A Welcome Season

Is it me or are people really looking forward to Fall this year? Maybe people usually do…but I have to say that people are much more vocal about it this year. But the thing is, it’s not just excitement about the weather and long sleeve shirts…it’s almost this desperate hope for a new season…a season of change.

Fall is representing the refreshing breeze that it guarantees to deliver. Maybe things will be different now. Life will be different. Things will start looking up.

I’m talking to people who are tired of being down. They’re tired of the negative. They’re tired of the recession. They’re ready for hope. They’re ready for change. And it’s a good place to be. Because people are getting to a place where things will change and miracles will happen. Just wait and see. Faith, hope and expectation can change everything.

A Welcome Season

Is it me or are people really looking forward to Fall this year? Maybe people usually do…but I have to say that people are much more vocal about it this year. But the thing is, it’s not just excitement about the weather and long sleeve shirts…it’s almost this desperate hope for a new season…a season of change.

Fall is representing the refreshing breeze that it guarantees to deliver. Maybe things will be different now. Life will be different. Things will start looking up.

I’m talking to people who are tired of being down. They’re tired of the negative. They’re tired of the recession. They’re ready for hope. They’re ready for change. And it’s a good place to be. Because people are getting to a place where things will change and miracles will happen. Just wait and see. Faith, hope and expectation can change everything.

Hope

Hope is an interesting word. When I was younger I used phrases with the word “hope” in them a lot.  I used the phrase so often that the word hope had strayed away from its intentional meaning and had developed a very negative power over my mentality. I often said “well, I sure hope so” sarcastically in a conversation and “let’s hope” as a way of saying “well, nothing else worked…” I even hoped for things when I had absolutely no intention of ever getting them. I hoped when I had no other ideas, no other solutions, and believed that a miracle was the only way for this thing to ever happen. So needless to say, when I became a Christian and met people using the word HOPE I immediately judged them as faithless un-believing people. I would think, “you’re hoping for something? Why not believe that GOD can do it? Believe…don’t Hope!”

But then one day I stopped myself and realized that maybe, just maybe, I don’t really know the meaning of hope.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hope as this:

1. to cherish a desire with anticipation
2. to desire with expectation of obtainment
3. to expect with confidence

No where in that definition do I read doubt or disbelief. In fact, the words cherish, desire, anticipate and expect are not only POSITIVE words, but they sure seem like words I want in my everyday, faith-filled vocabulary! The word HOPE now has a new meaning in my life. Hope is anxiously anticipating the future while finding peace in my current situation.

• I am hoping for the salvation of my friends and family.
• I am hoping for a beautiful, perfect first house.
• I am hoping for the right connections for my husband’s music to grow and develop.
• I am hoping for my church’s prayers to be answered.
• I am hoping for my future.

What are YOU hoping for?

Want to read more about hope? Check out (In)Courage for more posts on this topic.

Keep the Peace

Walk around the streets of any city and you’ll find a lot going on. You’ll see a lot of violence and hate. You’ll see a lot of anger and hurt. You’ll feel the depression and overall struggle within people. But then something will catch your attention and the pain will go away. Whether it’s a couple holding hands, a baby sleeping or a gust of wind through the trees on a warm spring day. There is peace without a protest. There is love without a song and there is a hope without a word.

I think sometimes we need to close our eyes and open our hearts to the hope, peace and joy that can still be found on the earth today. We need to trust one another when there is no reason to trust. We need to love one another even when we don’t feel the love first. And we need to spread peace and hope even when the media is reminding us that the world is at war and there is little excuse to smile.

So do yourself a favor. Turn off the tv. Put down the newspaper. Silence the people around you. And go outside. Close your eyes. Take a deep breathe. And realize that God has kept you alive for another day and the possibilities of that day are endless.