Hope Works

 

oftentimes the things that we repeatedly think about and the things we repeatedly say 

become who we are and what others remember about us

a photo of my daddy sits by my home monitor 

his soft gaze looks at me as i work in the wee hours of the night and early morning

oh how i wish i could talk to him in person

but the words i hear my daddy say to me in my mind are the words i heard him say so often

words of counsel

words of encouragement

words of love

but so very often the words of hope

my father was a spiritual man who drew strength and wisdom from the words of the scriptures 

that lucky for me he passed on to his family

one of my favorite things i heard my daddy teach about was hope

my father's adopted definition of hope was an "earnest expectation"

taken from one of my most beloved chapters in scripture, Romans 8 verse 19 

and Philippians 1:20

an earnest expectation

in an address at a conference of women Lisa Valentine Clark said

'when we don't know where to begin, we begin with hope.  hope has the power to change our attitude.  hope sometimes comes from our actions and sometimes comes through inner feelings."

we begin with hope

with earnest expectation of a change in how you feel or a change in an outcome

earnest can be defined as 'resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction'

for me this anticipation of change in nature or change in situation 

must be coupled with a sincere and intense conviction in God's loving nature and his work and his glory

"to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"  (Moses 1:39)

which can only come through the process of becoming

most importantly, becoming as Christ

oh the joys that come

but oh the pain and the strife

no one is exempt

which means that we are each others' learning material and experts on how to find hope

we have all felt it sometime in our life 

we have felt of its transformative power

its sustaining power

its restful power

because of this universal reality of the state of man

to learn, to grow, to be stretched, to rise, to fall, to find peace, to feel despair, to find rest, to find joy

it is my firm belief that we each must speak up and

"be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you"

(1 Peter 3:15)

we must share our stories of hope

even if we are in the middle of it

even if we have not seen the light yet

we can speak of the light in our hearts

our speaking can spark a hope in the hearts of someone else

it doesn't need to be on a public platform

you just need to have an open and willing heart 

that if the opportunity presents itself in speaking to another in need 

that you will be ready to share your story and give an answer for the reason for your hope

your sharing may just be showing them where they can begin

it has been my honor to learn from so many in my life through the sharing of their stories

through my podcast The LifeBeats Project I have been continually amazed 

at the willingness of my guests and my community members so many to share their journeys for the benefit of others

i continually seek out opportunities to hear from the brave ones willing to share

recently i was able to attend a brilliant and inspirational TED talk like event called

Hope Works

put on by the Mormon Channel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

in which 6 speakers shared their life experiences and insights of how they feel hope and love

particularly through the light of the Savior Jesus Christ

as i listened to 

the honest and real feelings of a struggling mother trying to feel enough

a paralyzed equestrian vaulter trying to understand who she now was after her accident

a mother trying to explain what it feels like to see life in a whole new way after losing her child

a man trying to find purpose in his career and what he could do that would truly matter

a relationship coach learning from one of his patients of the pain of scars and on how healing can begin

and a man's enlightened experience of learning globally from people of other religions and background

i was filled

there was no podium, no screen, no barrier between them and myself

it was if they were speaking just directly to me

i could feel their pain 

but oh could i feel their joy

there is a power in hearing others' stories

those LifeBeats inside of us connect with the LifeBeats within their story

those core desires within us all

to feel loved, to want to serve, to want to reach our potential, to be understood, to want to feel needed, to want to feel that what we are doing and how we are living has meaning

if you are in need of a little hope

i invite you reach out to someone you love, someone you admire, a place of inspiration 

and hear how others have found hope in their lives

i invite you to hear the stories of the inspiring guests of my podcast The LifeBeats Project

you can even listen to one of the speakers from the event Hope Works that i attended over on YouTube

friends make hope an earnest expectation in your lives

draw on the stories and strength from others

root your sincere anticipation of that rest, peace, and joy that will come in our Savior Jesus Christ

for hope lives

hope conquers

and hope works 

when have you felt hope in your life?  how did you find it?