The One Thing That Changes Everything by Bob Jones

Without this ONE thing even the smallest tasks feel impossible.

Without this ONE thing couples give up on their marriage, parents give up on their teens, leaders give up on their people, people give up on their future.

You can live for 40 days without food, about 3 days without water, and about 8 minutes without air. 

You don’t want to go a single second without this ONE thing.

The ONE thing?

Hope.

Hope is the most important factor in anyone’s life.

Why?

When you lose hope, you lose your ability to breathe, let alone dream for the future.

When you have hope, anything is possible.

Telling the stories of people who found hope in dire circumstances is a way writers, poets and artists can become hope dispensers.

Think of how much widespread good can come from your book or blog post offering hope.
When I wrote Mackenzee Wittke and Wendy Edey’s stories I had no way of knowing that a man in Finland or a mom in Edmonton or people across Canada would be inspired with hope.

Holding On To Hope

Mackenzee was born with many health complications: heart, lung, brain, eating, breathing...just to name a few. So rare and unique were her symptoms that physicians called her condition “The Mackenzee Wittke Syndrome.”

Doctors told her parents, Matt and Kim that she wouldn't live through the first week. “Our first reaction was fear of losing our baby girl."

In faith they named her "Mackenzee HOPE Wittke."

"Watching Mackenzee day after day fighting through many battles is where we found the true meaning of hope.”

Kim says, “I kept repeating this to myself, ‘as long as she has breath there is hope’."

Kenzee is now nine years old.

Sometimes, the good news is the bad news is wrong.

In response to Kenzee’s story, Shirley from Edmonton shared about her experience. 

“My daughter has a genetic disorder. For ten years her genetic tests came back negative. Then the tests improved and she was given a diagnosis. The diagnosis (4P-) answered many unanswered questions! From the time she was born, she was given a short life span - first 1 year then 2 years, then no more than 6 years, then 10 years but ‘she’ll never survive into her teens’… now she is 35 years old.”

The Hope Lady

Wendy Edey is blind and she’s a blogger. She’s known on the web as “The Hope Lady.” 

I met Wendy when I officiated her daughter’s wedding. Wendy writes about things that turned out better than expected and impossible things that became possible. She shares about hoping, coping, and moping in stories about disability, aging, care-giving and child development.

Anne Lamott knows more than ONE thing about hope-filled writing. She gets the last word,

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” 

Bob is a recovering perfectionist, who collects Coca-Cola memorabilia and drinks Iced Tea. His office walls are adorned with his sons’ framed football jerseys, and his library shelves, with soul food. He writes to inspire people to be real, grow an authentic faith in Jesus, enjoy healthy relationships and discover their life purpose.

Follow his writing at Pointes Of View.