“I always entertain great hopes.” ~Robert Frost, poet
Are you entertaining hope?
Indulge me for a minute while I play with that word “entertain.”
Have you invited “great hopes” (plural) into your life? Anticipated the arrival of great hopes? Thrown the door wide open and embraced great hopes telling them, “I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been waiting for you!”
Or have you told “great hopes” they are not welcome in your life? Is there a “Great Hopes Not Welcome” sign posted by your front door? When hope comes knocking, do you keep the door shut and the lights out?
Entertaining great hopes is a choice. I’ll admit there are days when I don’t treat hope well. I ignore it, while I entertain doubt. Or fear. Or woe is me.
But as 2011 winds down and I walk into 2012, I am determined to entertain great hopes. For me. For my family. For my friends.
In Your Words: How would you finish this sentence: I often entertain ________. What great hopes are you entertaining?
Comments 34
Far too often I entertain doubt or discouragement when I should be entertaining hope. Thanks for the reminder to focus on the positives, Beth. 🙂
Keli,
I understand about sometimes choosing to entertain the wrong visitors. That’s why I liked this quote! 🙂
Yep, I entertain ’em. I splash in the waves with ’em. I hang ’em up near my tree. I laugh with them…this list could go on and on. God changed everything and because of Him I find hope in everything.
~ Wendy
Wendy,
Please come live in my house.
Please?
🙂
Too many hopes.
I don’t think my problem is not entertaining hope, but having too many things I want to accomplish, so that either I run myself ragged or I get discouraged that I can’t possibly accomplish everything I want to.
Lindsay,
Can you really ever have too many hopes? That’s an interesting thought to pursue some day … I know what you’re talking about, though. The whole “vaulting ambition” trap, i.e. unrealistic expectations … which isn’t the same thing as hope, is it? Hhhmmm … now you’ve got me thinking out loud …
Great thoughts on hope. 🙂 I had to take some time to think about this. I’d never thought about entertaining/inviting hope in. I think I’ve been entertaining a couple of hopes. One that my kids will grow up choosing to walk in a genuine relationship with Jesus. Secondly, my new hope is that I will be able to write stories that give…hope. 🙂
I appreciate you sharing some of your specific hopes, Jeanne. Yes, so many hopes wrapped up in our children. And then our personal hopes … and sometimes we have to watch those change or we have to release them …
Oh, yes, I entertain hope everyday…hope that my children will grow closer to God… that my writing will change someone’s life for the better…that I will walk in obedience and grow closer to what God intends for me to be.
Thanks for a great post that reminded me of what I hope for!
All things worth hoping for, Pat. Thanks for sharing.
I entertain the impossible at times!
Is it any wonder that I get discouraged? But I have often hoped the impossible and have seen God work His miracles…my son, for one. He was born perfectly normal when many doctors told me he may not be born at all and if so, he would be very, very sick.
Ha! I entertained the impossible and saw my son defy all odds. That’s the God I serve!
But it isn’t right to test God and say, “Do it again!” And that’s what I tend to do now…
Should we Christians always hope for the impossible? I firmly believe we should learn to be content with what we have…then sit back and watch God work the impossible despite us!
Thanks for a great post!
Blessings,
Ruth
Thank you for sharing, Ruth — and what a wonderful answer to hope-filled belief!
“Hope” has been my word for 2011 … and I’ve clung to it many, many times. Life without it is dark … I’d much rather entertain hope than any of the other guests I’ve chosen to invite into my life.
If it weren’t for hope, I’d fall to pieces! Entertaining hope breeds wonderful dreams! A beautiful post and picture, Beth!
My husband took that photo for me, Jessica. I love it — one of my favorites!
I entertain many hopes for the future of our family, friends, country….
I can’t imagine not having any hope. I’m blessed.
Loree,
I agree. One of the best ways to refresh hope is to count my blessings.
🙂
Beth, I love, love, LOVE the word picture of throwing the door wide open and embracing great hopes. It’s such an amazing picture of what God does with us. Thanks for the beautiful words you weave.
Thank you, Donna.
I appreciate your words of encouragement.
I chose hope as my word for 2011. It has been an amazing year of Hope as God flung open the doors to the publishing world for me. I’ve entertained hope many times–like when my mom fought for her life after heart surgery, when I sold a second book, when Hubby got a job.
But then I’ve also put my hope in a box and stuffed it in the back of the closet with the beach towels. But God is so great at patiently pulling that box out and releasing Hope within me again. After a terrible Monday, a friend’s touching phone call brought me to tears. An answered prayer yesterday buoyed my heart. I’m still clinging to my Year of Hope, but I know no matter what God is Hope. Always. No matter the year.
Lisa,
Yes and yes and yes!
I understand clinging to hope and I understand stashing hope in a closet.
I’ve done both.
Here’s to holding onto hope together –and believing in the one who gives us reason to hope!
Interesting thoughts. Great hopes… I wonder how I respond to those. Perhaps with fear and trepidation. Too many times of being disappointed has caused some of that. By maybe it’s time to pull out those hopes once again.
Yes, indded, Sonya! Pull out those hopes once again! Don’t let them gather dust. Sometimes it’s best to invite others to join you and hold on to hope together! 🙂
I always entertain hope. This morning, I woke up entertaining a feeling of helplessness. I don’t know that anything will change the situation, but I did what I could. Who knows? It might make a difference. It might not. Hope helps me try.
Stacy,
It’s true … hope doesn’t always change the situation … but it changes how I handle the situation.
AH!! I LOVE this post. Love, love, love. Between you and Heather Sunseri and Wendy Miller, I’m blown away by the awesomeness online today!
Sheesh, this is so what I needed to hear today, Beth!
What a reminder to embrace great hopes! To fling the door open and wait with unbridled expectation for what’s going to happen! I am determined to embrace great hopes. Because 2012 is the year where my very first book releases. And it’s the year that we will embark on a journey called adoption. I embrace great hopes for the child God has for our family….a child that right now is a half a planet away. For that child’s sake and for mine, I will embrace GREAT hope!
Katie,
Standing beside you as you fling the door open to so many hopes … your debut novel, adoption … believing with you!!
🙂
“Yes” and “Amen” to that Beth. Thanks for putting the link for this blog on FB today, Katie.
Yes, thank you, Katie!
I often entertain thoughts of love and being in a relationship with my “dream guy.” However, as I shift into 2012, my hope is that I put more focus on my relationship with God, so that when the right guy comes along, I’ll be ready for that kind of relationship.
Ren,
Your comment made me think of something I heard a speaker say once: Run with God so that a guy running with God will catch up with you and say, “Wow! Where have you been?”
I like your heart, your desire for living a life of faith!
Great discussion here today. I hope for peace and freedom for loved ones, clarity to write my synopses and then their WIPs just right w/ a messages delivered that change hearts–and me in the process. I also thank God for great relationships and as they go through fire, hope and see them becoming purified gold, not only gorgeous to look at, but of great value.
Dee,
Hopes … for you, for others you know, for others you hope to influence …
So many wonderful things to hope for!
Hi Beth!! Great post! HOPE has long been one of my favorite words. I “hoped in hope” when life as I knew it was slipping away. It has never let me down. Still, it is always good to be reminded anew of its great power.
Great picture, too. My favorite place to be is near the sea.
Thanks!!
Patti,
Thanks for commenting today!
I am always refreshed walking by the ocean. That photo was taken by my husband Rob, while we were vacationing this summer at Bandon, OR. Beautiful, beautiful place. We went for walks 2 or 3 times a day. 🙂