Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying some relaxing time this weekend. This morning I cleaned the apartment, wrote letters and did food prep.
Ann is coming by in a few minutes and later Al has a meeting at church. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As God’s children we are to be people of hope, even though what is happening around us may seem fearful and dark. I read recently on Crosswalk what Ines Velasquez McBryde had to say about her grandmother. She grew up in Nicaragua in the midst of civil war, hurricanes, earthquakes and under communist regime etc. But what Ines remembers of her was her hopeful spirit in everything. She had her eyes on the TV news, but more so, her eyes were planted on the Good News of Jesus. She continually watered seeds of hope and knew that even at the darkest times the Lord was with her and would not abandon her. She helped and served so many others as well, and brought hope to those around her.
Maybe for us it seems like our worries grow worse at night in the darkness, and our fears get exaggerated. But in the light of morning our worries tend to seem less. Philip Gulley said that “fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow.” Because our lives are in God’s hands, we can lie down in faith and wake in hope for He holds our future.
In Romans 15:13(ESV) Paul writes, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” The Amplified version says hope is the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. In the Greek the word for hope is Elpis which means a desire of some good with an expectation of obtaining it. We are to live in hope and with the expectation that something good will happen.
When we think of our future, it is very bright and something to anticipate. Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon telling them what God said. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans of welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Yes, we have a glorious future as God’s children for we have the promise of His second coming and the anticipation of new heavens and a new earth.
Let us water seeds of hope and remember God has things all in His hands.
Challenge for today; The next time you feel fearful, remember who holds the future and hang on in hopeful anticipation.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy