Top Ten Things I'm Thankful For #9 - An optimism for the future

It is hope that gives life meaning.  And hope is based on the prospect of being able one day to turn the actual world into a possible one that looks better.

Francois Jacob

I'm thankful for hope.  I'm thankful for the belief that things will get better.  For the recognition that despite how dark things may seem or how dark people may try to convince us the days are, we are in the greatest time that has ever been.  I'm grateful for an energy that is growing to make things better.

I'm thankful for developments that give reason to hope.  For record turnouts in our election process.  For changes in our representation in Washington, D.C. making it more diverse and more reflective of the great body of people that they serve.  Hopefully making it more responsive to the people they serve.  For a potential for a massive criminal justice reform, that has been long supported and hoped for.  For developments in the treatment of Alzheimers and cancer.

I'm grateful for the hope we have in Christ.  I'm thankful for the hope we have for this life.  "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10  I'm grateful for the hope we have for the next life.  "So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I'm thankful for the hope I have for the future.  For the excitement of the years to come.  To looking forward to the future with my wife.  To watching my children grow and discover and learn.

I'm thankful for hope.  Pure, distilled, hope.