God is an Optimist!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

If that's not an optimistic outlook, I don't know what is!  If we have a relationship with God, how can we ever be the voice of gloom and doom?  If we are His children, then we should think and talk as He does!

Last night, after I published my first post on this blog, I was relaxing in my living room, listening to some praise music and just thinking about life in general.  As I sat back in my recliner in the warmth of my little house, the wind began to howl around the windows, warning of an upcoming snowstorm. Though I could hear the loud roaring of the wind, I could not feel its movement or its biting cold. I was comfortably cradled in that soft recliner.  I realized then that life is much like that when we are in the hand of God.  The traumas and problems of life will still be there - roaring around us - but we do not have to submit to being moved or chilled in our hearts by those challenges. 

Year ago, someone remarked to me that I had experienced a hard life.  That comment really took me by surprise, because I had never felt that way.  I suppose that if you listed the negative events in my life, they would look a bit daunting - losing both parents to cancer by the time I was 20, becoming a single mother, putting myself through college while raising a child on my own, dealing with money problems, etc.  Through all those problems - many of which I caused myself - I still would not have described my life as hard.  The optimist in me just took stock of each problem, researched solutions, and found a way through.  I never threw in the towel - never gave way to despair.   

At nearly 53 years old now, I know that my life is in many ways just beginning.  With both the children out on their own - it's a new day for me.  I'm sure there will be more challenges, more problems, more hurts in my life. I know though, that I'm still in God's hands and that whatever the mountain is - I can climb it.