Day Twenty-Six: Hope

I bet we have similar barriers. I bet you, like me, have things you want, but then … time. Money. Obligation. Expectation. Ability. Clout. The Past. Doubt. Haters. Energy.

A barrier that’s regulated our family are Matt’s law school loans. For ten years, it’s felt like too many zeroes. They have been the subject of many conversations. They have been the reason for a lot of no and can’t.

And then one night, on our back patio, Matt changed the game
with a question:

“What if the loans have held us right where God wants us?”

Of course, I’m reading Ephesians at the time – Ephesians 5:19-20,
to be clear:

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God
the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I don’t see leeway in the “always” and “everything” of this
verse, but when Matt asked his question, I didn’t need to because another image
was taking shape:

Maybe the loans aren’t a
wall …Or at least not a bad wall …But a boundary …Like a cool brick wall
surrounding a secret garden (which was my second favorite book growing up … with
Little Women taking first, obviously).

Matt asked the question, I bent my mind, and I saw I was held. I think this is what it means to live in the lot God sets for us. I pray I will hold my lot – this one and the many others – in hope this coming year, working in faithfulness and full praise to the God of everything.