of me so that I can step out in risk. I have talked to people about Jesus in Coleraine town; I have prayed for friends and family who are sick or worried; I have even had the privilege of leading others to a personal relationship with Jesus. None of this would have even been on my radar a few years ago!

So when I consider Isaiah 54, which speaks of “enlarging… stretching… and spreading out to the right and to the left” I can’t help but smile. Even if no one else sees it, I know that that’s exactly what has been happening in me over the last 2 years.

 

The thing about stretching is that it isn’t always comfortable. I haven’t always enjoyed the enlarging process. There have been moments when I have felt that I can’t stretch any more. Yet, somehow, God in His generosity has always given me more capacity and continues to do so.

Let me remind you of another scripture that I shared in my first blog.

Romans 5:1-2 (The Message)“By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.”

When I wrote my first blog I was in the first flush of freedom. I had grasped a hold of a hope that freedom could be mine, that God was opening a door to me and that I could stand in a wide open space. Now I am a testimony that the invitation to freedom is not just a possibility but a reality. I may not have fulfilled all my dreams or become all that I hope to be but I am on my way. I find myself standing in a place that feels spacious with room to spread out into.

I now find that I have a voice and I know that I actually have something of worth to give to this world.

And it’s all thanks to God.

I may, at times, have thought that I was making the effort, or that I was opening doors, but the truth is, that it was and is all His grace. He has been so good to me, so kind to me, so patient with me and I am forever thankful.

I am also full of hope for more. I can confidently say that 2016 is going to be a wonderful year! I am sure that God has more uncomfortable stretching in store for me but also some more wide open spaces for me to explore.

My prayer for every person reading this is that they would throw open the doors of their hearts and lives to God so that He may throw open His door to you and that you may experience the freedom and fullness that comes from standing out in the wide open spaces that He has prepared for you.

"I Have A Dream... "

By Jenny Harte

You will recognise the above title from Martin Luther King’s incredible speech, but for me it’s a new, constant recurring revelation that goes something like this...

I have a dream.

I have a dream.

I actually have a dream!

It might be odd that this is such a big deal to me, but since I was a teenager I grew up listening to the stories of ordinary, everyday followers of Jesus doing extraordinary, brave, inspiring things: creating movements, reaching out and loving the broken, feeding the poor, fathering the orphans, tackling great injustices, and seeing the sick healed.

All of these stories were birthed out of dreams.

These stories drew out a hunger in me - I wanted a dream. I wanted to do it all! I wanted to change and save the world. (Still do.)

One of my favourite verses at this time in my life was Jeremiah 29:11, it gave me much hope and got me so excited that God has a plan for my life, too - I wanted it then and there:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

But then for years I was frustrated that I still hadn't woken up with a special God dream in the middle of the night, with Him speaking an entire plan of what He wanted to do with and through me. 

Even last year I was going through everyday life learning at university, serving at church and still trying to work out what I wanted to do with my life.

What I didn’t realise was that to do these things - to have a real ‘God dream’ - you had to grow deep roots in relationship with Him. And out of that you learn to not just know, but to own your identity in Him. Before you can do the work He has for you - you first have to let Him work within you. 

It took me until I turned 21 to let Him in to work through the areas that needed a little fixing with me, things that would have held me back from chasing the dream I now have in my heart. It just wouldn't have happened.

Only a year ago I was too timid to ask people if they would like to grab a coffee with me, because I'd like to be friends... Now I think they'd pay you to get me to stop talking every once in a while! Once you let Him in, things change for the best.

It also took me until now to realise that the boring, everyday life stuff (university, serving and just staying the course with Him no matter what) were all necessary to grow me, my heart and my dream, realising I can worship and serve him even in what felt like the most boring, insignificant of gestures, too.

"Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." Proverbs 16:3

My dream grew out of my heart for the hurting, my hate for injustice, my education that's fuelling my passion for design and creativity, and my newly found voice to speak up for those who can't. Over time, it revealed itself out of a combination of my everyday life and the things that set my soul on fire. The small choices, the subtle moments that slip by without a second thought, but step by step aligning my world with Kingdom reality. The progress is found in the process.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Get close to the Father and He will give you dreams, knowing Him is the most exciting and fulfilling adventure you will ever go on.