My Daily Hope By Vickie Stam

                                         Zephaniah 3:17 

  "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."  
                     
              

Have you ever wondered how many words in a day you speak? Language Log says, "The average woman speaks 20,000 words a day while the average man speaks 7,000 words a day. I'm sure some of us, like myself know people where those stats are truly the opposite. But just think what 20,000 words a day could do! Picture the good that could come from that many words.

Now, imagine recording every word you spoke or sang out loud in one day. After listening to it, would you hear yourself offering hope to the hopeless, encouragement to the lost and the love of Jesus to everyone you meet? I certainly couldn't say that about myself.

What would the word count look like on your computer at the end of a day? Tally the number of words you text in a day. Would you hear and see words that could easily describe your character as Christ-like? Hmm... 

Each word in an email, card, message, conversation and so on can quickly add up to something spectacular - a desire, a hope, a dream. What about the power of prayer - the words that are expressed between you and God? How often do you pray? 

Some of us take stock of the number of steps we've taken daily by simply checking our smart bracelet or iPhone. We're thrilled when we see that number reach 10,000 because we've been told about the great health benefits we'll receive from reaching such a goal. 

What about the benefits of sharing Gods word with others? I wish that I could say that I do that on a daily basis. Yet, these days it really doesn't take a lot of effort to communicate the love of God to people near and far. The internet is a handy tool for doing just that. Whether or not we go by foot into the world or reach out to others from inside our homes we have the means to offer something of ourselves to those around us.

I write because I feel God leading me to express the things in my life both good and bad. This life that is mine just might be the thing that makes someone else know they're not alone. 

I love to cook for others and enjoy the fellowship, the smiles and even the expressions of truth that seem to develop around a table of food. And yes, I still enjoy writing letters and sending cards. 

There are so many ways to allow hope to shine in this world.

I hope .....

- whenever I write something that my words would have a positive impact on the person reading them.

- my prayers would intercede on behalf of others.

- that my life would show the love of Jesus in things I say and do.

- my life shows just how wonderful it is to know that God is with me, he has saved me, he takes great delight in me, he loves me, and rejoices over me. 

If I think of the many words I speak in one day I hope the most important words find their way to someone else.