Planting Seeds of Hope

Hope grows in the most unlikely of places, searching out souls huddled in darkened corners of despair. I know, I’ve been there, and hope found me. 

So, I want to plant seeds of hope:

Hope made possible by the gift of God’s grace.

The surety of His trustworthy nature.

His promise to never leave or forsake us.

Hope reached out to me during my darkest night of the soul. Hope found its way around betrayal, abandonment, fear, and despair. A tiny seed spoken by a kindly woman over the SANON hotline: “You’re going to be ok,” found its way into my soul. The seed grew as I joined a 12-Step support group, and she became my sponsor. 

Hope grew through the watering of words, hugs, and care from family and friends. Hope helped me to reach for the sun when my sister convinced me we should go to college and become teachers. 

Hope grew into a mighty tree, up from the floor of my classroom, ripening into the fruit of learning, the art of creativity, the vision for a future. 

Now in retirement, I have the privilege of nurturing hope in the souls of seven delightful grandchildren. 

Yes, I want to plant seeds of hope through making art, writing blog posts, and creating videos. To offer hope to people online I will never meet this side of heaven. 

I’m convinced it doesn’t take a lot to sew seeds of hope in a world torn asunder with despair: a kind word, a comforting hug, a check-in text, a scripture shared can turn a person’s despair into peace and promise.  

I expressed this desire to a YouTube viewer:

Thank you so much for your willingness to let me quote you and for your generous compliment! My hope and prayer is that God will use my art and writing to inspire, encourage, and heal, so your encouragement means a lot.

Her response encouraged me to keep planting seeds of hope:

Honey, he is already using you. I was led right to you twice when I needed it the most. Healers and artist always recognize each other. You blessed me too with a few confirmations I needed badly, and I am grateful for that. I am very happy to hear that it was your prayer to help others the way you do. That has been one of my own prayers since I was very young. Keep on writing along with the painting. Your heart and soul will touch many. He will lead them to you.

So, if you’re an artistic, remember that your creations can bring hope to others.

Connect with me around the web: https://linktr.ee/jodeeluna

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