Sarah D. Shearer

Dear future children,

Some people are saying I should stop dreaming about you. They are telling me, decidedly  even, that the world is getting too evil to think about bringing children into it. All around me, they are saying we should stop dreaming. Just like that. Turn a key, close a lid, shove under the bed a lifetime of dreams and hopes and plans. They are saying we should stop traveling, stop going to concerts, stop going to sporting events. Stop, stop, stop, everywhere. Look both ways before you cross, and then turn around and don’t even cross anymore, just go back. Don’t dream of the future because there is no future because it’s all imploding.

Maybe they’re right.

But I don’t give up that easily.

I can’t merely cease to hope, to imagine, to find purpose and meaning in my days. I can’t just wait for it all to go up in flames. It goes against who God has created me to be, and I think it goes against who God created them to be too.

You see, I believe you’re going to happen. I believe you’re going to arrive in this big beautiful world, wide-eyed and innocent, just as I did. I believe I’m going to spend lots of effort teaching you about this world I’ve grown to love so very much. I believe I’m going to tell you about the God who spun it  all into motion, the one who is holding it all together, yesterday, today and forever.

There will be days I have to tell you bad things have happened. And I’ll figure that out when I get there. But I’m committed to this one thing, hope, and it’s an anchor in my soul.

I have this hope when I wake every morning and I see God has painted another sunrise, and so I know He’s not finished with us yet.

I have this  hope when I see someone give sacrificially to someone in need, and I know he’s not finished with us yet.

I have this hope after a day so perfect my face hurts from smiling, so I know He’s still  not finished with us.

I have this hope that in the midst of really dark days there is a light shining brighter still, drawing people to it at lightning speed.

Guys, I think you’re going to have a great life. I’ll help it be as amazing as I can.

And who knows, maybe you’ll never happen, but I have this hope..