# 3 ~ Hope

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HOPE

'Someday all you'll have to light the way will be a single ray of hope - and that will be enough.'
~ Kobi Yamada

I'm grateful for HOPE.

In the photo above is a fortune from a fortune cookie. I wish I could remember when I got this fortune, but I am sure it was in the last few years. Most fortunes I get in cookies are not worth keeping, they mean nothing to me... but when I got this one, it seemed to be just what I needed to hear. So, I have kept this fortune in my wallet ever since and when I am looking for something in my wallet and this accidentally falls out, it reminds me again of the wonderful gift I have of HOPE.

The word hope is quite complex. As a child, when I would talk about something I hope for, it would pass through my lips without even thinking about what that word meant... but as I have gotten older, and I have come to learn and experience what role it plays in my life to have HOPE, it means so much more.

HOPE: a feeling that what is wanted will happen; desire accompanied by anticipation or expectation; to wish and expect; a confident expectation that a desire will be fulfilled; wishful trust


There have been many times in my life when I have been full of hope and the world looked bright and nothing could get me down... but then I became an adult. :) Ha, just kidding. Seriously though, I wish I could say that there were more times than not when I felt like my hope was overflowing and like nothing could get me down... I believe many of those times are still to come though. A quote that has been one that I read over and over and over since Aaron passed away is:

'Lend me your hope for awhile. A time will come when I will heal, and I will lend my renewed hope to others.'
~ Eloise Cole

For some reason, every time I read that quote, it makes me feel a little better. It reminds me that we are all going to go through times where we feel a little less hopeful and need to rely on the hope of those around us. It also reminds me of where I want to be and where I hope to find myself sooner than later... and that is in the place where I will be the one lending my renewed hope to others... others who are struggling. I feel like I have become the one who is needing the lending of hope more often than not... but I am sure trying.

One of my favorite movies... I would say top 10 for sure... is the movie 'Hope Floats'. Throughout the movie, Birdee experiences disappointment, heartbreak, sorrow, struggle, conflict, betrayal, and pain. She has to rely on her love for her daughter and also for the peace and hope her mother has in her own life. After a lot of heartache, Birdee finally experiences the happiness she was hoping for. The last quote of the movie always leaves me with that renewed hope in the happiness still yet to come in my life.

'Childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome. That's what momma always says. She says that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will... '
~ Birdee Pruitt; Hope Floats

These past (almost) three years of my life have had peaks and valleys of hope. It has been like a roller coaster where I feel hopeless, then soon after I would feel hopeful and ready to face life. These ups and downs still happen more than I would like, but I am working on that. I am really trying to have more peaks and fewer valleys of hope.

What a gift HOPE is. Hope is empowering. Hope gives us strength. Hope gives meaning to life. Hope brings faith. For me, hope leads to peace in life. Hope makes life brighter. Wow, I could go on and on about hope. Like I said, it is complex and this one word could be discussed for hours and hours.

Something great about hope is that is costs us nothing, so when we decide to have hope... all we have to do is change our way of thinking. It is all up to us. And if we turn to the Lord, with His help, life can never be hopeless.

Again, like Confucious says: 'He who has hope, has everything.'

'Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will... ' (Hope Floats)

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