Last year, sometime around October and the "write31days" challenge, my Joy faltered...
Well, it hasn't faltered completely! I do have much joy in my life! But, the last few months of 2016 haven't been very "joyful", and was also complicated because of issues with my blog.
T. S. Eliot stated it well in this quote shared by stuckinindiana.
But, I have persevered!
A new blog has been created; and here I am trying to continue that perseverance in a new year, with "another voice".
This year I am choosing Hope!
"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." (Jeremiah 29:11 NRSV)
Recently I picked up my new Guideposts magazine and started reading...
I always read it from cover to cover, including the "Editor's Note" and other special articles. The individual stories are inspiring; but there is so much more to this little magazine!
The January 2017 edition carried a "Guideposts Classic" from Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, co-founder of Guideposts. Titled "Let Hope Light Your Way", this article is a reprint of one from 1987.
Don't you just love how it happens? You've chosen your word; and bam!! Everywhere you look, or everything read or hear...it's that word again!!
So, to begin my series on hope, I share a portion of Dr. Peale's words:
"Hope. As a new year comes to all of us, what better companion could we have? Hope is a dynamic force, a concept full of power. It can bring the weak back to strength. It can bring the sick back to health. It can turn failure into success. No wonder Saint Paul included it as one of three great principles of Christianity: faith, hope and love."
So, as I continue to write about hope in 2017, I'll share more of Dr. Peale's words, as well as others I will draw from.
At times having trouble putting into words what I want to say, reading others' words of hope are helpful!
I do see the hope for my own future; and know that God has that future in His hands, "a future with hope."
I am glad you persevered my friend. You offer so much hope and encouragement through your words and comments on blogs and on Facebook. Thankful for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Barbie! YOU encourage me! And, I am trying to persevere! Lately, my creativity is coming from crafting; but I can sit at my small table in the front room and craft away while hubby watches TV...I may or may not be paying attention to what he is watching; but I am "with" him, and that is where he has been wanting me to be lately.
DeleteI try hard to be the encouragement of others on the groups I belong to on Facebook; and have been lacking in reading others' blogs. I "hope" to do more of that this year!!
Thanks for reading and commenting; sorry for the delay...it's been a rough couple of days!
Ooh I love Dr Peales quote. I'm excited to see how hope shapes both of our lives,
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tara! We both have hope for the future, don't we?! I just pray I can continue to walk this journey and post at least weekly. Though if not, I'll try to have encouraging words to share!!
DeleteI also love Dr. Peale; and have more to share from his article in Guideposts. I think his words are what really boosted me to choose "hope"!!
Thanks for reading and commenting; it's always encouraging to have others who encourage ME...it helps me to be an encourager to others!