Forever and Always

First off, I want to apologize for my neglect of blogging lately.

Work, school, traveling and just life in general has been hectic. But! A plus is I have a plethora of pictures to share!

Yet despite all the craziness of life, the Lord has been speaking super loudly to me; He's been reminding me of the certainty and faithfulness of His love.

Now, I know that sounds super cliché and "white-girl Christian," like it should be a @socality caption or something. But the truth is when we get just a taste of the Lord's faithfulness, it's radical. It transforms us in ways unspeakable and breaks down every lie we've ever spoke over ourselves.

I'm going to be completely honest with you. I've been listening to those lies lately. You know, the "you're not good enough, no one's going to love you for your heart," type of lies. The ones that attack our heart identity and sense of belonging.

It hasn't come out of no where either. I've made some big mistakes, and I'm about to dive into full-time ministry into one of the darkest battlefields in the world (Amsterdam Red Light District).

For those reasons, it makes sense I'm being attacked more ferociously than I have been since I lived in Thailand three years ago. Something good is on the horizon, and someone is not happy about it.

Yet although the voices of those lies have been loud there is one Voice that remains louder still. 

It's a Voice that speaks love and truth over me.
A Voice that is always gentle, always kind and encourages me to keep moving onward and upward. 

A Voice that says, "I'm here Hanna, I'm Love (1 John 4:8) and I'm Good and Faithful (Psalm 100:5). I have a truth to counteract every lie that has been spoken over you and you've spoken over yourself. Through Me you are strong to fight those lies (Ephesians 6:10), I am always here, and my banner over you is love (Song of Solomon 2:4).

Forever and Always."

 Guys, you want to know what truly inspires me more than anything else? 

The Lord's Voice and His never-ending faithfulness.

The fact He uses His Voice to willingly to speak to us on a more personal level than we could ever imagine.

To be given promises from a Good Father who knows how to give genuinely good gifts to His children.  

That inspires me more than anything else imaginable. 

So Daddy, today I praise You and thank You for Your promise to adore me, guide me and Speak Life to me Forever and Always.

Your Voice and faithfulness inspire me.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."

~Psalm 100:4-5


Love, Hanna

The three last pictures are of my Mom, Dad and brother Andrew that I took during my visit back home to WA in September. All three of them inspire me immensely. 

The sunrise photos were taken at Sandbridge Beach in August and soon I will post photos from my recent trip to Boston and the Shenandoah River Valley. 

Also, I apologize for the formatting issues on mobile devices. The paragraphs go funny and I'm not sure why. If anyone knows how to fix that issue please let me know :) 

Home Is Where the Heart Is

I love that I serve a God who gives us dreams. 

He gives us the desires of our hearts when it's His heart.

To be wonderfully aligned with our Creator in both vision and purpose--it's beautiful.

This past year, I've really been dreaming.

Actually, since early high school I've been dreaming; dreaming about partnering with Christ in one of the world's darkest places--Amsterdam's Red Light District.

Amsterdam is gorgeous--yes. But at the heart of it is a neighborhood so twisted and dark it pollutes the rest of the city.

As the pinnacle example of the city's ethically tolerant perspective, the Red Light District is Amsterdam's pride and joy. 400+ windows of mainly foreign female prostitutes brings in hundreds of thousands of tourists annually followed by large profits that city officials love.

{To get a taste of how much the city promotes prostitution and the RLD, check out this link:
http://www.amsterdam.info/red-light-district/}

The RLD is a dark place, but that's exactly where light shines the brightest. Youth With A Mission (YWAM) has charged into this battlefield full swing bringing the love and light of Christ.

YWAM Amsterdam's Red Light District ministry, "The Lighthouse" gently yet powerfully fights the stronghold over the district through worship, prayer and building genuine relationships with the workers in the district.

And I am so excited to announce that I am becoming full-time staff with this ministry starting in February!

Doing Red Light District ministry and being in Europe has been a huge dream of mine for a long time.

I am thankful for my God who gives me dreams and provides avenues for me to pursue them. 

Amsterdam, you inspire me.

You speak life into my soul, my heart, and my dreams. 

But most of all...
God, you inspire me. 
Because without You I would have no dreams to chase and no purpose to pursue.  

Thank you Jesus, for inspiring me through my dreams. 


-Hanna


Prayers are appreciated as I prepare and go through the fundraising process. If you'd like to support me or know more about my future in Holland, please email hmbish@gmail.com. 

All pictures were taken during my one week visit to Amsterdam in June :)    

Inspirational Profile: Laura Fisher

There are few people in this life who can make you smile in almost any circumstance.

My dear dear friend and former roommate Laura is one of those exceptional people. 

This gem wasn't supposed to be in my life, but I'm so glad that changed.

Through a variety of circumstances we were placed together as roommates and it reminds me so much of how the Lord knows more about ourselves than we do because she was and still is such an incredible blessing to my heart.

Her joy and pure spirit are so incredible and the beauty of her content heart and simple being takes your breath away. 

She was such an answer to prayer for me. Her constant gentle strength in my everyday life was exactly what I needed and the Lord knew that. He knew my needs before I even did. He knew I needed Laura and her heartfelt conversations, hugs, and endless laughter. 

Laura sees through it all and still loves you despite your obvious faults (I mean, we shared a studio dorm, you don't get much closer than that...literally). 
She always looks for the best in people and patiently waits for you to see it too.

She is constantly in pursuit of the Lover of her soul. I would wake up almost every morning to her sitting in our little papasan chair diving into the word and letting the Lord take her on an adventure and captivate her heart.

Laura, in short, you inspire me. You love like Jesus and live like Jesus because you love and live Jesus. Even in the simplest of ways--which is really what counts.

I am so thankful you are a part of my life and know that you mean the world to me.

I love and miss you dearly my friend. Thank you for being you. <3

Love, 
Hanna 

Fleeing to Freedom

I'm not going to lie, it's been a rough couple of days. 

Actually, more like a rough couple of weeks. 

Tears, anxiety attacks and sleepless nights have been my close companions.

Why? I've been juggling a lot lately.
It's finals, so naturally school's a stress. I've also been job hunting while still working at my current job and doing ministry, I'm studying for two CLEP exams, starting a new job this weekend, attempting to coordinate my flight and lodging for a trip to Amsterdam in June; I'm running low on finances, my living situation for when I get kicked out of student housing in three weeks has been thrown up into the air, and I've recently found out like five people I know have been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Yeah. It's been one of those seasons. 

And how do us Type-A control freaks react? We get fearful in the uncertainty and start having anxiety attacks.

I was reading in Matthew 26 recently and I was struck by something extraordinary.

Matthew 26 is about the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. I began to think to myself, how did the disciples feel through all of this?

They must have been totally freaking out. Probably thinking around the lines of, "What the heck! This guy is God...right? He can't be arrested! He still needs to conquer and reign in Jerusalem!"

...But Jesus had another plan.
"'But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.'" - Matt. 26:56 (ESV).

While Peter was cutting off a dude's ear and the others were trying to fight against the soldiers Jesus calmly reassured "this must take place."

The disciples were suddenly confronted with an unknown and chaotic situation, so what did they do?

They fled. 
"Then all the disciples LEFT him and FLED." (v. 57)

Not only did they flee from Jesus, Peter went even further and denied Jesus three times (v. 69-75).

Out of mistrust of Jesus' divine plan the disciples, Christ's closest friends, did three things: fled, denied and betrayed. 

How many times have I done the same? How many times have I fled Christ, denied him and betrayed him through idolizing myself by not trusting him? 

Confession: I have been worshiping myself. I have been trusting in my own ability to get school done (my grades have felt that), I've been trusting in myself to get a job, to find a living situation and to have a future after I graduate.

{I highly recommend reading this little gem if you want to learn more about how to not self-worship...}

I've fled from Christ because I didn't think he had things under control because I couldn't see the outcome so I took things into my own hands and began to see them crumble under the pressure of my white knuckles of control. 

Nothing can properly flourish if it's being suffocated under the grip of control.

If something is gripped onto so tight it will either shatter from the pressure or suffocate due to lack of air. 

I have seen situations, promises and hopes shatter and die in these past few weeks because I have been gripping onto them so hard.   

I have been betraying, denying and fleeing from Jesus through not trusting Him and His almighty power and worshiping myself.

I want to say that when I repented everything immediately began falling perfectly into place; but that is far from the case. 

However, my anxiety has lowered, my fear has (mostly) resided as I have began to let go and trust that I will find the time to write my theology papers, shuffle two jobs, do ministry and make plans for the future because Christ has control.

When we betray Jesus, we can run back to his gracious feet like Peter and say "I love you" (John 21:15-19) and return to following the only One who has everything under control. 

Only when we stop gripping and start worshiping do things happen and flourish. 

Jesus, thank you that you have everything figured out so I don't have to. Your power, knowledge and love inspires me everyday to simply keep going. 

I love you. 
-Hanna

 
 

The Defeat of Dust

It's raining outside.

How perfect.

It's supposed to rain all day. 

Even more perfect.

It's like the earth is mourning wet for the loss of Grace two thousand years ago.

It's remembering the great pain it felt as those holy feet were hung, pierced and buried in it's own flesh.

Little did it know Grace's stay was short.

Grace had a mission--to defeat death, to defeat dust. To bring life through being Life.

To restore souls, restore lives, restore the earth itself.

Even the earth will get new life (Rev. 21).

Even the dust will be redeemed into springs and will be able to satisfy the saints in their praises.

Life will flourish as the earth is restored. Greens, blues, purples and reds. True balance and beauty.

And all for the praises and glory of that perfect Grace who walked, returned and defeated the dust.



Thank you Jesus for inspiring me through your creative beauty and your victory over death.

-Hanna

Capture Life: Photography; windows and wonder.

I got a new lens for my birthday...

and on my Spring Break adventure to DC and Philly I got a little too excited about it.

I began to take pictures of EVERYTHING. From sleeping frogs (do they even sleep?) to historic buildings.

My sweetheart of a brother, Andrew, took me into Best Buy the first day of our Spring Break trip and led me to the lens section and said "pick one."

My heart jumped with excitement as I immediately reached for the shiny, new 250mm lens.

Hence, began my three-day obsession with taking close-up pictures of everything that caught my eye. But my three favorite shots from the entire trip are those of windows...

All unedited, and in my personal opinion, all are wonderful in their capacity to capture light and the blurred transparency of the glass.

~~~

Our trip was sweet, and filled with so many lovely conversations with both my brothers (one lives in Philly) and new discoveries of historic treasures.

Although it was a short three-day venture, it helped fuel my deep longing for discovery and nurture my heart for creativity.

New lenses, new perspectives, new wonders and new windows.

I'm excited to see what new explorations and discoveries are on their way :)

-Hanna