A Tale of Hope: The Butterfly Circus

This past Sunday our church showed a short film titled, "The Butterfly Circus". It takes place during the depression and is about a renowned circus showman who travels across the American countryside bringing hope and happiness to those who are in desperate need of it. One of the characters, Will, is played by Nick Vujicic. If you have never heard of or seen Nick speak in person then you should go to his website, Life Without Limbs, find out if he is speaking near you and go.

A few years ago our community experienced Nick and his incredible enthusiasm for life and the huge love he has for others. He traveled throughout our local schools sharing his life story with our kids and then graciously spoke at our church. On September 25th he will be back in Bend for the I Heart Central Oregon campaign event. This time, his story will spread even farther and wider than it did a few years ago and if there is a community that could use the message of hope he brings, ours is it. (If you have not clicked on his website yet and are still wondering what the big deal with Nick is then I highly suggest you open a new tab on your internet and go there now.)

I want to share The Butterfly Circus with you and I hope you will take 20 minutes out of your hectic schedule to watch it. It's a not-so-gentle reminder that what may seem hopeless to us, isn't to the One we serve.



This is part of Bridget Chumbley's One Word At A Time Blog Carnival on Hope. Please head on over to Bridget's blog to check out what other's are sharing on hope.

The Longest Season

It was a long winter and it's been an even longer spring. Winter was mild compared to what my friends and family back east endured. I don't remember much snow fall in my town and it seems we had a lot of 50° days.

Spring is a different story. The picture is of an apple tree next to our driveway, and as of yesterday, that's pretty much what most trees in this area look like. Fairly leafless. That would mainly be due to the freezing temperatures every night and the cold days. Today it inched just above sixty for the first time in weeks but regardless, the storm clouds are hanging overhead, ready to unleash the rain at any given moment. For a person who loves spring and the 70° days, budding trees, flowers pushing through the ground and lying on the grass looking up at the sky, the lack of all these things has made me somewhat anxious. Anxious, because I'm ready for this season to be over.

As I type, the wind is picking up and blowing through the open windows of my office, rustling the papers on my desk. In the reflection of my computer screen, I can see the trees bending and swaying as the storm moves in. When I look out the window, my gaze falls upon the island in the middle of our lawn. Right now, it's still mostly dirt and a few lifeless looking plants and two little rogue flowers that survived winter and have determinedly pushed their way through the ground.

If I may make an observations, it's that there is one thing nature can teach us and that is to weather the storm no matter what the days bring because the season will eventually change. Persistence brings strength and don't be fooled by appearance because sometimes, the strongest appear to be the weakest. Those little flowers look awfully delicate to me, but they have survived frost, snow, hail, pounding rain and little warmth in the past few weeks. That's determination. And determination brings hope.

The Hope Road Trip

I have noticed, especially lately, the astounding amount of people who seem to be hurting and living without happiness or hope. I find that incredibly distressing and I was mulling this over in my mind while on a road trip last week.

Everyone has a different story of how they ended up at a particular point in their lives. Circumstances tend to dictate people's happiness, unhappiness, faith, hope, hopelessness and their outlook on life in general. I believe a lot of people are suffering in silence because maybe they don't know that there are others out there who truly care about them and their hurts. Or maybe, it's because we are so focused on our own problems in life that we tend to forget there are others worse off than us and we're not taking the time to show we care. I know I'm guilty of this. I wonder if taking an interest in the hurting and listening to their stories would allow a bit of hope to creep back into their lives.

As I was driving I thought about this and then came up with a totally crazy idea of what I would do to get their stories heard. It's called a road trip across America in my RV, with a video camera and the laptop (sounds like a different kind of reality show and seriously, these things just pop into my head).

Imagine the stories you'd hear sitting on a total strangers front porch or at a hole in the wall cafe in Small Town, USA. Or what about at an inner-city slum? Perhaps the people in the Great Plains have similar stories to those in the deep South. And while inner-city life dynamics may not be the same as small town dynamics when it comes right down to it people feel pain regardless of where they live and that is their common thread. Hopelessness has no prejudice and it doesn't care where one resides.

What if people realized there were others out there who had the same struggles and because they were able to tell their stories, found a network of people who could help them out. It might light a small spark of hope and get them through another day.

While I realize the whole concept of jumping in an RV and taking off across the country is a little out there, the idea of seeking out others who needs some hope isn't.

So, let's brainstorm. What can we do to spread a little happiness and spark some hope in others. Do you know someone who is in desperate need of those things or maybe you are that person. I encourage you to share your story because you're amongst friends here.

Short Sunday, Happy Birthday and Hope

Today is my sons (Killian) 13th birthday and he is officially a teenager. We've been through four so far, so I think I have teenagerdom figured out. Somewhat. So, I just wanted to wish this awesome young fella Happy Birthday!



And, I also wanted to share my currently favorite song with you. This pretty much says it all. I hope you have an awesome Sunday.