Hope

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  1 Cor. 13:7

These words are water to my soul today! It is only Wednesday, but it feels like this has already been a long week; or maybe it is already a long month. We are in the home-stretch for Chris’ school year, so there is open house and lots of other ends to tie up all while keeping up with his ever-changing military schedule. He has quite a bit of training and other things for the army over the next few weeks. I can barely keep up with where he will be and when, let alone when we will have a date night or good family fun time. Deployment has been weighing on Chris a bit more than normal this week and that takes its toll on all of us. It is something that comes and goes in this season of preparation.

We are just plain tired. But, Chris and I are fighters. I mean that in the best possible ways; we fight to maintain boundaries for our family, we fight to remain connected to one another, we fight to hold fast to the things in life we believe in and want to be about. We recognize that we are at war in this world and some days we are more battle-weary than others. But, then I read this verse and it just gives my heart the little boost it needs to make it through today.

Never giving up and never losing faith is something that Chris and I work hard to cultivate and, at this point comes fairly easy for us. As I said above, we are fighters. It is being always hopeful and the promise of endurance that brings refreshment. I am a person that can plow ahead so hard for so long that I hit a wall feeling like despair. But, there is always Hope and with that one word I feel myself sigh with relief. There is hope in the One that created us, the One who brought Chris and I together and gave us our beautiful, amazing kiddos, the One that calls each of us to our purpose. And this amazing God is our stronghold in battle and our refuge in times of need. Ahhh…Hope.

I have a feeling I will revisit this verse a lot over the next year and I pray that hope will always remain strong in me.