I started my day off feeling pitifully hopeless and discouraged. Thanks to a fever that feels as if its possibly fried the left hemisphere of my brain,  I am still feeling pretty bad…but not hopeless. God has His ways of speaking to us through the most unexpected things. Often times, illness. Sometimes its something someone said, a line in a movie, or maybe even as unusual as a crude scrawling we read on the back of a restroom door. I can’t say what exactly thumped me into a more hopeful attitude today. Maybe its knowing that better health is as close as the next sunrise. Who knows, maybe its the fever. As a matter of fact, it is the fever. Although I’m certainly feeling physically horrible, the fever is painful proof that my body is on the road to better health by killing off the “plague” bug or whatever is torturing my achy head.

My body is ailing, but my heart is lighter. There has been so much pressing down and weighing in on me here lately that I’ve begun to feel as if I’m giving the world a piggy-back ride – for free! My list of “things that are driving me nuts” has been far too long. Why do I do this to myself? I’m old enough and confident enough to know who I am and what I want from life, yet I let everything and everyone stand in the way of what I truly believe is essential. I let the hatefulness of some people steal my joy and break my heart. I know some individuals that are so hard to get along with that its like wrestling a porcupine naked just to squish a friendly smile out of their scowling-growling faces.Ugh! I’m just so weary with them!  Its time to say no and its time to let go. Time to let go of those people who have proved to be poisonous to a peaceful life. Shake the dust off my feet and let the Lord deal with them. Pray for them and leave it at that. I believe that all people are valuable to God yet some are so broken that there is not one thing that you or I can do to help them(at least within arms reach, anyway).  When those fragile minded prickly personalities have stolen far too many years of your peace you need to move on. Time for a little weed-eating, so to speak.

But, on the flipside of that pancake, are the ones that hold your heart in constant awe…those precious beings that keep you going. Your spouse, your children, your parents, friends that have always loved you no matter the lot in life (rich or poor), and even the friendliest faces you meet while grocery shopping. For every one that seems hopeless there is a million more that holds a world of potential. Some things (or people) are just worth fighting for regardless of how hopeless the situation seems…because “things are often not what they seem”. Never, never, never, give up on your heart’s purest desires! And never give on up the one’s you love!

(just one of the many that I hold precious)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 15:13