My great niece Kiera painted this stone, which I got at a recent family reunion. It now sits on my office desk as a treasured reminder of hope.
HOPE.
It is sometimes an elusive word, missing from the sentences of our days, deleted from our lives, absence from our thoughts.
Life situations and difficulties and challenges overtake us. Stress and worry weigh upon us, squashing hope. Peace vanishes.
But then something changes. A friend encourages. You read uplifting words. A song—what if your blessings come through raindrops—strikes a chord of hope.
Hope begins to ease back into your days, into your thoughts, into your outlook. You see, read and hear hope: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12).
The stressors may remain. But now you hold hope, sweet sweet hope.
© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Well said, Audrey. So many times that sign or indication of “hope” is right beneath our noses… if only we take the time to look!
Yes, you are right. Sometimes it’s elusive.
Hope is hard too.
Yes, it can be. Maybe thus appropriately painted upon a (hard) stone.
–Without HOPE & God’s Promises,
I have nothing.
xx love from Duluth.
Amen, sister. Amen.
Love back at you from Faribault!
My small group at church just finished a book by Chuck Swindoll called Hope Again, I highly recommend it. It’s an easy read that encourages and fills you with truth and Hope. Love the “Hope” stone 🙂
I’ll need to look for that book. Thanks for the recommendation, Jackie.
I absolutely love my “hope stone.” It looks like something straight out of a gift shop. Except it’s handcrafted by my great niece.
That’s a very good reminder to have on your desk. It is so true that without hope, you perish. It’s very easy to lose hope and a little reminder like this can help put us back on track xx
I absolutely love my HOPE stone. It is a strong visual.
Beautiful and love the hope rock 🙂 Hope is the one true thing I can hang on to with all that is going around me- the good and the positive as well as the bad and the negative.
It’s a powerful word. I appreciate your comment. Your insights are always invaluable.