From a young age I loved the satisfaction found in the resolution of a well-told story. Mostly my encounters with stories came from books and real-life anecdotes shared around the family dinner table. We didn’t have television in our house until 1984. A neighbor wintered in Hawaii and recorded about a zillion shows on VHS tapes and shared them with us when he returned to Alaska every summer. I suppose I cut my proverbial storytelling teeth on re-runs of The Love Boat, Gunsmoke, Flipper and a wide variety of 80’s movies. The warm fuzzy feelings that welled up inside when the hero won the girl’s heart, Flipper saved the day, or Marshal Dillon rounded up the villain were almost addictive.
The craving for a happily-ever-after started young in this fiction writer’s life.
As a middle-schooler or perhaps during my early teenage years, my tastes in entertainment changed. We had cable television by then. More channels than we knew what to do with. While I devoured every Janette Oke novel that came my way, as well as the entire Sweet Valley High series, and a novel by Catherine Marshall called Christy (you may have heard of that one a time or two), the quest for hope and a happily-ever-after felt a bit elusive in real life. I started writing a lot of stories only to shove them under my bed, convinced they weren’t worthy of being seen by anyone other than me.
Despite my quirky yet very idyllic upbringing, I had a sneaking suspicion there was a whole lot that was hard about being a grown-up. Taxes, raising teenagers, conquering the elements (perhaps I’ve mentioned we lived in Alaska where the driveway filled back up with snow just as quickly as one cleared it), worrying about aging relatives who lived far away … these were just a few of the things I noticed my parents wrestled with. Like most teenagers, I both longed to get out in the world and do things ‘my way’, yet felt a tiny bit leery of how I might survive in a season of life with so many unknowns variables poised to take me down at any moment. Part of me—more than likely the stubborn, hard-headed side— wanted to soldier on with a glass-half-full, idealistic mentality and prove that I could be good at adulting. I was equipped with a great education, a strong worth ethic, and my faith in a sovereign god.
Doesn’t every story have a happy ending? How hard could this grown-up gig be, anyway?
Well. I’ve been ‘adulting’ for approximately twenty years now and those Internet memes are true: it’s hard. Even with good coffee and an abundance of great stories. In a postmodern, information-saturated culture, the message of hope and the perfect love of our Savior feels … stifled. Diminished. Trampled by pervasive fear.
Some days it feels like evil just might win, doesn’t it?
Cancer, terrorism, poverty, the hot mess of an election year—they are all conspiring to derail my quest. My heart is heavy and a whisper of doubt tells me these promises I’m clinging to are trite. This is too messed up. I’ve been duped. There can’t possibly be a happy ending in all of this.
It’s in moments like these that I find myself searching for a nugget of truth. While I’m tempted to become cynical and jaded, my quest for hope and an undying belief in the ultimate happily-ever-after is not thwarted. Perhaps it is the true motivation behind my writing. I want so very desperately for readers to not only experience those warm fuzzy feelings found at the end of a satisfying, clean read, but my hope is that perhaps readers will be reminded or maybe even see for the first time that there is more to this life than the here and now. For me the whole point of inspirational romance is to point our audience toward a relationship with Jesus.
Somewhere in my collection of stuff from the teenage era is a box of CD’s. While those discs are probably stuffed in a far corner of the attic, the message of one particular artist still replays in my mind. I listened to a lot of Steven Curtis Chapman back in the day. He included a powerful quote from the late Charles Colson in the opening seconds of the song “Heaven in the Real World”. For me, those pithy words rise above the doubt. I’ve included it in the picture above. It offers the best kind of hope—the kind offered by our triune God, who is in fact, still moving and working in the hearts of His people.
Your turn: where do you find hope and a respite when your heart is heavy? I’d love to hear your favorite verse, inspirational quote, favorite song, etc. Please chime in and share and share your thoughts in the comments.
Quote: Chuck Colson
Photo credit: Alyssa Smith via Unsplash
Being a grown up is hard, isn’t it, Heidi? My parents made it look so easy. :)
My go to verse, especially lately is Hebrews 11 – Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. (NIV)
No matter what happens around me or to me, it’s comforting to know my faith will remain.
Thanks for a relatable post Heidi. My parents did not have a TV until after I was married. One of my favorite inspirational stories was Christy. I did a lot of reading in high school. I am always uplifted when I listen to a Steve Curtis Chapman CD.
My inspirational verse is Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (NKJV) This verse reminds me, God is in control of my life and circumstances (good or bad).
A favorite song, not just the chorus, is “Awesome God” by Rich Mullins.
When the sky was starless in the void of the night
(our god is an awesome god)
He spoke into the darkness and created the light
(our god is an awesome god)
Judgement and wrath He poured out the Sodom
Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross
I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten that
Our God is an Awesome God
Our God (our god) is an Awesome God
He Reigns (he reigns) from heaven above
With Wisdom (with wisdom) pow’r and love
Our God is an Awesome God
Thanks for a trip down memory lane and reminding us OUR HOPE is with our Heavenly Father.
Good morning, Jill. You are exactly right. Being a grown up is hard. ;-)
Love, love, love that verse from Hebrews. Have a wonderful Tuesday!
Good morning, Renate. Thank you for that beautiful reminder. High five for being a Christy fan, too. That was the novel that inspired me the most to become a writer. I enjoyed re-visiting the lyrics of “Awesome God”. My roommate in college had a wonderful singing voice and she would often sing that song. Thank YOU for that memory. I hope you had a happy Easter. Take care.
I too enjoyed choruses like Awesome God , and others. I love John 3:16, for God so loved that He gave. …. Phillipines is also special to me. My early childhood was normal but my teenage years were bad and abusive. Being an adult for me was easier than that. God’s love is and was very special for me. His grace and mercy are wonderful!
Hi Heidi,
I usually turn to music. I LOVE Christian contemporary music and worship songs. There are so many but recently the song by Tenth Ave. North titled….”Worn” really speaks to me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Marylin
Hi Diana, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. God’s mercies are new every morning, right? Have a wonderful day.
Hi Marylin, thank you for stopping by. Tenth Avenue North really speaks to me, too. Their lyrics are powerful. I think I’ll go listen to “Worn” right now. Have a great day!
I love an old hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.” I think there’s a newer song that incorporates part of that old hymn. I have a lot of favorite scriptures, but this one is in my top 5. Isaiah 40:29-31 “He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” NRSV
A favorite hymn and a beautiful verse, Merrillee. Thank you for the reminder of God’s promises.
I find hope and respite when my heart is heavy by praying and sharing my heart with God. Also, being with family gives me peace and comfort.
They are very special to me because my nephew is the lead guitarist. We’ve loved this band from their beginning.
I also love It Is Well. And the Sovereign Grace Music rewrite of the song It Is Not Death to Die has been a big comfort. Lamentations 3:23-24 – The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Loved this post and those words from Steven Curtis Chapman’s song.
“Turn your eyes on Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
The words from this song have been a reminder when I have felt overwhelmed by the things around me, that God is bigger than it all. When I look at Him and remember that He is still in control and that He has a plan of great love and redemption in place, it helps me make it through. Those things do indeed grow dim and don’t seem so big or overwhelming anymore.
Your turn: where do you find hope and a respite when your heart is heavy? I’d love to hear your favorite verse, inspirational quote, favorite song, etc. Please chime in and share and share your thoughts in the comments.
The only place for me to find hope is in God! Reading His word, listening to uplifting Christian music, praying, remembering & standing on His promises & talking to other Christians within our church are the many ways that can help me find that hope. I too find comfort in music like Marylin.
One of my favorite hymns is “In Christ Alone” :
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Because that’s truly the only place to find our hope :-) Thank you Jesus!
Ooops, I was suppose to delete that first part before I submitted my answer…..haha!