The Hope of Juxtapositions and Thoughts About Looking UP

It’s the last day of February AND the first day of the week.

I love a good pattern or a juxtaposition. Not sure why but I do! I also love palindromes and today is the last one of the year… 22822. No more date palindromes for us.

Today has been sunny with a bright blue sky!

What a treat after almost a week of gray and cloudy skies, chilly temps and rain. Can anybody say “Dreary”? A lot can happen while you’re hunkered down, when you’re just focusing on getting through another gray day. A lot can happen, and you don’t even realize it happened because you’ve been looking down, trying to avoid puddles and mud. Just trying to stay dry. I realize there are lots of folks still dealing with snow and more snow, and that must be very trying. God bless ya’all.

But this is the kind of day that makes you feel alive again; joyful, even. The kind of day that makes you want to dance and twirl around.

In fact, that’s just what I did. I went out on the deck, took a deep breath, turned around and looked up at the gorgeous blue sky! Magnificent! And that’s when I saw it.

Look at that tree!

I had no idea! This is a good illustration of why we should look UP! One of the trees in the backyard is FULL of buds! It’s so full you can hardly see the squirrel’s nest in it! It seems like it could burst into full leaf at a moment’s notice!

I’ve seen some of the early cherries and crabapples blooming here and there, but not the hardwoods. So, I was surprised to see our elm so primed for leafing!

The juxtaposition is that right next to the elm is some kind of oak and it is bare. Absolutely bare! No sign of life at all. I know it’s not dead, though. It’s just not the right time yet.

To me, this whole experience is an example of life in general.

When you’re hunkered down, just trying to keep going, you miss what’s going on “up there”!

When you look UP, it changes your perspective and you perception.

When the time is right, the right things will happen.

So, keep looking up even when you risk getting a raindrop in the eyeball. At least take a quick glance once in a while!

The gray sky will, eventually, become blue again. You will see the sun again, and the moon and the stars.

Circumstances rarely last forever. Whether it’s good or bad, it will change. That’s life! Life is change and that gives us hope. The bare branches will again hold green leaves. And you know what? If the circumstances don’t change, we can change our attitude toward them.

What are you seeing? Are you looking down? Is there mud on your shoes? What do you see when you look up? Has your gray sky turned blue? Have the trees burst into bloom or leaf? If we can become less worried about getting mud on our shoes and more intent on creating and maintaining a positive attitude, wouldn’t we all be happier? Is there a situation that would improve with you changing your mind about it?

This evening we go to sleep in winter, tomorrow we’ll be waking up in springtime. Nope, the weather probably won’t always be spring-like, but we all know spring is nearly here.

So, there’s hope in our juxtapositions- the full and the empty, the down and the up, the gray and the blue, first and last.

And there’s hope in our bad days and good days.

Beginning in the Middle

Autumn Wreath, my photo

Look at this! Today is a whole new beginning, right smack dab in the middle of the week. I’m all about beginnings and small steps, but I’ve somehow missed this beginning in the middle. Of course, it happens all the time, but when I realized it today, it gave me hope.

Hope, that I can be in the middle of something and yet experience a new beginning.

Hope, that even in the waiting, new ideas or seasons can emerge.

Hope, that even though I’m in the winter of my years on earth, there are still new roads to travel.

Hope, that in the middle of hard stuff there is joy and… Hope!

YES! Hope that there is Hope to be had in the middle of whatever else is tumbling around you.

I’ve been waiting for September, holding on by a hair. September in the south is really just more summer, except with a hint of hope that cooler weather is on the way. But there IS that hint. And, with the Autumnal equinox this month, we make another arbitrary beginning.

I love fall. I really, really do LOVE Fall! Summer is like a wet, hot blanket in my mind. Autumn throws off the blanket and invites you to breathe deeply its cool, clear, fresh air. Autumn helps me feel alive, feel Hopeful!

It’s been a super hard week. Not only is the nation and world full of horror and destruction; not only is a dear cousin terribly sick; but two families we know have suffered tremendous loss and pain. And that breaks my heart into the pieces that were barely hanging together.

For a couple of days, I’ve felt so heavy and brokenhearted, carrying grief. It can feel like “piling on” when tragedy that is closer to you gets heaped upon tragedy. And it can feel devastating. Then I realized I was trying to carry all that’s happening trying to be sure to pray for every situation and every person. But God… God tells us to give Him our griefs and sorrows, “…surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows…”. He tells me to “come to Him and He will give me rest”. He tells me to throw my anxieties on Him. “Cast your cares on Him because He cares for us.”*

So, I did. I gave God all the griefs I’d been trying to carry. And guess what? He took ‘em.

Even though I am still heartbroken for our friends and am praying for all the situations that worry me, I have more peace and hope has risen to the surface. We aren’t meant to carry the world on our shoulders. We pray in faith and love our family and friends. We stand with God because, we know, only HE can make a difference in those situations. Only God can do what seems impossible to us. Thanks be to God.

Now I am happily getting out Fall decorations and thinking ahead to beautiful Fall weather- sweaters, socks, clear blue skies and gorgeous changing leaves. And I am hopeful that, somehow, things will be better.

How are YOU doing this first day of September?

*Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 11:28, 1 Peter 5:7

Hope is Always in Season

Photo by Steven Hylands on Pexels.com

Hope is Always in Season

“Maybe hope isn’t so much something we find but something we let in.”    @apeaceofwerk on Instagram.

Hope. Hebrews 6:(13-)19 tells us that hope is a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul. An anchor- a reliable or principal support; something that serves to hold an object firmly.

Hope can be hoped against… Romans 4:18-20.

God is faithful, Matthew 28:20

There comes a time when we must simply decide. Yes, I trust you… or God. Yes, this car will be reliable. Yes, the medicine will help when I take it properly. Yes, this exercise will strengthen my ankle…

Hope abides. Hope abides (dwells, stays, IS) because God is faithful. We decide to believe and keep believing the Word of God for the things we don’t see yet. We put our faith in God’s promise. Hebrews 10:23.

How does one survive any hard event? Whether it’s a relational crisis, an illness or a global pandemic, we survive, and can thrive, by having hope that life will be better again after this season is passed. We know that nothing- good or bad- lasts forever (not completely true. God’s love is forever, His Kingdom is forever). The season will change, and life will go on. If we allow hope to guide us, we are more likely to thrive. Sitting on the sofa, “hoping” everything will be ok, is not going to get you anywhere. That kind of “hope” is basically wishful thinking. But true hope actively sees with our minds and speaks with our mouths what we are hoping for, which is the Word of God manifest. We know we can count on the Word of God because we’ve seen it in action in our lives and in others’ lives. That is the kind of hope that anchors us, hold us steady and opens our heart and spirit to better things. It gives space for our brain to be creative and see beyond the current situation, possibly finding a solution to a long-term problem. However, if we dwell totally in the future, we can miss the good to be gleaned even in the hardship or suffering. We want to make our suffering “count”, we want to be able to learn whatever lessons the hard season has to offer. Every season is an opportunity to be fruitful and harvest an experience that will enable us to thrive in the “good” times and to weather the next storm that will surly come our way.

In the present, allow the grief and mourn but don’t forget there is comfort promised to those who mourn. Accept comfort so you can indeed move through. In the present, name and deal with feelings of hopelessness, fear, anxiety, discouragement, anger. Sometimes it’s simple. Realize a cloudy day makes it harder to feel hopeful. It just does. When we’re aware of our feelings, we can intentionally choose how they affect us. We can choose to cry that ugly cry and know why we’re crying. It’s one thing to feel unsettled in general. It’s something else to know where that unsettled feeling is originating. It may be a very valid reason for the feeling and then it can be dealt with. (Too much “news”, for instance? Turn off the TV.) On the other hand, it may be based on a lie and can be dismissed. There are plenty of things that genuinely concern us, let’s not waste energy on the lies. We must look deliberately at our thoughts. We cannot simply accept every thought as true, or even as being our own. Pay attention. Listen to what your thoughts are saying, then challenge them. Pray about it. Mark it off your list. Let it go. Choose hope because we have good reason to hope, and we have good things to hope for.

There is hope even at the bottom of the pit. Hope is the bedrock that causes us to stop digging our pits of despair. Did you know, many lovely flowers grow on rock. ROCK, with very little soil. That is a good picture of Hope. Let’s be rock-loving flowers! Hope is the knot at the end of our rope. Hope is the Arms we fall into when our strength gives out. Hope is a thing with feathers, that never stops singing.

Our hope can abide (dwell, be secure) because we know Jesus. Every storm- big or small, personal or global- can be traversed in confidence because our foundational hope is Jesus. He is with us, He is for us, He never changes. He provides, heals, gives mercy, helps, loves, is peace, delivers, is an unlimited in resource, gives grace and even joy. He restores, renews, has won all the battles… and so much more.

Our hope can cause us to move forward even now, when it seems we’ve been at a standstill. There is progress to be gained in stillness because stillness and quiet feed our souls and give our brains rest. Don’t dismiss quietness and rest as unproductive. It is the very stuff of life.

We have all had to deal with this situation and decide how to respond. And it continues to challenge us.

We are in this storm together but not everyone has made Hope their lifeboat. Respond in hope.

Hope is always in season.

Your thoughts are always, always welcome. In fact, I’d love to hear them! Thanks!

Seasons: Spring Brings – Hope

2020 began with great hopes and high anticipation for good things to come.

And then we got slapped with a pandemic. How is THAT a good thing? How is THAT hopeful?

I sure don’t know the answers. But in spite of all the hardship and unknowns facing us; all the questions and second guesses swirling around us- almost in spite of myself!- I find I have hope. I question that statement even as I key it in. Me? Have hope in this mess? But yes, yes I do.

I’m finding that I can have Hope even when I’m having a hard time. Yes. God is good and good things are happening despite the virus-scare. But it’s a battle to stay focused on Goodness while the very air we breath has become filled with yet MORE divisiveness and fear and questions.

The Bible describes Hope and who had it. The dictionary will tell you what Hope means, too. However, isn’t Springtime itself the visualization of Hope? I’m sure it’s not my own hope I find somewhere deep inside me but rather the Hope of the Lord. And maybe that ingrained Hope is engraved in our DNA, explaining why Spring brings with it a surge of Hope.

Spring is what we hope for all winter. We can hardly wait (some of us more than others) for the cold weather to soften and the trees to sprout; for the flowers to bloom and the soil to warm. Spring is, by nature, hopeful. It’s a change from darkness and cold to sunshine and warmth.

Spring sets us free again: free from darkness, free from sweaters and socks, free from sicknesses that thrive in the cold months (humph: except this year). Spring sets us free to play and create and work outside. Spring lifts our spirits. Something about Spring encourages us to clean and de-clutter. It’s a breath of fresh air and we literally love to throw open the windows and clean the stale inside air with the delicious outside air… unless you live in the South where the air is filled with pollen in the Spring. Even then we find days that allow us to enjoy fresh air, without inviting the yellow shroud inside.

There’s hope in the following verses even though the word itself is not used.

Song of Songs 2:10–11, in the The Passion Translation says, “Arise, my dearest. Hurry, my darling. Come away with me! I have come as you have asked to draw you to my heart and lead you out. For now is the time, my beautiful one. The season has changed, the bondage of your barren winter has ended.”

The New International Version says it this way: My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.”

Let’s keep on keeping on. Let’s not be bogged down with “news” and all the dire numbers and all the questions. Let’s look for and FIND the hope that Spring brings. This is a hard time, no doubt. However, it can still be a time to leave our Winter bondage and look for the good that will come from this isolated and unknown season. Good will come.

Yes, the season has changed. It changed in ways we could never have imagined. We need to pray that the end result of this (hard) change becomes a change that is for the better. Perhaps we will indeed clean the garage or write the novel. Perhaps we will develop a deeper relationship with God or learn to be more present with our kids. Perhaps we will become challenged to change an attitude- or relationship. We don’t know exactly what will come of all this but let’s work hard to keep from being sucked into the doom and gloom that is permeating the air.

There IS Hope. It’s up to us to pray and battle and make it seen.

Please, join the conversation…

Do you feel that Spring and Hope are connected?

Now might be a good time to journal about Hope. Even if you’re feeling discouragement and doubt about our current events, see if you can find some Hope buried inside your heart. Write it down. Does it help you feel better? Just a little bit better? When we write it on paper, we can look it when we need a boost. And it’s your very own version of Hope.

Have a good week. Look for Hope. Pray for Hope. Be Hope for someone else by encouraging them with a text or phone call.

JOURNAL PAGE GIFT: The photo at the top is a drawing I did to journal about hope. I have a version that is plain, in black and white. If you would like to have a copy for your own journaling, message me and I’ll email it to you. (I still haven’t figured out how to attach a download here but that’ll come. Meanwhile, I do know how to attach it to an email! Just ask!) It’s my little springtime gift to you.

God bless us with Hope!!

My Word for the Year

The end of January. I tend to think of the end of January as the as the End of the Beginning. So, it’s time to move into 2019.

I’ve left all my thank you notes, all my New Year’s greetings until now. Bad on me. I really DO appreciate the gifts and I really DO want certain people to know that I remember them and wish them blessings. Maybe I’ll send Valentines. (Self-care tool: put it off! LOL!)

Rather than putting off, I’ve deliberately left choosing my Word for the Year until now.

I’m not usually so OCD about choosing a Word for the Year but I’m feeling a need to “get it right’ because I’m feeling the need for major change. Now I KNOW I can’t make a major (or even a big) change in one year, one leap. However, I’m feeling this year is pivotal somehow. Besides, I’m not getting any younger and I no longer feel I have the luxury of time. Of course, no one really does because no one knows what might happen in the next moment. But age tends to accentuate the need to make the most of time in general.

Last year’s Word was HOPE. A very good word and something I felt I needed to “work” on. “Work” isn’t really the right thing to call it. “Working” on a Word for the Year is more like reminding myself of it, intentionally looking for it, checking to see if my thoughts and speech line up with it. It was a good Word and I feel like it served me well, helping me BE more hopeful and becoming much better acquainted with it. Hope has become a friend I understand and love, not just a nebulous idea. I can’t say I thought about it everyday but I did come back to it over the course of the year. Re-visiting it, checking in with it. There were times I fought it. Other times I simply embraced it. And in the process of all that, it became real, with a real place in my heart of hearts.

I began thinking about my new Word toward the end of December… continued mulling into the first week of January. I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time deciding on a Word this year. It’s just a Word. I CAN change it at any moment. I’m not chiseling it in stone, after all!

Thankfully, I read an article  that suggested, among other things, that we take the month of January to try words on, let them simmer and then settle on the Word at the end of the month… begin using the Word as your guide in February. Great advice! (see end notes and read that article. It’s really good!)

As I was having so much trouble find the right Word, I took a couple of online “quizzes”. I put very little stock in those quizzes, but it was kind of fun and, oops, kind of eye-opening. Still. Those words didn’t fit well. I also did an Art Journaling Challenge with Matt Tommey (see end notes). While I didn’t follow the challenge totally (don’t tell Matt), it did help and I filled several pages with words and stars, arrows, happy faces and sad faces, colors and shapes. As I wrote or read or heard podcasts and sermons, certain words would stand out and I’d star them, write them, research them and let them simmer.

A word that kept finding its what to my paper is “possible”. A really good word and one I need to start believing more. “Nothing is impossible with God”. “All things are possible for those who believe”. Although it’s not exactly what I need, it would be a good choice.

“Risk” is another word that kept showing up when I meditated on how to proceed. Risk is not a word I would associate with myself. I’m generally not a risk-taker, don’t like risky situations because I manage to see danger in anything. But risk is something I need! I need to risk belief, to risk putting my art and craft out there, to risk being vulnerable. “Risk” is a word I need in my life. I could (and might) do an entire blog on risk. But that’s not the “right” word, either. Not right now.

I won’t list all the words I considered while brainstorming. I LOVE words, so you can imagine there are many scattered in journals and notes and scrappies scattered everywhere. It got to the point where I felt like I was in a windstorm of words, all swirling around me, hitting me, telling me how much I need each of them. Just reading back over my lists, I start to feel that overwhelm again.

I started in December with the word “abide”. It’s a great word. It refers to a dwelling place. As a verb, it means to remain, continue; stay. Good stuff! Abide can mean to tolerate, put up with; stand firm. Also, to endure, sustain or withstand without yielding or submitting; to wait for. It suggests a determination to stay in agreement with a thing. It showed up on my lists many times.

I have to laugh at myself. Even writing this, having decided and lived with my word, I’m waffling a bit.

But here it is: ABIDE.

I want to ABIDE in God’s Word. I want to ABIDE in the Love of God and share it; abide in love and kindness, grace and mercy. I want to ABIDE in the wisdom He has put within me. I want to ABIDE in painting and writing and sharing creativity whenever and wherever I can. Mostly ABIDE, to me, speaks of peace. It says I’ve already made up my mind and set my heart to calmly rest in what I know to be true. It says I can peacefully focus on what is set before me. It also means I can peacefully consider new ideas.

Now I’m going to make signs (sticky notes!!) for myself and put them around the house to remind me to stop and abide in peace.

I have a long way to go toward abiding. But I will abide in the trustworthy grace of God to move me closer and closer throughout the year.

Thanks for reading all this. I know it’s long. I appreciate your sticking with me.

Please, share your word or goal and how you came to choose it! I truly am interested!

Many blessings!

 

End notes:

“Instead of Making Resolutions, Dream”, by Whitney Johnson, Harvard Business Review, 1/1/13, HBR.org

Matt Tommey. http://www.matttommeymentoring.com He is also on Facebook and Instagram. Check him out!!

Definitions from http://www.dictionary.com

 

Waiting

 

 

Waiting is a challenge.

I was stalwart in refusing to embrace Christmas until Thanksgiving was properly celebrated (however, I might have been on a Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas mix binge for a couple of weeks… just maybe). I defended Thanksgiving, determined to observe and celebrate the bountiful blessings we enjoy. I really felt- and still feel- that giving thanks is important. Important enough to push everything else aside and really embrace gratitude.
Thanksgiving was worth the wait. It was almost all I hoped for. There were a few disappointments involved but the joy of family and food and fun, the blessing of fellowship and gratitude was all good.
Hope, like waiting, is challenging.

I think hope and waiting are related. After all, they both involve something yet to come. We wait in hope but are sometimes a little afraid to hope too much, afraid of being disappointed. I mean, after waiting for a hope and then not having it meet high expectations, can really send us into a tailspin if we aren’t careful. But keeping our eyes on the over-all source of blessings and purposely enjoying what we do have enables us to embrace those right-now-blessings. “… my hope is in You.” (Psalms 39:7).

So, yes. Thanksgiving was great!
Now suddenly, I’m beyond ready to put up lights and trees and decorations. I want to buy presents for everyone and give to those in need. I’m excited for our family time and heartbroken for so many people affected by floods and fires and violence. I cry for the sad but happy things bring tears too. I cry at memories of dear ones gone. I tear up over familiar music that touches my heart and encourages my soul. I cry at memories of tough times lived through, and cry in gratitude for being on the other side. And through it all, I wait. We wait. Like a little kid, if left to myself, I’d probably explode, or implode, or both at once.
So, we enter another season of waiting. I’m ok with waiting for Christmas. I’m not at all “ready”. I want to enjoy the wonder, the emotions, the preparation. I especially want to prepare. Prepare my heart. Prepare the house with decorations. Prepare gifts for giving! Prepare food for sharing! The thing is, am I preparing with busy-ness or am I preparing in the Hope of celebrating Jesus’ birthday? Is the preparation overtaking the waiting with hurry? My goal is to wait and prepare in peace.

I’m seeing all kinds of paradoxes in waiting. One thing is sure, though. Waiting is inevitable. And I believe we are meant to wait in hope; wait, abiding in the Lord and trusting Him that whatever we are awaiting will be good.

 

Pouring Grey/End Beginning

Pouring rain, Monday grey.

It should be the name of a paint color, obviously, a grey one.

Monday morning was not just grey. Monday morning was pouring rain- like despair, like unloading all the burdens the clouds have held for too long. Like Jesus telling me- yet again- “give Me what troubles you, pour out what’s bothering you. I have truly already taken the troubles.  It’s you who is holding onto them go.”

But this Monday morning, in spite of pouring grey, my heart was not feeling burdened. I’d listened to praise and worship music, joined the singing. I was a bit pensive. But not burdened. Not angry.

And I kind of enjoyed the rain, a good way to end the month. Washing away the dust.

End of month, beginning again. (Maybe the title of a Country Western song.) Hard to believe the speed these month fly with.

I started with the bah-humbug thinking:  “…another month flown past and nothing accomplished- again. I’m too old to let these months zip away without producing anything! I have too many ideas, too many dreams!”. But the Holy Spirit stopped me and reminded me that I put dinner on the table X times, bought groceries (was ABLE to buy groceries!), kept girls, helped them start another school year. I began helping a friend re-write the insert and I made progress (though very little) on my on-line course. No, I didn’t blog. Or even write a note to a friend. But I painted during worship several times and I created the feather picture (In the Shelter of His Wings). Emily helped with that. She made her own smaller version. I was able to catch-up with friends over lunch, several times. We celebrated the Fourth of July with the kids at their Annual 4^th of July Bash, complete with amazing fireworks. We were able to welcome Anna home from her month-long mission trip. And we took them hot dogs and Oreos for lunch when Mom and Dad were away. (While the cat’s away…. *wink*). I’ve kept plants alive through summer heat and done my fair share of laundry. I think I might have even vacuumed a few times! AND- ta da! – It’s still July and I’m publishing today. First time since May! So, I have done some stuff this month, after all. It’s just not what I expected.

Even though it’s the end of the month and the moon is full (or maybe because the moon is full?), I’m making another beginning. A quote my sis and I love (“It’s never too late to start the day over!”) applies to a month, too, don’t you think? Even starting over at the end!

I wonder about much but I give up- let go and let God! I am absolutely sure that I cannot. On the other hand, I’m totally certain He is able. Have it all, Lord!

How was your day? Rainy? Sunny?

Are you carrying burdens you need to pour onto God? Or are you free and breezy today?

And hey! If you’re not ready to begin at the end, tomorrow is the beginning of another month, the perfect time to begin- even begin again!

(Photo: detail, In the Shelter of His Wings, 2018)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on anything! Don’t be bashful, please leave a comment!

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Thanks for reading!!

HOPE – yet again

Hope Yet Again

I planned to move on from Hope. I thought three blogs in a row on the same subject might get boring. But, like Nellie in South Pacific, I seem to be “stuck like a dope with a thing called “Hope”, and I can’t get it out of my heart- not… this… heart.”

I am definitely no “cockeyed optimist”, as Nellie was. At the same time, Hope doesn’t seem go away no matter the circumstances. Since Hope won’t leave, perhaps I should entertain her; give her tea and cookies.

Even though she seems elusive when you’re desperate for her, she’s right there at your side when you feeling like throwing in the towel or calling it quits or dissolving into a puddle of despair. There she is! And she’s not quiet either. She’s cheering you on- telling you to keep going!

… it’ll be better, she says.

…it’ll change, she says.

…it’s only been a week… 6 months… 9 years…, she says.

…the breakthrough is close, she says.

…don’t give up now, she says.

I was sitting at the kitchen table feeling glum (right, I know, that’s my first mistake) and feeling the usual will-this-ever-change-feeling and suddenly, I felt Hope standing near (on??) my right shoulder.

She said, “I’m still here. It really will be Okay. Don’t give up now.”

Really? I kind of wanted to smack her. (Not very nice of me, is it?) At the same time, I was glad she was there. That’s the thing about her, she’s THERE. She’s “hard to kill”*. Not that I desire her demise, of course.

So. Here I am stuck with Hope. Finding it tucked here and there. Finding it the subject of many article and blogs!

I had planned to just share scripture and related posts from lots of other writers. But the following will be enough- this time.

From Ann Voskamp on Facebook, March 11, 2018:

“Hope is defiant reliance on God keeping His Word… (because) God is trustworthy… and when you know God is trustworthy, you now today and tomorrow is worthy of Hope. … As long as you still are, all is not lost. Being is hope and hope is presence and this present moment is a gift pulsing with Hope.”

WOW! I love that! “a gift pulsing with HOPE!”. Thank you, Ann Voskamp!

From incourage and Holley Gerth, Instagram, March 12, 2018:

“Tell all the feelings

Say all the things

Just know that underneath all of that

There can still be HOPE.

…God isn’t finished with your story yet. Even if what you’re doing feels useless. God has a plan and it will come to pass. He knows the desires of our hearts even better than we do and He is still writing all our stories in wild and mysterious ways today.”

Oh! I do hope that God is still writing my story in “wild and mysterious ways”! Hey! Even knowing He’s just writing anything is encouraging! Thank you, incourage and Holley Gerth!!

“Find rest in God alone, my hope comes from Him; He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I shall not be shaken.” Psalm 62:5, 6. See that? When we rest, we find hope and are safe in Him and will not be moved.

Ann Voskamp says, “You have to let Hope always carry you- or fears will carry you away.”

So, Hope continues. There’s probably no end to the things we can say about Hope. Hope is from God, so it’s voluminous!!

Dare to Hope again… and again…and again….

Romans 15:13 says to overflow with Hope!

Romans 5:5 says Hope doesn’t disappoint.

Alexander Pope, way back in the late 1600’s, said, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” Like Emily Dickinson’s “thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune… and never stops at all.” Hope is.

Let Hope be the phoenix that rises from your ashes. Or the angel that rises from dead leaves and says, “Come along. There’s still Hope!”

Hope is the last thing released from Pandora’s box because HOPE truly overcomes all evils.

So, friends, “… stretching tenuous muscles… reaching outstretched hands to the wind to find my brave wings to soar again.” (Rebekah Ellis on Instagram). Let Hope carry you. She’ll help you fly through adversity. Invite her into your home, give her the best chair. Make her comfortable. You’re “stuck” with her anyway!! (Does this picture look like I’ve stretched my hand and am ready to fly? )

Thanks for reading and sticking with Hope and me as we journey together.

Please share how your friendship with Hope is progressing. Are you flying with her? Or still getting to know her? Has she moved into your home? Or is she just visiting for tea and cookies? Whatever stage our friendship is in, we can always strengthen it. I know I’m not soaring with her. Not yet. I am cleaning out a spot for her to move into the house, though. We’re getting along pretty well. Learning to trust one another.

Please consider subscribing if you haven’t already. And don’t be bashful about sharing with friends!! They may need another look at Hope as well.

 

Credits:

Cockeyed Optimist from South Pacific: https://youtu.be/p0DusO6ipLw The quoted phrase begins about 2:39 in the video. I hope you’ll watch it. What’s not to love about Mitzi Gaynor?! (I also hope this link works. It doesn’t seem to be live…)

Celtic Woman; lyrics from “When We Believe”

A Little More Hope

Hello, Friends!

Here it is- the First of March!

Spring has sprung here in NC, complete with bushes and trees rushing into full bloom even with the possibility of more cold weather. I know it’s silly but this warm weather at the end of February/beginning of March is messing with me… I look outside and see springtime; the weather feels like spring and yet my calendar is telling me it’s still winter! Ugh! I think these trees have an abundance of Hope… hoping against all hope that the weather has truly changed for the warmer.

As you recall, I ended the first HOPE installment with a question to myself… “Where is all this Hope I’m writing about? Am I really the one who wrote all that stuff?” It sounds so, ya know, HOPEFUL! I didn’t realize I already knew so much about Hope. After all, the reason this year’s word is HOPE is because I have a tenuous relationship with her.

I want to become intimate with HOPE. I certainly need Hope this third month of the year because the newness of the year (or month or day, etc.) changes nothing in and of itself. I am the one who has to change my thinking and tell my heart to “take heart, be Hope-filled”. I am the only one who can drain the sludge of discouragement or fear or negativity. I must work at it. The new month is a nice demarcation but the month isn’t going to be any different unless I do something different.

Sadly, Hope doesn’t come easily or naturally for me. (Will it ever, I wonder? Will I ever be a naturally, easily Hopeful person? I suspect -with my negative tendencies- that the answer is NO.) It’s hard to have to work so hard to be Hopeful. But there’s no other choice, I guess. Not really. Hope won’t give up and go away, it’s always there, somewhere or another, hiding from my tantrums or slinking into my little toe. But she won’t quite leave entirely. Thanks be to God. Since she won’t leave, I really should become friends with her.

I keep having to set and re-set my mind and take command of my heart. Really, my heart wants to Hope. It’s my heart that wants me living in peaceful-Hope (as opposed to fight-for-it-Hope). Again, I ask: can the fight-for-it-Hope become peaceful-Hope? I sure Hope so!

Sometimes Hope is easy… you’re full of faith, things are looking good and you FEEL Hopeful, Hope-filled. Hang onto that feeling, marinade in it, savor it, experience it, notice how great if feels! Enjoy feeling that your Hope is tough-as-nails and can withstand anything that comes your way; notice having “confident expectation”.

Often, “anything” does come your way and Hope becomes harder… things are not just gloomy but seem nearly impossible. If God Himself doesn’t come help you, you’re sunk, done for, dead. You have to fight hard to remember all those quotes and scriptures about Hope. You feel like you’re carrying heavy weights. Having that easy-Hope stored up gives us something to grab hold of in tough times.

I am asking God continue to open my eyes to see His Hope. I’m trusting Him to help me be less negative and re-wire my brain for the positive. I’m hoping to engage in Hope that is the evidence of what will be but isn’t yet. I’m still Hopefully Waiting , my winter-season theme, resting in anticipation of what’s coming next.

Winter is transitioning into spring with a whip-lash of sunny and warm one day, chilly with rain the next.  And my Hopeful Waiting seems to be transitioning into something new.

My Hope is built on Jesus’s faithfulness!! What is my problem, anyway? Jesus did it all! He takes care of it all, He loves me even when I’m awful. Why would I not Hope in Him? I can truly rest in Him and all He has done for me! Even though I’m still somewhat back and forth, like the weather, my Hope is becoming stronger. We’re getting to be friends.

 

Thank you for reading this today.

I’d love for you to share what your relationship with Hope is like. Is she your best friend? Is she just an acquaintance? I Hope both you and I will get to know Hope better, and that our relationship becomes intimate. Please, leave your comments below.

And if you haven’t already subscribed, please do! There’s a button (very tiny) above the right column. Thanks so much!

God bless you as winter turns to spring and you become better acquainted with Hope!