You are my hiding place. You will keep me out of trouble and surround me with songs that remind me I am free. [pause in His presence] Psalm 32:7 VOICE

When someone you love dies it feels like your warm blanket has been ripped off and you are standing in the middle of a winter storm. That’s how I felt when Bill woke up in Heaven. I was glad that he was no longer suffering. I was rejoicing that he could now walk and breathe and swallow. His glorified body was whole and he was healed.

Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. Hebrews 11:1 TPT

Faith, hope and love are intricately linked. Faith is believing for the impossible. Hope is a confident assurance of a good outcome. Love is the sense of belonging and knowing that we are a family. Hope is hard to hold on to when someone you love seems determined to keep going in the wrong direction. That was our oldest daughter during her teenage years.

No matter what, I’ll hope in you to help me. Nothing will stop me from praising you to magnify your glory! Psalm 71:14 The Passion Translation

Hope perspective takes practice. It is a life-long habit that can be created through a continual process of recognizing that life goes on, joy returns and dark times enrich your life through adding depth and understanding.

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8 NLT

“Mom, I couldn’t even drive home for a good while because I was crying so hard,” my daughter told me the day after she had gone to help her Dad settle down for the evening while I had an unexpected trip out of town.

I was one of the last ones to board the plane (with unassigned seats, I might add) as I traveled to California recently to care for my father. There were only middle seats available at this point, so I chose the one with two ladies who were slender enough to only occupy their own seat.