Hope

Hope

I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

“I THINK THE GREATEST THING we can do to show our adopted kids love and that we believe in them is to just get up every morning and consistently show up. We’re not perfect, but we’re here,” my husband stated, as he looked at me across the island in our kitchen after everyone had finally made their way to bed at the end of a harder day with one of our kids. Sometimes parenting feels a bit like a roller coaster of emotion and behavior that I often find myself resisting the urge to ride. Being a steady force in a person’s life when they are emotionally coming undone is harder than I ever thought it could be.

Each morning, I pick up my Bible, looking for hope. A confirmation about who God is and what his character is like, and every day I walk away more determined to claim what I know about God: he is strong, faithful, forgiving, loving, kind, compassionate . . . and on and on the list goes.

This is where my hope lies. God’s mercies are new every day. He is relentless in his love and pursuit of me. He never gives up on any of us. And my husband and I consistently showing up for our adopted kids, on good days and hard days, is a reflection to them of God’s character. We don’t mirror it perfectly, but the hope still remains in our trying.

Every day we have the opportunity to get up and start new. And when we do, we show others around us that they have the opportunity to get up every day and start fresh. They observe hope through our words, but more importantly through our actions. Don’t be discouraged by what you see only with your eyes; God’s not done yet. We can cling to the hope that he will finish the work that he’s started, in us and in those around us.

Lord, thank you for the way that you consistently show up for each one of us. Thank you for your promise and the hope we have that you will be faithful to complete the work you’ve started in us.

-Kendra

One Good Step: What is one area of your life where you are holding out hope that God will intervene or act on your behalf? Ask God to show you how he is working, even in the smallest of ways.