I was reading today about hope again. I read everyday about hope...it's something that I nearly lost last semester and nearly did me in. Today was talking about the hope there is in consistency and about how we long for consistency. Then it gave this quote, "If you can't be good, be there." Meaning that not everyone can be the champion runner, but that there is just something "very right about just showing up day after day and giving what you've got." I once heard a man say, "Do what you can with what you have where you are." Often times we find ourselves in situations where we feel we have nothing to offer or nothing left. But there is something about just being there. A friend emailed me recently about some things going on in her marriage and I had nothing to offer, I'm not married and I don't know the right answers...but there is something sweet in just being there. Last semester I nearly fell apart in many ways...and my roommate Cori was that person for me...consistently she was just there. After a time, she didn't have anything left to give...but she was always there. I guess I'm just thankful for people like her...and of course very thankful for her. There is nothing fair-weather about her. A lot of days I wake up and think "Ok, Lord, I'm not sure what I have to give today to those kids or to the people I will be communicating with..." but its not about my being the bset...its about being there and giving what I have...it's about loving with what God gives me to love with. And God's grace is sufficient for the rest. I just want to be consistent. People long for consistency in their lives...right now, I just long to be consistent in my life...in all areas. I'm thankful for the truckloads of grace that are poured out on me when I fall short. It just keeps happening. And the grace from God keeps coming. I'd be so lost without it.