What is hope?

What is Hope besides the 3^rd daughter of Harold and Margaret. Number 8 of 20. Wife if Jim, Mother of Margaret, Matthew, Autumn and Sara

 Merriam-Webster Dictionary says it is : to cherish a desire with anticipation : to want something to happen or be true.

. hopes for a promotion

. hoping for the best

. I hope so

Oxford Dictionary: a belief that something you want will happen. The hope (of something)

The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the  past, implies hope in the future.” Stephen Ambrose

                                                                ****************************

While we were foster parents there were times, I questioned the lasting value of things. One day I asked the Lord  “ What good does any of this matter, when some are with us for  such a short whisper of time? His reply was “Hope it is not how many people loved us, it is the love of even one person that gives their heart a message. If one person loves me then, that doesn’t only mean I was loved, but mostly it means I am lovable.’ This not only shows love for that day,  but gives them hope for the rest of their lives.

                                                           ****************************

A rainbow is a prism that sends shards of multicolored light in various directions. It lifts our spirits and makes us think of what is possible. Hope is the same – a personal rainbow of the mind.— Stephen Ambrose

The Bible says: in  Hebrews 11: 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I would like to share some of my own thoughts on hope. Maybe I will sound like some of these quotes, but it is true that to take hope out of tomorrow automatically robs today of its strength.

If I don’t have some reason to get out of bed each morning I won’t. We have all met people that failed to get out of bed today, and soon many days have passed and now they can’t get out of bed. I believe the difference between those that get up and those that stay in bed ..is hope. I think we expect hope to come in a big shiny package full of answers and certainties. Rather it comes from faithfully doing that next right thing. Now that doesn’t mean go out and turn the world upside down with some great witty, useful invention. It’s just doing the next right thing. Maybe at first it is as basic as Brush your Teeth!

I remember reading a story of a very high-ranking military officer, was asked during an important interview. What were some of the things that catapulted you to where you are today. His answer was profoundly simple. Each day I got up and made my bed.

Coming out of the loss of my husband of nearly 49 years I can attest to the fact that I always gain hope in my day, when I push myself through the temptation to ignore the importance of a routine. I too am at my best when I faithfully make my bed. Then do the Next right thing.

I believe there is a difference in a hope and a wish. We make Santa a wish list. I think to wish has no substance or power in it, because it is based on nothing. I think hope has bases. I can look at several different brands of items that I have never used, worn or ordered and wish it turns out OK. Or I can order, buy or receive a brand I am used to and hope it is OK. The reason I have hope is because I have used that item, type or brand. I know Nike makes good shoes, as does New Balance. I can drive A Toyota, Chevrolet or a Ford. Sit, sleep or eat at furniture made by La Z boy , House of Floyd or Ashley furniture. Because I have worn the shoes and driven the car and planted my butt on the furniture. I have a history with them. I trust the shoe to give me comfortable support, the car to get me where I want to go and the furniture to be sturdy enough to hold me for a long time.

The verse in the Bible says Faith/Trust is the substance of things hoped for. I built my hope on what has been faithful in my past.

Even the best of the best breaks down, stops running and begins sagging in the middle.

So I put my hope/trust in eternal things that never break, rot or rust. The reason I do this is because I have a frame of reference that the God I trust has never failed, and will never fail. You may say at this point but I am not religious, not sure I believe in anything or anyone that I can’t see.

Really! Can you see the air that fills your lungs, the breeze that cools you during the heat. We see the effects of many things, and if we trust that next breathe to be there, that the sun will rise tomorrow and set tomorrow night. Then start there.

You may not understand it, and don’t ever think because I or someone else believe in the God of the air we breath, the painter of both the sunrises and sunsets that we always understand. That is the faith part of it.

I encourage you to have hope for tomorrow because of all the things you have come to rely on from your yesterdays, and your yesteryears. Begin to count on, trust in, HAVE HOPE FOR all the things that you have needed and had. You may say but I prayed, trusted and hoped for this, or that and it didn’t happen. Again I say go back to those things you have found to be constant and reliable, and begin to trust God for those thigs. Let your hope come alive as you remember all those things, and all those times you knew something/someone had been in your corner.

                              **********************

My Kind of funny, childhood story of hope. In first grade I remember feeling like I had no choice but to grow up poor, wear other people old clothes, and feel like the kid from the wrong side of the tracks.

Then I got the lead role 😊 in our class play The Ugly Ducking! There was more to the song but the words that silly as it might seem, filled my little girl heart with hope said “It doesn’t matter if your born in a duck pen, born in a duck pen. No it doesn’t matter if your born in a duck pen IF your really a swan. My heart got a message that said don’t let the duck pen steal your hope, there will come a time that not only others will see your beauty, but you will have hope to dream dreams and walk far away from the duck pen. The Ugly Duckling became Hope’s hope.

                              *************************************

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops.” — Emily Dickinson

*************************************

I end with a funny story that happened, and happens when you have the name Hope. Especially in the church world. It’s a word used a lot.

Each week pastor prefaces his sermon with the statement. “If you are hear today and you are looking for hope, I have good news for you, there is hope found in Jesus, and at the end of this sermon I will give you the opportunity to except that hope.”

One Sunday at our outside All Church Gathering I had been working in the food area, so I was sitting back there, when Pastor said if you are here today and looking for hope, to which a little five year old began pulling on grandma’s arm and said “Grandma, her is back by the muffins 😊

Blessings! Thanks for Reading!

                              ****************************

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” — Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

Romans 15:13 ~ May the God of  (Hope) hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by His power you may abound in hope.