A Thrill of Hope.

A Thrill of Hope,
The weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new glorious morn
Fall on your knees
O hear the angels' voices
O night divine
O night when Christ was born.

A thrill of H O P E. 
A thrill of putting one step in front of the other.
A thrill of dreaming. 
A thrill of waking up each morn. 
A thrill of new seasons.
A thrill of distant opportunities becoming present.
A thrill of loving who is in front of you.
A thrill of the present monotony. 

God has a way of reminding you how far you have grown.
For me, 
It came in a conversation. 
That even a year ago.
Would have brought anger, bitterness, hurt & pain
back to the surface of seasons of my past. 
Yet, 
My heart was flooded with peace.
I am healed. 
God has removed all the pain.
The memories that were good & bad. 
That brought laughter and tears. 
That chapter, those scars. 
Have been redeemed. 

This could have only been done,
Thought the complete surrender.
The abandonment of trying to do it on my own.
Always holding to this H O P E,
that one day I would be filled with peace. 
That one day the scars would be healed. 
and that day is finally here. 
Thank you Jesus. 

Because living,
especially living being held so passionately by Christ. 
Having your heart, mind & soul
consumed by Jesus.
And allowing His redemptive compassion
to sweep through every cavern,
every scar that covers the surface
and deep hidden place of your heart.
Those scars that are heavy too carry. 
For Him to whisper a freedom from them.
Thats why He is who He is. 
Why He came to this dark place.
To bring a H O P E of healing.
A wholeness. 
A safe place to pour out every foreign & familiar emotion. 
Living in Jesus. 
placing your H O P E in Him. 
revitalizes you to get up each day. 
To love those with every gifted breath.
and to live in a place of serving others. 
Thats living. 

My life is not what I envisioned it to be.
at 28. 
Each holiday season I H O P E,
that next year I'll have a man to share it with.
That I still won't be the single one in the family, 
or be celebrating it alone. 
Yet, its been years.
and I still find myself empty in this department. 
But its the continual H O P E
that I place within Jesus hands. 
That keep filling me with anticipation for this season. 
Because I know He is good. 
I know He created us to be in relationship,
to share life with community. 
And so I can't help but H O P E
That one year,
One Christmas. 
I'll be sharing it with a man,
whom has placed that H O P E
in Jesus
the way I have over these many years. 
That we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior.
Our wound healer. 
Falling on our knees giving thanks.
For the most special gift. 
For each other 
and that Jesus desired this love. 

So, as I pick up dog poop and sweep up glitter
and get ready to wait in the school pick up line.
I choose to fill my heart with H O P E
again this season.
Asking Jesus to fill my heart,
to not allow my soul to see the lack in my life.
But the goodness, joy & laughter around me. 
To listen intently, 
to His promises & words of love
to fill my heart that yearns greatly. 

A thrill of H O P E.
Its what this season is about. 
and I choose to keep H O P E I N G 
that this season will come to an end
as a new one blossoms before me. 
A thrill of H O P E
to keep me getting out of bed each morn.
seeing the twinkle of my Christmas tree.
reminding my heart.
Where would I be without Jesus. 
Where would I be without healing.
Where would I be without redemption. 
Where would I be without H O P E. 

A thrill of H O P E.
What do you H O P E for this season? 
Tell Jesus. 
Surrender it to Jesus. 
Hold it close to your precious heart
let it keep you taking that next step each day. 
Cause He who promises is faithful. 


With a heart anxiously awaiting 
for the birth of my Jesus.
Emily Elizabeth