Episode 52: Season 5 is here! Conveying Hope through Storytelling

Well, I can hardly believe it, but today I am kicking off Season 5! Thank you for listening. I hear over and over that the podcast continues to help people fight for joy in all kinds of difficult circumstances. I never dreamed the podcast would reach as many people as it has - and yet, I know that people are desperate for hope. I'M desperate for hope!! The brokenness of this world can bring such discouragement and we need each other to help fight for joy. I feel very privileged to use this podcast as a conveyor of HOPE. When you convey something, you carry it...transport it. And I think that is powerfully done through storytelling. Through giving testimony of the ways that God keeps hope and joy alive, EVEN in the storm. Even walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Until I’m with Jesus, I will keep telling others about how to find real and lasting peace, comfort, help, rest, hope and joy! But I don’t just want you to hear it from me, I also want you to see how He is at work in a variety of situations.To help you see how BIG our God is, how faithful He is, and that He is always at work. So this season I am planning to return to more of a guest format. I want you to keep hearing the message of hope from as many people as possible. God teaches us so much through story. And as we share our stories with one another, we get to see more of God and learn more about His ways. It's amazing to know that God is writing OUR stories into HIS big story. That makes me excited to bring more stories to you this season…more stories that are a part of HIS story. To have more people give testimony that even if the story is hard and messy, the fight for joy is worth it…and there is REAL hope to be found.

As you listen this season and hear these stories of hope, take time to reflect on God’s work in YOUR life. How have you seen him help you? Provide for you? Give you hope? Reflect on this - because even if you are never a guest on a podcast or never get the opportunity to share your story in a public way like this, I want you to realize that YOU TOO can STILL be a powerful conveyor of hope! Acknowledge and recount the ways that God has been at work in YOUR life (probably through your most broken parts) and THEN, go spread that HOPE to others. Be a hope spreader with me! Transport it. Carry it. Bring the message of hope to those around you - the message that no matter what we may face in life, we can fight for joy. And find it!! And live with hope springing up in our hearts, and in our homes, and in our families…even while we face difficult things. The "both/and", right?!? The both/and of living in a broken world AND, at the same time, living in hope and with great joy!

I’m so glad you found this podcast. I’m praying that Season 5 will convey hope. I want to transport and carry the message of God’s hope to you so that you can then grab the baton and pass it along to someone else. Let’s spread hope as we fight for joy together!