By Molly klima
I can’t make this stuff up. For whatever reason, in my mind, May 8th was the first birthday of Standing With Hope. That date was sealed in my mind so tightly I didn’t even consider double checking the date of my first post. A Facebook memory popped up on May 4th and I thought, “Wow, this thing is way off.” Then on May 8th it hit me. May 8th stands out because it was the day we finalized our first of three adoptions in 2014. I knew that. I just didn’t connect the dots that I did not start the blog that day. I started calculating backwards and realized that one week after I launched this blog one of my best friends had a massive stroke and spent the next five days hooked up to machines fighting for her life. I was reminded of the lesson of how much can change in a week. May 4th. The blog went live May 4th.
If this is your first time here and you’re wondering why this blog exists; you can find your answer here: “Sorry, I’m late.”
So, sorry I’m late, again. Can you believe it’s been (more than) one whole year? I can’t. It doesn’t seem possible. I just want to say thank you to anyone and everyone who has followed along, commented, shared and sent messages. Time is precious and can’t be replaced. I’m keenly aware of that so if you’ve chosen in anyway to spend time here with my friends and I-thank you.
And to my friends and family who so graciously contributed, thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU! The funnest part of all this for me is collaboration and watching my friends who say, “I’m not a writer.” take a leap of faith and draw people closer to Christ through their writing. After a year, our posts have accumulated: 6,852 views, 3,634 site visits, and almost 100 subscribers checking in on a regular basis. I don’t know if these numbers would be considered good or bad. I do know that receiving messages or comments about the way a post has impacted someone can’t be measured.
don’t get distracted
When I started this a year ago I said I would give it one year and go from there. So while I’ve been physically absent from the blog for over a month (sorry about that) it hasn’t been absent from my mind. Life just be lifeing, you know? I’ve had to put my time and energy toward some other commitments. On top of that spring brought our busiest season with our sons to date. But here we are.
My blog is a hobby, I don’t make money doing this. To do it well takes a lot of time, especially when I design and edit this site myself. I still can’t figure out how to move the comment section directly under the post so you have to scroll for ten years to the bottom of a post to get there.
I’ve been distracted. Last year was tough and I’m really still amazed that I was able to create and launch this thing and be consistent in one of the hardest seasons of my life. While caring for my grandma our friend Jeff passed away. Two months later my grandma also went home to Glory. Another two months went by and one of my best friends had the stroke that has permanently marked all of us. I don’t have super human powers that allowed me to be here or write or bring on awesome guest writers, I am held up by a strong God. My mind is trying to adjust to changes in my life while still being a mom and wife. God is gracious and present and we are sorting it out together.
When I started this blog I made a deal with God, so to speak. I wouldn’t do it apart from Him. It would be easy to try to make this all about me or spout off all of my opinions or rants about things, but that’s not helpful to anyone. That doesn’t serve Christ or anyone else but myself. So I set my heart on a course of honoring God with anything that was written or posted and it if it wasn’t for Him then it didn’t go live. The world doesn’t need more reason to doubt God or His people, the world needs to know how He still shows up in our everyday lives. How people continue to stand with hope in Jesus when all else seems lost.
But you know what the real challenge is in all of that, at least for me? It is not getting so distracted that my time with God dwindles and goes everywhere else instead.
I’ve been reminded what it means to do the work of God without doing the work for God; That place where service becomes a task and fellowship with God is plan b.
That’s a dangerous place to be. So for me, as my priorities went off track, it’s been a great reminder of the importance of discipline. And I have to laugh at myself as I write this because it’s something I talk to my sons about a lot. Showing up when you don’t want to. Doing your best work when you’re tired. Putting your best foot forward even if there’s only an audience of one. Do what you need to do even when you have no desire to do it.
So just as before when I needed to give myself time to reset and recalibrate my lens, I’ve done it again. Here’s to realigning and showing up. Here are some Standing With Hope old timers in case you missed them the first time around. I’m getting back online so new material is coming. I’ll continue to link older things as they are works that are worthy of attention, such as last June when my cousins and I shared about the impact of my uncle’s battle with Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia or foster care. Thanks for sticking with me. Here’s to another year of Standing With Hope.
standing with hope 
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