RENEWED Hope

This week I met with four other women to discuss a devotional we are suppose to be doing as we are in the Advent season. Four weeks before Christmas. Anticipating Christ's birth with expectation and worship, all while we wait. Those three words hit me over the head with a brick: expecting, worshiping and waiting. This study is going to kill me. I am not very good at any of these "acts" in the world of Christianity. Frankly, I suck at all three.
I asked them if anything stuck out to them when reading the book. More specifically I challenged them to share one word that summarized what they took away from it. Without hesitation, one of the girls spoke up and said quite confidently, "Renewed Hope was what I took away." "SERIOUSLY??!!" is what I was thinking but instead I channeled a calm, reflective leader and asked her what she meant by that? This is the part that kills me. She expanded upon her thought by stating that God wanted her to be excited about what happened and stop being apathetic about her life. Okay, so I paraphrased it a bit. And I did what we are instructed NOT to do in a counseling session and made it all about me. Yes, there's a technical name for it but I can't think of it right now. I gave myself some grace and reminded myself this wasn't a counseling role. All in my head, of course.
Renewed Hope. It may be two words but man, they are two words I need to live by. I am weary of my apathy towards life. I am not sure what it looks like to discover a new outlook in life. Honestly, it's too overwhelming to tap into the very thing that may change my life. It's exhausting to think differently.
Extremely, tiresome that I need to head to bed. But tonight it's with those three words on my mind and a sense of RENEWED HOPE in my heart. Whatever that may look like.
Lately, it's been looking at these cute faces...

Yes, that's a bow from the tree that Barkley doesn't know that it's stuck to his lip. Pretty much sums up their personalities.