Monday, November 17, 2025

Dear God,

What is hope but trust in God?  When I hope for snow to fall on Christmas day, I want it to show up to make me happy.  But that kind of hope is foolish.  Why would I have such an expectation that cumulous clouds would drop snow to make me happy?  

Authentic hope is linked to essentials for living.  I can hope to live through surgery, forgive my brother and find joy even during hard times.  This kind of hope is tied to faith.  Hope that rises out of faith offers more than snow at Christmas.  It provides peace, courage and strength.  When I build hope coming out of faith, I build a resiliency that can take me through any kind of situation because I know you are at the center of my hope.  My hope grows because my faith grows.

These days I am leaning heavily on you.  I hope for peace for many people affected by horrible political policies.  This kind of hope takes me to the grocery store to buy food for the hungry.  It causes me to be a person of light for those who feel their existence is living in the darkness.  In other words, hope changes me to offer hope to others.  This kind of hope makes us partners, you and I, because we can make hope visible to those without it.

O God,

I so

want to

walk with hope,

not so much

for myself

as for others.

Make me strong

with hope

so I

can help 

build hope

for those

living without it.

Make your hope

fall on all

of us,

I pray.

Love, Andrea