Advent (Hope): Lending Promise

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us…  It lends promise to the future and purpose to the past.  It turns discouragement to determination.” ~ SAMUEL SMILES, Self-Help 

 Christmas is coming, and this is the Season of Hope.

Santa Claus notwithstanding, every year at Christmastime (like children all over the world), my children hope they will get what they want.  I, as a parent, hope they will want what they get; because more often than not, I am unable to provide them with the mile-long list of things they ask for.  Case in point – a couple of years ago, each of my children wanted an iPod touch for Christmas.  Now, there was no way that we could fulfill that rather pricey wish for four children.  It would have taken a miracle (or a bearded man in a red and white suit) for $800 worth of electronics to make an appearance under our tree.  And yet, any of you that have even seen my sons in passing know that they are all walking around with iPod touches in their possession.  So how did this happen?  Upon finding their hopes unrealized on Christmas morning, they chose not to abandon hope, but to become inspired by it.  Each carefully planned a budget, calculated the amount of cash and gift cards they anticipated receiving from their loving relatives for the next upcoming holidays, added it to the total they had already saved, and each made a plan to purchase their own iPod touch.

Some people may see this simply as “goal-setting”, some may see it as “manifesting”.  I see it as Hope, successfully turning desire into determination.  And in so doing, it has provided my boys with an even stronger belief in the power of hope.

Of course I am aware that a child not receiving their desired gift for Christmas pales in significance when compared to some of the disappointments that many of us face on a regular basis, but there is a lesson in here somewhere.  Even in times of disappointment, how can you allow hope to lend promise to the future?

~ Christiana 

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