the beauty of hope.

Hope is a beautiful thing; but like most beautiful things (flowers, mountains, the ocean, friendships)  I don't know much about it, I just experience it and appreciate it.  Hope is active.  Hope is not something that we have for a desired object, but something we place in something or someone.  This season I am learning to place my hope in Christ.  It's not always easy, it definitely doesn't feel beautiful most days, but it's a process and if I am placing my hope in Him then it will be a beautiful journey, one much better than I could ever hope for.  Tonight as we sat around the tree (instead of in front of a computer on Skype) and sang and prayed and shared about our wrestlings with hope I chuckled a little inside...last year in 3 different time zones, on 3 different computers, in 3 different cities hope felt a little different but we wouldn't have even dreamed that this year would bring such a gift as being in one city, one time zone, and sharing our love of this season; so even the things I hope for are so tiny compared to the gifts that He lavishes on me and for that I'm grateful.