It’s Friday, so normally this would be a fashion post, but considering the state of the world today, writing about clothing seems frivolous and I just couldn’t get my mind (or my heart) around the idea. These days, I just want to wear my favourite jeans and coziest sweaters on repeat.
It’s also the end of the month, so I should be writing a book review, but that isn’t happening either. Oh, I’ve been reading. In fact, I’ve been reading quite a bit, but I’ve been escaping into frivolous, fluffy novels, not the sort of thing that I would bother to review or recommend.
As I was leaving my doctor’s office yesterday (more about that in a future post), I decided to stop at a thrift store on my way home. I immediately spotted this and it ended up being my only purchase. I’m not sure where it will eventually end up in my newly renovated home, but for now it’s in a spot where I see it every time I enter the kitchen.
You might remember that, for the second year in a row, hope is my one word for the year and if there’s ever a time when we need hope I think it might be now. So how do we find hope and hang onto it amidst the barrage of negative occurrences in the world around us today? One way of doing this is to focus on what is good and right in our day to day experiences. This doesn’t mean living with our heads in the sand, but it might mean less time watching the news or scrolling the internet.
According to Wikipedia, hope is “an optimistic state of mind”. It’s a glass half full attitude. It’s being able to imagine positive outcomes and when possible, acting to achieve them. That’s what I want the new sign in my kitchen to remind me of.
Like the puddles on the street and the water dribbling out of our downspouts remind me that the long cold winter is almost over and spring is coming, I want to be reminded that there are still more people in the world who want equity and justice than those who are fighting for the opposite. Believing that gives me hope.
What gives you hope today?
Following Augustine 
I love your new kitchen ornament, it will look great no matter where you decide to put it in your home. Hope it definitely what is needed in this world of uncertainty.
What gives me hope you ask? Each day I wake up and hope the pain in my shoulder will be less than the day before. Some days it is, some days it is not. I will take the days it is as there is hope that things are getting better.
Every new day is a reason to hope, isn’t it? The gorgeous sunshine this morning warms my heart and I hope that this is one of those mornings when your shoulder feels better.
Thank you for your encouraging post today.Hope is my word for this year and nearly every day it pops up in some form.I have been unwell with heart problems and it is really limiting what I can do.However my hope comes from the Lord and I am trusting him for the future.
I’m glad you found the post encouraging, Katrina, and very sorry to hear about your health challenges. You are right… we need to keep our eyes on the Lord who is the true source of hope.