Most of the time, I try to keep things light around here.

I love having a place to capture sentimental or fun snippets of life, and I’m so thankful that all of you stop by from time to time to read and say hi.

But sometimes I get a comment or an email and someone shares something that tugs at my heart and reminds me that life isn’t always light.

 

When I posted If You’re Having One of Those Days, I was hoping it might give somebody who was having a bad day a smile.

But what it really did was make me think more about what others are going through.

I was touched by the stories that came in…

stories from people who shared that they’re having much more than a bad day.

A story about someone’s friend who took his own life.

Stories about broken families.

I’ve spent time thinking about my own story too.

This wasn’t the post I planned on putting up today, but I felt like I needed to write it.

I needed the reminder that, so often, we interact with people or pass them on the street, completely unaware of what they are going through.

What if the woman at the grocery store who was rude… just lost her husband?

What if the friend who talks about everyone else… just wants to find a way to heal her own pain?

What if?…

We all have a story, some more difficult than others.

I’ve heard it said that when we’re in the middle of tough times, it’s often that one person who comes alongside us and gives us a glimpse of hope that gets us through. When I look back over my life and the times I faced challenges, I know exactly who those people were.

And I know the hope I found, too.

I love this song by Rapture Ruckus and the way it says, “You gotta hold on; help is coming; you gotta hold on; you’re gonna make it through the rain.”

So, even though I know my words are inadequate, I wanted to encourage you and say if you’re going through something difficult right now, hold onto hope.

And if you’re not going through a tough time, maybe you can be that one person who brings hope to others…

——

Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops… at all. ~Emily Dickinson

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. ~Christopher Reeve

Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark. ~George Iles

Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers. ~Robert Ingersoll

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28, NIV

*post previously published