Because Hope Doesn't Disappoint Us

I'd be lying if I said 2009 was a great year. In my world, too many people found out they have cancer, too many people lost their jobs, too many people have had to fight sicknesses and personal battles. Sure Joe and I have had some important highlights: selling of our first home, building of our second home, and welcoming a new niece into the family. I successfully graduated all 25 learners from the UWRF masters program and continue to become a better teacher for my high school students. Joe continues to explore his outdoor passions and even achieved a personal goal: catching a 50.5 inch musky. But as I sit here and write, thinking about my niece who has been in the hospital for a week now, those highlights for us don't outweigh the battles people in our lives are fighting. But I have hope. For 2010 I have lots of hope.

I have hope that my niece will get better and be sledding down our hill again soon. I have hope that the cancer will stay away from those that I love. I have hope that losing a job really means a new chapter in one's life. I have hope that whatever comes our way in 2010 we can handle it, with the best of our abilities, because we have hope. Because, more than anything, "hope does not disappoint us."