Hope

It is mentioned in cultures dating back to forever B.C., in texts as life-changing as the bible, in childhood stories, and even in our current president’s campaign. HOPE. However, as much as this word is thrown around…how familiar are we with it? Where do we find it and what does it do?

Dictionary.com defines hope as, “The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.”

For me, Hope had large brown eyes, beaded braids, and was five years old. I found hope in an orphanage.

Hope is one of the children living at Momma T’s orphanage. I met and fell in love with her last year (I wanted to bring her home). This year, I was able to spend much more time with Hope. When I would spend time at the orphanage, she would spend all of it with me. The orphanage is poor, and there are times that the kids go without food or proper beds. Hope lives here and hopes that she will be loved.

If you go through a small door and turn right, you can also find hope. It is on the dusty roads of Kampala. Hope takes form in a place called Bavubuka is where my friend Cyno plays guitar and sells cds in hopes that he will be able to raise the funds to fix his heart.

Many would say that happiness in an orphanage that is tucked away in a corner of the world, or a boy trying to get finances for a surgery on the streets of Africa is quite a hope(less) situation. I have found that these are the places that I have seen the MOST hope. In these places, there is more to overcome and in turn, more to hope for:

“Though I’m down in the valley, dying of thirst
When I’m down in the valley, it seems that I’m at my worst
My consolation is…
When you pour on your water, valleys fill first.”

From what I have observed, hope is one of the dominant sources of strength. Our president had the strength to get elected because he offered hope to the people. The little engine that could reached his destination because he hoped he could make it to the top of the hill and found the strength to do so.

There is a story in Genesis 32 that states:

24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was broken as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[f] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

Jacob hoped for a blessing and found the strength to wrestle until he received it in the form of Israel.

In a desolate situation, people will struggle and may even walk away with a broken hip, but they will emerge with a new name. For Hope, her new name is “Loved.” For Cyno, his new name is “Healthy.” So next time I am ready to throw up my hands in defeat, I will re-evaluate the hope(less) situation and wrestle with it…I will aspire to walk away with a broken hip and a new name: Hope.