It’s Time to Get Your Hopes Up

We had weeds growing through the broken windowpanes of our small, broken-down 1800’s farmhouse.
Weeds!

But since we barely had money for food, there was absolutely no budget for home repairs. In fact, everything seemed to be either broken down or breaking down in those days.

We were in a financial pit.

I’ll never forget when my mother called one day and asked how we were doing. I told her we were doing great, but she knew better.

“Is that so?” she questioned. “Go to the refrigerator and open the door,” she told me. “What do you see?”

With quivering lips, I managed to sputter out the words, “A jar of empty mayonnaise!” as I choked back sobs.

You may know part of my story, but my husband, Gary, and I had made plenty of mistakes with money in those early years of our marriage and raising our family. We worked hard, but we just couldn’t seem to get ahead. We found ourselves in a financial mess, owing on 10 maxed-out credit cards, three finance company loans, two car payments, back taxes to the IRS, judgments and liens, and $26,000 to relatives.

We lived that way for NINE very long years. Year after year, the debt would just keep piling up. And Gary was sick in those days, too. The stress of our situation made him anxious and fearful.

We were believers, but we were really struggling.

I share all of this with you to let you know that I know what it’s like to fight to keep your hopes up when you’re facing situations that seem completely hopeless.

No matter what you’ve faced or are facing, you can have hope.

When we hit rock bottom of our hopeless situation and cried out to God, He started changing the way we thought about the Kingdom of God and about ourselves. But every day was still a fight to keep our hopes up. I did the one thing I could do to fight—I put Scriptures and the promises of God *everywhere.*

I’ve shared before how I used to run into the bathroom when I felt depressed or when I was throwing myself a pity-party (because it was my only quiet place with five children). So, I even put Scriptures there.

I needed those constant reminders of HOPE—those constant reminders that we wouldn’t be in the wilderness forever—that we were headed somewhere else, somewhere better.

You can have hope for your somewhere better, too.

God created you to hope and to dream!

You don’t have to let life knock the wind out of your sails! You don’t have to lose hope when you face obstacles, stress, discouragement, or disappointment! And you don’t have to listen to any voices that say, “You could never do that;” “You don’t deserve to be happy;” or “Look at all of the mistakes you’ve made,” whether it’s the voice in your own heart or the voices of others!

You CAN get your hopes up and see the promises of God come to pass in your life!

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God loves you, and He wants you to live a happy, hope-filled life, and so do I! It’s time for you to stop letting life pass you by! It’s time for you to get your hopes up for ALL God has for YOUR life.

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