HOPE IS A GOOD THING

“HOPE IS A GOOD THING! MAYBE THE BEST OF THINGS”

This is a memorable line from one of my favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption. I hope my children are safe. I hope my husband will stay healthy and happy. I hope my country can overcome its divide. I hope my dog Graicie will live for a long, long time. I hope I can see my mother in the next year. I hope I can share the hope and love of Jesus with all people I meet today and tomorrow. I hope.

I have viewed Shawshank Redemption 10 to 15 times. The first time I watched, I just did not want to be bogged down with the sadness of the story and the horror of prison life. Boy, was I wrong! Although the book is by Shephen King, it is a uniquely beautiful story of hardship, friendship, and redemption. I was viewing with my first husband. He had fallen asleep.

Three quarters of the way through the movie, there is probably one of the best surprises in cinema history! Okay, at least for me. When this huge revelation began, I looked over at my sleeping husband and said loudly, “WAKE UP! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!” I can still remember the joy my heart felt! I really enjoyed all the characters. The main character, Andy Duphrane, played by Tim Robbins is truly a good guy. He claims he is innocent of killing his wife and her lover.

When a young fella who is sentenced to Shawshank, says he can prove that someone else killed Andy’s wife. Andy goes to the warden and the warden says it is probably not true. Andy offends him and is put in the “hole” for a couple of months. I will not give anything away. BUT the film is so worth it! The other concept that impressed me: “It comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living or get busy dying”.

There was a time in my life where I thought things were hopeless. I contemplated taking my own life. I was probably an alcoholic and I had just learned I had multiple sclerosis. I was afraid and wanted to cover my fear with alcohol. My children, husband, mother, father, and siblings did not know what to do or how to help me. I was in a very dark and hopeless place. As it says in the movie “it’s a terrible thing to live in fear”.

Hopelessness is a curse! You are not reaching for anything anymore. My vision for what I should be and what my life should look like, never met the expectation I thought society had or the expectation I had. I graduated from college before I married my business law professor, had 3 healthy daughters and we built a large, beautiful house. I had achieved all my hopes and dreams, but nothing was ever enough. So, I burned them all down. My marriage ended. I hurt everyone I touched and hit bottom.

Expectation - a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. Or a belief that someone will or should achieve something. Here are some of the synonyms: belief, assumption, reckoning, or anticipation. My situation is a bit different. I had a mental picture of what my life should look like. What my husband should look like. What my children should look like. How my house should look. How I should look. There were magazines and movies everywhere with those pictures screaming at me. How it should be. Telling me divorce is what everyone is doing. So, I pushed for it.

In the end, I was hit with a true miracle. I married again. Stopped drinking alcohol and found true recovery and happiness. I began watching Joyce Meyer, David Jeremiah and Joel Osteen and asked God to come into my life. I found truth and acceptance. Acceptance by God. Acceptance of myself. Wow, once I began to see how misguided I had been, I began to really relax and enjoy life. I learned by giving, I received abundance.

My next submission will focus on the amazing secrets of hope God programmed in the human body.