Waiting in Hope by Annie Try

I am writing this while I am waiting in trepidation.  The news I expect to hear could be good or bad. I am linked to many others by this strange no-man’s-land state – maybe they are waiting for a reply from a loved one, results of an exam, a book accepted for publication, for response to an offer on a house, the recovery or worsening of the health of a loved one or in the hope that food will come in a city torn by war.

With some serious matters the nature of the waiting consumes one’s thoughts and it is nearly impossible to think of anything else.  Maybe some of our hopeful political candidates will feel like that as they listen for results following today’s election.  Theresa May could be coping with the sick creep of fear mixed with hopeful certainty; wondering whether to begin to pack her precious items, just in case she’s moving again at short notice.

A more exciting time is when we are expecting something we know will be a fulfilment of a promise – my next novel will be out in September and I am eagerly looking forward to that moment when I open a package to see the finished book.  I have prepared by having some business cards printed with the cover picture on the back and by revealing the cover on Twitter and Facebook. I am hoping that readers will be eagerly awaiting the publication of Out of Silence with me!


One of my granddaughters can’t wait until Saturday, when she is to be Carnival Queen in her village carnival.  I’m looking forward to it too, now that I have finished making a very slippery satin dress and it fits her. 

The days when I could run a dress up in an evening are long gone, with my eyes and fingers showing signs of age.  Until it was completed and she had the (hopefully) final fitting yesterday, I was dreading the possibility of her being safety-pinned into it because Granny had let her down!  But her hope was in me; she trusted me to make a beautiful dress for her.

My granddaughter’s waiting illustrates the best way for us to wait in our lives as Christians.  Paul writes:

        We who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Romans 8:23-24

Yes, we can trust in the God of all creation, who is always consistent.  We can have an expectant hope in Him, which He never fails to fulfil:

        Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23




Annie Try is the pen-name used by Angela Hobday,
Chair of the Association of Christian Writers and author
of Losing Face and Trying to Fly.