Kristi Archives - 61 Isaiah

January 14, 2022 by Kristi Hopkins 2 Comments

Guard the Calling

As any parent will tell you, silence is rare and golden. I am not saying that I don’t enjoy my kids because I do, but I also enjoy waking up and having a few quiet minutes before being “mom.” Sometimes though it doesn’t happen and I have had to learn to carve out quiet time elsewhere. Why you may ask, is this such a big deal?

I have been doing a study of 2 Timothy (which I highly recommend) and this is what God has impressed on my heart over the last several weeks: God has called me for a purpose (2 Tim. 2:21). I will lose sight of that purpose or miss when God calls me to do specific things within this calling if I do not guard this calling with the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 1:14).

He can not correct, guide, and empower me if I am not taking time to listen; stop the inner dialog, and focus on the higher dialogue. Ideally, this happens in those early moments but sometimes it happens after dropping off a kid at their activity, watering my flowers, or cooking dinner.

This is when God confirms my calling to love my students the way He loves them, this is when he shows me how to make decisions like Him. This is when he renews my passion to help others “obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:10.) This is when my heart can cry “Abba, Father,” otherwise translated as the irreverent “Dad” instead of Lord (Romans 8:15).

I encourage you to find silence to listen to Dad. He has a calling on your life too (2 Tim. 2:21). I would love to hear what that calling is and how you guard this calling in your life.

2 Timothy 1:14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

August 20, 2021 by Kristi Hopkins 1 Comment

Understanding Unconditional Love

“I am a woman. I am invincible. I am tired.” These are the words that resonated with me as I read a book a friend gave me. I have spent my life looking at what needs to be done around me and doing it. And now I find myself with a list of roles both professionally and personally: teacher, counselor, supervisor of 19 people, academic director of an additional 21 people, lead missionary with a growing team, librarian, mom, wife, daughter, sister, mentor, doctoral student, and the list goes on. I am sure your list looks similar. I don’t think there is anything wrong with fulfilling the needs you see around you. But I am having to take a hard look at whether I apply these same “roles” to my spiritual life. Do I think God needs me to fulfill roles instead of believing he loves me even when I am unproductive? Of course in my head I believe this. But in my heart, way, way down deep, do I think I have to do certain things to be loved unconditionally? Isn’t this a contradiction? And yet, how many times do I check off certain boxes believing God is proud of me fulfilling my duties. Friend, I am here to tell you that unconditional love really doesn’t come with the conditions of teaching Sunday school, leading Bible study, mentoring, volunteering, or whatever you fill in the blank with.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Culture tells us that we have to hold everything together. But is this what is expected of us spiritually? He doesn’t ever say to get our lives together then go to Him. Or be all things to all people so we are viewed as the perfect Christian. No, when we go to Him for rest not only does He take our burdens but He makes clear that His burden is not heavy. He does not require that we put more work on ourselves so that we can be a “good Christian.” Quite the opposite. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Get rid of the expectations that you have placed on yourself or perhaps others have placed on you. When we rest in him, we relieve ourselves of religion and get to enjoy relationships. An unconditional acceptance and love without a checklist of productivity.

To be quite honest, I stink at this. School started for teachers this week. My to-do list is a mile long. I feel I have to fulfill all my duties flawlessly. I try regularly to give him my burdens only to find that I have taken them back later in the day. I get scared that if I am not perfect and not productive then I will disappoint the Father. But I am trying. And I am relieving myself of the guilt when I don’t measure up. Realizing that he loves me through my failure to perform. He desires to help us rest. Pray with me that I (and maybe you) will truly understand unconditional love and that perhaps we will even extend this love without expectations to others.

June 16, 2021 by Kristi Hopkins 1 Comment

Going “home”… or is it?

Tyler will graduate in a few short weeks and head “home” to college. Except in this case, home isn’t home. We left the US when Tyler was in 2nd grade. I am not sure how much he remembers living there. And while he has visited grandparents often, it isn’t quite the same. We call these children “third-culture” kids. They don’t fit into either culture- the one they were born in or the one they were raised in. Instead they are a combo of both cultures, maybe even the best of both cultures. I tell my students that if our cultures would learn from each other then we would all be better off. Perhaps this is exactly where Tyler is. He is a combination of both cultures, and I believe he is ready to face the challenges about to hit him.

Trust the Father

He is heading to Tarleton, our alma mater. He is joining the Corp of Cadets and plans to study mechanical engineering. This simultaneously terrifies, saddens and excites me. What if he gets lost; forgets which manners to use; doesn’t know the phrases teens use (how often is he around other US kids). He doesn’t look like your average international student, so he may not be given the same grace as others. And yet… Father is present there just like he is here. I have watched God mature Tyler into a loving, kind, smart servant. I have to trust Father will be there in those moments of insecurity: when he doesn’t know which songs to stand up on in church, how to two-step, or questions the culture he has been dropped into after 10 years.

He hasn’t had the same experiences teenagers in the US are used to: only driven a handful of times, never heard of homecoming, never been to a football game, prom, etc. Instead he has: volunteered at Fiesta Tipica, the Lenca Hunger Farm, mission teams, boxed and delivered food packages and the list goes on. He wasn’t given the same freedom as other teens but he has had different kinds of responsibility. Some might say Missionary Kids are free labor. I prefer to phrase it as “volunteers in training.” This has shaped his worldview to a large degree. He displays his faith in quiet servanthood. His prayer right now is not that he will adapt or not get homesick but instead that he will not miss opportunities to serve the Lord. Please join me in praying for him.

June 2, 2021 by Kristi Hopkins 3 Comments

The life of a MK

Psalm 89:19-26

I have prayed this scripture over Tyler for years; praying that he would be like David, a warrior for God’s glory, a shepherd, a leader, a man after God’s own heart, “I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a young man from among the people.” It is now time for me to watch from a little further away but with my knees still bent in prayer, for Tyler to be the man God has raised him up to be. Look out Texas, this young man is heading your way!

As I said with the other students: pray for them, write to them, send them care packages and pray for their parents (we are not ok)!

Tyler:

I was born in Texas; however, when I turned eight, my family moved as missionaries to Honduras. It was there that I spent the next ten years of my life learning the intricacies of a very different culture. This was incredibly difficult in a way that is not describable in words; it is something you must experience. Without a doubt, I would not have been able to transition without God working in my life. The first few years I was angry at God, therefore, those first few years were some of the loneliest, most miserable years of my life. I was bitter and angry at everyone for making me leave what I knew behind. This continued until I eventually started to seek God again. He changed me, took away the pain that I had, and made it into something better.

God Helped Me Love the People Around Me

As I saw tragedy in Honduras, God helped me love the people around me. For example, we were hit by two back-to-back hurricanes this year. During the hurricanes the electricity was sporadic at best, water lines were broken, communication was halted, and all major roads in and out of Gracias were destroyed. Seeing all this destruction, and being hopeless to help, changed me. My dad was in the US at a speaking engagement when the second, and most destructive hurricane hit, which made things even more worrisome as I needed to help my mom care for everything.

Nonetheless, an experience like this changes you, seeing all the death and destruction, all the pain and fear, and being hopeless to help. There is a saying that my father has, and it is one of my favorite phrases. It is, “Life can make you bitter, or it can make you better.” That is the attitude you must have if you want to come back from something like this and not be utterly broken. So that is what I did. I focused on what I could do to help instead of how it hurt. Our ministry raised thousands of dollars and spent many hours bagging and moving food to those in need. We also worked to rebuild houses, repair roofs, and help displaced families relocate.

I Have Learned

Through all this, we were changed. There is no walking away unscathed. My perspective has grown, and I have learned to appreciate what I have and what I can do to help. Now it is not a question of “Is there is something to do?” but “will I be willing to do it?” Those are the types of lessons that can not be taught in a classroom but must be learned through experiencing life, and despite all that has happened, I am glad that I was able to learn such a rare and valuable lesson.

The difficulties and experiences with Christ and in life, affected how I grew up. They have affected my values and my priorities, and they have changed the way that I view the world. Now it is all about how I allow God to work in my life.

May 14, 2021 by Kristi Hopkins Leave a Comment

College bound- Regina

Regina Vicente has a heart for both education and health care and will be heading to Hope College. She won a tuition-free scholarship as well as a private scholarship from individuals and churches in the Holland area. While I have taught her for several years, I have gotten to know her better this year when her dad joined 61 Isaiah as a full-time pastor. Any pastor kid will tell you that they are often free labor. But I think she would volunteer even if not forced to, as this girl has a heart for helping others. She is one of the few students that I know who values the older generation and wants to serve them with her nursing degree. Read her essay below to see what she considers to be hope.

Regina Vicente:

At some point in our lives, we have all felt lonely, like there is nothing left for us to do, well that is where hope and faith play their part. We show our hope everyday without even realizing it, our actions show what we hope for and how strong our faith in it is. Hope is easy to say, but hard to believe especially in hard times. For us to have hope we have to have faith, from there God is the one who will fill us with hope and peace we cannot even explain.

Doña Toña

Growing up my grandmother lived with us for her last four years of life. She was pretty lucid for her age but still needed someone to give her undivided attention during the day. So, she had a part-time sitter who lived a couple of streets from our home that would come in everyday and keep her company. The sitter’s name is Antonia, but we called her Doña Toña. She was pretty young at the time, probably around her late thirties. Doña Toña was a single mother with two teenagers, being single did not stop her from building character in both her children, in fact they were and still are one of the most respectful people I know.

Her Hope

Whenever I think of hope, Doña Toña instantly comes to my mind. She did not have a degree or a business but a sitter’s income and she also sold food to students. Her hope was that someday her children would grow up and have a
better future than she did and her hope motivated her to keep working hard. I remember when her children left for college and moved to a different city, her words were: “I have no way to provide for them, but God does and he will make it possible for my children to earn their degrees”. She would send them frozen food for them to microwave throughout the week and worked extra hard to provide for them. Her hard work inspired me to also work hard, making me realize when we hope for something it will not always be easy, but it will not be impossible either.

Her Faith

Despite all the limits or things that could have stopped Doña Toña from sending away her children and making the decision for her children not to go to college, she did not and her circumstances did not stop her. Her faith was beyond paychecks and bills, but she believed God would never leave her and He never did. She had ups and downs financially and emotionally which she is really open to share, but one thing that never went down was her faith and hope. Doña Toña served in church, going through financial problems people would expect for her to leave church and work extra hours but she never did. She stayed faithful to God and he was also faithful to her.

Doña Toña Today

Long story short, now Doña Toña doesn’t work, she has a beautiful and charming dog named Bruno, which you will see her often on walks with. Her children, now adults, are an architect and microbiologist, both well known in town as brilliant people. After all the sacrifices, hard work, and faithfulness Doña Toña has achieved everything she hoped for. Her testimony has brought so much hope into my life since I started high school. Whenever I’m struggling or feel like giving up, Doña Toña’s testimony reminds me that God will always provide no matter how hard it may seem, all I have to do is trust in him and never lose hope.

Inspired by Doña Toña

Without even knowing it Doña Toña impacted my life and I have no doubt I am not the only one she has inspired and given hope to. Her life was hard, it was never easy for her or her children, but during that time you would see her and it would not even occur to you what she was going through. She would always greet you with a smile and if you visited her, you could tell hospitality was one of her gifts. All of her problems and struggles did not play a part in the way she lived her life. She was definitely troubled, but she also had faith and her hope never disappeared. It was not that she was living a perfect life, it was that her faith was in God and he never let her down, her hopes never went down. One thing Doña Toña taught me when I was little was to believe in what I want, but also to work hard for it. She placed that mindset on me of working hard to accomplish good things and in the way to also believe in myself and remain faithful to God.

Inspire Hope

Doña Toña’s testimony has given me so much hope for my future. It is also a reminder that it is not going to always be easy, but if we remain faithful to God, he will make sure we accomplish what we hope for. Just as Doña Toña was placed in our community to inspire hope, I also want to inspire hope wherever I go. I really want people to believe in what they hope for, to have faith in what God is holding for their future and most importantly I also want to keep believing in what I hope for, because I know God will be part of my way.