Everyday Miracles is a very personal column for readers who want to explore the deeper meaning of life.
My heart was moved to write about hope this past week when I was faced over and over with the difficult circumstances of family and friends dealing with tough stuff. My eyes teared up as a friend shared an update on her 34-year-old daughter who’s been battling a rare form of breast cancer these past months. The cancer is not responding to treatment and the tumors have doubled in size.
Another friend, a vibrant, energetic 44-year-old, is struggling with an auto-immune condition that came on suddenly last year and has left her literally wanting to crawl out of her body as it wages a battle on the inside. With no cure or end in sight, every day is about finding a way to cope with the misery.
Another friend confided in me that he and his wife were going out of town for a few days to see their 17-year-old son for the first time in two-and-a-half months after having him committed to a substance abuse treatment center two states away. They’re not sure what to expect and what the future holds for him.
And then there are my own family issues: dealing with the knowledge that my beautiful step-grandchildren, ages 11 and 9, have just learned that their parents are divorcing after 15 years of marriage. And the circumstances surrounding the breakup are so bizarre and unfathomable that it’s had my family in the grip of anger and grief for months.
We’re all dealing with stuff. Some stuff is tougher than others, but we all have life issues, be it physical, mental or emotional, that can consume us at some point in our lives.
“Hope heals where it hurts the most, which is your soul.”
But we have a choice in how we approach these bumps and boulders in the road of life. We can let them consume us and take us down or we can allow them to transform us for the better. It all depends on the path we choose to take.
One path, the one most of us end up taking, the one that our flesh is drawn to, is through a tunnel where it’s very dark. Fear abounds because of the darkness and the unknown of what’s around us or what lies ahead. We see no light at the end of the tunnel so we don’t know where we’re headed. We have no idea what is at the end of this path. There could be a cliff, there could be a stone wall; there could be never-ending darkness. There could be death.
The other path is fully lit, bathed in bright warm light that shines into and onto the path from the very end. This light allows us to see as we navigate this unknown path. The light from beyond provides just enough illumination for us to take the next step, and then the next step, and the next.
With each step, as we get closer to the light, we literally feel “lighter” as we realize the light is dissipating that fear of the unknown, that fear of where we’re headed, that fear of what the outcome of our circumstances may be.
This light is very powerful for it to do that!
What is that light that illuminates this path?
That light is hope.
Hope is powerful. Hope is so powerful that it can heal the hurt inside inside us. It can heal the soul.
Being able to muster up hope and then experience its healing benefits is an everyday miracle. And I do mean every day. Hope is so life-changing that if you don’t hold onto it tightly, it can be taken away when you least expect it. So every day you must set your mind to take hold of hope and give yourself permission to open your heart to hope’s transformative effect on your life.
I’d like to say that all of the above mentioned friends and family members have hope in their particular situation, but a few do not. And when I hear that my heart and soul weep because I’ve experienced the power of hope firsthand and I want everyone else to as well.
Why does someone want to stay in the darkness?
How could one close the door to a ray of light?
We do so when we are so far into the dark we can’t even fathom a ray of hope, a ray of light.
We do so when we have no knowledge or hope, or have never experienced hope’s healing power. For many the darkness is familiar territory. We dont know what we dont know so we stay in the shadows.
During one of my late-night can’t-sleep iPad-reading-sessions I was divinely led to the story of a very special woman. As I started watching this 22-minute video documentary that so eloquently shared her story tears of sadness welled up in my eyes, but as her story unfolded those tears turned to tears of joy.
I want you to meet Katherine Wolf, her husband, Jay, and their son, James. For anyone dealing with stuff, this family’s story will inspire you. It’s worth your investment of 22 minutes to watch this miracle of hope unfold.
It will not only put your circumstances in a new light, it will show you the kind of hope I’m talking about. Not the world’s view of hope that sometimes lead to closed doors and false hopes, but the kind of hope that’s everlasting. For this kind of hope, we must seek it from its author, creator and inventor. We must drink in hope from its source.
If youve been inspired like I was youll want to visit HopeHeals.com to learn more.
You can follow them on their social media pages:
Twitter: @hopeheals
Instagram: @hopeheals
Facebook: Hope-Heals
You can follow them on their social media pages:
Twitter: @hopeheals
Instagram: @hopeheals
Facebook: Hope-Heals
When you’re finished watching, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you, hear your stories of hope, and pray for you for whatever you’re dealing with.
Thank you for reading. My hope is that you’ll be inspired to have hope.
Want to know when I post a new Everyday Miracles story? Send an email togschmitt@womenridersnow.comletting me know you want to be added to my Everyday Miracles mailing list.
About the Author
Genevieve Schmitt is the founder of WomenRidersNow.com. She was raised in a strict Catholic household, but in college the journalist in her starting asking questions of organized religion. By age 30 she developed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and since then works daily to surrender her stubborn will and vain ego to allow the Holy Spirit to guide her life. She now considers herself a non-denominational Christian. In the summer of 2014, with guidance from God, she started expressing her faith journey in this column, Everyday Miracles. Feedback from WRN readers has been overwhelming positive proving that people crave so much more.<
In this moment of the evening when I browsed through WRN, I took the time to enjoy Everyday Miracles, and let myself take 22 minutes to myself to be renewed, all I can say is “wow.” Katherine could be any one of the patients I have worked with as a physical therapist for over almost 40 years, and like them all, I learned something from her. I’ve always known the true skill of rehabilitation isn’t mine or my colleagues, it’s God’s grace working through us, through the patients and their families. This story of sheer strength in our faith, our lives with each other and our challenges, we survive, we succeed, and we continue to hope. Thank you, Genevieve, for reminding me of the Everyday Miracles around us all every wonder-full day.
This story touched my heart like no other! It’s not only a story of hope but a story of courage, community, and faith. Katherine chose to believe that God was going to work through her for His glory. She wasn’t willing to ‘accept’ what happened to her, that her life was going to consist of simply watching other people live. But she let God’s purpose permeate her life. She surrounded herself with a great cloud of witnesses, those who believed in the power of prayer and community. I imagine that it was at her toughest times, they all rallied around her to remind her of the hope they all held. Their story makes me want to pick up my head and really be more in tune to what is happening in the lives of people around me. We get so focused on our work, the busyness, the checking things off our to-do list that we push relationships to the side. On purpose or inadvertently, we pull away from community and communion. The messiness and every day struggles is where God will show up in our lives. The key is to realize that He’s there working all along in easy times and hard times. What a powerful reminder. Thanks for sharing this Genevieve.
I just happen to catch this column as I was poking around WRN’s site. Love the title: Everyday Miracles! The story the Wolf’s share is amazing and so grateful they did the hard work of turning to Christ early on in their beginnings together. At this Easter season hope is exactly what Christ wants us to keep close in our hearts. His resurrection is what gives us hope that which is beyond anything we can do for ourselves. It is through Christ and His sacrifice that we will all live again. Happy Easter and may we all remember His rise from the grave.
Thank you. This is just what I needed to remember at this moment.I find that my “helmet time” brings me clarity and when I don’t get enough of it, I start feeling claustrophobic.
Just browsing around the site again, and found this. Well, I held on pretty good until about 18 minutes in, and, then … the dam burst. Let’s see, what where those piss-ant issues that I found so inconvenient, this time yesterday? What an inspiring story, not only of hope, but of faith, fortitude, and acceptance. Would that we could all show such “amazing grace.” Thanks you for sharing this!
This is a BIG WOW. Julie B shared this with me and I shed tears as I watched the video. God is AMAZING and WONDERFUL! We just have to trust Him to let Him do HIS work in us. No matter how hard it is to let Him have the reins in our life. I give Him thanks for everything in my life. Thank you, the Wolf family, for sharing your life changing events to help others have hope in dark times, and showing others your trust in God to lead you to new roads. Amen.
Hello Genevieve,Thank you for hope. You may remember me. Since our last contact I lost one of my sons; he was living and working on the Roaring Springs Ranch in Frenchglen Oregon. A friend and my pastor got the call from the ranch that my son had been killed while driving back to the ranch at night from dinner with a co-worker’s family. They think a deer crossing the road was the cause. His jeep rolled three times and he died in a matter of minutes. I was the last person he talked with on his cell.I have been sick health-wise and still grieving, but I am doing much better. I have experienced how much God understands me as a parent. I hope you do not think I am a crazy person, but God knew when to take my son Colby. He was on the right road again and was happy and had found God in his life. If you look at his Facebook page, you will see more. (Colby Williams)Since age 16 it was hell with Colby, and then at age 18, he went to prison for three years and four months. I could tell horror stories about my son’s drug use. His brothers, friends, and I have been to “cook house” and meth houses to find him and bring him home or to a detox center. I had to put him into jail to save him and myself. He was a boy with a big heart, and very gifted. He was a writer, fisherman, deer hunter, biker, horseman, dog trainer, and very honest in every way. His older brother and I, and his fiancee, flew out to Oregon and we had a memorial service on the ranch. His brother put Colby’s ashes in the wind on the ranch where he wanted to stay, and then back to Florida for a service here at my pastor’s family’s home in Live Oak. We spent a few days on the ranch and learned that God had used my son to help two other young men on the ranch. I had a very personal experience with God and my son on that morning before I was to view my son. Only after days that I was able to understand what God was telling me — so yes there is a God, and yes sometimes when we think our prayers aren’t being answered, think again about those prayers.
Sheila,I am humbled you would share your story with me and the readers of WRN. I am truly sorry for the passing of your son, but it sounds like you’ve been able to muster up a glimmer of hope regarding the whole situation and what God’s plan was / is for your son’s passing.I don’t think you’re crazy when you say “God knew when to take Colby.” Your son had found the Lord and knew of his saving grace. According to the Bible, this means Colby is in heaven. Praise God!Thanks for your encouraging words. I will keep you in prayers as you navigate a life and find a new “normal” without your son on this earth.
Thank you, Genevieve, for sharing this story of love with us. I wept. This came in a dark moment of the soul for me; now I see and feel light.Literally I felt weight lifting from my body and my heart opening after watching this testimony to the strength and power of hope.Bless you and again, my deep and abiding thanks. My prayers will be with you all.
Such a good and difficult story. We all have some type of hope in our life. Faith and prayer will get you through the most darkest times.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for — the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 One of my favorite scriptures, Genevieve! I always keep the word faith with hope as I step through each day.This was a very powerful message and once again, your written words weave a message that resonates with us all. Thank you, sweet lady! Thank you for an article so transformational, and the posting of the video.All my love,Joan
What a great topic for this initial inspired column. Thank you for this column, but more importantly thank you for having the courage to bring this to creation. I see the divine mission in this, and it is good!
Thanks Chris. Actually, this is the seventh article I’ve written for the Everyday Miracles section on Women Riders Now. Here is a link to a list of previous articles. Thanks for your kind words. It is is indeed divinely inspired.
I’ve been sitting here for I don’t know how long trying to think of the words to describe how inspiring and uplifting the Wolf family’s story truly is. And words fail me. All I can say is yes, hope heals. Hope also sustains, revives, endures, and blesses. Thank you, Genevieve, for passing on such a powerful and fundamentally beautiful message, and for your own inspiring words of hope. You, your family, and your friends are in my prayers: that be filled with hope to sustain you as each walks through their own valley. May you each feel the hand of the Good Shepherd as He walks with you. Blessings.
What a great example of the life sustaining power to us who are in Christ. I reflected on hope after watching and hearing this testimony. I don’t usually post comments but felt compelled to now. Hope is healing and brings us many things.Hope is an anchor and gives us joy and peace. Hope will put us in gear and move us forward. Hope gives us strength and courage. It comforts and protects us. In hard, dark times and in the face of death, it gives us endurance and confidence.Our hope comes from God. “Now may God of hope fill you with all joy and peace believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)Hope — our confident expectation. Thank you for sharing encouragement through reminding us all what we have in hope.
You are so blessed to be able to put into words what so many people need to hear. Each of your messages hit home for me. This one especially. I continue to fight my darkness each day. Thanks for bringing light and hope into my life today.
Amazing and powerful! Thanks for sharing!
WOW. What an incredible, touching and inspiring story. Last year I found myself going through one of the most difficult times of my life. But my faith and hope saw me through the darkest days. I recently found this quote and shared with friends who were also going through difficult times: “Hope: Sometimes that’s all you have when you have nothing else. If you have it, you have everything.” That pretty much sums it up.