2020 has been a difficult year. I am exhausted. The pandemic, the economic and employment issues, the shutdowns, the natural disasters, the social isolation–every time I turn around, it feels like one more hammer drops. The social distancing and the continued disruptions to normal life are taking an emotional toll on everyone.

Everything inside me wants life to go back to normal. I am tired of facemasks and not being able to hang out with friends. The constant changes at schools across the nation feel tumultuous–teachers and students being quarantined, schools closing down, sporting events cancelled, teacher changes due to class balancing as students return for in-person learning, teachers being displaced due to low attendance numbers. Then there are the economic effects–every time I turn around someone is being furloughed or let go. We all brace, hoping and praying that whatever the next hammer is to drop, that it doesn’t strike too close to home.

I find myself, over and over, speaking the words, “I bind myself to hope.” For many people, hope is dwindling. Job loss, financial difficulties, and lack of social supports have stripped hope from many. However, hope is essential. When we give up hope, we give up the very thing that can keep us going during difficult times–looking forward to a future that is bright and full of possibility.

When hope dwindles, is it easy to fall into hopelessness and depression. However, that is the very place that needs to be avoided. The reality is that during difficult times, there are not a lot of good options; however, typically, there are options. Desperate times call for creativity and thinking outside the box. The options we think of may not be the options we wanted, and our life may not look like we envisioned, but the options may keep us going when everything around us seems to be shaking.

Options may look like moving in with a family member, or taking a less-than ideal job. It is important to remember that any options we choose in the short-term, do not have to be forever. We just need to do what needs to be done to survive this season, putting one foot in front of the other.

Above all else, we must bind ourselves to hope, because if we lose our hope, we stand to lose everything. We will get through this and come out the other side. In the meantime, we must maintain some level of hope–hope that the future will be brighter, and that as some point, we will return to some semblance of normalcy.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a wellspring of life.”