HOPE ENCOMPASSES LIFE

With your first breath you hoped.
Reflect on when you knew you began to hope. Was it your first Christmas when you had a specific toy in mind? Or was it when you reached out to make a friend? Or did it hit you when you worried about your report card. Likely it was all of those. But hope begins before we can identify what hope is. Its first sparks show in the hospital when we crave acceptance and love from mother but it saturates our thinking through every age, affects our attitude through each personal encounter, figures in every crucial decision, and encourages us through each crisis. Hope makes life tolerable through every stage and even gives us anticipation for the life to come. Do you think the measure of hope we possess is parcelled out to us at birth, or do we create our hope?

HOPE = MISSION POSSIBLE

From "No," to "Maybe." to "Yes."
“I can’t do it.” “It can’t be done.” These sentiments we have all either thought or expressed. We say we can’t stand the pain, we can’t tolerate the ridicule, we can’t take the pressure, we can’t possibly do a task which is the only solution to a problem, we can’t apologize to our nemesis. Yet somewhere in the hidden reaches of our soul, a quiet voice calls up and asks if the word “can’t,” might be changed to “possibly.” That's when we begin to doubt our doubts and that is when hope pulls away the darkness and lets in the light of the possible. We begin to explore how it might be possible and think of different ways we might try to make it happen.

HOPE AND 'DE TROBLS OF DE WORL'

I'm making a shift to another topic for a while. It's another common need for all of us: HOPE. We have a false notion that normal life has no downs. Not true. But when we're at the bottom, we need to hear a forecast for sun tomorrow.
“That’s living,” we hear someone say. She means when you can give vent to your appetites (they are God-given don’t forget), you’ve really lived. Or when you can shop ‘til you drop, golf 36 holes in a day, feast on a holiday until you’re forced to loosen your belt, have an entire day to yourself, indulge in a series of concerts by your favorite performer - that’s living. Really? Those are exceptions for 90% of us. Tears over a child killed by a drunk driver, anger over neglect by someone we thought loved us, deep pain from treatment for cancer, terrible disappointment over a child choosing a wayward life, grief over lost loved ones in war- all prove that life abounds in troubles. But God intends for us to have hope while in the midst of such a life. Stay tune for more sun.

LOVE IS LINKED TO HOPE

I don't know about your faith status, but finding an anchor for love, (both getting and giving it) is really important. Love always hopes because our love is anchored in Almighty God and draws on His resources. With His love coursing through our being, we are able to see as an airplane pilot sees, far beyond the horizon. His love sees the possible in what looks impossible at first. Our hope and expectations has no limits because His love has no limits. We suddenly can see potential when futility had begun to build its nest. With love as a driving force of life, our hope knows there is no end to all the wonderful and precious parts of life. Love breeds hopes because love redeems and restores in all circumstances. Love even overcomes death, man’s ultimate fear. Love overcomes sickness. Since God is love, God always hopes you will continually be His child and His witness to the world through acts of love.