30 Days of Joy: Day 21-Hope

Like many of you, I have been watching the news reports of the flooding in Northern Minnesota.  The devastation and destruction is hard to comprehend especially when you aren't sure what area you are seeing in the news videos.  This changed when a friend sent me a link to pictures of the Gooseberry Falls area.  I know this area very well from trips with our family.  In fact, I have vivid memories of our young sons crossing the water by stepping on stones.  Their dad was with them, and I was worrying about them falling!  In looking at the pictures, there is no resemblance to what I remember, and there is certainly no way that anyone could cross on foot.  The raging waters is a powerful thing to see!

There have also been reports of animals stranded and zoo animals escaping.  Sadly, even some animals lost their lives in the flooding.  People have been evacuated from their homes.  Reports say that very few home owners have flood insurance.  Many are draining basements and sandbagging to hold the water back as it inches closer to their homes.  One woman reported that she had lost her home in the Twin Cities and now has lost her home in Duluth.  She said that she had her kids which is what was important and that she had started a second time in Duluth; she would just have to start again!

Even though they are facing devastating loss, the one thing that you consistently see in the faces of those interviewed is hope: hope that the animals will be rescued, hope that the water will stay back, hope that something will be left when they return home.



According to Wikipedia, "Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life." Hope is a very interesting thing.  I think that with hope, there comes joy.    I also believe that we are in control of finding hope by our attitudes towards events.  That is why the new coverage has been very inspiring and filled with joy at some of the positive, at times miraculous, outcomes.  One young 8-year-old boy was sucked into a drainage ditch, traveled underground for a long way, and came out virtually unscathed.  He was found by a man, a grandfather, who was surveying the water rising in a local river.  This truly was a miracle!  

I think most of us are hoping for something in our lives.  We hope that someone loves us, that we get that job we are seeking, that we feel better, that we lose a few pounds; the list goes on and on.  It is my opinion that hope is a very important part of our lives.  It is how we learn new things, how we grow, and how we experience life.  I believe that we are truly alive when we hope.  Sometimes hope is what keeps us going in difficult times.   We are seeing evidence of that in Northern Minnesota right now.  In the days to come, I hope that we will also see a lot of joy.


Have you found your joy today?