Hope in a Hopeless World

Mental Health Outreach

Category: Thankfulness

When the Little Things Add Up

Anxiety, Parenting, Thankfulness, You are not alone /
Crystal / July 4, 2025

Lately, it feels like I’ve been in a season where one hard thing after another just keeps piling on. It’s not one big crisis—it’s a dozen small and medium ones that build up into a mountain of sorrow, stress, and exhaustion. Low paychecks. Bills stacking up. No insurance, which leads to medication delays. And those delays? They don’t just mess with my schedule—they come with real physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms. Then there are the long work hours, the ongoing stress of co-parenting and custody issues, and the pain of having lies spread about me. Sometimes it feels like I just can’t catch a break. But then… the little things start showing up.A free coffee reward at Starbucks.Someone dropping off my favorite cookies.A simple “thank you” or “I’m grateful for you” from someone I love.Belly laughs with my family early in the morning when no one’s trying too hard—just being together.An unexpected gift from a friend that feels generous in more ways than one.Feeling heard, understood, and accepted at a support group. They don’t fix everything. They don’t erase the weight I’m carrying. But they matter.These little moments remind me that not everything is going wrong. They offer small glimpses of hope, like tiny rungs on a ladder. And slowly, rung by rung, I can start to climb that mountain—maybe not to the top all at once, but far enough to catch my breath. Far enough to get a glimpse of the beauty and purpose that still exist, even in hard seasons. So if you’re feeling buried under the weight of the “little things” that have gone wrong, look for the little things that are going right. They might be just enough to help you keep going. What little moments have helped you keep going lately? Take a moment to journal about them—or share one with us in the comments or a message. You never know who might need the reminder that they’re not alone. 💙

Free Dishes

Thankfulness /
Elizabeth / November 25, 2020

Dishes off Facebook Marketplace. More importantly, FREE dishes. They’re used…they have some chips. That’s okay, I’ll take them. We loaded them into my car and as if I needed to explain why I was accepting free dishes, I shared with the stranger that I recently left my home and it was just easier to leave the dishes. She asked how many kids I had and if this would be the only dishes we would have. I told her yes, but that it was okay, this set will be more than enough. She said she had another set and insisted I take those too. “I’ve been through two divorces and both times I left behind most of my things…I get it.” I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her again. Then as I left she thoughtfully told me to message her if I ever wanted to talk. As I drove home with not one, but two, sets of free dishes clanking around in the back seat of my car, I reflected on how I have been blessed over and over by the kindness of others in the past few months. From family, friends and complete strangers. Both big things and little things. So to say I am grateful this Thanksgiving week is a huge understatement. I am in absolute AWE over how God cares for us and abundantly provides over and over. He uses the people in our lives and strangers that he intentionally places in our path to bless us and also to be a blessing. As we count our blessings this Thanksgiving, remember that we all have our stuff. Stuff we carry. Stuff we move. Stuff we leave behind. Stuff we need. Stuff we give. Stuff we receive. Some stuff is free and some costs us a great deal. And like free dishes, we all have chips. Some small and barely noticeable, and others big and ugly. There is one thing for certain though: God will use our stuff, chips and all, for something beautiful. “Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us.” 1 John 4:19 Author: Elizabeth

When It’s Hard to be Thankful

MH Awareness, Thankfulness /
Crystal / November 22, 2018

Some seasons of life are harder to navigate then others. It’s easy to be thankful when life is a smooth ride with no wind or waves blocking our view. But what about the rocky seasons? The days that the wind is knocking you over and a cycle of waves are pushing you in every direction. The days that it’s hard to stand; let alone find time to be grateful. Our natural human tendency will allow us to be engulfed by the pain that surrounds us. Human nature will allow all sorts of hardships to control our mind. Fear, guilt, worry, anger, loneliness, heartache. Negative thoughts or feelings can be debilitating especially when ignored. Standing in the middle of the wind and waves with no strength to stop the movement can leave us feeling drained and numb to the beauty that is around us. Just as the wind and waves will calm, so will the storms of life. Sometimes we must wait it out. In the meantime, emotions allow pain to be released from our body and should be celebrated. We can use this release to gain traction when enduring a difficult season. Take a moment today to acknowledge the emotions you are feeling. Are you feeling lonely? Like no one cares? Are you feeling overwhelmed by life? Guilty about choices you made? Misunderstood? Heartbroken? Worried? Afraid? Acknowledge your emotions and then slowly release the pain that is blocking your view. Look past the wind and the waves and search for the strength inside. Look toward the source of your strength. You cannot change your season, but you can change how you approach it. You cannot stop the emotions from coming, but you can change how you view them. Be thankful for emotions today. Embrace them as a way to release the pain. Allow yourself to truly feel and observe each emotion that arises in you and envision the pain leaving your body with each breath. Use your spirit of Power, Love, and Control to take a stand during the difficult season. Remind yourself of the beauty on the other side that is waiting to be seen. Author: Crystal