"in all things it is better to hope than to despair"-goethe

i've been working on this post now for a few days and the words just don't seem to be coming out quite right. here i go any how...


hope has been on my mind quite a bit this past week for various reason. in actuality, it is probably what i think about the most overall. the reasons vary but overriding them all is that i am not as hopeful as i wish i could be and haven't learned how to implement real hope in my life.

i want to hope. especially now, in these very moments of my life, i need it more than i need anything else.

i believe in hope. i draw strength from the hope others have for themselves and for me. i find myself trying to be like abraham "who against hope believed in hope."

not sure how it all works, but have to trust that it does...that hope actually is"believing that a positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary."

so i move forward. "plowing in hope" as paul said. i work and ready the soil of my heart and soul for what is to come next, trying to use my eyes of faith.

i leave you with one of many wise words spoken by the beloved elder neal a. maxwell:

"However, enduring and submitting are not passive responses at all, but instead are actually more like being braced sufficiently to report for advanced duties, while carrying—meekly and victoriously—bruises from the previous frays....Therefore, whatever our humble furrow, we are to 'plow in hope.'"

"we thank thee o god for a prophet..."

as i have been contemplating the passing of our beloved prophet, president gordon b. hinckley, i cannot help but feel awe and gratitude. i feel privileged that my formative years coincided with his presidency. so much of who i have become has been influenced by this gracious, kind, and loving man who taught me to always strive to be better, kinder, softer and most of all, to not be ashamed of my testimony of the lord.

i feel honored to have learned from him.

and though he will be missed terribly, i smile to think of his happy return home, to his wife and his god.

and so today in my heart i sing, "we thank thee o god for a prophet, to guide us in these latter days..."