Hope Floats

I watched a movie the other night, called "Hope Floats."  It's a good movie, but I like the title even more.  I thought about how hope floats, and I pictured it on top of water, floating.  Water is dense, heavy and dangerous.  In a flood, it could move land, destroy trees and even move houses out of place. I've seen houses cave in through the pressure of the water pushing on them, and the whole house got carried away with the flood.  You can drown in water if you're not careful.  There are dangerous creatures in the waters of seas and oceans, that you have to be aware of.  Water is a powerful source that could easily overtake us if we are not watchful.

And yet, water is a dichotomy.  It is a cleansing agent for not only our bodies, but for so many things.  It provides nourishment for plants and trees and all vegetation, as well as animals.  It provides nourishment for our bodies, for without it, we would die.  Our bodies are, in fact, filled with water.  When I was pregnant, I retained so much water, that I looked like a sumo wrestler - without the thong.  My legs looked like elephant trunks, which made it very hard to walk - all because of the water that was accumulated in my body.  It was very attractive, I'm sure, but thank God it was a temporary situation.  The point is, water can be our foe, but it is also our necessity.

We all have "trials" or situations that come against us, sometimes in full force, but if you can float above those trials, with your face breathing in air and sunshine, you will always be the victor.  I love to float on my back with my face to the sunshine.  It's really not easy - you have to work at it.  Our bodies do naturally float, but our faces can go under if you're not careful.  You have to move your arms and legs slowly so you don't sink part way.  You will float if you put your mind to it.  In fact, when the kids and I play a game of diving for the ball that sinks to the bottom of the pool, where it is 8 feet deep, I try and try so vigilantly to get there, kicking my feet and flailing my arms to reach the ball, but always,  except once, does my body start floating back up to the surface and the ball is out of reach.  My little 8 year old granddaughter, Ashanti, can swim down there with no problem and get the ball, like a little fish.  She really puts her grandma to shame.  In fact, her and I race all the time and she is most always the one who finishes first - and I'm really trying to win.

So hope floats.  It floats above all the problems and issues in our lives that try to destroy us, or bring us down.  It's like an anchor that we can hold on to when all else fails.  And our hope, to be powerful and lasting, should be that which we treasure most in our lives.  My hope is in Jesus Christ, and most of you know that already.  He will always hold me up above the issues in my life, if I keep my face securely fixed on Him.  When Jesus told Peter he could walk on water too, Peter started off fine, but then he took his face off Jesus, and sank.  He quickly forgot Who his hope had been.

Do I always sound like I'm preaching?  I don't want to come across that way.  It's hard though, when I'm expressing myself with this medium, not to speak about God because He is laced through and through my life.  Frankly, without Him, I would be the saddest soul without a shred of hope.

But I do have hope, and it is what I base my life upon.  And it floats me by my past, to a brighter future, by living day to day in the Light.  That's probably why I love the sunlight so much.  It feels so good to have the warm sun shine on your face, and the cool water on your back.  I know I'm taken care of, so I just continue to float....