LAC Families-

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

Faith, Hope, and Love!! Last newsletter we talked about what love over time can accomplish. As we step into this season of lent and our 40 Days of Love, those words are still true. If you don’t remember, take a look back. As I was preparing this letter, I just wanted to encourage us. I kept thinking about Faith, Hope, and Love and the verse that is at the start of this letter. I have thought a bit about the interplay between our responsibilities as parents and faith, hope, and love. This is what I know, today.

Love, in the way that is discussed in the first 8 verses of 1 Corinthians, is a motivator and a driving force in our parenting. When we are able to deploy that type of love in the midst of our families, we create environments where trust, communication and a feeling of closeness is clear and welcomed. We set the foundation in our families that is based in personal demands or limitations. Love provides power and freedom to learn, explore, and focus^[1] through their growing up. We have to get out of our own way and love well so that our families are healthy environments and our kids have healthy foundations. But how does that work with faith and hope?

Faith is our act of trust that God is moving in our lives and in the life of our family to accomplish the plan in front of us. Faith is the process of continuing to move forward believing that our relationships will move to greater depth and our lives will have greater impact for God’s Kingdom. It is what Paul is talking about in verse 12 above. Faith encourages us to move toward the moment where we see face to face and know fully who God is. When we live out our faith in front of and with our families, we follow God into new faithful and purposeful moments that we have not experienced. That living comes out of hope.

Hope is not for the future that is faith. Hope is for today, for right now! It requires us to look at our current circumstances and believe, know, and dream that something different can be.

“… hope is like a stubborn
ship gripping a dock,
a truth: that you can’t stop a dreamer
or knock down a dream.”^[2]

We have had to exercise this hope in new and varied ways this past year. Each day needed it own dream and reminder that today was not going to repeat itself and we are not going to be stuck forever. Hope is necessary in the arguments. Hope is necessary in the pain. Hope is necessary in the grief. Hope is necessary right now.

We have to believe that there is an open ocean of fears and faith, hurts and hopes, losses and love. When we take action through faith and set sail we know that faith, hope and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.

Lenten blessings!!!

Chuck Hunt
Associate Pastor of Family Ministries

^[1] Powell, Kara and Steven Argue, Steven and Kara Powell. Growing With
^[2] Gorman, Amanda. “In This Place (An American Lyric).” Poets.Org, 2017, poets.org/poem/place-american-lyric.

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