I’ve been thinking a lot about hope lately.

Not in a big, dramatic way—just in the middle of everyday life.

This winter is dragging on here in Alberta and is now feeling long. This pregnancy has been significantly harder than I expected. And some days just feel like a loop—meals, messes, naps, messes, repeat.

I absolutely LOVE being home with the kids. I’m so grateful for it. But some days are currently feeling heavy, and a bit never-ending.

And I started noticing something the other day…

Every commission I’ve finished this year has kind of carried the same theme through it.

Hope.

I didn’t plan that. It just kept showing up.

In the titles. In what I see when I look at them. In what I kept coming back to while I was working.

My husband loves this verse and it keeps coming to me:

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” — Romans 5:3–4

Hope is definitely not about things being easy. But about keeping steadfast when they’re not and having faith that it’s for the best. It will somehow pay off. It will pass and everything will be worth it.

I think that’s what I’ve been painting into these pieces without really realizing it.

And honestly, it’s what I’m needing right now.

I don’t have anything new to share this week—just this.

I’m praying that if you’re in need of hope that the Lord infuses your heart with it. Have a blessed Easter weekend.

Warmly in Him,

Martina