Hope Floats

Divorce is like death, only it doesn’t kill you. Sometimes, it comes like a thief in the night. Other times, it’s years in the making.

When reality hit that my marriage was at the end of its rope, I felt lost. No matter how bad it became, it was familiar and all I had come to know. But, the end arrived. And with it came feelings of heartache, hopelessness and insecurity.

So, I found myself at the beginning of a new life as a single mom. Not only did I carry the emotions of the dissolution but I had new feelings to throw in the mix. Worry. Uncertainty. Fear.

Over time, my new life became familiar. As my heart healed, I began to look to the future with anticipation.

There’s a line in the movie Hope Floats that has become a favorite. “Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s what’s in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.”

As we are approaching the collision of one year’s end to another’s beginning, it seems only fitting to take a moment to reflect. To look back on how we’ve changed and the lessons learned. It’s also the perfect time to look forward to what is to come. The future is unknown to us all. The beauty in that is possibilities are endless and anything can happen.

No matter what 2014 held, let’s store the good memories, learn from the past but set our eyes on the future. A future that, filled with Jesus, can be one of hope. Hope anchors the soul, keeps our head above water and helps us persevere. Hope floats!

Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT) says: I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

Here is to 2015! May God fill us with joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ( Romans 15:13)

Further reading: Hebrews 6: 18-20 (MSG) says: We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post.