We are nearing the All-Star break, halfway through the season, still time to hope for more victories than losses. Hope is still present.

Our daylilies began blooming more than a month ago. Some have finished for the summer. Others have yet to start. We expect to have blooms for another five or six weeks, maybe longer. Some, like "Mini Pearl", are starting to bloom for the second time. And others, like "Wisteria" above, have only a few days remaining. We are looking forward to the surprise of daylilies we have not yet seen, and some we are just not sure what they are. We have hope. We expect to be surprised.

It ain't over until it's over. And there's always next year. When I first became a superintendent and would visit congregations in the northern part of the state of Illinois, I was often asked, "Are you a Cubs fan?" They meant Chicago Cubs, and they could tell by the delay in my response that I was not a Cubs fan. If I'm going to wax on about hope, I think it best to stop right there.