Don’t Lose Hope

Here at Graciously Authentic we are passionate about creating honest conversations and we have so much goodness coming your way soon: more talk on marriage, we want to start the conversation about sex (why is it so hard to talk about!?), and we’ll be continuing the dialogue on how to worship, be thankful and praise God in the midst of the storm.

I’ll be really honest: sometimes I have so many ideas, so many different bunny trails I could hop down that I literally get writers block and just get paralyzed not even knowing how or where to begin. But I talked to a writer friend the other day and it was reassuring knowing that all writers feel like this at some point… so that made me feel better.

This blog has literally been such an interesting thing for me: I know God called me to start writing, but it seriously could not have come at a more inopportune moment in my life. God doesn’t make mistakes, He knew that I would need a place to process, to make myself be honest and not just gloss over the hard things in life.

I have first-hand experienced so many hard things in the last 6 months, but not just me – I have gotten to witness God’s work in the midst of some of life’s toughest battles in others too. You know our sweet friend Emily who loves to contribute here on the blog?

Her dear friend Katelyn is FIERCELY battling cancer right now only weeks after giving birth to a son and with a sweet little girl and hubby at home too. All before she turns 30. But God’s work in her life is incredible – Katelyn’s faith is such a LIGHT and an incredible TESTIMONY to your love and faithfulness even in the midst of her world crashing down around her. She didn’t expect to be going through rounds and rounds of chemo right after her son was born – I’m sure she envisioned some sleepless nights, but not because of surgery and radiation. So if you would, please continue to pray for Katelyn as she’s continuing to kick cancer!!

And that’s just one example of the kinds of stories God has walked me through and allowed me to have a front-row seat for. But do you know what’s so incredible about Katelyn’s stories and my own hard journey? Getting a front-row seat means that I get to be there to witness all of the incredible, awe-inspiring MIRACLES that He is performing on a daily basis. (And no, I don’t use that term miracles lightly.)

I truly mean that situations that once seemed lost, completely dead and without HOPE have been given new life through God’s incredible work and his unbelievable power. But His power comes from continuing to hope when you think all hope is lost, and if you’re in the middle of a situation when you can’t possible imagine having hope make sure you’re surrounding yourself with friends who can hope FOR you. Friends who can come alongside you and pray for you when you don’t have the strength or even the words to pray. His power comes from continuing to have faith and HOPE in Christ.

My very wise counselor told me just the other day that HOPE is grounded in truth and if you’re a Christian that means our hope is in Jesus Christ and nothing else. Here is just one verse that has helped me through this time and helped me to remember that despite what I’m going through, I can always still hope and praise God.