I've been talking about the night sky and pinpoints of hope in several different circles lately... It's been a recurring theme that has just kept coming up. So tonight's excursions became a visual representation of hope to me.

 
I love the stars... and seeing how many there are while standing in the cold wind, smelling the ocean, and feeling like there is something bigger than me at work right now was an excellent way to end a not great day.

 
See, I love to travel. Being with people doing hard things all over the country (or on the other side of the world) and supporting them in whatever way I can is such an incredible experience. But it never fails that something at home will fall apart when I'm gone, causing me to consider whether I could have prevented it and where my responsibility really lies.
It's been a journey to come to a place where I can accept that I'm not a bad parent for leaving home sometimes. I'm not a bad wife for doing things beyond the house. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's wrong... often, it is just the opposite.

Breathing in the cold air, hearing the waves, feeling the spray, and looking up at the stars... I'm struck by the fact that the darkness connects the stars. They aren't wired together behind the sky. It is just scattered light points out there in the blanket of night.

 
Hope feels like that to me. Random... Flung across the universe... with darkness seeming to be far more plentiful.

 
And yet, I will focus on hope. Because in those points are beautiful stories just waiting to be discovered.

I love you, friends!