Hope has changed everything for ME!

Photo by Amelia Grace Photography

It's a little after 11 a.m. on October 31st and I've been reflecting a lot lately about how much things changed for my family around 6 p.m. on October 31st, 2010. At 11 a.m. that day, our family was in church and looking forward to a fun afternoon and evening with our extended family. We have a tradition, which I'm preparing for even as I type this. Every Halloween for about as far back as I can remember, I make a bunch of yummy chili and all the fixins' (as we say in GA) so that we can enjoy the time with the kids, the costumes, and of course, the CANDY!!

My Macey Girl is especially fond of this tradition. 

We could never have anticipated how much our lives would change that day. We went from fun and celebration into a nightmare from which we could not wake up. We were blindsided in such a devastating way. Everything seemed to go dark. I won't go into all the details here, because I don't want to get caught up in what happened that afternoon that changed everything for us (but you're welcome to read last year's post by clicking here if you'd like).

I'd rather take the time to focus on the incredible goodness of our God!

When life throws us a curve ball such as the one we dealt with last year, it's so easy to get our focus off of God's character as we try to come to terms with His ways. Life doesn't necessarily make sense. Life is most certainly not fair. I don't know why God allowed my daughter to be wounded in the way that she was. I may never understand it fully. But this I do know. God is always, always, always GOOD. And this reality (which is far more concrete than a wish, a desire, or a belief) gives me incredible HOPE. 

I can Hang Onto Promises Eternal because of the ONE who makes and keeps those promises! 

"Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise."

Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)

I don't know what you're experiencing in this season in your life. You may be in a time of celebration with smooth sailing. Those times are awesome! ENJOY! :-) But you may be, like many today, in a season that brings with it great challenge, confusion, and a pull downward. If that's you and you'd  like to hear more about how Hope Changes Everything, I invite you to visit the Church 4 Chicks site
for video messages outlining some of the many promises we can hang onto! (Just go to the media page for those videos and other messages.)

 Even when life gets dark and chaotic, we can trust the One who is never in the dark! 

"...even the darkness will not be dark to you; 

   the night will shine like the day, 

   for darkness is as light to you."

Psalm 139:12 (TNIV)

  

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What about you? What promises of God do you hang onto when hope is hard to come by?

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PS... However your family handles the October 31st date each year, I pray that you'll be safe, make great memories, and have some fun, too! Oh, and chocolate. May you be richly blessed with some chocolate. :-)