Hope

It has been too long since I've posted last. A lot of things have changed between then and now. I'm now one semester closer to graduating college, which is a frightening realization. I've also made my way through some sticky and challenging situations, some of which I have had to crawl through and others of which I have sprinted through with ease. It has been a very tiring and rewarding semester. The past week however, has been just as eventful and challenging as the rest of the semester. Today my family lost someone dear to us and the weight of this loss is shown on the faces of everyone around me. It is always a sad thing to say goodbye to someone that you love and will deeply miss. I can't express how great the pain truly is. As crippling as the pain is, I'm reminded that this is Christmas- a time when all is supposed to be merry and bright with happiness radiating from every face on every street. A time when, despite the circumstances, people are surrounded by those that they love and for a few brief moments, happiness washes over them. Christmas to me, especially this year, is about hope. I love my nephew and niece and am ecstatic to be getting another nephew and possibly niece in the next year. I love their innocence, especially my nephew's. He sincerely believes that my dad is the real Santa Claus. He doesn't think any of the men at the shopping malls or parks are Santa. He doesn't think Santa is at the North Pole until Christmas. He wholeheartedly believes that his paw paw is Santa Claus. I think of this when I think of hope because we often try to threaten him into behaving by telling him Santa won't bring him any gifts if he is bad- a common thing parents and family members tell children around this time. He simply responds by saying, " My paw paw is Santa Claus and he will bring me presents." Keep in mind, he is only two. This is the simplest form of hope- trust. Hope is defined as confident trust with the expectation of fulfillment. My nephew believes with full confidence that his paw paw is Santa Claus and as a result, he will receive presents on Christmas day.

I recently had the opportunity to play at a lunch for the blind. God blessed me so much through that simple act of service. To me, playing is not a huge feat. It is so simple for me to sit down at a piano and string together chords and notes and make a melody of sorts. There was this little girl probably around the age of 8 or 9. She, along with her younger sister, was blind but their attitudes did not reflect that in the slightest. This girl found her way to the piano, sat down, and began picking out Christmas tunes. Her music was much more beautiful than anything I've ever played because each note was played with hope. She knew where her fingers went and how far each one moved in order to create the perfect sound. She believed with full confidence that she would hit the correct key and the sound that she wanted would come pouring forth out of the piano and fill the entire room with its echo. It was truly something beautiful and I felt so blessed to be able to be there. As she finished, the room was silent, and this girl simply asked "Why didn't anyone clap." I don't think she realized just how awe struck some of us were listening to her play.

Hope. Christmas is about the hope that we, as believers, receive through Christ's birth. Through Christ, we have the hope of tomorrow, whether here or in heaven. Through Christ, we have the hope of salvation. We have the hope of being united with others that have gone on before us. We have the hope of comfort, knowing that God is a fortress for us and will comfort us in our time of need. We have the hope of protection that regardless of our circumstance, God is surrounding us. We have the hope of peace that through trial and even good time, we have a peace that surpasses everything that can not be explained but we know is there. We have hope. Hope that sees us through even in these hard times. Christmas is about hope.

"And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee."-Psalm 39:7