July 4, 2022

Uncovering hope

We were robbed.

About 6 weeks ago, someone(or several someones) kicked down our back door, ran into our house and went through every drawer, closet and cupboard in our home. Nothing was left untouched. Little was stolen but much was taken.

In the immediate days following, I felt a mixture of emotions. Sorrow, anger, frustration, discouragement, thankfulness, and fear. What I didn’t feel was hope. I wasn’t hopeful that they would catch the robbers. I wasn’t hopeful insurance would return the money we lost. I wasn’t hopeful that it wouldn’t happen again.

Hope has been a tricky thing for me to hold onto here in Spain. At times, things are great. There are so many joys in living and working here and we are tremendously thankful to be able to do that. But it is hard. We live as foreigners in a foreign country and we are reminded daily that this is not our home.

I was sharing a quote from C.S. Lewis recently with a family member. In Mere Christianity he says,

This photo is one I snapped that evening. It wasn’t until later that I noticed the image. They poured out all of my jewelry and went through it looking for solid gold. Whatever they didn’t want was left behind. If you look closely you’ll see a muddlove bracelet peaking out with blue string. Before we moved here I had it made. It says “esperanza.” In Spanish, esperanza means hope. How powerful this image was to me! In spite of my circumstances, hope was still there. Barely peaking out. Buried under a mound of other things. But it was there. A little glimpse of hope.

And knowing the source of my hope and the way he constantly provides, I know I can trust him to increase my hope in this world as I wait patiently for the next. I pray he does the same for anyone reading these words.

If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.

The robbery was a reminder that this world is not our home. In this life, we will face trials, God promised us that. But he also promised us that this world is not our home. One day, sorrow, suffering and pain will cease to exist. Joy and hope prevail. Even when they have a hard time peaking though.

Days after the robbery I was looking back through photos I had hastily snapped on my way out of the house the night of the break in. The police and local civil guard were in our home and I wanted to have my own photos to review later to be sure we knew exactly what was missing.

This photo is one I snapped that evening. It wasn’t until later that I noticed the image. They poured out all of my jewelry and went through it looking for solid gold. Whatever they didn’t want was left behind. If you look closely you’ll see a muddlove bracelet peaking out with blue string. Before we moved here I had it made. It says “esperanza.” In Spanish, esperanza means hope. How powerful this image was to me! In spite of my circumstances, hope was still there. Barely peaking out. Buried under a mound of other things. But it was there. A little glimpse of hope.

And knowing the source of my hope and the way he constantly provides, I know I can trust him to increase my hope in this world as I wait patiently for the next. I pray he does the same for anyone reading these words.