Karen Bables
Welcome to my blog about living as apprentices of Jesus! I am passionate about spiritual transformation and about helping others become like Jesus for the sake of others.
One of my favorite quotes is: "Whatever job we get and whatever task we are assigned can serve as a container for grace" (Eugene Peterson in "Practical Resurrection"). I pray that the words and sentences on this blog may also serve as "containers of grace" for its readers.
I ordinarily post on Wednesdays and Saturdays and welcome your comments on any post!
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Category Archives: Hope Changes Everything
I Come From . . .
I was searching for a free-writing exercise topic to use with my writing group when I ran across this “starter” phrase in Writing Alone and with Others, by Pat Schneider: “I come from . . .” Usually I hear moans … Continue reading
Posted in Hope Changes Everything, My journey, Writing as an Act of Faith
Tagged Pat Schneider, Writing Alone and with Others
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The Source of all Hope – Guest Blog by Joy Zomer
As a teacher, I have the privilege of sharing the lives of my students. As a high school teacher, I am given the gift of witnessing the growth of teenagers into young adults. And best of all, as a high … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Bloggers, Hope Changes Everything
Tagged alternative schools for teens, Emily Dickinson, Hope, In Christ Alone
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Suffering Breaks our Hearts
We are surrounded by news of suffering and violence. (If we are surrounded only by the news and not by the actual suffering and violence, we should be down on our knees in gratitude.) The pain everywhere seems to be … Continue reading
Posted in Hope Changes Everything
Tagged Hope, Mary Oliver, On Being, Parker Palmer, world-wide suffering
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Easter Thoughts
An empty tomb. Forgotten burial cloths. A rolled-away stone. Angel messengers. A sobbing woman. A “gardener” who calls her by name and changes her sobbing to joy. This is the Easter story. A resurrection story. Every year we read and … Continue reading
Rewiring our Inputs
The following quote from Seth Godin’s blog reminds us that we do have control over how we view our lives. “Rewiring our inputs” is the same as choosing hope, I suspect. “When things get a little better every day, we … Continue reading
Posted in Hope Changes Everything
Tagged Hope, Psalm 33, Seth Godin
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“The Opposite of Poverty is Justice” – Part 2
I’m reading Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy, A Story of Justice and Redemption. It is both brutally honest and extraordinarily encouraging. As Desmond Tuto says, “Bryan Stevenson is America’s young Nelson Mandela, a brilliant lawyer fighting with courage and conviction … Continue reading
Posted in Hope Changes Everything
Tagged Bryan Stevenson, capital punishment, injustice, Just Mercy, mass incarceration, mercy
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Hope has the Last Word
On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King delivered his first public antiwar speech, “Beyond Vietnam,” at New York’s Riverside Church. As I read the speech this morning, it was painfully obvious that Dr. King’s words are appropriate to the world … Continue reading
Posted in Hope Changes Everything
Tagged Arnold Toynbee, Beyond Vietnam speech, Good Samaritan Story, Martin Luther King
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God is Awake!
How do we maintain hope in the midst of ordinary or extraordinary lives of pain and suffering? I’d like to suggest that hope is created because we live through pain and suffering. If life were to run smoothly and easily … Continue reading
Posted in Hope Changes Everything
Tagged Hope, the unshakable kingdom of God, Victor Hugo
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Living as Apprentices 