Sure, he’ll struggle to put some of the concepts together when all he really wants to do is ramp his trucks off the living room ottoman and watch the Thomas video for the 1000th time, but I persist regardless. I’m confident some of it is getting in there and next year more will make it in and every year it will get more and more comprehensible.

For me, this time of year is about hope – actually Hope. There was a time in my life when things looked like they would remain mundane – the days would be “normal” regardless of the activity. At some point in college, I started wondering if this was all there was…was there any hope for anything better – even supernatural?

Growing up in the south, God is talked about as commonly as baseball and apple pie, but this does not make a faith. Did I believe God existed. Sure. Did I believe he was interested in me? Nope. Was He relevant to me day in and day-out? Not in the least. After all, I was in control and managed to keep it between the ditches for all these years – I’m wasn’t sure I NEEDED God.

At some point, I started wondering about eternity. What happened after I died? Who was right about that? Would I come back as a cricket or go to heaven or, worse yet, cease to exist. The only one worth examination seemed to be heaven, so I started asking some questions and found out that, not only is this scenario plausible, it is possible – FOR ME.

There was more! In my research, I discovered that not only could heaven be my destination, but my daily life could have true meaning. A relationship with Jesus Christ promised eternal life starting NOW!!!

Eighteen years later, I still marvel at the wonder of my salvation. The story is absurd from a human perspective – nonetheless, it is true and I believe it to the core. The birth of my Savior put in motion God’s plan to restore hope to humanity. His death and resurrection thirty three years later finalized it.

So, for me, hope was restored during this time of year when Hope was born. Someday, my son will understand the Hope that can be found in this time of year and I pray that it doesn’t take him as long to “get it” as it did me.

Resume story:
I answered, “Yes, we have to go back on the bumpy road to get home.”
“Why?” (imagine a 3-yr old whine there).
“Because that’s the only way to get from here to home.”
He countered with, “But I don’t like bumpy roads.” (pitiful-meter at full tilt now)
“I’m sorry, but there’s not another way home.”

This exchange happened to resonate with me at another level right there in the truck.  I thought about life and how bumpy it can be and how at times, I long for a stretch of blue road every once in a while.  Even more profound is the thought that we must endure the bumpy roads to get HOME.

God didn’t design life with only blue roads for a host of reasons, but one that I was reminded of is that the bumpy roads make me look forward to home that much more.  Hope in heaven is lost on me most of the time as I’m such a “here, now” guy, so I’m glad that God uses those around me (my kids especially) to help me glance up and out from time to time.

How about you – is it time to look toward something rather than enduring the here and now?