those words are engraved on the martin luther king, jr. memorial in washington d.c. and they stuck with me this past week as i wandered through the various memorials and was part of conversations with so many people from all walks of life this week in d.c. i realized that each soldier that has fought for our country has been a stone of hope in order to defend the freedoms we are so fortunate to have here in the states. walking around the f.d.r memorial and realizing that he was a stone of hope a midst the great depression that has defined a generation. (grandma has taught me never to waste anything...especially at taco bell. throwing away sauce packets is like throwing away money) walking around the wwii memorial and realizing that i had 4 great uncles and one grandpa fight and return from that war was crazy when i looked at the wall filled with stars to represent the many who never returned. each of those soldiers that fought was a stone of hope. all of these things take on new meaning now that my little brother is going into the army. he is now a stone of hope for me. he is defending the freedoms that come with having an american passport.
it is this idea that i am a stone of hope wherever i decide to go. in india, the red light district seemed like such a mountain of despair but that mountain is being taken down stone by stone as women choose freedom. in many ways, i had to choose to see the hope as i walked the streets filled with men that viewed me as an object. in bolivia, the hope is in the women that come to the casa which is a place to be open and free. they have come from that dark place of despair and to be a stone of hope for the other women in the red light areas. in peru, hope is seeing kids move from the streets back to their homes and families. one lady's journey from the streets to a home of her own was the stone of hope for her neighborhood as she began to host bible studies and show the hope that she had found. hope is something that at times seems so difficult to find especially in the dark places where it feels impossible to hope. i have seen the hope in the smile of a blind child that recognizes my voice. i have seen hope in the pride a women has in a product she makes. i have seen hope in a child learning to read or understand how to do a math problem. hope is something that is powerful to keep us going or continue striving towards serving God in the darkest places. i pray that i can bring hope to the dark places of peru or bolvia but i can only to that as i seek God and the hope He provides.
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