Hope You're in the Holiday Spirit

Hope is a big thing, but it comes to us in so many small ways.

In this time between avoiding rainbow candy canes (fact: red and white are the only good ones) and thinking I have plenty of time to go shopping for everyone, we begin looking at what it is that actually makes up the holiday spirit.

Hope is one of those things; the first some might even say. It’s the waiting, not the event itself. The excitement because we know good things are coming. What makes this feeling extra special around holiday time is that so many people are joining you in this pleasantry.

Throughout the year, there are so many tiny ways hope presents itself:

• Birthday candles before you blow them out.
• Mornings when you’re up early enough to watch the sun rise and wonder why you don’t do this more often.
• The beginning seconds of that song you have always loved.
• Babies trying to say their first words.
• Waiting for your favorite holidays.

These bits of our time spark up hope in a way that feels personal, like the moment has been made just for us. When hope becomes a shared emotion, it brightens the air around all of us.

The misers and scrooges can shake their canes in dismay, and even if you are one of those people that feels preparation for Christmas is more stressful than hopeful, take a moment to pause from the shopping and parties and cooking to reflect on what this season of preparation means for you spiritually. Include your family in this reflection, teach kids the importance of what is to come, ask grandparents what they have come to hope for with the new seasons.

As we get into that holiday spirit, take this week to focus on being filled with hope for the greater, better tomorrow the Lord promises us.

Where do you find tiny moments of hope?