hope or a dirty engine

i hadn't thought much about hope as a catalyst for motion and progress and motivation in life until this past weekend on riverside's ladies retreat. thank you Father for our speaker monica taffinder, who helped me see that "unwillingness to hope is like dirt in your engine."

"hope is the golden stuff that draws us along on this journey. it keeps us alive so we can actually taste and experience the wonder of belonging to God."
-paula rinehart

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
-emily dickinson
 
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given us
 
no one whose hope is in You will ever be put to shame