There is always hope.
About a year ago, I went to Haiti to gather some Plant With Purpose stories.
The visit came during a pretty challenging time in my life. We were struggling to have a baby. I was feeling lonely. Everything in life felt unnecessarily difficult and I wondered if my best days were in the past.
I was in a pretty remote part of Haiti, so when I woke up before everyone else was ready, there wasn’t much to do. So, I went for short walks in the woods. These quickly turned prayerful and meditative.
Check it out. See those leaves?
I was standing in Haiti’s last remaining native forest. Pines and aloe plants were rich and green. It was in a remote, elevated pocket of the country, a part of the world that people often forget about.
I did that. I make those plants burst with life. I’ll take care of you too.
Later that day, I met lots of locals who all told me how their lives had improved now, but before they were pretty miserable. They all recounted how hopeless things seemed for them about ten years ago.
One guy worked 12 hours a day to earn 34 cents. One guy lost his brother in a car crash and developed a drinking problem. Almost all of them suffered and lost somebody during the big earthquake.
Flash forward to the present and things couldn’t be more different. They welcomed me on to their homes and farms with joy and pride.
I couldn’t help but think of how during their hardest moments, our team in Haiti was already working on plans to help their community. And they wouldn’t know for another couple years! And during my own hardest moments, things were still happening behind the scenes to keep hope alive.
I now know about a dozen Haitians who are so thankful they didn’t give up. And I feel that way about myself. Hope is what it looks like to keep showing up, believing that there is always more to the story than what we can see.