Today is a new day, full of opportunity to encourage, to lift up. Share hope & a smile today! :-)
Why do I say "Share Hope and a Smile today"? First of all, in this day and age, hope is something a lot of people are being deprived of. Tough times have shaken many to their very foundation. Whether financial crisis, natural disasters, or other things, troubled and tough times have shaken people, this nation and many more to their very core.
First, I believe ultimate hope comes from God and is the foundation for the rest. Secondly, I believe that God has given us the capacity to hope, to encourage, to be an inspiration, in even the darkest of times. When we share hope or small bits of encouragement, it can spread and multiply and brighten an hour, a day, a week or a month.
Hope is that light in the darkness that we hold on to in our souls, our spirits when things look dark and we know that its time for them to change. Hope changes us, strengthens us and helps us change our times, even gives us the strength to persevere in that change.
So then, why a smile? Because, when we smile, its an extension of light, of life to another person, its an expression of acceptance, kindness, warmth, trust. It helps light and warm that moment of their life. It gives them something to share, to move forward with, an almost tangible courage to take away and share or use to get through their day.
This has been a tough year for our family. My body has not been cooperating. The nerve damage and constant pain are having side-affects that we never expected. It's something we were told, and thought would just heal. Instead its been getting steadily worse. It has had more than a direct impact on our business, our finances, our home, our complete lives. It means that I don't even know what tomorrow will bring.
As a man, a husband, a father, I've had to come to terms with not being able to meet my families needs. Letting down my wife and children. That's a hard battle, that I've fought more than once and will probably fight again. It means that I've let down friends & family. It means that I've been unable to meet commitments I thought I would be able to handle. It means that I've failed, many times over. However, it doesn't mean God has failed. It also means that, as a family, we've had to learn to trust God even more.
In the midst of that, this week, one of the hardest things I've ever done, is applying for disability. Looking at where our country is, where things are, this is the last thing I ever would've wanted to do. I keep believing that there has to be a way, that there will be a way, in this great country of ours, to move forward. I even told them, in my application, I want to be a person that has been on disability for the shortest amount of time ever.
So, why encourage? Why try to keep it upbeat? Things look pretty desperate, don't they? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think our family has had any more, or any less tragedy than the rest of the world right now. Maybe it's for different reasons than the current "financial crisis", but that doesn't mean other people haven't been impacted even more. Whole towns have been devastated by layoffs. Cities and coastlines have been wiped away by hurricanes. Lives have been wrecked by financial institutions just going belly up. So much devastation, we can counteract it.
People need for us to share light and hope with them. They need courage in dark times. They need for us to encourage them, strengthen them. Whether we can do it tangibly, by helping clean or rebuild in hurricane swept areas, or to cheer them on, to let them know they did ok, they can make it. The next step may be tough, but they can do it.
Friends, family, community does that for you. Our resolve has not been without its weak moments, without its tears. No, to say that would be to tell a lie. But our strength has come from our hope in God. From prayers of friends, neighbors, churches, community. From kind words, bits of laughter, bits of encouragement, to move forward, saying "You can make it." Even tangible help, in the way of food, coats for our children, finding bits of work that we could do, to get us over the next bill, the next month.
So, why share hope and a smile? It's not to be preachy or super spiritual, but just to simply share and pass on hope, smiles, encouragement that has been passed on to help us move forward. To let people know that God's Word isn't just another metaphysical journey out there, but that there are many that aren't afraid to live it in a real way and share a tangible hope in it.
So, if there is something we can give forward, small though it may be, we want to do that. To share hope & a smile, and give in a tangible way. It only takes a little bit of light to brighten a dark room. No matter what our faith, we can turn that light on. We can share a resolute hope, an encouraging smile. That hope can be a rudder that changes the direction of industry, of stock markets, of bank opinions.
Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord, For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river, and will not see when heat comes, but her leaf will be green; and will not need to be careful in the year of drought or stop yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8
