Last week I wrote my first personal blog post in over a year and a half, and the responses I received from it were wildly encouraging! If you missed it, go back to this post and check it out.

In that post I poured out my heart and the experiences I’ve had over the past few years, specifically, coping with the longing for reconnection with my father. I’ve had so many people text me, call me, and hug me at church with the words, “you’re so brave” and “I want you in my life” and “I had no idea” and “I’m proud of you.” And y’all, while I don’t want to deny how hard I worked to be who I am today, I can’t help but think two things:  “You should have met me before” and “This is all because of Jesus.”

And one day I’ll write about who I was before Jesus got a hold of my heart and set me on a new path. Preview: mostly a hot mess.

But today I just want to talk about hope. Because when I think about who I was and who I am, I cling to that word: hope.

Our church’s motto/mission statement is to “find and give hope.” I think that sums up our purpose as followers of Christ: to figure out where our hope comes from, and then to share it with others.

But more specifically: Our mission is to realize that our hope comes from Creator God who loves us and provides us with a hope we cannot explain otherwise. In my story, it’s “easy” to identify where the hope came from: when I was neglected by my family and rejected by people who couldn’t identify with me, the Church provided for me and equipped me to be a leader. I can’t explain my story without explaining God.

How is that true for your story? What part of your story can you not explain without explaining God? That is your hope.

And the thing is, once you identify where your hope comes from, you realize that this hope is not your own. And when you can’t explain your source of hope as anything else other than supernatural, you realize the necessity to share it with others.

So as I think about blogging again, I think that’s my mission: to find hope and to share it. Because the truth is, I need to remember to hope. And in the climate that we currently find our world in, I’m sure you can use a little more hope too.

So share your hope with me, too.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1