fruit on the bottom; hope on top!

www.encaustikits.com

Hope is not what you expect; it is what you would never dream.
It is a wild, improbable tale with a pinch-me-I'm-dreaming ending.
And it is always much bigger than anything we think of as possible in and of ourselves. Hope comes in a size too big so that we have to grow into it.

And the stretching of ourselves in this change brings pain and anguish and at many point along the way it feels as if you either misread the hope that you'd felt, or you just flat out question whether you were actually, properly, equipped to hope for what you did in the first place!

Growing into that hope-moving faithfully in it involves a trusting with a depth and selflessness of which you didn't realized you were capable. You live a day high on the beauty, clarity and thankfulness in the 'coming true'of it, only to wake the next morning questioning your sanity and the vision you'd thought was so clear and decidedly yours a mere day earlier.

I believe in hope. I believe it the gift of hope to lift our spirits, enliven our days and give us a sense of purpose. Hope is God's grace incarnate. Hope is the living out reality of heavenly inspiration. Hope is the blessed gift, unique to each and every one of us, that is proof of God's immeasurable love.

And it is hard. To hold onto this intangible. To substantiate this unknown. To realize this mystery in our 'see it then believe it' minds. But we must work through this hard. We must step forward into this pain. We must continue to walk and not turn back. We must realize that it is not to be seen before it is believed, but rather we must believe in order for it to be seen.

This is hope. This is faith. And this is grace. God asks this of us; to live in faith-to believe. And in this faith to take the next step, and the next, as he reveals them to us, the next: So that the hope may become manifest only through his guidance in our faithful following. There is no other way. For only in this, only in the faith is the belief rewarded and made real. in love. trish.