Refresh

A breathe of fresh air.
A dip in a cool pool of water.
Ice cold water.
Cool AC on a hot summer day.
A word of encouragement on a stressful, over-scheduled day.
An uplifting word in troubling times.
Hope in times of despair.

We all need to be refreshed. We all need that encouragement to press on when all around us we are told we are not good enough. We all need to be cooled when the heat index is over 110. We all need that message of hope in a world where we are surrounded by loss.

Hope.

It seems that I have been very unfocused lately. I have done plenty of dreaming. Yet it is never about what I can do right this moment. I seem to be full of negativity. I seem to be full of despair. Overwhelmed by the challenge of life. I was very far from being refreshed.

Where do we get our refreshment from and what is enough to give us the momentum we need to remove ourselves from the lows? I found my hope this past week. It came from a very interesting source; My wife. Now one may seem to think simply, duh. But it came in the way of a serious talk about where our relationship is going and where it is headed.

Few of us really live life. Few of us really put ourselves fully into the world around us. I have not been one of those few. Sure I have applied myself at work, working hard to become Store Manager. But. Work isn't everything. Having a successful work life does not guarantee having a successful home life.

The importance is honesty. If we are truly going to be refreshed in life we need to have a genuine spirit. Our hearts need to be used and engaged. We need to be connected. If our only source of refreshment comes falsely from the self, we are fooled. A temporary fix to a lifelong problem. A leak that will continue to drain us day to day.

Hope.

I think that I know now why I get frustrated at church. We seek to be fixed by ourselves. We pray selfishly. We pray with our own needs in mind. How often do I pray for others? How often do I stop for that car on the side of the road. How often am I a refreshment for others? How often do I come to the side of a fellow brother or sister? It is amazing how far I fall from His teachings.

Refreshment is found in the process of engaging the communities we are involved in. Refreshment is found in Hope.
Refreshment is found in the Love of Jesus.
Refreshment is found in the Hope of Jesus.
Refreshment = Hope