A Thrill of Hope (& a printable for you.)

If ever there were a weary world, it is this one.

It would seem that if ever there were a world in need of Christmas, it is the one we walk through now.

But truly? The first world waiting on Christmas had to be the weariest. They had been waiting for Him for so long. Though we are weary now; they were wearier still. When would He come? How long would the wait be?

But still I see the ache of weariness in faces reflecting the glow of a stoplight. I feel it in my tensing shoulders when I dare to open the news. Much of social media is a black hole of more hardness than we can bear.

Our wild world is certainly a weary one.

And it’s tempting to give into the weary way. Our only defense against pervasive fatigue– is joy. Our only hope is to choose to remember the thrill of hope. Not a brave fortune cookie hope that all will turn out okay in the end— but the hope that many around us are scraping for.

It is the thrill of hope that makes the weary world rejoice.
The thrill of the hope that only ever comes in Him– it is the thrill that we know well. A thrill like that of Christmas morning, but better.

I want to live in that hope when the world seems bleak. I want to shine like twinkle lights; not in false happiness but in real, warmness of joy.

I need the whispered liturgy that comes from the church of my quiet car, my bedroom chair, my kitchen sink. Let every harried and hallowed place be a place where He is worshipped.

Even when the hope is mashed up beside the hard, we can know– there is nothing we will ever lose by hoping in our True Hope.

And to know that whatever it takes, even when the waiting seems long, my weary soul can still rejoice.

In thinking on this very thing, I made a little something for you and I, using a line from the beautiful Christmas Carol, O Holy Night. The lyrics are so lovely.

A reminder that even in the bleakest of times, our weary hearts can rejoice. I hope this gift brings that reminder close to you.

Just click below, save the PDF file and send it to your local printshop for printing. (I recommend printing it on cardstock.)

Download this free 8 1/2 x 11 artwork here: The Thrill of Hope-2 

 

Please be kind and give proper credit if you share! © Cynthia M. Stuckey. For personal use only, not to be distributed without permission, not to be altered or sold.