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HOPE
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): hoped; hop•ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hopian; akin to Middle High German hoffen to hope
Date: before 12th century
intransitive verb 1 : to cherish a desire with anticipation
transitive verb 1 : to desire with expectation of obtainment
2 : to expect with confidence
When my husband first showed me the robin’s nest there was only 1 egg. Each morning for the next few days there was one more egg. On the fourth day the mother laid her final egg, and then sat patiently, keeping them warm until time for them to hatch.
For the couple of weeks these eggs have been in the nest I have hoped they would make it to the hatching stage. I hoped the mother would not be caught by a neighborhood cat. I hoped neighborhood children will not discover the nest and knock it out of the low lying bush. I hoped the winds accompanying the spring storms would not be strong enough to blow the nest from its perch.
There are no guarantees but I have continued to let my hope build. I have waited expectantly for the eggs to hatch.
Sometimes what we hope for doesn’t come to pass. Couples can’t conceive. Pregnancies end tragically. Our dreams are crushed. Relationships don’t turn out as we hoped. Death comes prematurely. We begin walking down a road with a goal in mind only to find that a detour is necessary. Sometimes the detour takes us to places of pain and sometimes joy. Sometimes we choose the detour and sometimes we have no choice.
Watching and waiting for these eggs to hatch coincides with changes in my children’s lives. So as I hope for these eggs to hatch and the baby birds to be healthy, I find myself hoping for my own babies to be healthy and happy and to find their places in the world.
