Holding on to Hope

I have dreams that have been in my heart since I was a little girl.  Some of those dreams have come true already, and others have yet to become a reality.  Having a horse farm of my own, where I could have horses and make the space available for kids, has been one of those lifelong dreams.  However, there have been many bumps along the road in the journey to making that dream come true.  Emotions have been high and low and the heartache has at times been more than I thought I could bear.  Through it all though, I have hope.  What do I mean by hope? I mean a “confident expectation.”  I have hope that God still wants to use me.  I have hope that these dreams and desires are placed in my heart for a reason. I have hope that God still has plenty to teach me in the process of waiting.  Looking back on my life so far, I can see how God has been at work in both my character and my heart to shape me to be who He wants me to be and to make my dreams be exactly what He needs them to be.  He has used both the mountain top experiences and the valley frustrations to do it.  And, even though I’m older than I thought I would be and though it’s taken me more time than I often wanted it to, my hope is more confident than ever before.  I see the light at the end of a tunnel.  I see a dream unfolding into a reality.  And it’s more beautiful than I imagined on my own, because now it’s not really my dream that I want God to bring about; it’s His dream that is becoming evident in my life.  God is good. ALL the time.