"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

Hope. There is so much hope in these 26 little words. God has begun a good work in us, and He will complete that work. Just like when I trudged up a sand dune in Idaho with my 3 cousins a few years back, we would take a step and though we kept moving forward, often we would slip backwards a little. When we got nearer to the top, the incline increased and it felt like we were going straight up...I wanted to fall over and just let myself slide back down that hill. But instead, we forged onward...just like God does with us...He keeps working in us to bring about this completion...this completion of making us more like Him. And when we got to the top of that sand dune we just sat and watched the sun begin to set...and it was a beautiful feeling of knowing that we had the victory over that dune, it didn't beat us. And with God on our side, despite small setbacks, we know in the end we will have the victory. We have to hold to the hope that God will complete what He has begun in us. Grace and hope hold hands to bridge the valley of despair.