Hope In A Student’s Hand

Hope in a Student’s Hand

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

My Northern seventh-grade English teacher didn’t hold much hope for my scholastic future. After all, I had a Kentucky twang and preferred talking to my friends over listening to her. Then one day she handed out white wallet-size pamphlets listing basic grammar principles. As I sighed over yet more rules, the words written in red on the front cover grabbed my attention:

I will study and prepare myself, and someday my chance will come.

—ABRAHAM LINCOLN

My neighbor’s niece had given me the vision of going to college someday, but I didn’t know how to accomplish that goal. Now, suddenly, a practical plan was placed in my hands: All I had to do was study while I was waiting for that someday. I began to listen in class, started turning in my homework, took the writing assignments seriously, and studied for each test. The teacher may have marveled at such a drastic change in my attitude and grades. Perhaps she even congratulated herself for finally getting through to someone she saw as a difficult student. But I know what turned my attitude around: basic hope. I was given a practical and simple plan to attach to my previous dream. That gave me the confidence to achieve a college education that included earning a postgraduate degree, to teach for fifteen years in public schools, to write numerous books, and to speak throughout the world—and all because hope was placed in my hand.

I still have that little white and red pamphlet. —SANDRA

Lord, help me to remember that even the simplest words can provide hope for someone who doesn’t have a clue how to achieve a distant dream. Help me to provide that hope to those around me.

Hope, the balm and lifeblood of the soul.

—JOHN ARMSTRONG (1709–1799), SCOTTISH PHYSICIAN AND POET