Hope.....

This Christmas morning I was blessed with the gift of hope from two very special friends..... Knowing the many challenges, unknowns and transitions that lay ahead for me, these two wonderful lights in my life chose to share with me this Christmas, a message of ~ HOPE. To know that there is a "reminder" I can turn to when I find myself struggling to find hope, is a blessing that cannot be described by mere words....it will be these small treasures, and many others that bless my life that will get me through the darkest of days when I struggle to find the strength to do it on my own.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are but small matters

compared to what lies within us. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hope is something that comes from within us. True hope cannot come from an external source.... We must find that piece within us that gives us the strength to face the journey that lays ahead. It is through hope that we have courage....without hope we are overcome by fears that paralyze us and prevent us from LIVING.

May you LIVE all the days of your life. ~ Jonathan Swift

Tonight, as I sat with candles burning, reflecting on the places of hope in my life....I read the gift of words of hope and held the visual reminder of the simple silver word of hope while I connected to that place of strength, of courage and most of all of hope, from within myself. HOPE was the message I needed and was intended to hear this Christmas....to know that regardless of what lays ahead in my journey I will face it with the hope that I will continue to grow in honouring myself, in becoming healthier day by day in mind, body, spirit and heart.

At the back of the book I was given is a poem about hope written by the author

Hope Happens!

Hope is what happens when you first see a light

Just a distant, small star in the darkest of night.

Hope is what happens with the first buds of spring

When dawn touches the sky or a bird spreads it's wings.

Hope is what happens when a wound starts to heal

Whether skin deep or soul deep, you begin to feel real.

Hope is what happens when you're poor but not broken

There's a goldmine of dreams - just not yet awoken.

Hope is what happens when someone is kind

A feeling not lost - just misplaced in your mind.

Hope is what happens when war turns to peace

After everyone prayed that the fighting would cease.

Hope is what happens with the smell of fresh rain

When your long drought of dreams is renewed yet again.

Hope is what happens when clouds finally clear

Troubled thunder falls silent -courageous whispers you hear.

Hope is what happens when your heart skips a beat

And, so least expected, a soul mate you meet.

Hope is what happens when fresh bread is baking

And what hungers your heart, will one day stop aching.

Hope is what happens when kindling ignites

You rediscover your passion that burns day and night.

Hope is what happens when the pain eases a bit

And deep down inside, you find your true grit.

Hope is what happens as long as we breathe

For although it takes time, the sorrow will leave.

Hope is what happens long after the pain

Hope is what happens - again and again.

Catherine DeVrye

We cannot see hope within the things the author outlines without first having the true sense of hope from within ourselves.....it is hope that gives us courage, that gives us the ability to see the blessings and opportunities.....choose to LIVE life....to LIVE IN HOPE!