{"id":20347,"date":"2026-03-11T09:13:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T09:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:09:51","slug":"the-rich-taste-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rich Taste of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>\u201cWhich of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?\u201d \u2014 MATTHEW 7:9 (NIV) <\/em><\/p>\n<p>I tasted hope today. It had a rich, luscious flavor, soothing as the rolling hills around me. It came in the shape of gnarled apple trees and grass.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew and I were visiting a possible new school for our son John. This one was utterly unlike his current school. There was no asphalt basketball court, no chain-link fence, no yellow-painted cinderblock to lend false cheeriness to an otherwise dismal environment. It wasn\u2019t the nightmare alternative we had visited the week before, filled with posters warning against guns and domestic violence. (\u201cThings have gotten better,\u201d the social worker there told us. \u201cWe don\u2019t accept so many gang members anymore.\u201d) Nor was it the sunny but overly sanitized school an hour\u2019s drive away, where every door was locked, even the bathroom.<\/p>\n<p>Here there was a pond and a swimming pool. The class size was eight students per teacher. The grounds were gorgeous. The admissions officer asked insightful questions. She had read John\u2019s paperwork, understood his needs and thought this school could help him. My heart cried out, <em>Yes! Yes! Accept him!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>They did.<\/p>\n<p>After the nightmare years of choosing among bad options, we finally had a good alternative. The city will pay for the school. A school bus will take John door to door. At last our son will be in an environment that is truly therapeutic. It may not solve all his problems, but there is tremendous joy in being able to give your child bread instead of a stone.<\/p>\n<p><em>Father, thank You for being patient with me even when I\u2019m not so patient with You. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhich of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?\u201d \u2014 MATTHEW 7:9 (NIV) I tasted hope today. It had a rich, luscious flavor, soothing as the rolling hills around me. It came in the shape of gnarled apple trees and grass. Andrew and I were visiting a possible new school [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[495],"class_list":["post-20347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-children"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Rich Taste of Hope - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Rich Taste of Hope\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWhich of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?\u201d \u2014 MATTHEW 7:9 (NIV) I tasted hope today. It had a rich, luscious flavor, soothing as the rolling hills around me. It came in the shape of gnarled apple trees and grass. Andrew and I were visiting a possible new school [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Guideposts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T09:13:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T06:09:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julia Attaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"26096pwpadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3de82f93915f31e01af77401e9ca3ae4\"},\"headline\":\"The Rich Taste of Hope\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T09:13:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T06:09:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":291,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Children\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Rich Taste of Hope - Guideposts Articles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T09:13:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T06:09:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Positive Living\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Friends and Family\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Parenting\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Children\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/friends-and-family\\\/parenting\\\/children\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"The Rich Taste of Hope\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"description\":\"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"caption\":\"Guideposts Articles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3de82f93915f31e01af77401e9ca3ae4\",\"name\":\"26096pwpadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8bf72cb4e2ce75944793f6bd6b8674828e40d0680aa6b7f152a5a0f7998c7a0f?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=gdb9667f85efad95ab795ed00d7db348c\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8bf72cb4e2ce75944793f6bd6b8674828e40d0680aa6b7f152a5a0f7998c7a0f?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8bf72cb4e2ce75944793f6bd6b8674828e40d0680aa6b7f152a5a0f7998c7a0f?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"26096pwpadmin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/support.pagely.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/author\\\/26096pwpadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Rich Taste of Hope - Guideposts Articles","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Rich Taste of Hope","og_description":"\u201cWhich of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?\u201d \u2014 MATTHEW 7:9 (NIV) I tasted hope today. It had a rich, luscious flavor, soothing as the rolling hills around me. It came in the shape of gnarled apple trees and grass. Andrew and I were visiting a possible new school [&hellip;]","og_url":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/","og_site_name":"Guideposts Articles","article_published_time":"2026-03-11T09:13:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-10T06:09:51+00:00","author":"Julia Attaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/"},"author":{"name":"26096pwpadmin","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/3de82f93915f31e01af77401e9ca3ae4"},"headline":"The Rich Taste of Hope","datePublished":"2026-03-11T09:13:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T06:09:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/"},"wordCount":291,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Children"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/","url":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/","name":"The Rich Taste of Hope - Guideposts Articles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-11T09:13:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T06:09:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/the-rich-taste-of-hope\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Positive Living","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Friends and Family","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Parenting","item":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Children","item":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/children\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"The Rich Taste of Hope"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","name":"Guideposts Articles","description":"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization","name":"Guideposts Articles","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","caption":"Guideposts Articles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/3de82f93915f31e01af77401e9ca3ae4","name":"26096pwpadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8bf72cb4e2ce75944793f6bd6b8674828e40d0680aa6b7f152a5a0f7998c7a0f?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=gdb9667f85efad95ab795ed00d7db348c","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8bf72cb4e2ce75944793f6bd6b8674828e40d0680aa6b7f152a5a0f7998c7a0f?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8bf72cb4e2ce75944793f6bd6b8674828e40d0680aa6b7f152a5a0f7998c7a0f?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","caption":"26096pwpadmin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/support.pagely.com"],"url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/author\/26096pwpadmin\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":495,"user_id":108,"is_guest":0,"slug":"julia-attaway","display_name":"Julia Attaway","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20347"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=20347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}