Anchored to Something Special

Everywhere I go, it seems everything being sold in stores is nautical-themed. The nautical trend really came back a couple years ago, so in almost every store I shop in, there are shirts covered in anchors, sandals with starfish, ship's wheel earrings, fish bracelets, and so on and so on.

 

But literally, anchors are everywhere. They have become a staple "preppy" symbol. People buy things with anchors on them often times because they are in style.

 

I have so many anchor-laden things. I have anchor shirts, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, ribbon, hair bows, a watch, a lamp, a purse, maybe even shoes ...and the list goes on.

 

I will tell you a secret, though, about why I love anchors.

 

If you've been keeping up with my blog or know me, you know that four years ago, one of my brother's best friends passed away, and he had also become one of my friends. I have written about how depressed I was in the aftermath and how I was affected by Matt's passing.

I would listen to a certain George Strait song over and over in the months following Matt's death. It was the song that Strait wrote after his son passed away. The first lines say,

 

"Hope is an anchor, and love is a ship.

Time is the ocean, and life is a trip."

 

The song is called "You'll Be There," and is based around the hope of Strait seeing his son again one day "on the other side."

 

"Hope is an anchor."

Like that verse in the Bible...

 

At the time, hope was all we had to hold onto. Hope that things would get better in the coming months and years. Hope of seeing Matt again one day.

 

I remember being in American Eagle a couple months after Matt passed, and seeing little anchor and ship wheel earrings being sold. My first thought was, "hope is an anchor."

 

I bought the earrings to remind me of that time in my life and to remind me to stay anchored in my faith and in hope and to remind me to be a light and witness to everyone around me because you never know when someone will take their last breath.

 

Shortly after, anchor-themed fashion really blew up, and I could buy anchor stuff everywhere. But anchors aren't just anchors. They are anchored to a much more special meaning. I buy anchor and nautical-themed stuff not only because it's cute, but because it's a reminder of hope and a reminder of the faith that I'm grounded in - the faith that I have an urgent obligation to share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eBa