This Antidote for Despair May Surprise You

I’ve been without hope. Have you?

I’m not talking about the sadness you feel when your team loses yet another chance to play in the Superbowl. #EyesOnYouVikings

No, I’m talking about weeks, months, possibly even years of despair where it almost becomes part of who you are. 

The struggle is very real

Why look forward to anything when it’s just gonna disappoint, right? A metaphorical wall of protection goes up because it’s literally the only way you know how to cope with the pain.

Despair, defined as complete loss of hope (hopelessness), is universal, brutal, lonely, and can often masquerade as bitterness, resentment, rage, seclusion, depression and anxiety. 

Hopelessness isolates us with shame, doesn’t it?

"Everyone else is fine, why can't you buck up, buttercup? You're so weak, it's embarrassing," despair whispers over & over again like a broken record. We do nearly anything we can to numb the constant assault on our psyche. 

Beyond that, it steals whatever joy we once had because we're exhausted from the internal battle.

In the coming days, I’ll tell you my personal story & how the darkest time of my life nearly crushed me. Rather than being ashamed, I look back and all I want to do reach into the depths of others' despair and comfort them with the knowledge that even when it looks like you're buried, the seed of hope lives. 

There is a Antidote 

Today, I want to share the antidote to despair and hopelessness.

It’s you & me, dear reader. 

God created within us the power to use what was meant to destroy us to ‘create hope’ in others.

How? Well, I don’t know exactly, but here’s my best shot at it, based on my own struggles and experiences. Side note: We need to normalize saying 'I don't know exactly.' 

Hope (unlike its counterpart) looks exactly like empathy, like vulnerability, like acceptance, like community… and a lot like love.

Think about it, when we are fully seen in our brokenness, at our weakest, our lowest, yet loved and accepted… something ignites in the soul, doesn’t it? A spark. 

That spark is the work, the joy, and the flicker of hope. It is in fact the action of creating hope.

Simply seeing, knowing and loving people in our path can be the key to unlock & release the pain we carry.  I know because that's exactly what happened to me. I was seen, known, and loved out of my despair. 

Humanity longs to be known, accepted & loved

Our path has taken us around the world, and in every corner, in every people, at every age I’ve seen we’re all on a journey of discovering & planting seeds of hope (love, acceptance & connection).

Long before ‘Create Hope Cuffs’ was ever even imagined, my life mission was to ‘create hope’ in the lives of others & let them know they are seen & loved. And in large part, it was because I had faced my own darkness.

Yet the Light of Love found me through very tangible (some big, some small) ways; always through the hands of other people. I’ll never not want to pass along the rebirth of Hope.

Jewelry is the conduit. Hope is the purpose. 

Currently, my family, team & I are passing hope along in the form of jewelry! (still makes me giggle, but God can use ANYthing!) Our prayer is you too would experience the beauty of creating hope through the Create Hope Cuffs jewelry you wear & share in your daily life. 

And let’s not forget the need for hope is paramount for every human in the world! That’s why proceeds from your jewelry purchases help ‘create hope’ in the lives of underprivileged children near & far. 

Throughout the year, our CHC community provides school tuition fees, school supplies, hygiene kits, books, and so much more to those who need it most. 

In the coming weeks I’ll be telling you a bit more about the kids, teens, moms & teachers we are serving. For now, I’ll sign off with a giant THANK YOU! 

THANK YOU for creating hope, for wearing hope, and most of all, for BEING Hope!! 

I love us. 

Creating Hope Together,