Hope

The word "hope" seems to be coming up a lot lately. Either that or I am paying more attention when I hear the word. It just seems like it's been a theme in my life most recently and I felt compelled to write about it. Hope is defined as "a feeling of expectation, or a desire for certain things to happen".

To me it's remaining positive despite the negative feelings or obstacles that deter you from staying positive or reaching a certain goal. I don't know if that made sense or not but here's an example. I started noticing the theme (and this is kind of comical) when I was watching the show "Once Upon a Time." The heroin was trying to encourage the "villain" (and I put villain in quotation marks because this particular character is doing her best to not be a villain anymore) to not give up, to not lose hope. It seemed as though everything was stacked against her and that it was a lost cause, so why even try?  I heard the word hope and for some reason it just hit me differently that night while watching the show. After that, I started reading it places, hearing it being said - and then I heard it again, coming from my own mouth when I was having a conversation with Paul about something that had been bothering him and it was like it wasn't coming from me, but from God. I listened to the word hope as it left my mouth and I really started to BELIEVE in hope. I don't think I would label myself as a "hope-less" person but you know there are moments when you've heard a word a thousand times and then you really hear and word or phrase and it sounds different or sticks with you? That is how it felt for me. I feel like God is speaking to me through that word.

Hope is such an uplifting word. You can't argue with Hope. Hope is even easier to understand than Faith or even Love sometimes. Sometimes it's difficult to have faith in someone or something. Sometimes it's hard to feel loving towards someone or something. But when you tell someone to "have hope" something in them changes and it's easier to swallow. Hope just sounds positive! :)

I love this image. It's hard to see the light in hope when everything around you seems dark.

I know that I am rambling and probably not conveying my thoughts appropriately. I just know how I feel and I know that when the Lord speaks to me it might not be easy to explain or understand, but I just know when it is happening. I am feeling moved to write what is on my heart and I just had to get it out. :) So if you are reading this.... HAVE HOPE. The Lord teaches us the importance of HOPE.FAITH.LOVE. You need all three. Yes, the greatest of these is LOVE, but where would love be without hope?