HOPE: In God's Hands

Passage: Psalm 25: 1-10

By Suzanne Harmon


As a single girl in Southern California, I applied my Type-A personality and project management skills to finding my future mate. I was an online dating warrior. I was willing to be set up with anyone. I tried speed dating ... three times.  I gave every date a nickname.  A coworker started a chart on my cubicle whiteboard to keep track of how things were going with "Mohawk Man," "The Woolly Mammoth" and "Old Man Sweatpants."  Surely, anyone walking by that list of potential suitors would be wondering, "how does she keep the faith?" -- or more likely, what does "The Woolly Mammoth" look like exactly?  And I would tell them this: that in all my past experiences, God has heard and answered my prayers.

Psalm 25 echoes this same sentiment of hope, and eventually, God led me to realize that I needed to approach my prayer as the psalmist did.  Instead of praying for God to drop a man on my front doorstep, I asked Him to show me the right path and the road He pointed to, had a giant, neon sign that read "Charlotte, N.C."

Within three weeks of relocating, I met my husband, Craig.  Delightfully, God also answered a prayer I had yet to ask.  He led me to my Covenant church family, where I have made connections with people who pray for me, who feel like old friends, and who certainly would have never let me go out with a guy who wore sweatpants on a first date.

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HOPE: Investing in the Future

"...May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all people..."  (1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13)

By Mary Lynne Calhoun

This summer, I became That Woman. You know, the one with the goofy grin who not-so-secretly hopes you’ll ask to see pictures. On July 26 Isabel was born and Lawrence and I became first-time grandparents. Not only are we awash with love but the presence of this little child has reignited an investment in and hope for the future.

As Edmond McDonald wrote: "The great events of this world are not battles and elections and earthquakes and thunderbolts. The great events are babies, for each child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged with humanity but is still expecting good-will to become incarnate in each human life."

The late anthropologist Margaret Mead once advised that for happiness and optimism in old age, one should develop a personal relationship with at least one child who needs a caring adult. Such a relationship provides the older person with a clear, direct investment in the future.

To live out this investment, we must see each child - those known to us and those unknown - as a beloved child of God. We must act collectively and individually on the behalf of children so that they too have the gift of hope. In Advent, we await the birth of One who invited the little children to come to him. Let us join in this invitation.

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