I’ve often heard it said that “hope is not a strategy.” Have you heard that, too? I’m willing to bet my Grande Starbucks Caramel Macchiato (with coconut milk, thank you) that you have. In fact, it’s so popular that if you Google it, you’ll find 1,010,000,000 results! If that’s not proof that people are really wrestling with hope, then I don’t know what is! Is Hope A Strategy? My answer is…possibly. You see, IF hope is a strategy, it’s got some conditions to meet in order to be an effective strategy. Let’s dive in quick… Is Hope A Strategy? Not if it’s False Hope. Hope that waits and wishes is…

I’m a total nerd who loves books, coffee, and fandoms. One of my favorite quotes is from the movie, The Hunger Games, and it is said by the villain, President Snow. He says this, “Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective, a lot of hope is dangerous.” I hate to admit it, but the villain is right. Hope IS dangerous.  For two reasons: 1. Hoping for something you don’t get brings disappointment. Nobody is immune to disappointments. The problem is that people get stuck focusing on the disappointments and don’t know how to get back up. I’m here to tell you that there’s…

Some people look at the things they hope for and just…wait. They have this belief that just because they hope for it, it will happen. I’m here to tell you that’s a lie from the pit of hell. Hope is not devoid of responsibility. In fact, the bigger the thing you are hoping for, the more responsibility you must be ready to take. Here’s what you need to know about the Building Blocks of a Dangerous Hope from the point of view of farming. Building Block of Hope #1: Preparation Every Farmer knows that you need to be prepared if you’re going to reap a harvest. You must have a…

A decade ago today I woke up in a hotel room with nothing but the clothes on my back. Our apartment had burned down the night before and I was devastated. The day before, I thought I would be stepping into an exciting season of hope. A season where I finally went after my dreams of publishing books and being a speaker. Instead, I fell into a journey of hope. One that included nearly a decade of digging out of darkness and learning to embrace hope deferred. Nine months after the apartment fire, we moved to a new city 196 miles away. The apartment we lived in for the next…