by Jessica Waszak, SFFC Oklahoma Chapter Director
Recently, I attended a Hope Rising Summit and was impressed by the facilitator’s repetition of one line…HOPE BEGETS HOPE!
This simple idea that someone who is hopeful can actually share their hope with someone who lacks it! So often in our world we encounter people who have lost their hope!
Lost hope in the future…
Lost hope in the systems designed to help…
Lost hope in the Church …
Lost hope in themselves…
And without hope we have a hard time reaching for what’s next. Without hope we find ourselves stuck, unable to move forward, unable to achieve success, unable to sometimes get out of bed and try for another day.
BUT
Hope begets hope… and when we are able to step into that STUCK moment, into a critical moment with a family and share our hope… we can see life changing transformation!
We have a beautiful mom who came to Safe Families looking for help while she worked towards more stable housing and addressing her mental heath after post partum depression. She is a very strong, single mom of five who has raised herself from a young age. She has shown incredible resilience through adversity after adversity and each new challenge she faces head on. Facing homelessness, single parenting, maintaining employment, schooling, car repairs, and no family support.
Many days she has wanted to give up…to throw in the towel… to call it quits altogether! But each time she finds herself at the end of her rope, she reaches out with a text message or a phone call. And each time she has been met with voices of HOPE. Each time Safe Families for Children has answered the call to show up, to listen, to reach back with encouragement and support. Each time, our Circle of Support shared hope… and overtime supportive relationships, love, and strength that helped this mom get through another challenging day. Our hope beget and built her hope.
Building relationships around the hope of the gospel enables us to share with hurting families they are not alone, and that we love because Christ first loved us and gave His son for us. By providing this type of hope, that very mom is now inspiring hope in other moms who have no where else to turn. She is inviting her friends to reach out for hope too. Being a part of a movement of hope and hospitality allows people to open their hearts and homes to show up, to listen, and support families who are living in isolation. It is our privilege to love parents and to truly understand that hope begets hope!
