Hello there,
Welcome to Hope Street.
I recently moved from my
warm, hip hometown of Austin, Texas to a big white building on a quiet little
side street in Brooklyn, New York for which this blog is named. I have a
lively, full, and impassioned life here, pursuing a Graphic Design degree from
Parsons and loving every second of my job as a Bar Method instructor in upstate
New York.
I delight in the Lord and
His blessings for this new chapter in my life, and I eagerly desire to worship
Him, learn more of His glorious story, and open my heart to His Spirit more and
more each day. However, since relocating, I have felt my faith stretched and
tested. The Lord has favored me with a new job, a new school, and a new city, but
these new commitments yield a hectic life in a tough town. My heart leans
towards cynicism and doubt, I often feel lonely in my faith, and my commitment
to spending consistent time with my Father falters.
As I contemplate these
struggles, I can’t help but think of James 1:2-4:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
It seems as though I have
two options. I can yield to the world and let the it erode my faith and exhaust
my soul OR I can fight back. I can run toward an intimate relationship with
God. I can find strength and encouragement and confidence in Him.
In Him, I have hope.
"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Romans 5:2-5
"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Romans 5:2-5
My prayer is this:
That I will manage my new
schedule to have consistent, focused time with the Lord.
That through my trials, I
will grow and mature in my faith, that I will lean on Him and not on my own
understanding.
That I will not be subdued
or disheartened by the world, but that the Lord will encourage me, sustain me,
and renew my confidence in Him.
That my prayer life
blooms, that my natural inclination in the face of fear or trouble will be to
cry out to my Father.
That He will cast out my fears and insecurities and fill me with a spirit of hope.
That He will cast out my fears and insecurities and fill me with a spirit of hope.
