Active Hope

Active Hope

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

It was the summer of 1976, and I wanted to attend a writers’ conference the following year. But after reviewing our finances, my husband and I found we couldn’t afford the fees. Further, we had two young children, and I couldn’t be away from them for a week. Yes, I was disappointed, but as I talked it over with the Lord, a funny down-home saying dropped into my mind: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

As I pondered how to apply that to my situation, a new thought began to form. The conference grounds where we vacationed often sponsored afternoon workshops in addition to the daily missionary and Bible presentations. Okay, I couldn’t go to the writers’ conference. But what if I brought the writers’ conference to me?

Gradually, I began to make lists: what the main presentations should contain, who the lecturers should be, what the break-out sessions should include, which magazine and book editors should be invited. With each list, I began to gain hope. And each bit of hope provided another idea.

Then I talked to my editor at the magazine for which I most often wrote to see if such an idea were feasible, and she agreed to be the main lecturer. Once the professional details were finalized, I presented the tentative program to the director of the Bible conference grounds and asked for his permission. To my delight, he liked the idea of providing yet another opportunity for the summer guests to expand their skills.

I ran that workshop each summer for nine years and rejoiced as I saw fellow writers published and my own writing credits increase. Then a couple of years after my husband died, our children and I moved to New York so I could accept an editorial position. I turned the writers’ conference over to a gifted writer who expanded my vision. Now more than three decades later, that annual gathering continues to grow, resulting in numerous published articles and books.

What about you? Is there something you want to do but think it’s out of your reach? Grab on to hope and talk the plan over with the Lord. And remember, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” —SANDRA

Lord, thank you for reminding me I don’t have to be locked in to doing things the way they’ve always been done. When I’m standing between hope and fear, help me to remember that and choose hope.

Hope is an adventure, a going forward, a confident search for a rewarding life.

—KARL MENNINGER (1893–1990), AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIST