“My Hope America”

There was a special program shown on TV this past week in honor of Billy Graham’s 95^th birthday. The show was not about him, however. It was centered around the theme of Christ’s death on the cross, combining the real life stories of the leaders of two popular music groups with highlights from some of Billy Graham’s messages over the years. It was his gift to America, something he really wanted to do at the end of a long and fruitful ministry.

     

The program was shown in conjunction with a nationwide outreach called “My Hope America.” People all over America opened their homes to friends and family for dinner or dessert and the viewing of the show together. The purpose was to reach out to those folks who were interested in knowing more about Jesus. 

       

Al and I invited two families over for a barbecue on Veteran’s Day. As it turned out, the mother and 12 year old son from one family came, along with a teen-aged boy from the other. After the boys fished, we ate hot dogs and hamburgers and then took plates of delicious cinnamon Bundt cake contributed by one of the families to the front room where we watched the telecast of “The Cross.”

       

As we sat around and shared for a bit afterwards, one of the boys told how his family had just gone through a traumatic crisis. The mother of the younger boy shared that he was going through testing for a possible brain lesion or tumor and had been having some serious health concerns.

       

Not only was the TV program inspiring, the time we spent together talking and praying was also very uplifting. The whole evening reinforced the concepts that God’s love is real, that there is hope through faith in Jesus Christ and that we need each other! It left me with a question: “Why only do this once???”

 

“Borrowed Hope”
 
Lend me your hope for a while,
I seem to have mislaid mine.
Lost and hopeless feelings accompany me daily,
pain and confusion are my companions.
I know not where to turn.

Looking ahead to future times
does not bring forth images of renewed hope.
I see troubled times,
pain-filled days,
and more tragedy.
Lend me your hope for a while,
I seem to have mislaid mine.

Hold my hand and hug me;
listen to all my ramblings,
recovery seems so far distant.
The road to healing
seems like a long and lonely one.
Lend me your hope for a while,
I seem to have mislaid mine.

Stand by me,
offer me your presence,
your heart and your love.
Acknowledge my pain,
it is so real and ever present.
I am overwhelmed
with sad and conflicting thoughts.

Lend me your hope for a while.
A time will come when I will heal,
and I will share my renewal,
hope and love with others.

Eloise Cole

(published in the Porterville Recorder, 11/16/13)