“Hope” settled on my heart as my “word of the year”… and I wasn’t excited. Really, God? Hope? Why not CERTAINTY or STEADFASTNESS? Hope is… weak sauce…
It was early 2016 in Los Angeles and we were “getting on our feet” with shaky legs, having battled a bad financial situation. George was finally at a stable job and we were grateful. But this new job’s commute was killing our family time with Daddy. The boys started taking turns pretending to be him at the dinner table. Slowly, George became more discouraged. We were both in bed every night exhausted, dying to regain intimacy and, conversely, alone time. And then Hope. Hope said, “Relax. There is no more you can do than what you are already doing. Keep driving the kids, keep cleaning, keep meeting with your small groups—keep praying, keep dreaming, keep learning—and hope. Hope that the future is bright– that the little things you’re doing today, will make a huge difference tomorrow.” Hope is the confidence that better is coming.
But the Lord says, “I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
So George and I prayed — desperately. We prayed for the next step; we prayed for wisdom. And bit by bit the inexplicable peace came. Peace that trusted—God’s got this.
Eventually, George got a new job. It paid more and it was two blocks away! The time we saved was tremendous! He was home to eat dinner with us, he could work out, and afterschool activities were easier to plan. I told him, “We can never go back to you having a long commute again.” And then, as if to test me, George was offered a job with Ventura County. The commute would be long if we stayed where we were and moving would save us that precious ‘Daddy time.’ For us, the answer was almost instantaneous. We would move to Ventura. We said goodbye to our friends, our schools, our comfort zones. We knew from past experience we couldn’t trade time with Daddy.
Though both fear and excitement gripped me, Hope whispered, “God’s got this too.” I do my part and the part I cannot do, He covers. Jesus went to the cross to take my fear and uncertainty. He became my everlasting Hope, giving me confidence for the future.
Prayer:
Father, help me lay my burdens before you. Remind me how big you are and how you have already given us victory. Help me to hope because I know “Hope” is not a wimpy word.
Christine Meier is mother to three amazing boys and wife to George. She is a Child Development Specialist and has her Master’s in Human Development with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. She teaches the two year olds (who adore her) at the City Kids Preschool in Ventura. Christine is passionate about marriage and family ministries, particularly around the issues that pertain to women and children. She and George co-lead a fantastic City Group for families on the first and third Fridays of the month. For more information, or to join her group, click here.
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