Not the Fullness Thereof

I'm just five chapters into the prophecy of Jeremiah.  One phrase keeps sticking out to me from chapters four and five.

"I will not make a full end of you."

The beauty of this verse didn't strike me until about the third time I read through this because I didn't comprehend what the Lord was talking about.

He speaks these words to Jeremiah after telling him of the devastation coming to Jerusalem.

Their quiver is like an open tomb;

they are all mighty warriors.

They shall eat up your harvest and your food;

they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;

they shall eat up your flocks and your fig trees;

your fortified cities in which you trust

they shall beat down with a sword.

But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you.

Hope among hopelessness. 

Jeremiah is telling the nation that mighty warriors are coming from the north to seek, devour, plunder and destroy.  To take them to a foreign land to serve as slaves.  To take them from their comfort to the unknown.

A death sentence, but not.

All though the discipline will be severe and weeping may tarry for far longer than a night, there will be a morning when joy comes.

As painful as this will be for the people of Jerusalem the Lord is after far more than their earthly comforts.

He knows it is far better for their false worship and fake god-seeking to be completely ripped away.

God has no delight in these consequences.  He has pleaded with them, rebuked them and disciplined them lightly. 

But now the time has come for disastrous results all because their way and deeds have caused their very bitter doom (v 18).  He will not be made a mockery of because His glory is His goal.

It is always telling for me to hear the Lord's very heart - a heart He designed me to seek after.  A heart of mercy and grace, but also of justice.

The Lord is in anguish Himself.  The very one who could keep the north from coming and terrorizing knows - for the bearing it has on the Israelites eternity - that this must happen for them to set their minds of Him alone and not the deaf and mute wooden gods.

These gods that they over and over try to breathe their very own breath into.  These gods they have formed with their own hands.

God alone breathes His breath into our lifeless bodies.
God alone brings our dead hearts back to beating.
God alone sets crooked paths straight.

This does not come with ease and comfort.  But He knows that all discipline at the time seems painful but later, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

And righteousness, dear ones, is what we're after.

My Sight

There are seasons of rest.  And there are seasons of hard work.

Right now is a season of hard work...of my heart.  It seems as if right now my sin is ever before me.  Those hindrances, those battles, those struggles.  Daily, they are revealed.

Reading through the first three chapters of Genesis, I keep coming back to Adam and Eve partaking in the one thing the LORD told them not to.  Why did they choose to disobey?

Because they wanted to know.

Isn't that my bent... knowing? 
Don't give me faith, give me sight.
If you'll just tell me what's coming in the next three months or three years, then I can work on helping you out and make sure everything is prepared and wrapped up in a pretty little bow.

I want to know our future.  I want to know what's around the corner.  I want to know, in those seasons of waiting, what we're waiting on.  I want to know.

But then, who am I counting on?  Who am I trusting in?
I'm acting independently of Him; I'm acting independently of the One who I'm in union with.

Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

who turns his heart away from the LORD.

Jeremiah 17:5



Similar to Rebekah seeking to make Jacob the heir because she didn't trust God to accomplish His will, so my faith is small.

If I just know, if I could just see what God is attempting to do, then I could assist Him.

My ways are good, right?  I inflate my abilities to god-like.  "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God" (Genesis 3:5).

That's the core of it.  I want to be like Him, calling the shots.  All powerful and all knowing.

Just like with Adam and Eve, that desire is ultimately my downfall.

Over and over I ask Him to help my unbelief.  My unbelief that He is a good God, that He is a personal God, deeply caring for me.  And in that, I don't have to know because He all ready does.

Finding Freedom

These past couple of weeks there has been an all out war raging in my heart.

As sin was revealed, I kept sinking lower and lower under the weight of it.

This past weekend found us at a Leader's Conference led by JR Vassar.

In the midst of worship Friday night, the Lord gently spoke to me.  He reminded me there is freedom in His grace.

Freedom I had not been walking in.  Instead, I had started to see grace as burdensome, pressing, bothersome.  Like I had impositions put upon me.  Like I have to do this sanctifcation by myself.  Like I needed to do certain things and be a certain way to keep my righteousness.

Yet, in the midst of not wanting to worship, with a very hard heart, the Lord reminded me He loves me.  He is not battling against me but instead battling against those idols in my heart.  He battles on my behalf.

I was grateful for the reminder.  That He is good.  And in Him I find the goodness I am so longing for.

His words ring true, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28)

When I am feeling the crushing weight, I don't have my gaze fixed upon the Lord.  When I look to my circumstances for joy and peace, they can never measure up.

His call is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, for years on end.  He frees us from the bondage that binds us. Those chains have been torn away, giving me liberty. 

"For freedom Christ has set us free." (Galatians 5:1)  Yes and amen.

Thursday

This Thursday will find me standing in front of a room full of people.  Most unknown and unfamiliar to me and me to them.  Yet, I will stand in front of them, sharing a brief word on why I'm there.

An hour later I will be handed a sheet of paper with the names of about twelve women I've probably never met.  These are the women that for the next thirteen weeks will gather with me as we go through an intense disicpleship program called Steps. 

These beautiful women, from all walks of life, will gather and bare their souls.  We will share deep truths, hard hearts and merciful moments.  Some will be absolutely terrified, some will be extremely excited; most all of us will find much more than we bargained for at the end of the semester.

As I've known this date was approaching the last six weeks or so, my failures and struggles become more glaringly obvious.  Who am I to lead?  Who am I to shepherd?  Who am I to encourage?

But that's the beauty of it.  None of us has it together.  I am living proof that the Lord can take, break and remake into a vessel for His glory. I get to be a flawed human being helping out other flawed human beings.

There is no hiding, there is no shame or condemnation.  Some will come in broken and beat down.  Some will come in simply seeking.  All will come in and get more of the Lord.

I'm expected to shepherd them, lead them, and love them.  At times, I'll be able to fully grasp the difficulties the Lord has them walking in.  With others, I'll only be able to weep with them and be grateful the Lord has given them to me for a short season.

In all of it, I keep my mind stayed on Him.  If I veer to the left or right and try to take on changing hearts, it won't go well.  Paul so wisely wrote, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (I Corinthians 3:6).  Spirit filled and spirit led is my constant prayer as He is the only one that can make the old new.

Previous experience tells me there will be huge break-through's.  Previous experience tells me there will be those that decide they don't want to do the hard work because their heart is not in the right place.  Previous experience tells me there will be those that can conform to the external act but the inward has yet to be cleansed.

Over and over, the Lord will call me to trust Him.  That He is all-seeing, all-knowing and He truly does know what is best for each of these daughters He places before me.

And as much as it is a reminder for them, I need these words constantly:  That whatever season or struggle the Lord has them walking in right now, it is how He has seen best to draw them close to Him.  Whether it's a time of rejoicing or a time of mourning, He works all things together for our good.

His glory is our good.  One thing I can be assured of this next week is this; the Lord is mighty to save, heal and reconcile and we will see His amazing power manifest itself.

Warring Within

This is a lengthy one.  This is one where I untangle the thoughts and struggles my heart has been churning out and I'm just now realizing.

This is the one where I tell you I have been dead in my coveting and jealousy and selfish ambitions.

This is the one where I'm hoping the confession will lead to a breakthrough.

This is the one where I tell you what I'm teaching my oh-so-struggling six year old and, through teaching him, the Lord is teaching me.

James 4:1-8

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?  Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder.  You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.  You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.  You adulterous people!  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?  But he gives more grace.  Therefore it says "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

I've watched my six year old battle some fierce anger and self-righteousness these past two weeks.  It finally came to a head today, when, in two separate instances, he physically hurt people because he had selfish desires that weren't being met.

I've been battling some fierce anger and self-righteousness these past two weeks as the selfish desires I've had have gone unmet.  It results in me withdrawing and not communicating.

I keep getting my worship wrong.  I keep falling into the trap of thinking if all these things would just happen, if all these things would fall into place, then I would have more of the LORD.

And He mercifully reminds me that first I must seek His kingdom.  Seeking my own leads to destruction.  As I very well know and have all ready walked in.

I call it spiritual amnesia.  How quickly I am to forget the goodness He has all ready done.  How quickly I am to forget His delight in me.  How quickly I am to forget that He has all ready shown His ultimate act of love in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

I told my blue-eyed boy we were both struggling, at the core of it, with the same thing - self-love and worship gone backwards which is not worship at all - but it was just manifesting itself differently in each of us.

The Lord led me, through Paul David Tripp's oh-so-convicting book, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, to bow in a time of prayer yesterday and give thanks for this season.  Heart open and humbled, grateful that I have a Father who loves me enough to say no.  A Father that loves me enough to not give me over to the lusts of my heart.  A Father who loves me enough to not let me wander too far, just enough to see that the grass I thought was so green on the other side is only carefully tended weeds and thorns.

So how do I rewire my heart?  By his grace, because it is unending and bountiful.  I look to Him, confess to Him, repent, and give thanks in all circumstances.

I turn my worship to Him through learning, meditation and song.  Over and over, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I lift my voice to Him knowing He is faithful to finish this work He started in me. 

As I go though the rest of this day, teaching and rebuking my son, I'll take the words I give to him and hide them deep in my heart.  Because we are not so different, him and I.  Both sinners.  Both in desperate need of heart change, not circumstance change.  Both with hope so very near.

"If a certain set of desires rules my heart, I will not want God to be a wise, loving, sovereign Father who gives me what he knows is best.  Instead, I will want a divine waiter who delivers what I have set my heart on...He knows what is best, and he will not let there be peace until he alone controls our hearts.  He is a Warrior King, who will not rest when we are captive to other kings.  He fights for us, for the thoughts and desires of our hearts... Thank him for that!"

- Paul David Tripp

Rejecting the Gift

A moment of annoyance turned into an "aha" moment.

I'm pulling weeds in the front yard - speedily - trying to restore some form of order in our very hopeless flower bed.  Note the "very."

The boys are running amok, riding scooters, playing.

All of a sudden, I hear a scrape and then wailing. Easten had fallen off onto sidewalk, bloodying his toe.

I'm immediately frustrated.  I have piles of weeds heaped about, dirt caked on my hands and mud layered under my fingernails.  And now?  I have to put it aside and go attend my son when all I'm trying to do is nurture the unattended.

The Lord whispered. "You are a nurturer, first and foremost.  To him, this gift I gave you.  Why are shirking your responsibility?"

Why, indeed.

Because my desire in that moment wasn't being met.  My need was going unfulfilled.  I couldn't accomplish what I so badly wanted to do...  I had to go take care of someone else.

It's a bit revealing to write this out.

I didn't want to do my most important task - loving my child - because I was too busy loving myself.

Again, the Spirit brings the hidden into the light.

If my only job right now, in regards to my children, is to teach them, train them, disciple them and love them, why do I get so irritated when I'm called to do what I'm supposed to do?

Because I rule my heart.

Do you ever notice the desires you had ten, five, even one year ago?  Do you ever notice when they actually come to fruition?  Do you ever notice how you're so busy stewing about what you don't have, you don't see a dream has come true, a prayer has been answered, a hope has been realized?

Let's be honest.  How many of us girls dreamed about a wedding, holding a newborn, having these kinds of friends or this kind of career, or owning a house - only once we have it, we've actually obtained it, it becomes a source of frustration?

If only I could have a girls' night; if only I could afford a nanny; if only I was friends with that group of women; if only I had this kind of job with the paycheck; if only we didn't have to repair this yet again...

What the Lord has so graciously granted us, we throw back in His face.

"Despised and rejected by men..." (Isaiah 53:3).

Time and time again, we look to our circumstances and temporary to satisfy.  And it never will because it was never created to.

All these lovely and generous gifts are given us to bring about our worship in Him.

Yet if we're too busy worshiping ourselves and our desires, we'll never see the pure goodness of a God who deeply loves us.

Jeremiah 4:1-3

I'm a reader. Lover of words.  Lover of books. Huge fan of the dictionary.
When the boys have a question about the meaning of a word?  Mr. Webster is our teacher.
When I come across a word in Scripture study I don't comprehend?  Again, Mr. Webster gives good council.

He's really faithful, too.  Steadfast.  Doesn't change.

Part of my studying includes looking up what else could be substituted in place of what is used.

You with me?  All that to say - you'll see several definitions below, but it's all for a good cause.

Jeremiah 4:1  If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return.

What do we return to?  When we believe the lie that the grass really is greener on the other side...we usually end up realizing what a farce it is.

We run off to find cleaner water, whiter sand and better food; only to become dissatisfied with what we thought would satisfy.

So we run back and forth, wavering, waiting, grasping at something that is so elusive.  In all this, what is God's command? 

To return to him.
He knows, oh how deeply He knows, the search we're on, hunting for that one thing to fill the black hole in our heart. 
And He stands... patiently, lovingly, arms ever widening, knowing that in Him we will have true joy and everlasting peace.

But it's not a call to return and just stand passively by.  No, He calls us to work.  Hard work.  Back-breaking work.  Sweat-dripping-off-your-brow work.

Jeremiah 4:2 Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

Break: 1) shatter violently
            2) destroy the continuity
            3) tame, train
            4) soften, weaken

Fallow: 1) plowed, but not sowed
              2) not in use; idle

I'm in Texas so I'll use a Texas example.  We've had a myriad of things going on this summer.  The last thing we had on our mind was taking care of our yard.  Dead grass, weeds, "stickers" better known as burrs, un-diggable soil.  In other words, we left it idle.

So when I've gone to till it or dig for an herb garden, my teeth have rattled from the metal clanging on the unbroken, rocky terra firma.

It has taken sore muscles-I-didn't-know-I-had and blisters on my hand to make the unplantable plantable.

To keep the ground useable where the fledgling seeds can take root and flourish, I have to daily pluck the weeds -- the thorns that encroach and threaten to overtake the hope sprouting.

So is the story of my life; I fail, often.  And the Lord calls, everytime, "To me, return."

Returning is the easy part. 
Remaining there is not.

I have to sow my gifts, abilities, talents and time not among the cares and trials of this world, but in rich soil, deep and abiding, to have them grow into something kingdom worthy (Matthew 13).

I have to continually till what so easily becomes parched, hardened, idle.

And I get weary, quickly so.

Running this race, I keep my sights on Him, my mind stayed on Him.  It may take years, but I all ready know my prize.

Jeremiah 4:2 ...then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

Glory: 1) exalted honor
            2) splendor, radiance

And glory, honor, is what I'm after.

What am I Known By?

As usual, you meet a myriad of people when you hold a garage sale.
I had this lady somehow call me on the phone to discuss an item that was being sold.

Mistakenly, I thought she was from our church since she had my e-mail and phone number...

A little creepy in hind-sight but lesson learned.

Anyhow, she shows up to the garage sale and through talking, I finally realize my blunder.

In talking, we discover that we've grown up in the same area and graduated from the same high school.  She was a year ahead of me, in the class of my husband.

I proceed to ask the same sort of questions you normally ask a complete stranger in trying to pin point exactly how you know them.

Finally, she comes up with why I should know her.  And I should know her by the best friends she had in high school...

Did I mention the time period we're talking about is from ten years ago?

And her way of being known was by the company she kept?

Let's just be stripped down honest (since I'm learning to be better at that and practice makes perfect).

The guy she mentioned?  I'm not a fan of and I'm not sure if there actually were any fans of him except those that wanted star status.

Brief recap: (and he remains nameless to protect his guilt)
He was the guy that nicknamed himself.  He nicknamed himself a legendary superhero (I'm not talking the Green Lantern here).  He even put the emblem of said hero on the back of his letter jacket.

Uh-huh.  That guy.

So yes, I knew him.
He owned the hall as he walked, with his minions trailing behind him.  And if you were on first-name basis with him, by golly, you had made it in this little world we call high school. Hence, I'm sure that's why she threw his name in the "how should I know you question."

Safe to say, he had no clue who I was.
Safe to say, I couldn't even tell you his last name, because, remember - he had the superhero emblem on the back of his jacket - not his last name.  Because... that is way too common. 

And this, this was her claim to fame.

"Dear Lord," I asked later on, mulling over this short-lived conversation, "please let me be fully aware of what my claim to fame is."

And if it's anything less than a sinner saved by grace, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, I have epically failed.

Searching for the Unsearchable

The more I'm around non-believers, the more the Lord reveals just how merciful and patient He is.  And how, over and over, in spite of our rejection, He gives an abundance of good gifts.

I know this couple who want nothing to do with the God of the Bible.  Certainly would not ever have Jesus Christ on their lips except to mutter a profanity.  They are on their own path and what a dismal path it is.

Generous, lovely, faithful, kind, fun... They are the epitome of the Golden Family with everything they touch turning to gold.

Yet watching them from afar, an outsider looking in, you sense the lostness and despair.  The worldliness that has them sinking further and further.

Every new craze, new fad, new idea, new technology has them chasing after the wind.  As soon as they obtain what it is they've lusted after, they're so busy desiring the next thing, they can't possibly spend any time being thankful or enjoying the here and now.

Three years of vying for more money, getting a new car, fancifying the vacations, building up their own business, receiving promotion after promotion...

On and on it goes.  And everything they work towards, they achieve.

And they're happy... For awhile.

And then the high wears off and the despair sets in and so begins the cycle anew.

Sure, they profess "faith" when they think it will get them something they really, really, really want.
But take all the comforts and ease of life away and they won't bless His name.

For them, the Bible is a religion and creation is just science.

God is made a mockery of and life on Mars?  It really is true!

It's sadly laughable simply because not long ago, I was there.

Where my temporary had nothing to do with my eternal.  I could never seem to find what it is I was searching for.   The kids weren't well-behaved enough.  The house wasn't big enough.  The title at the office wasn't prestigious enough...

These earthly things are never going to satisfy me.  Why?  They fade and break, get lost or stolen. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Searching here, in the trappings and pleasures of this world, will never satisfy.  God has a much, much bigger picture in mind and far more to offer than the newest iPhone or nice vacation.

He's revealed himself not only to the believer, but to the non-believer.  From the bread rising in the oven to the sun rising on the other side of the world.  From the fish in the depths of the ocean to the fish sitting in the tank on your counter.  From the simple, a band-aid; to the most advanced, a prosthetic.  To the clear-cut; a baby born healthy and whole, to the confused; the baby born with no heartbeat and no answer as to why.  He is in everything and is everything.  He is in charge.

His grace is unending, His mercies are new everyday.  And for who I am now and who I was 3 years ago, I am grateful in ways words can't express.

Romans 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

Simple

I have stoic 3 year old.

He's silent, brooding, not exciteable. 

The other night he got hurt. Tumbling around outside with the brothers as I finished up dinner, I heard him start to wail. 

No sooner had I put down the dish towel when he comes limping in.  Tears streaming, jaw set, bewildered look.

I sank to my knees and gathered him in my arms.  Kissed his damp cheeks over and over, whispering I was sorry he was hurt. 

He pulls away and heads back outside.

I call after him, "Are you ok?"  "Do you want the ice-pack?"

He shakes his head no.

I sit there, a bit confused.  Had he not just been screaming like a leg was broken two minutes before?  Had he not had enough tears to fill an ocean?

A kiss and a hug were all that was needed to fix it.

All he wanted was mom.  To know that I cared.  To know that I would stop what I was doing and take on whatever had caused his pain.

I love those moments where "mom" is enough.  I'm not a superhero, but darn if my kids don't sometimes make me feel like one.

Approval

This constant need for approval from others is wearisome.  It means everything I do, say, or act on is performed for others. 
Picture perfect family uploaded?  Check.
Hilarious moment with the boys as my status?  Check.
House clean for whoever is coming over?  Check.
Attempt to be trendy but act like I don't care?  Check.

While surrounded by a constant mass of people for a week, the Lord revealed just how desperate my heart is to be part of the "in-crowd."  We all crave it because we were all built for it - community.
Where everybody knows your name.

But to know my name and actually know me are two differnt things.

I'm part of a massive church.  In fact, the correct name for it is "mega-church".

Mega meaning 1) great and 2) a million times (thanks Mr. Webster).

In my case, 10,000 members at three campuses, about to be four.

Hardly a place to be known.  Yet I fall into the trap of thinking that the larger amount of people who know me, the better off I am.

My example needs to be Christ.  He walked with twelve and then always honed in on three during extremely difficult or intimate times: the Garden of Gethsemane and The Transfiguration among some.

Hundreds called out to Him.
Hundreds knew His name.

And He loved them and taught them, ate dinner with them and served them but He knew spreading Himself too thin would ultimately damage His ministry.  Making Himself so known would ultimately make God the Father so unknown.

John the Baptist rightly said it "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

This is something I call to mind over and over: I don't need everyone.  I certainly don't need their approval.  I can't be "it" for everyone. 

And perhaps the most difficult of all: Not everyone will like me.

In this social media age where your enemy can be your "friend" and a person you don't even have a relationship with can comment on the photo of your child and no one can dislike what you say, only like, we've lost sight of true authentic relationships.

It has become all about quantity, not quality.

I want to be known.  Deeply, intimately, all beveled facets of my ever-changing nature.  And if that means very few people knowing who I am, I'll consider it a success.

John 15:13  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friend.

Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Loss and Gain of Friendship

The topics of friendship and community hits home with me.  Those that have enduring, deep-rooted relationships are foreign to me.

Friends, therefore friendships, have always been a source of frustration for me.  I hold people at arm's length because of my insecurities and uncertainties.

Seven years ago, the Lord granted Jake and I with true, abiding friends.  During our first few months of marriage as we found ourselves unexpectedly pregnant and floundering, God mercifully gave us a couple to walk with. 

Our relationship became everything I had ever desired for one to be.  We were pregnant together, we worshipped together, we had dinners together, playdates at the park together, conversations about any and everything... We found ourself rejoicing together and mourning together.  We prayed, helped each other out financially when burdens hit, we struggled together.

And then sin entered... in an explosive way.
What had been good and right and lovely became painful and broken.

In the midst of my hurt and despair, she had her's.  In the midst of my marriage melting down, her's was in flames.

I held on for ridiculously far too long.  Bitterness, anger, self-righteousness and contention took hold.
So for a season, I lost everything.  In the midst of some very difficult days, I had absolutely no one.

The Lord was teaching me that He is enough.

Desperate times had me longing for someone, any one - a wrong number dialed, a salesperson at my door - to reach out.  During those times the Lord would draw me close and ask what exactly I thought someone else could give me.

In the opening of my hands to what I thought was so important, He filled my cup to overflowing.  He gave me a myriad of women, from all walks of life, that love me.

Women that ask how my heart is.
Women that know my struggles.
Women that pray with me and for me.
Women that send me messages of encouragement.
Women that give me wise council.
Women that point me to Jesus.
Women that sit at my kitchen table, drinking coffee, watching our kids play, comfortable in the silence.
Women that meet me for dinner.
Women that have walked with me through my heights of unbelief, rebellion, and pride.
Women that have walked with me through the depths of sickness, broken dreams, and confessed sin.
Women who bring me dinner because they know it's been a difficult week.
Women that will watch my boys to give me a break.
Women that don't say anything, just sit and listen.
Women that give a timely word in love.

I've realized that there will be pain - caused by me or someone else.  There are seasons and some relationships will be for longer periods than others.

But while in whatever relationship the Lord grants me with whoever He gives, I want their hope to be in the One that will never fail them, that will always be there.

John 15:15 I have called you friends for all that I heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you.