Hope Helps Us to See Beauty!

“When will I get relief?” “Will this empty feeling ever go away?” “Am I ever going to get over this loss?” What we’re really trying to say is, “I wish this never happened, and I want to turn back the clock and go back to how things were before this loss.”

But, the world as we once knew it no longer exists. Our grief experience has changed life as we once knew it forever. We now live in a new place, and it’s up to us to work very hard to find a new normal. Yet, we still keep on trying to turn the clock back. We keep wishing and hoping and remembering. The pain feels like it is just too much!

Little by little, though, hope begins filtering in through the cracks in our heart and brain, and we realize that even though our world is now totally different, we must find a way to go on. We begin to establish new traditions, find new ways to place peace in our souls, and we realize that we really aren’t alone at all.

Hope pushes us forward even when we feel like we can’t go on. Hope helps us to see the beauty in small things such as a smile, a babbling brook, or a gentle snowfall. We understand more fully how to cherish the small moments in life, and we are so thankful for every ray of sunshine
that touches our heart. Hope is alive, and hope teaches us how to live again! --Clara Hinton

“A hopeful heart is a peace-filled heart.” --Clara Hinton

“The Lord of hosts is with us.” -- Psalm 46:7

Grief Makes Us Feel So Alone

Grief is such a universal experience, yet when it happens to us we feel so alone. Even when members of a family share the very same loss, each person feels the loss at a different level, and in a very personal way.

Our grief may be in common, but it is private as well. Our grief is our pain, and nobody experiences it in just the same way. It helps to remember that when we’re walking down the pathway of grief we are never alone even though it often feels that way.

There will be a time when we find solace and hope, but it will be different for everyone. Nobody experiences our loss the same, and nobody finds hope and comfort at the same time or in the same way.

What helps, though, is to remember that our day of peace will arrive, and when it does, it will be like having a big weight lifted off of our heart, and a new song placed in our heart for us to enjoy. No, we’ll never feel the same after a loss, but we will find relief, peace, and comfort. Hope will place a smile upon our heart as we continue on this journey we call life.

Hope allows us to look at today and enjoy the beauty of it, without worrying about the future. Hope gives us the strength for one day at a time, and slowly we find that the future has arrived and we are living it with a new strength and renewed sense of life that we didn’t have before. Hope gives us a reason to go on! --Clara Hinton

“It is comforting to know that God always provides hope as a companion to pain.” --Clara Hinton

“Faith is being…..certain of what we do not see.” Heb. 11:1