Mahalo to all the Moms!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dennisa Bumgardner, Co-Lead Pastor at Elevate Community Church, Honolulu, Hawaii. Loving wife and mother of 2 awesome kiddos and new to the dog mom world. 

BIBLE VERSE: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 

APPLICATION:

Guess what? I’m expecting!!!

Yes, you read that correctly, I’m expecting. I’m not expecting a baby, but I am expecting God to do something incredible in your life! I’m expecting God to answer some pretty audacious prayers for you. I am expecting your life to be better than it was last year, last month and especially last week.

Before I became a mom, I read the book, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” because I didn’t want to be caught off guard by anything. Like most expectant moms, I held my growing belly with hopeful anticipation! With each doctor visit, I explored the wonder of who my child will look like and what my child will be like.

I’m not sure about you, but 2020 wasn’t exactly the start of the decade I was expecting. With one disappointment after another, my hope was deferred and my heart became sick, I’d even say hopeless. With the onset of COVID-19, none of us could have anticipated the after effects of this global pandemic. Perhaps you’re reading this and you find yourself in a place of hopelessness as well. You know all too well the aches of a hope deferred. You may be wondering what our world will look like on the other side of this. You may be worried about our economy, our future and the safety of our families. You may be outraged by the political division, mainstream media and some of the misinformation out there. All are very valid concerns that, if we’re not careful, can cause our hearts to tailspin into a state of hopelessness.

Aren’t you grateful the Lord doesn’t keep us in the place of deferred hope, BUT He most certainly meets us there. He desires more than anything to pick up our broken hearts and hold us in his loving arms like we often do with those we are entrusted with. According to this verse, “A longing fulfilled is the tree of life.” When God fulfills our longings, it is like a tree that provides shade, protection from the elements and even produces fruit. If you have unfulfilled longings, whether it be the longing to become a mom, longing to start a business, longing to step into a ministry, longing for this ugly virus to disappear or longing for dreams that you’ve been too afraid to say out loud, I pray that you would be expectant too!

MAHALO to all the moms who contributed to this devotional by writing, reading and subscribing. We would love to hear feedback and find out how it blessed you. If you have ideas for future devotionals or would like to contribute to the next devotional, you can email: devos@elevatecommunity.church. Let’s go into the summer, expecting bigger and better things in days to come!

PRAYER:

Jesus thank you so much for walking with us over these past few weeks. Thank you for guiding us, and opening up our hearts to new possibilities and ideas. Thank you for all the ladies who took the time to read this with us. I ask that their deferred hopes of the past would turn into a fruitful tree of life. Would you continue to shape us and grow us in new ways to be better for those you’ve entrusted us with? We love you Jesus, amen.