Rebuilding... hope.

Today we all got up early to go out and have breakfast together. Zoe had a grooming appointment we had to get her to by 8:30am (which is also when school starts) so we all piled up in the car and shivered our way down to Chick-fil-A for breakfast. We got our food and started toward Jade's school. Which is way the hell out east of us. My dad's neighborhood is on the way, and we decided to eat in his driveway, and see what progress he's making in his rebuilding process.

Dad's neighborhood is almost unrecognizable. They got hit pretty bad. Really bad. Even though they were east of us, where the tornado was supposedly smaller/weaker, it doesnt look that way. I still almost cried. And the majority of the neighborhood is being rebuilt! They're making much better progress over there than I've seen in Joplin. Maybe it's just an illusion, because that part of Duquesne is so compact.

Anyway, Matt's afraid that we wont even find Dad's house. But we turn onto his street, and there it is. With 2 rooms framed! We park in the driveway to eat, and I'm just so excited for my dad. I want to get out of the car and go check it all out, but it's wet and cold. So I send my dad a text telling him how excited I am for him.

It makes me excited for us, too. We've told our builder that our budget looks great, so I guess he just has to go downtown to get our building permit stuff going. But I think once my house gets to where my dad's is, it'll really feel like something's happening. And that's a good feeling. :)  Seeing my dad's house this morning has brought back some of the hope that I've felt myself losing.

For a long time, I think I could honestly say that I didnt know what hope was. As Christians, Jesus is our Hope. But I couldnt wrap my head around that. I couldnt understand that my hope should be in Jesus... to take care of everything. To comfort me, to save me, to move me in the right directions. To hold me and tell me that everything's going to be okay, that He's got it all figured out, and I dont have to worry about it. That His plan is perfect. That the world is broken and hurting, but He's there, and He knows. Nothing surprises Jesus.

Maybe I havent exactly been losing hope. Because I know that God's got it all under control. My house will be rebuilt.  Worrying doesnt make anything happen any faster. I just think that I've fallen in a rut. I still have hope in Jesus. He is my hope. But why doesnt it excite me like it should? Where's the fire inside of me that I long to feel? Instead I feel cold, and lazy. Sluggish. Unmotivated. Blah.

But I know where my answers lie: in the Bible. Have a problem? It's in there. Hehe, my friend Jennifer came up with a neat "slogan" so to speak. Instead of "There's an app for that." It's "There's a Psalm for that."  ...Sad? There's a psalm for that. Frustrated? There's a psalm for that. You can use it for just about anything.

Hopeless? There's a psalm for that....