It is said that an anchor weighing less than fifty pounds is enough to keep a two-ton ship secure and grounded in place.  It is amazing to me that such a small anchor has such a great impact.  But guess what; HOPE has the same grounding effect to the human soul. Hope allows us to batten down the hatches and weather the storms. Will we get beat up and knocked around by the storms? Yes, we will, but we are anchored and we will eventually make it out of the storms.  We may have a few cuts and bruises, but we made it through.

Many in our world are hurting. They are tired, weary and have lost their HOPE Anchor. Do you have an extra anchor to share?

Drop your anchor, hold on, and you WILL make it through the storm!

Lord, anchor my soul in your hurting world. May I be a beacon of your light, love and hope!

Debbie

We have had the most beautiful weather lately. Yesterday brought blue skies, warm sunshine, and birds a ’chirping. And the flowers, oh my goodness, such vibrant colors in my garden. (I’ll have to get my humming bird feeders out soon!)

Today, however, it is cold, dreary, overcast and windy. It is such a contrast from yesterday, but that is how life is sometimes; sunny and happy one day, cold and dreary the next day. Yesterday, everything was rocking and rolling in your life, and today, your world is in a storm. You ask yourself, “What happened.” Well, life happened. The only real choice you have on such days is, “how do YOU handle the storm?” That decision is going to dictate how bad that storm is going to affect you. Don’t let the “poor me’s” take hold of you, though that’s very easy to do! Don’t allow anyone to add to your storm. Lots of well-meaning people that love you may do this. When I am in a storm and feel the “poor me’s” trying to make a home inside my head, I follow some simple steps:

1. I find things in my life that I am grateful for. Sometimes they are simple things like, I have a roof over my head, I have a car to drive, and so forth. This helps to remind me that there are others in the world that do not have those items.
2. I look for someone whose world I can bring a little sunshine into. That takes the focus off of me. It might be paying for the order of the person that is behind me in the drive through. It could be telling the manager of the grocery store about an employee that’s gone above and beyond in helping me. It’s strange how it works, but bringing sunshine into lives of others brings sunshine into my world.

So Bundle up, buckle up, and know that the sun is going to shine again. I am standing on my desk cheering for you.