Place: on airplane DJ571 Syd to Perth
Poison: nougat
Favourite Things: my bible
Well today marks my final flight, after 3 1/2 months travel, Long Service Leave. Ten flights later, four countries encountered, many friends visited and thousands of photos snapped my heart is sad and happy all at once.
Sad because all good things must come to an end and happy because I’m flying home. As I reflect on my time away, I was driving to the airport with close friends I teared up because I had this sense of disappointment that maybe I didn’t get the answers I was expecting from my voyages. As I have read, written, pondered, wrestled and rested on this flight home I now realise the answers are hidden deep inside my heart.
The answer that I have been looking for is held in the hands of hope.
See as I left my desk for my sojourn, I was a little heart weary. My life was a little war-torn and inspiration came like a shooting star, very rare and always fleeting.
In this moment though, what has replaced my trepidation and caution is a heart that dares to hope again.
‘Hope is rare, but we don’t need much of it to experience it’s power’ Erwin McManus
What I return home with, is a glimmer of hope. That the future is possible for those that trust and hope beyond today.
What I return home with is a sprinkle of hope, upon a lake of despair that I find the world swimming in.
What I return home with is a awakening of hope for the future and it’s promises.
If today you find yourself hope-less, I offer this scripture that has often acted like yeast in my soul.
Lamentations 3:18
“I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished. God is a lost cause.” It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God…
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“But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
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“God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks.
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“It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.
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“It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.
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“When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
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“Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear.
(The message version)
Hope has snuck up and tapped me on the shoulder with a cheeky grin, promising that no matter the future that life is full of the unexpected, and that in itself is an adventure.
No matter where you find yourself today, I hope my humble natterings may have ignited in you even a little shimmer of hope.
I truly believe it’s contagious.
Hope-full!
A
