Guest Post by Lisa Larsen Hill

March 1, 2023March 1, 2023Desiree Future 2 Comments

Hello loyal readers March 1^st blog post is written by a good friend of mine who just so happens to be a writer as well. Please welcome her here to Hope, Faith & a Smile

Do we realize in our daily lives, its just the small things?

On a visit to California, we’d just finished dinner at a Long Beach vegan restaurant with my brother and niece. I’m not a vegan but my niece is. The offerings and delicious meal delighted me and I made a note to check out vegan restaurants on my return to New York. It was a warm night as we walked back to the Airbnb. A young couple with their 7 – 8-year-old daughter was skipping in front of us. The little girl turned around and started talking about her day. She was excited about her visit to the aquarium and told us all sorts of facts she gathered.

We asked her questions, which she was delighted to tell us more.

We walked along for some time and then they turned down a different street, I said, “Good night sweetheart.”

And this tiny little charming voice responded, “Good night, sweetheart.”

Both the parents and all of us ahhh’d and giggled for her pure innocence.

Sometimes in our daily lives truly it’s the small things.

How often do we celebrate a moment? An ordinary task of just walking down the street can turn into a delightful memory. My husband and I now say, “Good night, sweetheart,” and glow, remembering this sweet connection to a stranger.

I love this lyric by Sam Cooke’s song “That’s Heaven to Me.”

“The things that I see as I walk along the streets – a little flower that blooms in May, a lovely sunset at the end of a day, someone helping a stranger along the way – that’s heaven to me.”

With all the bad news screaming for attention from everywhere, realizing it’s just the small things bring us joy.

What’s a small thing that’s lifted you up?

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12.

Lisa Larsen Hill is Founder and President of Seeds of Faith for Women Inc, a 501 c (3). She is co-founder of Daughters of Abraham, bringing women of the three Abrahamic faiths together. A Christian Seminar leader/Certified Lay Speaker for over 20+ years, she serves various churches on Long Island. She is a speaker and member of the Network of Biblical Storytellers. Lisa is a contributing writer to Courage to Write and is represented by Books & Such Literary Management in pursuit of publishing her first Biblical fiction story. She is married to her best friend, Roger Hill.

To find out what Lisa is up to find her on her below social media platforms.

We May Stumble & Fall

February 17, 2023February 16, 2023Desiree Future 6 Comments

The definition of a Christian is One who believes in Christ. Whether you’ve been at your church since you were a child, found a new one, or are a believer who doesn’t have a church home yet, being a Christian is still the same. You believe in the man upstairs.

As humans, we can try to be as perfect as we can. We make sure we do everything in our power to be perfect. Try to be the best person or image of God we can be. We can volunteer to feed the homeless, agree to take a double shift because of staff shortages or even let someone go in front of us at the grocery store because our cart full of food is no match for their five items.

But what happens when things are not so pleasant? We’ve found ourselves in a position where we’ve been lied on & humiliated in public? We’ve been made to look like we’re the devil himself rather than the decent person we are. At the moment, all we hear and see is that we’re under attack & we go into survival mode. After the smoke has cleared, we realize we let a person make us step outside of our character. Our retaliation cut like a sharp knife.

Does this make us bad people or not Christian-like? No, it doesn’t it means we’re human before anything else. We hurt, cry, and bleed, just like the next person. We’ve worked hard to be the best us we can. The imminent threat caused us to fall short. Let me be the one to tell you there are no perfect people in this world, only sinners getting back up after a fall.

We can’t beat ourselves up over the way we handled things. We must stop replaying it in our minds. Removing ourselves from the situation is the best thing to do, even if it means taking an enormous loss.

The next time you find yourself in a situation like this, remember this verse:

Romans 8:14 ESV For all who are led by the spirit of God are all the children of God. You are a child of God and there’s no one better than Him to fight your battles as he was persecuted himself.

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Go Forward

January 2, 2023January 24, 2023Desiree Future 13 Comments

Photo by Dayvison de Oliveira Silva on Pexels.com

One early morning as I was driving north to work, I stopped at the red light. Being that it was still pretty dark, I checked my surroundings. A woman can’t be too careful these days. I looked in my rearview mirror and there was no traffic behind me. I found that to be rather unusual, considering the road I was on was a connection to a major thoroughfare. Checking my side mirrors, not a soul even walking to the nearest bus stop. Looking forward again, I saw bright lights from the cars heading south, waiting at the red light as well. The lights were so bright they almost blinded me. It appeared all of the cars had their high beams on directly pointing at me.

Looking over my shoulder, I peered at my back windshield and again there were no other vehicles behind. Just as I twisted around, the light changed to green. As I’m passing the cars on the southbound side, still no other motorists behind me. I thought of something, Bishop & Gospel singer Marvin Sapp preached a sermon called Going Forward. I can’t remember exactly how it went but it focused on moving ahead and leaving old things behind. To me the empty streets behind me resembled nothing to go back to because they are cold and dark. While the bright roads ahead light a path of my amazing future.

The next time you feel like your life is at a standstill or you want to go back because what’s ahead of you seems out of reach. Think of that dark road with no one on and then think of the bright one ahead of you.

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.“