No, seriously I want to know.
This week I listened to a small-group leader talk about what makes a difference in making our day feel successful, and one is achievement. Everyday, she said, we should have something we feel as if we’ve achieved-even if it’s just cleaning out our sock drawer.
I suppose I never realized before how consistently I wake with a mental note of things I’d like to achieve at the beginning of each day. I wake with a “hope” that I can accomplish certain tasks in my day. They could be making a nice dinner, calling a friend I haven’t heard from in a while, or taking my dogs for a walk.
Or they could be bigger things such as outlining a new novel idea, calling a cousin to inspire her spiritual walk, or planning a trip to visit a grandpa who I’ve recently found and never met before. (Which are all on my agenda for today!) Big or small I plan for them with hopes they will be achieved.
What do you hope for today? No, seriously I want to know.
Unlike the world’s definition of hope, which is a “dreamy fantasy,” my hopes (maybe yours too?) are based on the fact that Jesus is sitting on the right hand of the Father, He loves me completely, and He will provide whatever strength and wisdom I need to face the day He designed for me. (Boy, is that a mouthful! Or should I say, a heart-full!)
The more I think about it, the more I realize how important this hope is. It provides the inspiration behind our smile, or lack of one. It strengthens us because we know our efforts are not in vain. It also helps when the things we hope to achieve don’t happen. After all, I trust God has a greater plan for that, too.
Acts 17:25-28 (NLT) says:”He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is. From one man he created all the nations through the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose in all of this was that that nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him-though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist.”
So let me ask again: What do you hope for today? What things do you hope to achieve? Will these achievements help others to seek after God and/or find their way to Him? If so, I’d love to hear about it!
I love to hear the ways God works . . . in you, especially!
And…don’t forget to check out today’s stop on the A Valley of Betrayal blog tour!
Tricia,
Neat post! I hope today, to be compassionate to myself. To be merciful as God is to me–not to beat myself up about anything but to look at the things I do well and to G-R-O-W them. That’s been working really well for me lately.
Second: I hope to meet the commitments or goals I set for myself each day, because every time that I do, my confidence and trust in myself increases as a writer. And as a person. And as a Christian, come to think of it.
Although today is over, I’ve accomplished something. I was off from work today, so I worked on a requested proposal that I need to get out to an agent. I didn’t get it completed (my toddler son was at home with me, so I’m sure lots of you know how that is), but I did complete a large chunk of the submission, and hopefully, prayerfully, I’ll be able to send it off next week!
Katie, I like that. I feel the same. I have a hard time not being too hard on myself.
Cecelia, isn’t that a good feeling? You keep at it. You can do it!
What do I hope for today? Oh gosh! Where do I start?
1. For my relationship with my Heavenly Father to grow stronger and deeper.
2. To lose some fat off my body (I have been obsessing today, after reviewing some pics I just recently got back from the store)
3. More rain.
4. Continued peace in the house. All my men are fast asleep. Hee.
Leticia,
1. Amen.
2. Amen.
3. More sun. (I live in Montana.)
4. I’ll pray!
Tricia, I hoped for a fast visit to the car dealership for an oil change. (Check)
I’m also hoping for a kind tongue today. That was a challenge from church last night that really made me think. Someone who can’t go a day without alcohol is an alcoholic. So what does that say about us when we can’t go one day without saying something unkind? Hmmm. So I’m hoping for and working on kind speech.
Great post! If we can accomplish at least one thing each day, we do feel more successful.
What do I hope to accomplish? Mondays are my planning day for the week, so I hope to get that done. I have a load of ironing to do, and the first chapter in Beth Moore’s Daniel study. (Our oldest daughter has just moved out, and we’ve decided to do this study together… something we’ve never done before.) I’m a designer by profession, so I have a scheme I’m working on that I need to research.
And that should be enough for one day… Thanks for asking!
Blessings, e-Mom
I hope you much success. And great joy in the Lord!
I find that the longer I live, the more “I hope.” There were times growing up that I sometimes didn’t have hardly a prayer to survive–but I clung to a “hope” that if I died before I woke, I’d wake up in the arms of Jesus. That’s powerful stuff!
So, now I hope for wonderful wives for my four sons…possibly grandchildren I get to see…warm family relationships…friendships because I moved to somewhere where friendships are sparse…fitting in…maybe finding a great hairstylist!!…getting back on exercise and fitting into my jeans that are tightening…maybe finally getting my own writing done and out the door…
I remember a time when I thought my last hope was gone…and there it was, flickering, sparking, ready to flame up if I’d just breathe!
Great post, Tricia.
Crystal,
What great insight! I find hope fuels me … I love thinking of what’s coming around the corner 🙂
I stumbled across your blog as I was doing some research for work and found this to be a very nice site. Hope is a hard word for me to fathom today. After 5 years of trying to have another baby (my daughter is 6) I found out last week that I am pregnant. Two days ago, however, I think I began to miscarry. Clearly (desperately) I hope for the precious baby that I have already begun to love. I also hope that sadness will not overwhelm as it has in the past. In addition, my husband has been searching for a more fulfilling job for several years. We’ve been through incredible circumstances where God has provided, yet I am struck with wondering why God is saying wait. Anyway, thank you for listening.
I’m so sorry to hear that! My heart just breaks reading your note. Miscarriage is SO hard. Having one after hoping for so long is even harder.
One thing that encourages me is when I draw closer to God during hard circumstances. Perfection in our homes, family, ministry will never happen on earth. (And if things were perfect, we wouldn’t need God.) But as we cry and question and loss heart, we can find hope in the fact that God loves is more than we can ever imagine.