“Hope, like every virtue is a choice that becomes a practice that becomes spiritual memory it’s a renewable resource for moving through life, as it is, not as we wish it to be.” – Krista Tippet’s book “Becoming Wise”

I read this quote on Aaron Niequist’s Instagram, because of course all great reading happens on Instagram ;), and it pierced my heart because I needed to hear it and see that someone else cared enough about hope to call it a virtue and a choice.

On my own I am pretty good at this hope thing. God has answered so many of my prayers in such concrete ways that I can point to tangible instances in my life to support why I can expectantly pray with hope that He hears and sees me.

However, lately I have allowed other voices to muffle His voice. I work in an industry where people come to me when their hope has run out. And because I am an expert in helping those going through hopeless marriages move onto a new chapter, I know too much about how people who are supposed to love one another the most can deeply betray and hurt the other. I am trusted with the deepest, most hurtful parts of a person’s life, while they are knee-deep in the hurt. I believe that it is sacred work and I take it very seriously. Jesus was betrayed by the people who were supposed to love him the most and it was all a part of God’s plan. I believe that God is very present in the midst of my work and closest to the hurting.

That being said, I see a lot. I know too much.

And also, the world feels really bad and scary now. I have stopped wanting to hear about what is happening because the scariness factor feels very high. Every time I hear about a major church leader who has left his wife or has some major dark addiction exposed, I have let it chip away at my hope.

As Christians we are supposed to look different, lights in this darkness, and when the light stops illuminating the darkness, it feels particularly devastating.  I have felt desperate to see light in darkness recently. The recent “Christian” worldview political rhetoric feels hypocritical and just bad. Why don’t we look different?

If we are going to hold those outside the church to the standards we set within the church, we better hold to our own standards.

Have you ever been around someone who saw the better version of you and your life and how God was moving inside of you pushing you to something greater and higher? I have and those people are gold. Truly more valuable than pure gold.

I want to be someone who is known for inspiring hope in those around them.  I want to help others look at their lives differently and to help them see that redemption is coming.

My thoughts are so important. My thoughts shape my behavior and my perspective about my life and those I love. This is why I am committing to getting back to practicing the virtue of hope. For the next couple weeks, I will be practicing meditating on the fact that my God is big and loves me. I need to get back to the basics that my God is always good and there is always hope.

The world just needs beacons of hopeful light and so do I.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. ” Ephesians 1:18-19