This is the very first blog I have ever written...so let's see how it goes:) Today I am reminded of just how much we need hope. All of us. We live in this world that tends to be so dark and angry all the time and we need hope...Hope to know that this is not all there is. Hope to know that we are not going through everything alone. Hope to know it is all worth it in the end...just hope. It is such a small word...but so very powerful. As an adopted mom there are many days when the struggles our children face seem so hopeless...the battle within for truth. It can be exhausting. Maybe for you, it's the money that never seems to be enough to cover the bills, or the marriage that is falling apart. We all have that " thing" we deal with that tries to suck out our hope...I see just how hopeless people are everytime I turn on the news. The famous people in rehab, the hurting people in war zones, the frustrated people dealing with every day life...and it always makes me stop for a second and pray that I will be able to show the Hope that they are searching for. 

          You see, the Holy Spirit reminds me that the God who kept the lions mouth shut for Daniel, the God who kept the fire from burning Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from touching them, the God who kept Jonah alive for three days and nights inside a fish, the God who called Lazarus to come forth after being dead for three days, the very same God who gave up His only beloved Son for me and my children's brokenness...this God has not changed. This God has not somehow forgot all of us or is choosing to ignore us in the year 2013...no...Our God has poured out His spirit on us that we may walk every single day with His spirit living inside of us! We have so much to be hopeful about! We have God's own Words that we can pick up and read every day...I wonder so many times why we allow ourselves to lose hope. As Christians, this is the very thing that Satan is after...our Hope. He knows if he can take that away we then turn inward and start feeling sorry for ourselves, we start comparing our lives to others only to have our life come up lacking...but my friends, we have been given the tools to fight him with! We have been given Eph. 6:10-20 to know what to do when those fiery darts come at us...so let us pick up our weapons and let us start fighting like the warriors we are! My spirit hurts within me when I see my fellow sisters and brothers falling in battle because they are losing hope. I know what it is like to stand there...look around you...and want to give up, walk away, accept the depression...I have been so so close to that so many days...and every time God sends someone to remind me of our hope in Him. 
        
              I think the main thing is to no feel alone. We are not alone...and I'm not just talking about God who is with us...I am talking about our family. Our brothers and sisters in Christ who surround us with prayer, encouragement, and...well....hope. My pastor's wife has always said something that I never truly understood until recently..." We are stronger together." It's true. We are. When those darts are coming at us, and we are isolated and alone, we are much easier prey...but when we stand together...it is very hard to lose hope when you have someone standing next to you, fighting beside you. So my friends...today as you read this, I hope you see the hope of today. Maybe you even need to break it up into just this moment...and then the next....here are the words of your Father speaking straight to your heart..." Find rest, O my soul, in God alone, my hope comes from him." Psalm 62:5