::HOPE::

Hope.

 

Last week, I took three separate walks with my nanny-kids. The week before (well, I was actually out of town dealing with ice and snow issues there, too, but the week before that…) I was calling work to make sure I was needed and then shoveling snow off my car so I could leave. I actually like shoveling out my car. Such an accomplishment! :) And I actually love the snow.

 

But I do love Spring. And flip-flops and iced coffee and reading outside and taking walks. Especially walks with my little kiddos.

You gotta love where I live, because with as much snow as we got that week, the snow piled up. Especially along the curbs and especially the curbs at the crosswalks. But a few days of 60s and the snow melts. Except at the curbs near the crosswalks. So as I'm basking in the sunshine with my 3-year-olds in their double-wide jogging stroller, or the 2-year-old and the 6-month-old (sleeping 2-year-old and almost sleeping 6-month-old, mind you) in their very long double stroller, I had to stop and shovel snow away with my foot. Or actually take another route in a few places.

 

This week we've pulled out the hats and gloves again. Last week was just a teaser. I will drink my coffee hot yet for awhile, and have to keep explaining to the persistent 3-year-old that temperatures in the teens and twenties with even lower wind chills definitely are not conducive to going outside to play. Really. I promise I'll let you know when it's warm enough to go outside!!

 

But it's more than just a "teaser"--there's hope mixed into the February thaws. A reminder that snow and cold and dry skin and no walks don't last forever. Spring is coming...and it's actually just around the corner!

 

Hope is refreshing and reviving. I know, because I've experienced it. The pain still hurts, but the reminder that I am God's child, that I am forgiven and now blessed, and that I am promised that everything that happens in my life is a part of my sanctification (and not wasted or unnecessary), is a breath of fresh air. It's peace in my heart. It's strength to take the next step. Praise God for hope!

 

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

{Romans 12:12}

 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be

born again to a living hope through the resurrection of

Jesus Christ from the dead…"

{1 Peter 1:3}

 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may

abound in hope."

{Romans 15:13}