sarahagerty
About the Author

Sara is a wife to Nate and a mother of five whose arms stretched wide across the expanse between the United States and Africa. After almost a decade of Christian life she was introduced to pain and perplexity and, ultimately, intimacy with Jesus. God met her and moved her when...

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  1. A fresh dose of hope! After a beautiful, fulfilling marriage of 21+ years! God called Allen home. I will always love and miss him. But I dare to hope for another marriage. I ask God; I only want it if He plans it, but I dare to hope that I will revel in the communion that a healthy marriage gives. I know that may not be His plan, and I want to walk beside Jesus, in His will while I wait as a widow. But I still need hope and I still ask Him for what my heart desires.

  2. I need a fresh dose of hope in my relationship with my mother-in-law. I am unable to live up to her expectations and she often gives our children advise that goes against what we have said. This is a very hard relationship. We live a mile from each other and she doesn’t drive so is very dependent on us. I know God can work miracles in this relationship but after 24 years, it seems to only get harder.

  3. I interviewed for a job last week that I think would be a perfect fit for me, but I am afraid to hope too much that I might be chosen because I don’t want to be disappointed again. You are so right, playing it safe does fool me into thinking I am in charge of the consequences. Praying this morning that I am able to approach His throne full of hope and say, “Lord, I’m willing but vulnerable as I stand before you. Help me to put my trust solely in You.” Thank you for your encouraging words this morning. I am grateful.

    • Kim,

      Praying with you that God will open the doors to the right job for you! He can do miracles when we least expect. All He asks of us is to hope and pray.

      Blessings 🙂

  4. I feel cracked open. Last January my husband and i decided to come off birth control. We want for God to be more in control of our lives. The world sees children as a burden and God sees them as a blessing. I felt that we were missing out on God’s blessings for us. I found out I was pregnant in May with our third. In September at 20 weeks we found out that our baby would never be able to live outside my body. I prayed and hoped for God to fix my little one. One doctor recommended it would be best to have an abortion. She said my baby would most likely live only a week or two more. I carried Ava for 14 more weeks before she went home to the Lord and I went into labor on my own. My due date is tomorrow. This is harder than I ever could have imagined. I’m praying that God will show me that my bitter is sweet.

    • Oh Gennie, praying for you right now, this morning, that you would see Him so near to you. Praying that you would feel His arms carrying you and speaking into this pain, right now.

      Sara

    • Need hope/encouragement for the year. Marriage of 23 yrs is failing. Having to sell beloved home of 22 yrs. Living on disability income only which does not feed me & my pets, Turned down for LTD I had paid into for 32 years. MY last brother died in July 2014, My brother in law died in Sept 2013. Really need God’s love to carry me through right now. This book would help me to find those ways.

    • Gennie,

      Prayers for you sweet sister. Losing a little one before its time is so hard. May God give you the comfort you so desperately need right now. Prayers that you know fully that God is in Control of every aspect of this life!

      🙂

  5. I need a fresh dose of hope as we contine our adoption journey to going our daughter home from Africa. This has been a long five year journey and while weary we know this is Gods calling on our lives.

  6. I have been watching and praying for 4 young women who share your heart’s desire. Three of them have had their hopes answered, but the fourth waits and now watches her sister grow with new life.
    It’s hard to be the only one who waits. Praying for the fulfillment that comes through hope and surrendering ALL to Him.

  7. I need hope this year. I have let God write on the “blank check of my life” and now we are moving far away to a big (gigantic ) city. Away from family and friends and small town America. I want to hope for us to thrive in glorifying Him in this move. But I’m scared were screwing up and making a bad decision or that we will fail in His name. Or that I will look eek and unimportant against all those big city momma’s.
    But I am so thankful for the opportunity and faithfulness he has shown us in the des idiom to leave all things comfortable to glorify Him.

    • Caroline,

      Praying you would find Him in new ways in this move — that a year from now you could look back and say you saw Him in this move like you’ve never seen Him before.

      Sara

    • Caroline,

      Prayers for you as you take this leap of faith! May God guide you both along this journey! Prayers that He lead you to a good church and friends that can comfort you in this transition!

  8. I so need hope. My 2nd marriage ended just 3 months ago. I am struggling with clinical depression, have been hospitalized twice in the past 4 months for this. I trust God most days, but there are mornings I wake up and all hope is gone. I feel I have failed in so many areas of my life.
    I hope for a better future where I don’t feel so much pain.

    • Don’t despair MaryJean Blair,
      God has great plans for you, yet. He uses our brokenness to help others. He uses others’ brokenness to help us. Check yourself into His restoration program. Focus your time to be quiet and find the broken people in the bible, and see what God has done with them. Find someone to pray with and keep your mind focused on the love that God has for you as his daughter. Whether you are in the hospital or not, ask for a female chaplain to listen to you and pray with you. Go to the care ministry in your church and find a group that speaks and listens freely without judgment, even if it is not the same type of sins. These people can walk with you. Then take your focus off yourself and place it on your loving God and Saviour, who cares unfailingly for you. His love endures forever and can be found here in this life.

    • MaryJean

      Do not despair. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord”. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you”. God looks on things like this as a detour to His plans. May God bring people around that you can talk with. I pray He heals you and you see Him as Abba Father–the one who loves you unconditionally! He is always with you no matter what you are going through!

  9. I need a fresh dose of hope as I try one of my 2 last options for fighting cancer that has plagued me for almost 9 years. Hope for a job for my retired husband because this is very expensive and our funds are depleted. Hope for my family’s strength to be renewed day by day as we journey this hard part of life together.

    • Debbie,

      Prayers that God will bring about miracles in your lives. Prayers for a job for hubby and for a cure to your cancer. May you feel His love and tender mercy. May God renew your family’s strength and give you all courage to deal with all this!

  10. I am walking in the trenches with woman whose marriages has been ripped apart… I am watching them press hard into the Lord… allowing God to transform them in their pain… but hope for restoration is harder… hearts that are hardened by sin… can be so slow to soften. I would love to read your words… but also be able to pass along your book to these woman. thanks for the opportunity. I am so sorry for your loss… 4 of my babies have only been held by God. May His comfort and grace hold you near.

  11. i need a fresh dose of hope for quite a bit right now. the last 4 years have seen alot of things put to death in and around me- jobs, relationships, and an actual person- and hoping just feels masochistic. but i do see the Lord at work, and I want to watch Him with hope, instead of suspicion. I want this year to be different.

  12. God has been showing me to let him stretch my faith as I put my hope in him. Lots of changes can make hope become hard to see.

  13. I am in need of HOPE! My dad has been fighting terminal cancer for a year now and he is in need of Hope too! My husband who I have been married to for almost 10 years is a paraplegic and is home all the time and feels he is stuck in his own prison. He can not work or drive and finances are a struggle. I work 40 hours a week or more and try to take care of my husband and dad when my mom has to work. We need to sell our home because my husband can’t get upstairs and that’s were our bedrooms are. I have always wanted children and have Hoped and prayed for a long time to receive one from God. 10 years feels like a long time. I know God has a plan, but trying to keep the Hope after seeing everyone else have a child is really hard! Pray for me to keep the Hope in my heart and prayers!

  14. Don’t want to leave details here, but simply can’t get past the feeling that God has abandoned me and I’m not worthy to be listened to. Without hope…what is there?

    • (I so know that feeling.) Praying today (right now), that He meets you in your ache and shows you how He really sees you, Christina.

  15. After suffering two miscarriages in the past six months, my husband and I are trying to conceive again. I am so afraid to try again. So afraid to hope. So afraid to be vulnerable. But I can’t shake the desire to keep trying. I believe God put that desire there. And so I am stepping out in faith, in the awkward place where I am waiting to take a pregnancy test and hopeful, but also terrified, that it might be positive.

  16. Hope cracks me open. Dream like a little girl. Vulnerable…. Girl this is powerful writing!!!! Your writing made me a bit braver today!!!
    Dare to DREAM,
    Kristi Smith
    Author of “DREAM…a guide to grieving gracefully”

  17. Thank you for this post and fresh perspective! I’m so very sorry for your loss. I’m so grateful for your honesty and desire to find Jesus in the midst of it.

  18. I need hope for a family that is so lost to God. Every time I feel hope somehow it is thwarted. I need the kind of relationship with God that expels fears every time I lose hope. Thank you for your insightful words – I will read them again until I feel them as part of me, not just words.

  19. My hope & prayers are that our 16yo daughter would excel in school. Last yrs are just a struggle for focus for her, always has been a bit. Needs the light bulb to turn on in math, this stresses her & it burdens my heart, so I will keep praying & trusting Him.
    Thankful for each day that is a gift✨

  20. Again, I am searching for hope. A new and deeper hope. I have been out of work for 13 months and have been seeking God every step of the way. I thought I had found a job that would finally allow me to use my gifts, talents and abilities to glorify God but after six interviews, I was informed that I was not “chosen.” So after seeking God and trusting for what seems so very long, I am confused and so very sad. What steps to take next? How do I continue to trust? Will God continue to provide? Am I worthy? So many unanswered questions. Bottom line, how do I continue to hope?

  21. A fresh dose of hope- who doesn’t need it? Hope that my loved ones will be saved, hope that I am doing this motherhood thing right to our four young children, hope that we get through another year and trust God with the finances. Sometimes it seems like there is a lot of need for hope that it becomes nothing more than a word tossed around, jargon used in everyday prayer. Hope renewed, that comes alive, dares you to dream again and trust in God- that is the hope I could use. I feel God is working in me and awaking me to deeper faith. Your book could be one more tool, something that resonates with my soul. Thank you for sharing your story.

  22. Thank you, Sara, for again stating far more eloquently yet still beautifully simply that which I feel. While my life’s story differs greatly from yours, I had an epiphany this weekend that while I firmly believe in a great God, capable of far more than I can imagine, I do not think that He’ll say yes to me, which really means I think He’s small. Shook me to the core.
    Thanks again for somehow knowing I needed to read this.

  23. I need a fresh hope, like withered grass needs rain. I have been living with chronic illnesses that continue to rob me of living the life I want to live. I do know God has a plan and purpose for me, but some days hope is hard to find, let alone cling to. I have almost stopped praying for healing and I know that I need too, but my prayers seem so feeble and small. I want to be like the woman in the bible who touched Jesus and was healed, but also realize that healing may never come while here on this earth. I just downloaded your book yesterday and am praying that it will help me, although our circumstances are different, our God is same today and forever!!

  24. My husband and I are hoping and praying that God will give us the green light on adopting a little 14 year old girl. He placed it squarely on our hearts but a lot needs to fall into place for that to happen. Thankfully we have a big God! I’ve been keeping this mostly to myself because if God DOES say no, I don’t want to admit to following a “girlish fantasy”….. but like you said, there’s a closeness with God that cannot be reached without being vulnerable.

  25. 11 years of marriage and hope and thankfully no miscarriages, I then gave birth to my one and only who is now 14 and being reminded of the answer to prayers that birthed her helps me right now as I face the challenges of a 14 year old professor’s kid in a neighborhood of professors kids (think pk, because for our Christian college, being a prof’s kid is a lot like being a pastor’s kid).
    Also, like Caroline Dotson above, God has us poised to move this summer but we don’t know where (only that it will be out of this neighborhood after 7 years). It is a Sabbath year (Jewish calendar, no lie) which I hope for us translates into a year of jubilee as my husband and I are turning 50.
    Is this crazy? Or do I hope in vain? I hope in the Lord, who if not granting the details I desire, will definitely grant me good.

  26. Hearing you say ” I let go of hope and called it wisdom” just quickened my spirit. My husband of four years suffered a brain inury. I walked through his miraculous healing dealing with hope deferred to his relapse of alcohol and aggressive behavior and being removed from the home nine months ago. This isn’t what our marriage was supposed to be. I deferred hope for wisdom for his restoration. I deferred hope in our marriage being a miracle for wisdom. I am so grateful to you for telling your story. I pray God blesses you abundantly and agree with you that lives will be forever changed and a fresh hope birthed in their hearts and lives!

  27. we are going through such a bumpy phase of live…i know that God is here with us and that there is meaning to this season of life, but the bad news keeps piling up, the sorrow and pain slowly crowding out the light…as faith begins to struggle under it’s heavy burden, hope is the only thing left that we have to cling to…

  28. I have been bitter. God gave me an adventurous Spirit and a deep compassion and desire to go and serve the “least of these”. I always felt I should do this with my husband. However, my husband was not given the same longings and has always been safe and calculated and more focused on growing his buisness (in which God gave him great talent). Throughout our 16 year marriage I have felt he has held me back from really being sold out for God.

    God has been very patient with me. He has showed me that I have been ungrateful for and unwilling to receive the gifts He has given me…to see that I have been called to His purposes and plans for my life. He has put me where He wants me and I am just now really willing to walk into where He is taking me…leaving the bitterness behind.

    The fresh portion of hope that I need, however, is that God will bring in our path ways to serve God together. That I dont have to manufacture or plan these things. And that my husband will recognize them from the hand of God. I will accept the path. Whatever it is. However, I believe I can still hope for a path of service and surrender of our lives. Gods ways our higher than mine. I will trust Him.

    • Without going into details, I was in a similar position to you, feeling the same way. However, recently God has really challenged me.Nobody, but nobody, can stop us from being sold out for God. I am beginning to see that this simply means full and total surrender, a walking in the light where we invite God to shine His light on any area of our lives that He wants to deal with, and being willing to follow through. It is ‘being’, not ‘doing’. It is relationship and fellowship with our Heavenly Father; it is worship, not service, that is paramount. May God give us the grace to realise that our husbands are our ministries, and trust Him for the miracle.

  29. Love the honesty in this post. I too often box myself in regarding hope, because I have experienced much heartache and disappointment on this earth. It can leave you in the state of mind that when good things are happening, you seem to wait for the other shoe to drop.
    But this:

    “When I choose hope, when I choose to engage in that awkward intimacy of believing that He might say no while asking expectantly that He say yes, my heart opens in a way it never does when I’m careful. I’m forced to search Him out, to wrestle with Him. And in so doing He gets the most beautiful part of me.”

    is so true, and the same goes with trusting Him in everything. I believe that’s why it can be hard to do either at times, because we know the outcome could be different than what we are expecting.
    But I love how you put that, he gets the most beautiful part of us when we are seeking and struggling. So true.

  30. An extra dose of hope….for shattered dreams…for suffering parents….for four adopted sisters ripped away without a goodbye…for watching the other young couples who have been married the same or less time than we have in our small town have their 2nd child while we wait in unexplained barrenness. Hope in my Lord has become a lifeline through the stormy waters. In some ways, I feel like holding onto Hope means getting whipped around and dashed upon the rocks in the storm. Yet in reality, Hope is sometimes the only reason I am still planted firmly on the Rock while at times the waves beat seemingly mercilessly all around me. Thank you for sharing from your heart and reminding me that without Hope the Joy of life also fades away.
    Fully hope for your dreams, while trusting God to change your dreams or give you better ones if you are hoping in the wrong dreams. ~Psalm 37:4

  31. Being there for my sister for 30 years after her bone marrow transplant, then having to watch my daughter go through major brain surgery 3 years ago, you’d think I would have hope in God because the 2 dearest ladies in my life are still alive yet having to face possibly more surgeries in the days ahead I feel absolutely drained of any hope remaining but I definitely need that infusion of HOPE, and faith in my Heavenly Father so I can continually be there for them and for the other members of our household who need daily encouragement from me (Their Spouse,Mother,Grandmother, Daughter,
    sister, & Mother-in-law)

  32. I need a fresh dose of hope as I struggle with my young adult children who have walked away from God and my 11 year old son who is struggling in school. Many days I feel empty, drained, discouraged.

  33. Hope. My 31-yr-old daughter had Leukemia at age 2. Her treatments lasted 2 1/2 years and included chemo and radiation. The Lord filled and surrounded us with faith and hope at that time and we have been beautifully and forever blessed by her life. Now- we need hope. Those radiation treatments have ravaged her body. She has had thyroid, and ovarian tumors. Her lungs are scarred so she has severe asthma. She has had numerous skin cancers on her scalp, due to the radiation. The past two years, she has had 4 brain tumors. Doctors say these kind will always return. Will she need wigs, due to so many surgical scars? Will her head endure all the surgery and continued radiation. What about her future? Maintaining her job as anointed and beloved preschool teacher and her deepest desire to return to India to the orphans and sex trafficked children? Will she ever marry and have a family? Will The Lord send her a husband to hold her and carry her through these challenges? Hope to believe in supernatural healing and NO MORE tumors. EVER. Hope for her not to feel ” stuck”. No one laughs and hopes as she does. We continue to press on, in laughter, with love, with joy….with hope!

  34. My hope is that I allow the fullness of God to work in me and through me! I am honestly scared of what I know God can and will do! I have no self-confidence in myself. My hope is for my actions to be so outspoken for God that there is no dening that He lives and loves all especially for the nonbelievers who so desperately need to hear and feel true love that can only come from Jesus!

  35. I need hope to continue after 12 years of a difficult marriage. My family has pulled away since I have made a choice to stay and battle for my marriage and kids because I want to trust God is doing something bigger I can’t see. Each day is spiritual warfare with a husband who is not walking in the freedom Christ offers. It has negative effects on me and the kids, but I want to believe that ALL things do work together for good because I am trusting and following what The Lord has asked me to do. Thanks for your prayers.

  36. Hope. That is what I am calling 2015…my year of hope. 2014 was the year of change…it was filled with loss, tragedy and pain. But in the midst of the storm, I found hidden strength, courage to change…and gave forgiveness to someone I’ve hated for a long time…me. So, this year I’m trusting God’s plan and putting all my hope in Him. thank you for sharing your beautiful heart with us.

  37. Hi ladies!❤️Thank you, for all you are doing to encourage and support!XO I don’t want to win what someone else needs more than me so if you can add a sixth book, I would gladly accept it

  38. After receiving a job offer a week ago today, a friend I’ve had for almost two years, has stopped talking to me. I didn’t tell her about the job for specific reasons which I told her, but I did tell her that I didn’t want to lose her friendship. I have prayed over this each day giving it over to God. It hurts so much. I’ve doubted her intentions in our friendship for several months due to someone else asking me about it. But it hurts a lot. I have lost different friends due to leaving churches {my dad has been a pastor my whole life}, due to my divorce, but this one came out of nowhere and it hurts so, so much. I have to continually give it over to God each day and each moment. What has been a joyous occasion has been tainted by this loss. She is the only person who has not shared in my joy.

  39. Beautiful, beautiful words…and such a deep post. I will be re-reading it for days. I love the way you ended it…

    “They made me the alabaster jar. Hope cracks me open. To Him and for Him.”

    LOVE this. Thank you so much for sharing today.

  40. Needing an extra dose of hope for a lot I f reasons, but the biggest being due to nearly 4 years of extreme brokenness in our marriage and family. I do hold onto God’s promises, and I do cling to hope, but right now, it is definitely something I have to fight to actually FEEL. Thankfully, hope isn’t just a feeling, but a fact…and I know it remains even as I am worn and weary in every way.

  41. Hope for even the small. Funny how we talk ourselves down out of big things and then even the corners of our lives fill with shadows. Thank you for this light in my day, to begin this week.

  42. I need a fresh dose of hope battling anxiety/panic attacks. Some days feel entirely impossible, even while I KNOW that within God’s will, all things ARE possible, even overcoming this mountain of fear. One step, one moment, one day at a time. Dare I hope to be free?

  43. I am grasping the strings of hope as I find myself feeling alone after losing the woman who raised me. Not only is that loss difficult, but my parents who should have stood by me used this opportunity to openly bash me, so the wound of their abandonment was torn back open. In spite of this, I am believing that my joy will be restored, and that I will still see His goodness in the land of the living.

  44. Need an extra dosage of hope after my husband of 30 years had an affair. He was a deacon in our church. He is the only man I have ever known. I have been with in since I was 17. I don’t know how to live life without him. Completely devastated. I don’t understand how someone that was so close to God and just turn their back and walk away. I have tried twice to commit suicide. I am tired of the hurt and pain and don’t know how to move on with life. I’m not living just existing. I know God has a plan but it is so hard to see.

  45. I need hope that my husband will want to be the man God called him to be. That he would want to know more about God, hunger for the Word…
    We’ve been married 40 years and every decade he seems to be going backward instead of forward.
    But I know God is faithful and I will ‘fix my eyes on Jesus’!
    Bless you!

  46. I have been battling depression for 18 years…I can’t even remember what happiness felt like. I have lost all hope…

  47. reading all of your responses has made me very hopeful not because of the hardships and pain we have gone through but because God Jesus has and will be right beside u leading and guideing all of our journeys =) lately God has been opening one door an closing another and all I can do is hope that I’m doing his will in all of it and trusting that my baby in my tummy keeps growing the 8month old I’m raising seeing Jesus threw me my hubby’s keeps his job bills get paid because I wouldn’t be here my kids wouldn’t be here I wouldn’t be married or anything with out Jesus who has takes me broken and makes me new! lost and now I’m found =) it’s all because of Jesus

  48. Needing hope for my son and daughter-in-law. They are experiencing infertility and just as they began treatments that they hoped would change their situation, my daughter-in-law was laid off due to down-sizing and lost her insurance that was helping pay some of the expense. Their current insurance doesn’t cover any treatments, so they are feeling hopeless. Beginning to look into adoption but turning out to be emotionally and financially challenging. Would love to win a copy of this book to give them.

  49. I’m a teacher. I spend my days pouring my energy, hope, joy into my students. Sometimes I run low on energy, hope, and joy to take home with me to share with my husband. We’ve been slammed here at school lately with the regular colds and flu, but recent diagnoses of Huntington’s Disease, breast cancer, depression, cardiac issues and more among teachers and students are starting to take their toll. I could sure use an extra dose of hope today. Thanks for this encouragement!

  50. Hope is one of my favorite things. I know that sounds silly or trite but it’s true. My dad & I used to share hope verses on the phone when he was battling cancer. When he was close to going home I asked him, “Dad what about all of our hope?”. He replied, “We still have the hope of eternal life!”.

  51. Hope for the future. My husband has been putting his all into his job for a very long time, only to be met with lies and abuse from his boss and fellow employees. God placed on his heart a dream of music ministry years ago. It’s discouraging to live in a small town and have big dreams. My husband needs deliverance, he is beat down, tired, and worn. And it’s starting to show in our home life and marriage.

  52. In spite of many blessings in my life, I have felt so down and depressed for the last several years and I haven’t been able to figure out why. In this first chapter download, I saw the reason why. Sara’s comment “evidence that God not only loved me but liked me and enjoyed me…” made my heart quiver. After the death of my first husband and being deserted by two more, the maturing of my sons into adulthood and busy lives of their own, and the death of first my father and then my mother, I have felt there is no one who truly loves me and wants to spend time with me. I have friends, but I don’t feel “enough” to be a part of their lives, and so I withdraw. This first chapter has opened a door for me! Thank you Sara!

  53. I need to be filled with Hope. I have been praying for people to surround me that are heading in the same direction as I am, towards Him.

  54. I have been dealing with some tough issues in my life right now, and one involves my marriage…..I know God will provide me hope and courage to deal with this, as He brought me through divorce and re-marriage to the same man…that was a miracle in itself, and God does want the best for me, I do believe that, but this new trial has been extremely tough, and taking from the title of the book, do not want it to allow me to become bitter, so I will lean on the everlasting arms, and depend on Jesus, the author and finisher of my soul. Thanks for the opprotunity to enter your contest, God Bless!

  55. I need hope because everything lately has just been a fight. I had major surgery 9 weeks ago after doing nothing- I’ve now had 3 surgeries so far and I am under 30 years old. Doctors have found a total of 5 different kinds of cysts and tumors. The one good thing is that none were cancerous. Now I’m getting billed by an out of network provider for twice what I’ve already paid for all the other bills. In addition my brake pads need to be changed, insurance is due and any “minor” expense that could come up has. One of those seasons where I just feel done and fed up.

  56. I need to believe that God is good no matter what ,so I stay sensitive and open to His leading in my life!!!!

  57. I need an extra dose of hope because I read your story and heard elements of my own. I’ve experienced several miscarriages and lost my first child shortly after his birth. I’ve since been blessed with a healthy child but I still grieve for those I’ll never know this side of heaven, and I’ve had trouble holding on to the hope that someday my living child will get to have a sibling. Thanks for sharing this; I needed the reminder that God makes everything beautiful in his own time.

  58. Oh this post was beautiful. I couldn’t help but feel God revealing the pain I’ve been experiencing and saying “I am here to help if only you let me.” It has definitely been a necessary call to continue to have hope in God and his plans. He is good no matter what.

  59. My daughter was diagnosed at 4 months with craniosynostosis and had her first surgery at 6 months old. She is now a beautiful, fun loving 5 year old and next month we go back to the doctor to find out if she will need another surgery. My hope and prayer is that God would heal her without the surgery. I have always been afraid of speaking that out to others but in the last year have found myself sharing it with others. I will continue to hope for healing!

  60. In reading others comments, my heart has hurt because if the extent of pain that dear unknown ones have shared, but it has also been reminded that we are never alone when we have the Lord. We can hope in the truth that one day we will be entirely pain free. What a promise! I’m hoping that there will be healing in my mother, struggling with mental illness, and that she will understand the love I extend to her. I’m hoping that someday soon God will bless me with the man He’s chosen for me. I’m hoping that I will be able to minister to hurting souls overseas. And on days it hurts too much to hope in specific things, I hope in hope itself. “For hope that is seen is not hope at all.” Jesus is so faithful in our pain. What love.

  61. I need an extra dose of hope because of the sea of depression I have been living in. I try to find the hope and hide the hurt, only for it to resurface regularly.

  62. Why do you need an extra dose of hope today? I am love learning and reading about God! I need that hope today and everyday to be closer to God at all times! This is my goal as it will help me to walk in His ways and be more in tune with Him!

  63. Why do I need a fresh dose of hope today? I was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer in November, had surgery to remove the tumor in December, and am awaiting the results of one final test to determine if I need chemo or not. God has been incredibly faithful throughout this journey, short though it has been, and I praise Him for His grace, mercy and healing. I also pray that I will not have to go through chemo, but I know that if I do, she will sustain me.

  64. As I read these dear comments I am reminded of how we all need hope & He came-our dear Lord Jesus-THE Hope of the world! The days are growing darker, but our LORD shines as bright as ever! I am walking, and at times crawling, in faith and hope for my dear children as they are in various stages of high school/college and college graduation and are walking step by step into the great unknown (to us) -but known {sigh} to the LORD! The Lord is allowing our spiritual muscles to be worked out & strengthened…but it is hard at times to have faith where we cannot see! His Word and the presence of His Holy Spirit are our anchor!! We lost a baby 18 years ago and I can say it was one of the darkest spiritual times in my life-but God’s presence was so tender and near-even when human beings were not. I am truly so sorry for your loss – one day we will see and know these dear ones that have been kept in our hearts while kept in His presence.

  65. Hope is what I had forgotten for a little bit until I read this just now. We all need hope to be able to breath, at least I know I sure do.
    Thank you for reminding me of this. HOPE!

  66. Wow. This couldn’t have come at a better time. My husband and I stepped out in faith, felt The Lord leading us to a new place. My husband had applied for a job and they told him he was perfect for it, we got a house, started moving in, then got the call, he didn’t get the job. It is impossible for us to maintain two households, ours hasn’t sold yet. I really need a fresh dose of hope.

  67. I hope, even when it it’s hard…even when it seems impossible and against all odds, because He has promised to all who are faithful.

  68. Hope. That is what each second of our day consists of, really. Hope for one more breath. Hope for that certain phone call or email. Hope that the doctor’s words will be the right ones. Hope that we will see loved ones again. Hope for a life lived for the glory of Christ. Hope.

  69. To turn bitter sweet…some seem to do this more smoothly than others…thinking i’m in the “other’s” category. My heart believes, wants to believe for the good in those unexpected & unhealthy things (not part of my dream) that have settled around me. I’ve had to become okay with and live with/through these things that others want to “pray/fix” for me…that wrestling with God, it is OKAY. THanks for the book offer…it’s now on my “to read” list.

  70. A few twists and turns in my life have left me disappointed, regretful, and afraid to hope for fear of more disappointment …maybe why God impressed me to focus on my one word for the year- HOPE.

  71. Your words have challenged me to acknowledge my need for a fresh dose of hope. I have grown weary over the last few years in the waiting…waiting for a new job for my husband, waiting for fairness & encouragement in another situation, waiting for so many things that involve needs for change. I confess that in my weariness, my attitude of hopeful expectancy has turned into complacency & resignation. Thank you for convicting me today from such a personal place in your life.

  72. I have hope for my daughter, that she will be willing to accept the help she needs to break this addiction. Hope and Faith are so alike. Both Hope and Faith are in God. Both are about things we do not see, and both can be scary to do. But, I will never give up Hope nor Faith, after all, what else is there?

  73. I’ve been told I’m idealistic. It’s stung. Was it a compliment or correction? The Lord began to show me it was both! Idealism is part of HOPE!
    yet, realism is too! We all tend to live swinging wildly from one extreme to other. “Be well balanced, temperate, sober of mind. Be vigilant and cautious at all times .that enemy of yours, the devil, roams about like a lion in fierce hunger, seeking someone to seize upon and devour”. 1pet. 5:8 amp
    May God give us grace to live in discernment!

  74. Hope…for my son to walk with the Lord and find His path for his life. He is struggling and seems to be turning away from God. My heart aches as I watch him struggle. Praying and hoping!

  75. A dose of hope. Yes, I need this. I have hoped for so long, that I have begun building walls to protect myself. I need hope to give relationship again, and clarity, and truth. My marriage is basically non-relational – and he seems to like it that way. Throughout our 26 years I have felt that his business is a mistress, it takes so much of his time, energy, and interest. One daughter is cold in her relationship to us, and I’m fearful her sisters will be too. I need to be filled with hope to replace the fear & inadequacy that is so strong in me.

  76. Three weeks ago my angel, Advent (“Addie”) Hope Rae was stillborn at 36 weeks. Fully formed and perfect, the only answer is “there is no answer.” Our little family is searching, grasping, crying, and trying to remember to breathe. I forget how to seek hope, how to seek the Father’s joy that hope can bring.

  77. 2015 started off with no bang whatsoever for our family. I had surgery on December 22nd and a post-operative infection landed me in the hospital for while. Once released, I started IV infusions to continue to clear up my belly full of abscesses – praying that I wouldn’t have to have them surgically drained. Today, Day 15, I’m still donning an IV and continuing my infusions. It seems since the 1st, we’ve been hit with blow after blow – I’m grasping for Him and holding onto hope. As with anyone, an extra dose of hope and guidance are always welcome! Even if I don’t win, I’ll be picking up a copy!

  78. This touched me deeply and certainly DID give me hope, hope which i believe in and love, regarding my desire for a child. I DO want to be “one of them.” But God currently has me waiting, it is so easy to lose hope in the waiting, but hope remains.

  79. I need a dose of hope so I can be more confident in my relationships and not feel like I am a disappointment to so many people.

  80. Believing and hoping have been my best friends in the past 5 years. I have been joyful for, supportive, and prayed for most of my friends and family to have their hopes and dreams fulfilled in the past 5 years. I have also walked the journey of loss with some of them. But in all, we are still waiting and hoping. We will never give up hope.

    Every Bitter Thing is Sweet is on my list of the next book to read, I just haven’t ordered it yet. Thank you, Sara, for sharing your heart and your hopes with me. You are a gem!

  81. I need an extra dose of hope today as I teach my kids and encourage them to be the people God has created them to be. Parenting kids from hard places is hard, some days more than others What diamonds in the rough they each are!

  82. I need hope everyday. I stop to think what would be of me if I had no hope. To me personally hope is like a quiet whisper of comfort, that only I can hear in my heart. It always points to and directs me to the possible when I have nothing else to hold on to. It is a whisper that calls for trust, for believing and relying. It is the call of Wisdom. It is at every minute of the day that Wisdom strengthens me with Hope. Carmen, Puerto Rico

  83. I am very grateful for this community of women encouraging women. I wanted to ask prayer for my family and my marriage that we will be renewed in our minds by the God’s Holy Spirit and that lies and deception will be done away with, in Jesus name. My great hope is that we will live lives pleasing to God and serve Him in unity and oneness of heart.

  84. I am hoping that this year, I will not be scheduling my life around medical appointments like I did last year. I was so hoping that turning the calendar would be a fresh start of good health, but already I am having two surgical procedures scheduled. I just want to focus on the joy of the Lord and serving Him, rather than the physical limitations and pain. Yet, I will serve Him, no matter the circumstances, and just saying that gives me hope! He will give me what I need to do that!!

  85. I need hope to believe that he will fully provide for me as I raise support in prayer and fiances to move to the middle east and work with abused women. i need hope to infuse me and remind me that he does transform brokenness and is faithful.

  86. this article sent me back to the four pregnancies I lost. I felt the loss of joy and hope with each pregnancy, too cautious to let myself feel either. But my God is awesome, and those hard times have helped me be a person who may comfort others, though not as eloquently as you have.

  87. HOPE for my 5th pregnancy after 3 have already ended way too soon. HOPE to believe that I wasn’t crazy when I believed it was the Lord telling me to speak life over this little one in my womb. HOPE to see a heartbeat this week on the ultrasound where there wasn’t one last week. HOPE for a miracle so much bigger than anything the physical evidence has shown in the last week. Am I scared to HOPE? Yes. But am I more afraid of what it’s like to STOP hoping? Absolutely.

  88. I have been praying for God to show me direction in my life and also to serve him and my family. I need keep praying and have patience that God
    has his own timing on things and to stay hopeful.

  89. Hope that God does keep His promises and is faithful even during this season of waiting expectantly for those 2 pink lines to appear once again. They appeared last May, after 2 years of praying and waiting, and then disappeared all too soon when I had a miscarriage in June. All around me new life is growing in other women and yet I am still waiting. Believing in hope, and waiting.

  90. Looking for hope in the ashes and finding it is not easy. After a marriage of eighteen years to a husband who was a deacon in our church and who was unfaithful and the affair resulted in a child…

    I chose to forgive as our heavenly Father says we should; we talked about reconciliation after a two yr separation and then he went and, unbeknownst to me, filed for divorce.

    God is good! The healing process has taken some time but I’m much better now.

  91. “So I talk myself out of hope and I call it wisdom. Often.” Oooh, this hits home. Thank you for sharing the beautiful contents of your alabaster box.

  92. Hope…..that’s what I so desperately am trying to hold onto. Depression and anxiety have have been trying to take over for the last 8 months. I’ve battled this for 16yrs with God, prayer, and medication. But these last 8 months trying to get the medication right is a battle. Praying for healing .

  93. I know all too well getting my hopes up and yet the loss of miscarriages and pain where dare I hope again. Reading your words has encouraged me to trust, believe and hope again. I have 5 children on earth but miss the 7 I will one day meet in heaven.Thank you for your words and looking forward to reading your book!

  94. I’m hoping to be chosen as an adoptive mama. One failed adoption makes it hard to hope at times. But, I’m trusting in the words God has said to me and holding on tightly to His timing.

  95. I’m pregnant with my 4th child..I could use a little hope that everything will be okay! because I’m scared it wont be.

  96. such a beautiful, powerful invitation to hope in a loving God Who wants a relationship w/ me! thank you for this! as my husband & i continue to deal w/ infertility & hope seems in short supply too many days, this book sounds like such a good hope-builder! thanks for the giveaway!

  97. I can use hope today…… I am learning to put all my trust in God, even the small things I would never think to give to him!

  98. Prayers for all the women here today. May God give you all the hope you need to succeed. Prayers that He will heal your illnesses, marriages, finances, etc. Know that God has plans for each of you and loves you so unconditionally He left Heaven for you!

    Blessings 🙂

  99. “I had fainted unless I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
    As David said, I need to believe in order to be able to see the goodness of the Lord.
    I need hope that strengthens my belief in His coming glory- glory that through Him will be revealed to me, and glory that will be revealed through me.
    “Christ in me, the hope of glory.”
    He is the hope for eternity and the hope for today. He is the power of believing without first seeing. The power of believing that His delayed promises are still promises to hold tightly to- letting the passing of time add to my faith and add to my hope. Hope like Abraham’s as he waited for the promise of a son- knowing that He is preparing me for the fulfillment of promise and wasting nothing.
    The hope that comes out on the other side of the waiting is a hope that will not disappoint. It is a hope that has passed through the water and come through the fire, and is stronger on the other side.
    The hope to wait on His promises. The hope of more of Him in me and through me. A hope that changes what I’m living for.
    I desperately need more of that hope.

  100. What a powerful thought process to yield to God the bitter so he can bring sweetness out of it.

  101. I’m struggling to end a nearly 25 year emotionally abusive marriage. We are currently separated & I’m alternately desperately seeking God & hopelessly considering running back into the world since I’ve screwed up so much. The wrestling is so miserable! I feel like it’s constantly 2 steps forward & 3 steps back. :'(

  102. hope for a full time job. it’s been 2.5 years of my husband searching. We’re seeking Him while we wait on His timing, not ours. choosing joy and contentment with what we’ve been given.

  103. I was cracked open almost 2 years ago when I left an abusive marriage. I lamented with God to visit my husband who had years prior, hardened his heart to God. I fasted and prayed and cried and tried to be strong in the midst and then it happened. I stopped by unannounced one day, when he was at work, to gather some items from my still intact, home office. I walked Into ‘Our bedroom’ to gather some personal belongings and noticed items on my nightstand. ‘Hmmm, I don’t remember leaving those there’ and then opened my closet door, first noticing a pair of shoes on the closet floor, ‘ when did I buy those shoes, I don’t remember them’ and then I saw a card on my dresser and figured it was from his sibling, but when I read it, that’s when it happened. I was cracked open! I felt like I was hurled against a wall, with everything spilling out of my insides. Someone else, claiming to love my husband, the man I wanted to grow old with, my forever love. Just 2 months prior, he had said to me ‘ I can’t ever imagine loving another woman!’ I now know brokenness, shattered dreams, fear, darkness, betrayal, depression, suicidal thoughts, and loneliness all too well. But, I also know a God who never ever leaves our side. My hope is not in the thought that this marriage or my ex-husband might be saved. The hope I’m finding, is in choosing to run to Him, fall on Him, let Him become my everything. It’s a battle to choose Him and not wallow in my self -pity or the dark thoughts that plague me often. But then I hear the old hymn playing again in my mind ” My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid ROCK I STAND, ALL other ground is sinking sand!'” I am desperate for hope, for Him.