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The Everywhere Hope Challenge

The Everywhere Hope Challenge

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Take the Everywhere Hope Challenge between October 7th and November 15th and be entered into the drawing for a free copy of “Everywhere Hope”, the book.  Challenge is open to everyone, but the free book can only be shipped to the continental US and Canada.

Simple Challenge Steps

  1. Sign up to receive email notifications of new posts and book news by providing your email address in the “Subscribe to Blog via Email” box at the right.
  2. Between now and November 15th, journal about 3 situations where you personally found or shared hope.
  3. In the Comment section.  Write 1-3 sentences about one of your experiences.  Include your name and email in the comment boxes to right or bottom of the page.  Here is an example:

“I found renewed hope for healthy aging when I watched a video of a 99 year old woman teaching yoga.”

At the end of the challenge, all persons who submitted a “hopeful” comment will be entered into the drawing for my new book “Everywhere Hope – Encouraging Moments in Prose and Poetry”.

You’ll find that hope truly is everywhere when you have eyes to see and ears to hear!!!

If you have any technical issues entering your comment, you can also email me at paulababadiauthor@gmail.com and put “Everywhere Hope Book Challenge” in the subject line.

I look forward to learning how you are searching for hope, strengthening your hope muscles and sharing it with others.

 

Hinds Feet Hopes

Hinds Feet Hopes

God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and makes me tread upon the heights.  (Habakkuk 3:19)

(Although I have been away while dealing with family illnesses,working my full time job, and completing book #1 in the “Everywhere…” book series, I hope you will return to enjoy this, and future excerpts from  Everywhere Hope to be released later this year.  Peace to all of you – Paula)

When I was visiting the small mountain village of Miyancoo in Khuzestan, Iran, I explored the local terrain with my husband’s nieces and nephews. I never saw a mountain deer, but I did see goats traipsing on the narrowest of ledges. It seemed an effortless trek for them. Was it an inborn ability, or were they guided as young kids on how to navigate the way? Mountain goats have hard outer hooves, allowing them to dig into ledges coupled with soft hoof pads that act like climbing shoes. Their bodies are physically equipped to help them traverse the trail.

Human beings are equipped too, with the innate longing to reach God. As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Getting to the peak takes the right spiritual physique, courage to begin, willing trust and persistent effort. That’s what the saints did. They weren’t perfect, and it wasn’t an easy journey, but they had faith in a loving God. They found the way.

A few years ago, I heard in a homily that we either have faith or we don’t. It only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to get us going. We can learn, not only from the saints, but from those around us.

The question is – are we willing to reach out to step up? Are we humble enough to learn from others? Are we willing to immerse ourselves in the body of Christ? Do we have hope and faith in the ready, loving hand beckoning us from the next ridge? I believe God provides help on the rocky path in many ways – our job is to trust Him.

Hinds’ Feet Hopes

Sure and steady on the rocky climb,

Muscled limbs with ease and grace sublime

Maneuver crags and slides with practiced steps;

Ascending heights with certitude

I’ve not discovered yet.

 

Now worn the paths that lead to Heaven’s gate,

The trails marked well by saints who’ve gone before.

Free will is mine to journey or to wait

With seedling faith required – no less, no more.

 

Grant me the grace you gift to stately deer.

Make me, Your creature, tread just like the hind.

Your strength, pervade my soul and keep me near

That I may reach Your hand – Your glory find.

 

Hope from an Eight-Year-Old’s View

Hope from an Eight-Year-Old’s View

by Paula Veloso Babadi

It was the early 60’s. Who ever thought an eight year old would ponder about “hope”? But I was in 4th grade and had to write a poem. That’s when I discovered words -their sounds, rhythms, nuances and endless possibilities. They were treasures which helped me make sense of my new world.

Coming to a strange country.

When we moved from London, England to Pensacola it was a culture shock to say the least.  I had an English accent, said the alphabet differently than everyone else and had to learn how to carry over dimes rather than shillings in money math problems.  At eight, I didn’t exactly fit in a school where Steven’s dog was allowed to “attend” our third grade class and where my first American teacher took away my italics calligraphy pen because we were only allowed to write in pencil. She never gave it back.

I was often alone in the playground shuffling leaves around until kids began asking me to pronounce words in that foreign tone.  Of course, I never used the word “kids” back then, because it was not proper to call children “baby goats”. And I definitely never addressed anyone with “ya’ll” until much later.

Being different.

Living in Pensacola back then was like living in pre-civil rights Alabama. Daddy was a Navy Chief – quiet, hardworking, kind, gentle AND a Filipino married to his beloved blonde British bride.  My parents protected us when we were young, so we really had no idea that we were different from anyone else. None of us children realized there was anything wrong when our family wasn’t allowed to sit down at the counter of a local five and dime store to have a milkshake.  We certainly never knew until much later the reason we didn’t move into the first house we expected was because of my parents’ “mixed” marriage.

Feeling loved.

The writing which began in 4th grade became an outlet through the years: words were there when I needed to let something out and conveniently waited inside until the need arose again.

“When I was a child I used to talk like a child, think like a child, reason like a child.  When I became a man I put childish ways aside.”    1 Corinthians 13:11-13

It was my parents’ love, devotion and faith that provided our family with a safe and happy outlook on the world.  We grew up knowing that God loved us and was ever present.

Why write about hope?

“Everywhere Hope Today” is about searching every day, every moment, and finding hope in the obvious and not so obvious to sustain us when we are most in need.  And whether or not we are satiated, it’s about then cultivating and strengthening hope deep inside and learning how to share it with others in ways both small and large.

One of the first poems I penned was during that age of contradictions: my childlike trust and innocence painted against the landscape of the civil rights struggle.  It was an eight year old’s version of what it means to have hope.

The world is in great need today and I look forward to travelling with you on  this journey  to recognize and cultivate hope that began over fifty years ago. I haven’t changed any of the original language below. Maybe next time, we’ll explore a more grown-up version.

Hope

What is hope?
Hope is like lying the darkness waiting for light to come.
It is not knowing how, when, or where your troubles will continue
or end.

Hope is for man, and is his survival.
Hope depends on us and on God.
And if you wait long enough and have faith enough in Him,
someday that light will come back to shine forth in all its glory.