Mugs

Several years ago I was given a pair of coffee mugs by a dear friend.  I don’t recall the exact details, but I think it involved thankfulness for Jesus in our friendship. Which I appreciated, too!

These days, I find myself using the mugs as I regularly share coffee with younger friend who’s going through and facing some hard times ahead.  When we meet, he chooses the HOPE or STRENGTH mug depending on how things are going for him. His choice and the good coffee we share get our conversations going!

We talk about life from our different ages, experiences, and perspectives and about how to center oneself on God’s unshakeable love that’s uniquely available in a faith relationship with Jesus. But such words can ring hollow when being alone and misunderstood have been frequent companions in one’s developing story.

That’s when Jesus’ cries, suffering on his cross, resonate most deeply… “My God, my god, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus does understand such experiences. For, in love, he chose to be forsaken, so we could be fully embraced in God’s love! There is real HOPE & STRENGTH for our stories to be found in the resurrection life of Jesus. Let’s keep after it…