Cultivating hope

  English naturalists tell the tale about strange wildflowers sprouting in the soil once covered by the rubble of dilapidated buildings--soil that had not seen the sun since Roman occupation. Workmen cleared away the crumbling mortar, piles of brick and stone; and in the process, they exposed dormant seeds to the elements.

  Once open to ravaging storms and blinding sunlight the seeds sprouted the following year. Life punctured the debris. Vibrant colors painted with beauty the shards and chips that remained. Fragrance perfumed the air.

  Passersby marveled, thinking they had witnessed a miracle. In a way, they had. But the miracle wasn't that a lush flower bed now blanketed the deserted area. The miracle was the discovery that life had been waiting below the rubble all along.

  Waiting for the past to be hauled away. Waiting for the ground to be stripped bare. Waiting for the circle of seasons to water and warm what once lay obscured beneath centuries of devastation. The miracle was new life was waiting beneath the rubble all along.

  Maybe your life right now looks a lot like a pile of rubble. As you comb through the bits and pieces of what is left, like a tornado victim sifts through remnants of nature's destruction looking for chips of treasured china, never give up hope. Something beautiful waits beneath the barren landscape. Be patient. God sees where you are right now and He has plans for you. You are standing on sacred ground.
--©1999 by Kari West

Verses and quotes on hope

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
--Jeremiah 29:11

I AM WAITING, LORD by Jessie R. Sandberg
Submitted by Kandace in Maryland

  I am waiting, Lord, and I feel immobilized by fear-- frozen by the things I do not understand. I cannot step ahead toward goals that once seemed so obtainable.

  Late storms have brought disaster to my landscape. Familiar things seem somehow not to sit quite soundly on their old foundations. Strange shifts of angles in the shape of forms once stable and secure confuse me, make me lose my compass-point.

  Where to turn? What to do?

  I have no clue as to the future. My options have dissolved and trickle away with the run-off from the storm. And so I wait ...

  Lord, help me not to simply sit among my broken things, turning them over and over in my hands, grieving for the past.

  Teach me in my waiting to find the valued remnants and store them in a place quiet and safe.

  Help me to take the time to bury dead dreams with dignity--not to wallow in regrets nor to collect small grievances. Let nothing be wasted in this crisis that has seemed to stop the clock and lock the door to all I felt most precious.

  Help me to watch beyond my altered skyline for that first faint glow of Morning Sun. Let me wrap myself in faith and snuggle down with hope.

  Help me to discern, even now, the soft gilding of these ruins with early dawn. Let me see, approaching with the morning light, the form of Him who stills the storm and transforms with His presence.
--From the book: "Letting People Off the Hook"

O, Lord, you alone are my hope ...
--Psalm 71:5

The very act of hoping produces a kind of strength of its own.
--Norman Vincent Peale

What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see.
--Hebrews 11:1

In a garden there is wonder and delight! In a garden there is hope.
--M.A. Hershey

Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom (eternal life). For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it.
--Romans 8:24