Set Your Hope

1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

I spent some time talking on the phone today with a new adoptive mom who is settling in for the honeymoon-is-over season of transition with her sibling group of older children.  I could feel the tension in her voice as well as the resolve to hold onto hope - our hope in Jesus Christ.  It is an intense season that threatens to consume you if you don't hold onto hope.  

We chatted briefly about tangible ways others can help in this season, understanding that for every family and every child this may look somewhat different.  And then we talked about ways that she and her husband can set their hope fully on the grace that we have and ultimately look forward to eternity through Jesus. In the season of testing, holding onto hope is a hard thing to do when the days fairly swallow you whole.  After reflecting on the conversation, I wished that I had offered her 1 Peter 1:13 as a bit of wisdom: 

1. In preparing for adoption we spent quite a bit of time preparing our minds for action.  We read the adoption, attachment, trauma, and parenting books, attended support groups, spent time in prayer, and learned from others what we would be undertaking.  

2. While we rejoiced in the precious gift of these children, we were also sober-minded.  The transition to a new family, a new country, a new home, new rules, a new school, new everything is not to be taken lightly.  This transition carries with it years of heartache and brokenness that eventually led to adoption.  As adoptive parents we are entrusted with those hurts and they are ours to shoulder. We must be sober-minded to care thoughtfully for our children during this transition. 

3. Finally, we must set our hope, again and again, fully on the grace that is ours through Jesus Christ. We must daily preach the gospel to ourselves.  We must remind our spouses and our children.  We must remind our friends and extended family.  Set your hope.  Set your hope.  Set your hope.

Some seasons in life are especially hard and long.  Settling in after a recent addition to the family can be one of those seasons.  I am reminded to pray tonight for these dear friends, that preparing their minds for action and being sober-minded they would set their hope on Him who is faithful!