Hope

      I don’t think it is any coincidence that sometimes our expectations far exceed the actual result. Think about it. How many times have you been sitting in a theatre, popcorn in lap, drink in holder, lights dimmed, as you patiently sit through previews. You are just about ready to stand up and scream, “where is my movie!!”, when a preview captivates your attention and suddenly you are adding it to your “I can’t wait to see that list”.  You go home to Google or YouTube additional extended previews to the new movie. You read any articles that cross your path about it and then as soon as you know the release date you are making plans to see it. The day finally arrives but as the movie ends you realize that the hype has just been pin pricked with reality and it is quickly deflating into disappointment. We suddenly realize the great movie we had hoped and spent almost ten dollars to see was in reality not even good enough to shell out a dollar for at Redbox. The initial hope of anything is what drives us and motivates us. Without the hope of something great we just idly coast through life never really pursuing. We are alive but we are not living. We are functioning but not thriving. The thing about hope is that it isn’t always fulfilled and sometimes the disappointment of that can lead us to give up hoping altogether. We decide that if we don’t hope for anything then we won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t happen. If our hope is placed fully in Christ and he is our filter for where and what our hope motivates us to pursue, I fully believe that the disappointments we face will not deter us from hope but cause us to cling to it. When this happens I think the focus shifts from the landing to the leap. Our success isn’t defined by the destination but the purpose behind the journey. It isn’t so much about if we land on our feet or our face, but that we took the leap to begin with. That we trusted not ourselves but Christ to direct us in our leap of adventure, and if for some reason our timing was off or our speed not enough to reach our safe landing He was there to pick us up and dust us off. I think it’s okay to hope and dream big. It’s also okay to be let down just don’t let it keep you from hoping, moving, and living. Your heart will never beat faster standing still than when you’re taking the leap.