Sheltering with Hope

When the world says, "Give up," hope whispers, "Try it one more time.

Emily Dickenson wrote, Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all. As soon as I read that quote I knew I needed it for a dear friend. At the time I gave her the tiny brass bird, she had already faced Leukemia four times. Today she is in the hospital for treatments for the sixth time. Linda is a strong, amazing woman. She told me her bird sits on her hearth reminding her to hope.

So many people have offered hope to me throughout the years. Roger, who lost a 7-year-old son in a drowning accident, came to Sarah's funeral and told us, "You will never get over Sarah's death, but you can get through it." Hope offered is a blessing bestowed.

When the doctor told my daddy he was 95% sure he had a rare type of kidney cancer, I couldn't imagine life without him. Bonnie offered to teach my Children's Church for six weeks. She offered this report: "I told the kids we needed to pray that your daddy--not that he would feel better, but that he would be healed because you still need your daddy." It was hope offered through the prayers of little ones.

Hope in the midst of death, hope in the midst of life. Hope puts a warm hand on a bruised heart. Hope sustains. The best gift we can offer is the hope in God. Lamentations 3:21-22 says it best: "I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of our Lord never ends."

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My mother and I have found many birds for gifting with this quote. 

• If you wish to make your own nest, Barb, from Treasures from the Heart , has a tutorial. Make sure you check out all her ideas with nests. The nest on a spoon easel is my favorite with the children's shoe a close second.

Some additional ideas that cost a bit more:

Make bird cookies using one of these cookie cutters. Put them in a little basket nest, tie a ribbon around it, and attach the quote as a tag.

For a bird watcher: bird seed, a bird house, bird identification book or calendar.

For the decorator: bird cage, bird eggs

For the book lover: One Year Book of Hope by Nancy Guthrie or Deeper Than Tears (Thomas Nelson)

For the creative: Bird Stickers, Nest or Stamp

That should be enough to spark your own ideas. I'd be happy to hear about them!

Lord save us all from... a hope tree that has lost the faculty of

putting out blossoms. ~Mark Twain