Tag Archives: faith

We all experience tough times in life that test and challenge us. It could be work stress or a more serious situation such as a …

Unhappy in my own skin for many years, I would wake up every day virtually paralyzed by my own fears. I would be tormented by the possibility that people would discover I was a fake; that I wasn’t whom I pretended to be. The persona I projected was this happy, fun-loving, care free, extremely funny girl who acted as though she had the world at her feet. But behind the happy mask that I wore for so many years was a deeply depressed and dependent soul, searching to be loved. I would drink to feel good about myself and suppress the pain, but after a while the numbing effects didn’t work. I became depressed and fearful all the time. My mask was gone.

I am curious, when you got married, what did you think? Were you prepared for the road ahead? Did you talk about major life decisions? Did you both know and agree on the big things like children, money and goals? Were you even thinking about it, or did you think that once you said "I do", you would just live happily ever after?

There is record of the word hope in English, though in varying form, dating back to before the twelfth century and even earlier in Hebrew. I have a good feeling that even before there was a word, there was an action- a longing, an expectation, an anticipation. It's like the human equivalent of an animal's instinct- a built in feature. Not to say that animals don't hope and humans don't have instinct. It could be that both of these things are interchangeable and innate with all life. We need hope to live, thrive, and find our purpose. That is why I am thankful to