“Finding Hope” is not only a theme in Kristi’s life, it is also the name of a radio show hosted by Counselor Mandy Eppley Bird. Join Mandy and Kristi as they bring meaning and depth to the losses in your life.

Click below to listen to the show which originally aired in November. Scroll to find the show titled, “5 Keys to Unlock the Grip of Grief.”

Finding Hope

I love my Droid. Relax Iphone users – I am not here to debate which phone is better. But, one feature I love on my Droid this that I can text with the swipe of my finger. I just run my finger over the letters and words appear. It’s magic!!

My work phone is an iPhone and that’s fine because I don’t text much for business. It seems amazingly slow to hunt and peck with my thumbs when I can glide over the ice with my Droid. (Again, I don’t want to get text messages from you iPhone lovers telling me all the glories of the competition.) I am simply admitting that I am the world’s worst typist. It’s not an official title but you get the point.

In my high school typing class, I did poorly. There were a couple of reasons for that, but the main reason was because I could never keep my eyes on the paper. My eyes darted back and forth between the paper and the typewriter. Yes, I said typewriter…with manual keys – not an electric typewriter or even a keyboard. (And that tells you how old I am!) The teacher would walk around the classroom and gently remind us to keep our eyes on the paper.

I struggled. I never could break the habit of looking at my hands. I was amazed at the clerical talent around me. They were sitting up straight, shoulders back with their eyes glued to the paper and their fingers flying! I was hunched over like Quasimodo, my eyes flipping back and forth like i was watching Wimbledon, hunting and pecking for each letter, and my fingers covered in “white out”. (Some of you children do not even know what that is! I know, another sign of my age.)

I regret not listening to my teacher and keeping my eyes on the paper. Oh, initially my hands made fewer mistakes than my secretarial sisters, but my words per minute were pathetic. I would never catch up. I ended up being number 11 in the senior class of Crestview High School of 1981, but I would have been in the Top 10 if it weren’t for that C in typing!

Anyways, back to my Droid. When I use the script app to text I feel like my typing teacher would finally be proud of me. I keep my eyes on the screen and not the keyboard and this has saved me time and energy. The downside is that Droid also has suggested words that pop up as you script. For instance, every single time I run my finger over the letters for the word “FOR” my Droid thinks I want the word “FIT.” It’s maddening sometimes! When I script the word “WORD,” my phone concludes that I want the word “WEIRD.” It happened several times while writing that sentence! But the word swap that is most frustrating to me is when I try to type the word “HEALING” and my phone types the word “BREAKING.”

Now there is a big difference in the meaning of the words HEALING and BREAKING. Let’s be honest, when I want HEALING… I don’t want BREAKING!! They are not words I would ever use interchangeably, so I have to go back to the word “BREAKING” and replace it with the word “HEALING.” I am slow, but I’m catching on to my Droid enough that I am usually able to catch the mix up before it happens and choose the word HEALING from the 3 suggested words provided above the keyboard.

Isn’t that true for all of us though? Everyday, as our story is being written and we are flying down the highway of life, we are given a bank of words to choose from. If we don’t pay attention, autofill will choose “WEIRD” and “BREAKING.” If we stay aware of the options as we go, we can select “WORD” and “HEALING.” But, even if we don’t catch the mistake right away, that’s why God used to make “white out” and why my “smart phone” can go back and correct those choices made in haste.
God doesn’t want your story to full of WEIRD BREAKING FITS. In fact, He has written to you now FOR a HEALING WORD.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they instantly felt naked, ashamed, and exposed, so they tried to cover themselves. Notice they sewed leaves together. Later, when they have a conversation with God, it was very interesting to me that God made them coverings from animal skins. Adam and Eve wore the first furs.
What does this mean to me? When I sin, my first reaction is to “run for cover”. My own attempts at covering my guilt are feeble and fragile – like the clothes that Adam and Eve wove together. I don’t imagine that fig leaves are very sturdy. And certainly not fashionable!!
God sees their discomfort and vulnerability. Does He rip the leaves off of them and say, “No hiding here!!! What are these ridiculous costumes you are wearing?! I’m going to expose your sin and you will walk around in shame and misery.” (Think of a dunce hat, the cone of shame, or the scarlet letter.)
No. God acknowledges their sin. They have an honest chat about sin and it’s consequences, but then God does the most unexpected act of grace imaginable. God slaughters his beloved animals, removes their pelts, and sits down to the sewing machine to make them proper clothing. No more costumes. God makes them real, solid, long lasting clothing.
God’s kindness in this incidence is astounding to me!!!
What can we learn from this story from Genesis 3?
We don’t have to hide from God. We don’t have to try and cover over our sins out of guilt and shame. Our attempts are flimsy and temporary at best. God knows our sin. He sees it all. We are naked before Him. And yet… In His great love and mercy He does not make fun of us. He does not laugh at us. He does not disgrace and disrobe us.
In fact, He does the exact opposite. God actually slaughtered His Son, took his body, and sat down to the sewing machine to weave together royal robes for you and me. Priestly garments made of the most exquisite fabric imaginable.
So many times, we think God delights to expose our shame. We have been told by religious bullies that God gets a kick out of shaming people, judging them, calling them out on the carpet (whatever that old saying means?!).
We have long had mental images of a God who wants us completely nude and shivering in the corner with our faces buried in fear. As if God has a power trip when we mess up. Nothing could be farther from the truth!!
We have a God who comes to our hiding places, wraps His loving arms around us, and says, “Lift up your head, little one. There is no need to fear. I knew you would disappoint and disgrace yourself and that is why I sent my Son. Jesus died to be your sin covering. Now, get up. Let’s get you dressed. We’ve got a lot to do today. I don’t want you hiding in fear. My love, my perfect love, drives out fear. I love you, my child. I want to walk with you through this day and every day. And one day, I want to bring you home to be with me to live in my house. But for now, let’s get those rags off of you. Those are not clothes befitting my heirs. I want to wrap you in My great and permanent tunic. It has never been my intent to disrobe you and disgrace you. My heart longs to cover you and comfort you. Yes. My desire is to give you a complete wardrobe of my designer fashions.”
God’s plan from the very beginning, starting with the first man and woman, was to be in intimate connection with us. Knowing that our compulsion to sin would separate us from Him and send us into hiding, He wove together garments of grace. He comes to us with fresh mercy every morning. Fresh clothes. Laundered in His love.
God has not sent you to the corner!! He calls us out of the corner to join Him in open spaces and fields of grace.
Which do you choose today?
Your own sin covering (which is see through) or God’s sin covering (which will see you through). Today is the day to trade in your stank. Do it.

Being truly brave only requires 5 minutes per day.
That’s it. I don’t have to be brave all day, every day. God has assured me that if I am brave for a few moments each day, it will radically and dramatically alter my existence. And it has!!!
So, every morning, I ask God what one courageous thing He wants me to do that day. It has to be something that makes my stomach tighten when I just think about doing it. Something I am afraid to do. Something I have been avoiding.
It can be as simple as returning that phone call or texting, “I’m sorry.” Being brave for me some days is putting my tennis shoes on and walking out the door.
It doesn’t have to be anything extreme or earth shattering. Bring brave can be to speak up and say what I am really thinking in a meeting. Or to reach out to a friend and ask for prayers for something I am wrestling with. Honestly it doesn’t matter what it is.
The main thing is to develop my trust muscles with God. God needs us brave. He needs us uncomfortable. He needs us dependent. That’s when He can use us in miraculous ways – through brief bursts of bravery.
Remember…God’s hand is on you. Fear is just your body confirming that your spirit is about to do what you are made to do. So, take a deep breath and be brave for 5 minutes. I promise – you will feel freer every day.
I would love to hear about your stories of brief bravery! Feel free to post them on our Dreamsmith Books FB page. Let’s enCOURGAGE one another to BE BRAVE.