The Story Bleeds Red

Darling,

Forgive me as I try my best to write this down. It’s been too long since I’ve written and the words don’t flow onto the page like they once did.

This is for you my darling Hope. For years I have used the name Hope as a pen name, a cover to release my words, my emotions, and my painful steps forward. You, Hope have put a new perspective on the word. You are flesh of my flesh and DNA from my DNA, but you are also something new, something hopeful. You are my daughter.

You have made me a mother, not just in name but in action. You are my daughter and I will fight for you, I will celebrate with you, I will hurt with you, cry with you, and more than anything, always love you with all my soul. Hope, you have so many of your father’s ways. His eyes, his excitement of life, his cheerful outlook on the things to come. May you always look at life with those eyes of excitement.

Hope is your name and I pray that it is always your identity. That you would look at the broken world around you with Hope and only see what it could be with the Healer. The world needs you, Hope. They need someone to bring them Jesus. They need someone to show them how to triumph over pain and brokenness and to smile in hope of the future.

I will be here for you, darling. With my life, I will do my best to show you the hope of Jesus. I want you to never have to fight the battles I have fought, walk through the lies that I have believed, feel the depression I have felt. You are a brand new life. We have a chance to change the storyline. We can start again.

From your mommy, the other Hope.

Here I go breaking the silence on the blog. Please accept our apologies for the break, KD and I have been busy braving life. KD, this one is for you.

For you KD on the occasion of your birthday.

I miss you. I miss spending so very much time with you almost every day. But you know what? I’m not scared for you anymore. I don’t worry about how you are doing, and whether you are lost in a dark place without me there. You’re doing crazy things. I see you leaning into God, braving the unknown, learning what makes you come alive, and trying rollercoasters. You prophesy over the lost, weep with the hurting, and war for the broken. That is you. That is the KD I have always seen.

When you were completely wrecked, when you had no faith left, when you stopped crying because you stopped feeling, nothing made me stop seeing freedom for you. Freedom is built into your DNA. It’s a part of you. No matter how far you ran, you never could have escaped it. Now I see you proclaiming that freedom over others. You are using your freedom to break other’s prison locks. You show Jesus.

Here KD, is your birthday wish from Hope. You, my friend, will always fly over the highest mountain tops. You will run into the vast unknown of the future and laugh when fear tries to intimidate you. You will walk with the creative designer of all and sit in rapt attention at his words. There will be doors that you break down without slowing your pace. You will not be fooled by fake Christianity, but will call it out. You will lose count of the souls you are going to mother. You will carry the breakthrough that many people have been desperate for. You, the one that has been broken, has been dead, has stopped believing. You are a walking miracle.

Know that you are worthy and that you are loved.

You are seen.

As always, Hope

Yahweh

I love the sound of your laughter

I love the strength and protection in your arms

I love your creative mind

Your reckless, risky love

Your warrior’s heart

Your smile of grace

Your steady unchanging being

The way you teach us to let go

You are my Brave Heart –

My Constant –

My Hope

Dear Hope,

I am sorry that you only realized this now. You are amazingly smart and talented so it’s no fault of your own that you didn’t get it before. You’ve always loved how He told you that He was proud of you. It made you feel special and set apart, called out really. You wanted Him to forever be proud. You also knew that it would probably never be reality because you know yourself. You know how you mess up and fall apart and how the memories never seem to ease.

So you chose to love the good moments and hoped that they would come more often.  He was the only one that you were willing to perform for. I wish that you would have known sooner the truth about what He was really telling you.

Every time He spoke the words, “I’m proud of you” He would never finish the sentence. You always felt like there was more to the phrase so you added your own words. I know you didn’t do it intentionally. It was an automatic response. You honestly thought that He said the phrase, “I’m proud of what you did. I’m proud of what you accomplished. I’m proud of your strength, your sacrifice, and your dreams.”

Hope, you can rest now knowing that what He said was what He meant to say. I know it still feels a bit confusing to you. You will have a hard time fully understanding what that sentence means to you. It will be hard to comprehend for awhile. Because when He said that He is proud of you, you don’t know who ‘you’ is. You aren’t sure what He is talking about. It will take time Hope, to learn who you really are. When you know that, you will know what He says when He tells you, “I am proud of you.”

You can stop adding words to His words. You can stop feeling sad about disappointing Him with your performance. He is proud of you! That will never change. He gave you a new heart, one of his own in fact and He made it just the right fit. You are allowed to find out why He is proud of you.

Love

Hope

To see the invisible is to know that things aren’t always as they seem.

Believe is a strong word.

I believe that the sick are meant to be healed, the lost are meant to be found, the dead are meant to live, the curses of sin are meant to be broken, the past is meant to be redeemed.

But I have seen the sick not being healed, the lost have stayed lost, the dead never took another breath, the curses continue to fester, and the past continued hanging over a person’s head like a cloud.

Why? I was angry at God for a really long time.

I tried to bear the pain for others. I tried to force God’s perfect will into what I believed it should be.

Then one night I saw the invisible. Nothing I had ever seen was exactly as it had seemed.

God has already redeemed all things to himself. The sick are healed, the lost are found, the dead are called to live, the curses are powerless, the past is redeemed.

It’s a matter of perspective.

Colossians 3:3 You have died and your new life is now hidden with Christ in God

Colossians 3:1 You are now raised with Christ so set your hearts on things above. (the invisible)

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on heavenly things, not on earthly things.

We are called to see things as Christ sees them. All the things of this earth are temporary. As believers in Christ we are citizens of heaven. The things of this earth may grab at our physical bodies. In the visible world we will never experience complete wholeness but in the heavenly realm where our new life is planted all things are under the perfect redemption.

Live your temporary life for your eternal life.

In the end it will be worth it.

-KD

 

It’s time to step out in faith.

It’s time to let go of what’s good but still isn’t right.

It’s time to live in grace.

It’s time to let go of the things in the past that keep coming back to haunt you.

It’s time to receive forgiveness.

It’s time to extend mercy to all those you believe don’t deserve it.

It’s time to be you.

It’s time to walk as a free person.

-KD

The waves of anger toss me back and forth.

The surging emotions keep me doing all the things I don’t want to do but keep doing.

Yeah, I was never allowed to be me.

I was never introduced to myself.

What’s the point?

I can do all the things but I can’t be all the things so why bother?

On the other hand, I can do all the things and I can be all the things so why not?

Cause God keeps telling me he knows me better then all of that.

Why?

Cause he created me so why wouldn’t he?

Thing is this religion we’ve boxed him into has believers walking around like elephants instead of lions.

I’m done with the tame people,

God never promised a picket fence but it sure would be nice.

Thing is I get this tug to grab me a tent and set up camp at the outskirts of hell.

Because the hearts of men are searching for answers, reasons for their existence.

I see the hunger in their eyes and the fear. I don’t understand why God created humanity.

But he bore their pain and took their death.

I just wish they knew it.

All you tame washed out believers begging for the end to come, WAKE UP!

We have work to do and a purpose to live for. We live in the temporary and that end will come.

If you look at what’s permanent you can see this world needs you.

Sometimes the temporary causes us to lose sight of what’s permanent.  Then it’s time to refocus.

-KD

He had a blue velvet coat with gold trim. She was beautiful and humble. They danced together all night while the rest of the world faded away from their view. The perfect ending came with a stunning wedding with every detail exactly in place. They were both perfect.

The other prince wore khakis and blue dress shirts. It didn’t really matter what he looked like because she was captured by his eyes every time. There wasn’t any white horses pulling a gold carriage, but she didn’t mind. He could have given Prince Charming lessons about how to treat a lady.

Hope knew which man she would choose. It wasn’t even a question to her. She could live without the carriage, but not without her man. Cinderella could have Prince Charming. She didn’t need fairy godmothers and glass slippers or a castle to live in. They weren’t her story to experience.

The only problem with the fairy tale was the wedding. Hope desperately wanted to be like Cinderella. She dreamed about looking perfect, but Hope didn’t live in a Cinderella world. It hurt to realize that her dreams weren’t going to become reality and she fully blamed herself for that.

Her story wasn’t Cinderella’s story. If only she could believe that truth and walk away from the painful dreams. She really isn’t sure how to do that. Cinderella dances in ballroom of every woman’s heart and she won’t be silenced. Maybe she should be allowed to have a voice. Maybe if we listened to her, we would hear the truth that we always wanted to hear.

If I don’t love me don’t judge me.

If I prove that I am evil don’t love me.

If I show you who I really am what would you tell me?

Huh?

I’d like to know.

You see me smile and think I love me.

You see me do life and think I am foolish.

You give me a slap in the face whenever you kiss me.

If you don’t love me don’t judge me.

I’m struggling to breathe and you hate me.

You tell people I’m evil, you watch me like a hawk waiting for my next move.

My death would be your gain.

I’ve concluded you are more pleased when I am evil then when I am good.

Why?

Because you don’t really love me.

If you don’t love me don’t judge me.

I’m not like you, so what?

I can’t be you, I can’t even be me sometimes.

What is this life if you can’t see me?

You don’t see me you just think you do.

-KD