Hope

This month we have been reading the novel Hatchet in my Intermediate Middle School ELL class.  For those of you who haven't read Hatchet, it's about a young 13 year old boy who survives a plane crash in the wilderness of Canada.  He is forced to survive all by himself with only the clothes on his back and a hatchet that his mother gave him.  While my kids believe the book to be boring, I find it quite intriguing.  

The main character, Brian, continues to believe that he will be rescued, which in return, gives him hope to survive.  I then discussed the idea of "hope" in someone's life and how devastating the absence of hope in someone's life can be.  Without hope in each of our lives, what is our purpose?

For a homework assignment I decided to have my kids answer the question, "What gives you hope?"  Their responses were interesting and I thought I'd share them with you.  Some of these students are greatly searching for truth and a constant hope in their lives.  Please be praying for them as we continue to discuss the idea of hope. These answers are all from the brains of middle school students.     

1. "It gives me hope by just thinking about all the good things.  And trying to be brave and stay strong. Trying to encourage myself.  And pray to God." 

2. "God gives me Hope.  I know that God is with me and that I will be protected.  Even when I'll die I would know where I go.  I would spend my life with God and I wouldn't be depressed."

3. "I get hope from my friends.  This is because friends help me when I had a hard time.  They make me feel good also when we chat.  They also make good memories because we played for a long time."

4. "My hope is found in my health.  This is because if your health is bad, you will die.  Being healthy saves you money.  Also, if you are healthy you can do more things."  

5. "My parents are my hope.  They help me with my homework.  They brought me to this school.  I'm really happy about it.  Also, my friends give me hope so if I am down, they bring me up again."

6. "My dreams when I get older give me hope.  I don't know will happen when I get older, but I think I will find new hopes.  I am alive to go to school, because I have hope that my future will be awesome if I study a lot.  I sometimes think that I don't have any hope for living.  However, I am greedy so I don't want to lose my life."

7. "My hope is the phone and my future.  My phone makes me do many things such as call, messenger, SNS, listen to music, internet and some kinds of connection.  Also, in my future I hope to have a great job."

  

What gives YOU hope?

Psalm 39:7

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

    My hope is in you.