Posted on by gettingofftheinterstate

Here We Go Again!

by Donna Poole

Media, especially social media, is gloomier than Michigan in January, and that’s saying a lot.

Michigan has many superlatives. For one thing we have the longest freshwater coastline in the world, 3,288 miles of it. We’re a big old peninsula surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes, and that’s wonderful, but all that water causes gloomy, cloudy days in November, December, and January.

If Michiganders aren’t careful, gloom seeps right into our bones and turns us all into Eeyores, the dismal donkey of Winnie the Pooh fame.

Media, especially social media, is gloomier than Eeyore, and that’s saying a lot.

I saw a meme—we Boomers used to call them cartoons—that made me feel like laughing and crying. A woman jumped out of a window in a burning building labeled 2020, landed on a fireman’s trampoline, and catapulted into another window in a burning building tagged 2021.

We get that; don’t we? Are we, perhaps, a bit jaded and gloomy after the year we just finished?

And yet, hope remains. It might peek out for just a minute a day, like the Michigan sunshine did on a recent morning; it might be tattered and jagged, but it’s there.

I saw bright sunshine amidst Facebook gloom today. A friend posted a Tigger minute: “Addicted to hope.”  

“Me too!” I commented. It’s poor grammar; I know I should say, “I am also,” but “me too!” seemed more cheerful and Tiggerish.

I am addicted to hope.

Hope is why we read mystery books, put together puzzles, or play Spider Solitaire. We like to see complicated, hopeless things come together in a satisfactory conclusion. We long for all the things we aren’t finding in current events or perhaps even in our own lives: peace, answers, and everything in its proper place. We’re desperate to find that one puzzle piece missing under the table.

Hope sneaks up on us when we smell a trailer load of new lumber, or open a new notebook, or turn the first page of a book. Hope and anticipation are almost inseparable. Many new things inspire hope; there’s a reason a new year is often depicted as a baby.

It’s hope that makes us try that exercise program in one more effort to rid ourselves of the SpongeBob SquarePants silhouette.

It’s hope that makes me pick up my tiny, two-pound weights. I want to regain a little of the strength cancer is stealing. And I want to do something about this skin that kind of just lies here next to me in a puddle. I’m sorry about that word picture; blame my niece, Sheri.

Years ago, when she was still in school, Sheri worked at a nursing home. “I like my patients, but their skin! It just lies there next to them.”

Now I’m one of those people; cancer caused weight loss too fast. I hope to do something about that skin. What, I don’t know, except laugh and remember Sheri!

Laughter aside, I do have serious hopes for 2021, and I’m sure you do too. I know we’re all beyond tired of the fighting and the violence. We hope for many things to change in the world and in our lives.

We could easily give into hopelessness when dreams not only shatter around us but almost crush the life out of us when they fall.

Sin and suffering are a creeping darkness enfolding our planet, but even for that, there is hope.

I looked but can’t find the George MacDonald quote where he wrote that sin and her children; sorrow and suffering, are sickly and dying, but joy and her children are strong and will live forever. That’s hope!

Faith, hope, and love entwine in a strong three-fold cord in the Christian’s heart (I Corinthians 12:13). The King James Bible uses the word “hope” 129 times!

Hope is the one thing we can’t live without.

My heart paraphrases Psalm 43:5, “Why are you sad and upset, oh my soul? Hope in God!”

Unlike politics, health, exercise programs, or dreams, hope in God is a sure thing. God never fails. For those who know Him, far, far better things are coming than we have the imagination to even begin to hope for.

So, here we go again! So far, 2021 looks as bleak or bleaker than 2020, but only if we leave God and hope out of the equation. That I don’t intend to do. I’ve had enough of cloudy, gloomy days. I’m ready to sit in the sunshine of hope. Anyone want to sit with me?

27 Replies to “Here We Go Again!”

  1. Now don’t pick on “me too” it’s short hand for the soul. Haha
    Another great write Donna!

  3. I will gladly sit with you, Donna💕 Thank you for another beautifully written article! I have a picture in my mind of us sitting together in the sunshine of hope. It’s a beautiful picture. Love you and continuing praying for you always💕🙏🏽🙏

  4. I will gladly sit with you, Donna💕 Thank you for another beautifully written article! I have a picture in my mind of us sitting together in the sunshine of hope. It’s a beautiful picture. Love you and continuing prayers for you always💕🙏🏽🙏

    1. Jean, I’d love to sit in the sunshine of hope with you. John 3:16! Much love and God bless!

  6. We are there with you Donna “hoping” for your situation to change for the better as well as our daughter’s.

    1. Patty, I hope and pray this is the year God will heal your daughter! God bless you all.

  7. More than happy to sit in the sun with you. I love all the times we have dear friend and shared our concerns and joys. Praying for you. I love living in Grace. Donna Reed

    1. Donna, I cherish every memory of time spent together, and we have all eternity to look forward to. We love you and Bernard!

    1. Jeremiah, you are a constant encouragement to me. I appreciate it. God bless you and yours!

  9. me too! umm the gloom is here to 500 miles from Great Lakes! So they are innocent lol Thanks for Hope, I feel Spring coming, its 50f ish here! Luv your works!

  11. I do….I do!😊❤ Thank you for your beautiful, hope filled perspective during these challenging times! I appreciate you…….

  12. Donna, reading your blog pushes the fear and anxiety away! I love your way with words to blend godly wisdom with your experiences, sprinkled with humor, and served with a huge spoon of inspiration! We have a mutual friend in Lon Barkema. He shared your blog with me. I just finished “Corners Church”. Loved it! Lon has promised me more of your books! Lon is the grandpa of many of my past students. He is the fix it man at North Iowa Christian School. He also is ” Grandpa Lon” to my class of 1st-2nd graders. He reads aloud and shares his heart and wisdom every chance he gets! I have been urging him to write a children’s book.

    1. Diane, I’m glad to meet you! Lon and Jacque are wonderful people. I’m sure Lon could write a great children’s book! Thanks for taking time to read my writing and encourage me.

  13. You hit the nail on the head! Mystery books, puzzles and Spider Solitaire! That’s me, trying to put everything in a perfect order! Great read, Donna!!!

    1. Thanks, Joni! I can’t do puzzles though, but many of my friends love them, and I see why!

  14. Again your thoughts, are such a joy to read. Hope is a favourite word of mine.
    We all need HOPE. Someone once said s we can live without food for so long. Water too for a little while. But we can’t live without hope.
    Here’s praying for you my friend across the pond for loads of hope your way. Your loved one’s too.
    Every blessing ❤️🌹

    1. Jennifer, thank you for your concern, encouragement, and prayers. I also love the word hope!

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