Hopeful Friday

Cielo From the beautiful The House In The Roses is hosting Hopeful Friday. At such a time as this, we can never have enough words about hope to keep us inspired. If you stop by Cielo's place you will find a link list. If you would like to participate, simply add your link. If you would like to feast on the hopeful words, visit all the wonderful blogs offering inspiration.



I was remembering when a while back I stood at the sink and emptied the vase of old water for my Gladiolus. Bright yellow flowers at the middle of the stem and buds with promises to bloom were placed in the sink.




Carefully removing the old dead blossoms from the bottom of the stem, I gave each stalk a new cut. I filled up the vase with fresh water and arranged the freshly cleaned stems in the vase.







As I had cleaned up the old flowers and stems and discarded them, I thought about how similar old hurts and worries are to those dead flowers. In order to feel hope in life, we need to be constantly letting go of our doubt and worry.




















If I had left the old flowers on each stem, perhaps the new buds would never have bloomed. The bouquet certainly would not have looked as healthy and vibrant as the flowers in the vase did at that moment. I saw the meaning in the exercise of arranging these lovely flowers.

Hope blooms when we stand in the moment in faith,
and look towards tomorrow, discarding our worries and doubt.

There is great reason this week for people all over the world to be concerned about the financial markets. Nearby people are recovering from a brutal storm that destroyed homes and lives. Three of my close friends are battling breast cancer. On my devotional, I wrote about the storms of life, and how we must have faith in the middle of the storm.

“He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves
and it was completely calm.”

Matthew 8:26

The song for this post is Imagine Me Without You. I think that Cielo's timing is impeccable, over the last few weeks we needed to be reminded of all words describing Hope. So, please stop by Cielo's and put some hope in your pockets.



I think that the color of hope is Pink, and many years ago I painted this painting that I call Hope. Speaking of Pink, Tomorrow is Pink Saturday and I have a special surprise, so do stop by and join in the fun.