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| June 20, 2005 |
Yesterday was Father's Day. The Olivers held hands and dedicated our Father's Day to Gary's dad, George, who died recently in April. It was a beautiful day as we brunched on the deck, enjoying good food, laughter and what I do recently quite often "make memories". That afternoon we all decided it was time to hit the Star Wars movie since we are radical Star Wars fans. There was a line in the movie that I won't forget that leads me into my journal entry on hope. The line said by one of the Jedi knights was this, "The 'Fear of Loss' will always lead you down the pathway to the Dark Side." Real loss is sad, and hard and sometimes gives us the feeling we simply cannot bear it but "Fear" of something that has not happened always despairs us, discourages us, paralyzes us and robs us of our Savior's love and presence, goodness, mercy and grace in our lives. Recently we received an article written by a friend of ours, Dr. Archibald Hart. He writes so eloquently on the experience of hope, what happens when we have it and when we loose it. When We Loose Hope "You must never give up hope. No matter how bad the situation is or how despairing your circumstances are , you must never NEVER give up hope. Never, never, never. Never give up hope for an ailing partner. Never give up hope for your children. Never give up hope for yourself. Why? Because if you give up on hope, you give up on life itself. If hope dies, you die. As a friend of mine once said, "As long as you keep hope alive, hope will keep you alive." Why Hope When Circumstances are Hopeless? The answer is simple-because we were created for hope. Our bones were bred for hope. Our lungs can't breathe, our hearts won't beat and our spirits can't thrive without it. God placed us in a world over which we have little control. And as if to compensate for this helplessness, He placed in our souls the capacity to hope-to hope for better times, to dream of better places, to pray for better outcomes, to seek better ways through life. Hope is more than optimism. Optimism is what we generate. Hope is God given, a powerful, spiritual and psychological means for transcending the circumstances. Hebrews 6:19 tells us that Christian Hope is a "sure and steadfast anchor for the soul." But this hoping come only as a gift of grace and is powerfully linked to the promises of God. In fact , they are inseparable. Because you believe God's promises you can hope in the future. Without this future, there is nothing to hope in. There is only fear and fear that leads us to a very dark place. Praises!
I am so unbelievably thankful for the outpouring of love and prayers. We are being sustained! |
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