Thursday, August 12, 2010

Hope. (and a giveaway!)

I'm like a sponge when it comes to the way stories affects me. I can't watch scary movies without having bad dreams, I can't read a blog post about someone's great-uncle's cousin's niece's battle with some rare incurable disease without crying, I can't watch those you-tube documentary clips about how the world is falling apart and the government wants to get us all without feeling fearful and hopeless (so I found out yesterday).
So I have to be intentional about the messages I expose my heart to and remind myself that there is no time to be pessimistic or judgmental or mean or afraid or hopeless. This morning, for example, I listened to this song on repeat approximately 27 times 'cause it's what my soul needed. I do stuff like that a lot...anyone else?

If you're interested in this "Hope" print, it's now available in my shop. And I'll give away a free, signed "Hope" print to one randomly selected commenter on this post. So leave a comment here and let me know one thing you are hoping for/in. I'll pick a winner this weekend and post the results here on Monday!

Hopefully yours,
Arian : )

24 comments:

Olivia said...

I do the same thing with movies and news. If a movie if full of hopeless, terrible people and has no redeeming qualities, it can put me in the worst mood ever.

Tonight I am hoping for a much better finish to the day than how it began.

Kassi said...

i find hope in Jesus!!

your "hope" print is beautiful

kassiunderwood@hotmail.com
www.bacwoodsfern.blogspot.com

Carol Anne said...

I agree. I try to surround myself with positive people. Sometimes that means separating myself from the negative ones. I really love this print!

My husband & I are hoping for a couple things. We have been praying lot about starting a family. We have been trying for over a year and half. We still have hope though.

More recently we have been hoping that he gets the job he has been trying for. :)

Unknown said...

Today i am putting hope in nothing but God. Short on $, need guidance. I was worried yesterday, but today i realized it is beyond me. He will guide me. He is my hope.

sonya audrey said...

I do things like that all the time. I'm the same way about scary movies, and I even have a terrible time with the news because it affects me so deeply. Details in the Fabric by Jason Mraz is the song that calms me again when I feel like I'm losing myself a bit. It's actually the only Jason Mraz song I own, but a friend sent it to me during a bit of a crisis a few years ago and it's been a personal reminder ever since.

I'm getting ready for a very big move, and a very big life change. Going through a divorce, and a now-single momma/student, moving 500 miles away from my family, I hope for smooth transitions and beautiful new beginnings. <3

Your hope print is amazing. One of my very favorite words. With my very favorite meaning behind it. Love your work, as always. :)

Kelly said...

Truly it may sound like a Sunday school answer, but I put hope in having a future because of Jesus. Specifically, right now I hope for a great future for my daughter—that she may put her own hope in Jesus too!

Neat song. I'd never heard it before.

Anonymous said...

I am a new follower of yours and I love your work. Beautiful!!! I am also the same way when it comes to pessimistic or depressing things, they always affect me. Listening to the same song over and over again also helps me a lot, although it may drive some crazy! LoL.
One thing I am hoping for is for the strength for me to keep my motivation and keep changing my world for the better!

Jordan said...

Hope. I Hope in something more. That one day I will be united with my God and Savior. That one day all of the battles in this life will be won. The Hope that all will be made new and all my scars will be healed. Living without Hope... what's living worth? Hope gets me through each Monday morning, each routine, and over each rising hurtle. This poster is just another reason to push forward. Thanks for your work... it is beautifully brilliant!

Mariah said...

Hope

Hope
Opens
Peoples
Eyes

***********************************

Why does the topic of hope keep coming up all around me? Why am I so drawn to it? Hope is available to me and as I've been exploring and learning more about myself and my God...I'm finding more hope. It is a pretty amazing thing. Oh and your print is pretty amazing too....oh and so are you.

-Mariah Kroger

Katie R said...

beautiful!

Rachel said...

I am hoping for strength and wisdom at work today. I want to be stable source of support in a hopeless environment.

amanda said...

Great post. :)

My husband and I are hoping to start a family and hoping that the fear and worry that were present constantly the first time we tried will not be around the next time.

Amanda said...

Oh, I love that you listened to needtobreathe 27 times. I listen to them so often that my husband has to stop me from putting on the vinyl *justonemoretime*

Right now, I'm hoping for a new job. One that brings me joy. This one is sucking my soul dry. I'm also hoping my husband and I can find a way to buy a new car.

Karis said...

Thanks for reminding me to go back to my own meditation and my will to HOPE in the Lord! I'll have to look at my own HOPE poster again...

Britt@artbybritt said...

Oh, I love this! So beautiful. I have to agree with so many others... my only true hope really is in Jesus. Thanks for the reminder!

Kelly said...

There are many reasons to have fear nowadays because of this crazy world, but what none of us have to forget, there are double reasons to be happy and grateful as well, I saw a video of american soldiers coming back home surpirsing their kids, their couples and wow, it remind me that we r not alone, our family, friends r always there and we must never 4get that!
Btw this is the link! http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=455621345922&ref=mf

maeklingler said...

Love hope. Love that print. Love randomness. Love you. Love to buy it even if chance feels otherwise.

Sher said...

It is beautiful..your hope print.

I am in hope for my best friend and her beautiful children. Her husband left her in April.... out of the blue...really. I know that our hope is in God but boy, wouldn't it be good for her to have this to set her eyes on. My hope for them is healing, for a plan and a future.

I would give her the print...if I won :0)

Matt, Katie, and Sophia! said...

Love it! We all need hope.

Unknown said...

I put my hope in grace and the fact that I do not understand it.

Heather said...

I put my hope in Jesus. I remind myself that no matter how terrible things get/seem that I don't have to worry because Jesus has overcome the world. That's why John 16:33 is one of my favorite verses.

tamarahillmurphy.com said...

I'm hoping for a dream that my husband and I stumbled on this past week. I'm hoping for the new heaven and the new earth that we will share with Jesus someday.

Chelsey said...

Hope is the theme of my summer right now.

Everything feels out of my control, but I am hoping in my Savior Jesus to restore relationships, heal loved ones, and guide me in knowing what to do with my life, among about a bajillion other things! :)

Romans 8:25
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Ps, it's beautiful!

lady mullady said...

I find hope in the baby girl kicking in my stomach. In fact, we are giving her the middle name "Umida," which means "hope" in Uzbek.