Every military spouse has a story, or two, or twenty, about the challenges they face being married to a military servicemember. Happy stories, sad stories, heartbreaking stories. Stories about what happens when Murphy's Law of Military Spouses kicks in (if you don't know what that is, my definition of it is this: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, as soon as they deploy!").
Today, in the midst of yet another thing going wrong in the house we rent, I was thinking in between all the beeping of the smoke detector on the fritz. Thinking of all the frustrations I have had during this particular separation, I still end up landing on the side of hope. This won't last forever. There is hope for a new day tomorrow. There is still hope for better sleep at some point. I have a new month starting tomorrow. I have a busy mind full of ideas for the upcoming semester of teaching composition and ways I can be both encouraging and helpful, while also drawing some boundaries for myself.
Hope is always there. The Bible is full of hope: Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has plans for us that include hope. Romans 15 tells us that God is a God of hope. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for. And Proverbs 13:12 reminds us that hope deferred makes the heart sick.
I like to think of words; it's an occupational hazard of sorts, both for my teacher self and my writer self. Hope, for me, is both a noun and a verb. I can have hope (noun), and I can hope (verb). It's both an intangible thing to have, and an action to do.
I'd like to take a moment to encourage all the milspouses out there who read this. No matter where you are this summer--in the midst of a PCS, a deployment, a TDY, a cross-training, difficulties with your children or family expecting you to travel--please keep your hope in the Lord. Hold it close as a treasure, and put it into action in your thoughts, your prayers, your friendship and hugs and words. And if it feels deflated today, just know that I'm thinking of you and that I firmly believe your hope will be back tomorrow, just like God's mercies are new each morning.