I have a friend whose wife has been in Nicaragua since May adopting a child. It's been a long, arduous, painful and joy-filled journey for this family. While his wife has been in Nicaragua he's been at home with their children here in Little Rock. They have hung in there jumping through all the hoops, cutting through all the red tape, doing everything that's been asked of them just to bring home a child. By the time the wife comes home, it will have been 7 months. I'm not sure I would have hung in there that long. I don't know if I'd have made it. But they cling to the hope that she'll be home by December.

I thought of them as I considered Paul's words in Colossians this morning.

"We thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints - the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel, that has come to you."

Am I so filled by the hope I have in Christ that I act out of love and faith in all aspects of my life?