Coping

I just got back from a great lunch with my sisters. When Tiff called this morning and asked if I could meet, I told her I was going to make it happen. I love my sisters! We have so much fun together. We laugh so much, it is obnoxious. The three of us might be the biggest smarty pants in the world. As we share our hearts with each other, I am overwhelmed at how we feel the same pain and joy. Sure I have friends that I can nod my head with when they are telling me of their daily grind, but with my sisters it is different. I feel like, no I know, they can read what my heart is saying, not just what my mouth is saying. I can do the same with them. There is nothing fake between us. So as we sat at lunch today, Mandy said something that stuck with me. She said, "Are you coping, or hoping?" Even as I drove home, I thought more about that question. I have been just coping! I have been doing whatever it takes to get through the (long) days lately. Have I been obey Christ's direction? Yes. Have I been checking things off my to do list? Yes. But for about 3-4 days now something has been off. I was not Hoping. In today's society hope means wishing for or desiring but not very sure it will come to be. But, as Christians, the word Hope means a strong and confident expectation. Hope is the confident expectation that what God has promised in His word is true. He is my Hope, my real Hope! My eyes had not been on Him, but rather on whatever situation life was throwing at me. Wow, has my outlook changed since lunch. I have my sight set on Him, and my Hope has returned. So, for Thankful Thursday, I am so glad I had lunch with my sisters. I needed it. And I am thankful God uses them to call my attention back to Him.

Romans 8:24,25 "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it."