Most days, my mami-taxi ends with an exhale and telling the girls, “We’re home.”

“Our house. Our home!” my toddler squeals from the backseat.

Home.

It settles into my heart and gives it roots to spread. To rest. To be myself. To pause and thank the Lord for his faithfulness. You carried us here, Father. Home. 

In the four states and eight cities we’ve lived in, I was afraid I’d never feel settled. Never buy a home of our own. But now, winter is like a fleeting shadow, and I wait with expectation to experience my garden awaken on Spring Flower Drive. I thought this season of life would never arrive. 

Each day this week, I’ve been out in the yard. The snow from two weeks ago is a distant memory; all that remains is a well-watered garden.

I notice magenta buds on silvery limbs. Rose bushes produce shiny green leaves. My first flower! Alas, it’s a dandelion.

Hope in new beginnings

Can you see the beauty in small beginnings? Little delights. Progress. No confetti moments. Quiet, unassuming. Subtle. Gentle. Day by day. Drinking in the sunshine and showers. Grace to slowly unfurl and wake from a long winter. One day you’re on a walk and notice sunshine daffodils nodding in the breeze while all else is bare. Hope blooms unexpectedly at times.

I see the Father delighting in us much the same way. Noticing the way your heart is changing, the way you’re meditating on his truth, praying with more honesty, loving well, living in his grace. You’re doing it, friend. Hope blooms as we wait on the Lord. I see a smile crinkle his eyes. It may feel small, insignificant to you; you may even doubt that something is truly changing, but trust that God is working and he delights in the small beginnings.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
– Isaiah 43:19

Hope Note Reflection:

What places in your heart are you waiting to see the Lord come through? 

– What new things are you hopeful for this season? What stands out to you about God’s promises in Isaiah 43:18-19? 

– Where do you see a small beginning that you can take time and thank the Lord for?

Free Download to Get your Hopes Up: 

Get 10 Bible verses as a beautiful, free printable to bolster your hope as you wait here.