by Joanne Wiklund
For so long, Hope has been important to me, and I’ve known for a long while that God is the giver of Hope. Often, though it seems to me His message of Hope arrives in our lives born by another person. A small suggestion, an offer of help, a smile, and even in my case a couple of ripe tomatoes.
This past couple of years have been tough here. Were it not for good friends our struggles would have been so much harder. Wednesday this week, a bundle of hope became a reality. I can’t describe for you how it feels thinking back on it today. We have a new generator to keep our home here running when the power fails. I have a new fan and LED lights to illuminate this office which once again is becoming a place where I write. No longer going to be just the repository of things I don’t want to let go of. Memorabilia of our life here for over 40 years has often sneaked up on me and became what I called “landmines” that drove me to tears.
Now I’m finding it easier to let go of some of those things because I discovered I don’t need an old report card or a funeral memorial card to help me remember someone. Like my friend Shirley, people come to mind all the time who I know God sent to us when we needed them. Hopefully, we have been people who also brought hope and happiness to others. I’ve always told people “If you need me call me and I’ll come.” CMIYNM has been by my signature on many missives to family and friends.
Now I tell them, “Call me if you need me and if I can’t come, I’ll send someone.” I know PEOPLE. People who believe they were put on earth just to help others. In the midst of a pandemic, a sick hubby and finally, an overwhelming feeling of loss, some of that hope I’ve had to keep going, came as two tomatoes. Beautiful red tomatoes, a little dusty, straight from the garden, born to my door by someone who cares for me. She brought them to me before she had her shower on a terribly hot afternoon. Her thought was “Joanne would like these,” and she acted on it. We need to act instead of react. It’s those little things that bring us HOPE. I don’t have room here to identify everyone involved in bringing this week to fruition. Pass it on. May you be a bearer of hope to others.
Titus 3:7 “That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
II Thessalonians 3:1 “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you.”
