Hope Unending: Returning Home & Finding MoreSample

When the Blue Jay Sings

I know you think I didn’t hear the prayers. I know you think your cries for help went unheard. I know, in the darkness, when you went under the night sky and cried to me, you felt angry and alone. You wanted to yell at me. Where was I? Where could I be found? 

Always here. I have never left your side.

My darling. I am here. I am always here. 

I am sorry this family was torn in two. I am sorry your heart feels split into pieces. I am sorry you think you are not able to love anyone, ever again. 

Now is tomorrow’s then. Tomorrow is now for me. Trust me—you are more than what you can see; you are a light shining bright, my love. You are my daughter in rays of sunshine, even when skies are dark all around, and the storm’s rains are pouring fast. You do not have to be strong. 

Come to me now. Your children will see you coming to me, and then they will see me. Cling to me, and your home will be a sanctuary, my place where I am with you, beyond these walls, beyond the beauty of this yard. I welcome you home, to a new place, and I repair the broken parts of your heart, and I make them whole again. 

There is more for you, child. Come and be, in a quiet place with me. Let me be the one who whispers to your heart. Let me be the one who builds you a new home with me. What is ahead will be good. You will know it. You will enter in.

Exercise & Prayer

Find a pen and a journal. Then get comfortable and take a few deep breaths. Without writing anything yet, think about what image(s) occurs to you when you complete the following sentence: “I will be happy when . . . ” Spend a few minutes with those images. Write them down. 

Next, finish this sentence: “I was so happy that moment when . . . ” Reflect on what brought you happiness. What was it like? What were you doing? Think about that moment for a few minutes, then describe it in writing. 

Look at what you wrote. Look how the two images are different from one another. Is your dream of imagined future happiness different from the actual moments of happiness you have experienced? Ask God to show you what he wants you to see—what wisdom he wants to give you.

Father, I give you my dreams, the ones I’ve held close, the ones that haven’t turned out as I had planned, the ones shattered. Help me heal. I give you my expectations, for me, and my family. I pray for the restoration of what has broken, for what has torn. I want to believe there is nothing you can’t make whole. I do believe. In Jesus’ name, Amen.