Hope is All i need..

Walking down a quiet alley in Johnstown, PA last week we happened upon the proverbial back alley graffiti.  Tucked away in the back parking lot behind Clarke's Corner Store and Curves someone poured out their soul with a can a spray paint and a stencil.

Thinking back over the past three months I shudder a little.

• Remembering the first days after the fire when mornings were the hardest moments of the day.
• Reflecting on a young mom who lost a baby.
• Thinking about Dan and Nicole, the parents of baby Andrew who courageously decided to pull all life support only to have him LIVE!  He's home - living, breathing, nursing etc.
• Watching dear friends walk through the steps it takes to adopt micro preemie twin baby girls born at 23 weeks.
• Knowing our own day-to-day issues with floods, car accidents, friends.
• Hearing stories of a young dad dying, a neighbour losing a short battle with cancer, divorce.

I wonder.
What gets us up in the morning?


That graffiti artist in the back alley might be on to something.
Hope is All i need..


hope/hōp/

Verb: Want something to happen or be the case: "I hope that the kids are OK".

Noun: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.


HOPE.
Without HOPE I'd stay in bed.
Without HOPE we'd close the doors on a church that burned down.
Without HOPE sick babies aren't cared for.
Without HOPE death has the final word.

But I hope. 
My hope is in the Lord.
My hope is in the BIG picture.
My hope is in a new creation.  A new day.  A new body.
My hope is in relationships made new. 


But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31

And I hope in the promise, that I will run and not grow weary.  

This morning as I crawl out of bed I'm on my knees like the picture of the boy in the alley artwork.  
I pray for hope.
I pray for strength.