mama3girls-phnig

I’ve been thinking about hope lately, especially in Advent. When I think of Jesus, it’s giving Lisa Frank — my childhood sticker queen of all things bright, beautiful, wildly alive, and somehow graphically perfect. Butterflies, rainbows, joy, wonder, color. That’s what Jesus does in me. He makes room in my heart for beauty, expectancy, and the kind of hope that feels a lot like Lisa Frank’s graphics.

Scripture gives that hope real language. In Hebrew, תִּקְוָה (tiqvah, Strong’s H8615) means hope or expectation, and it can even carry the image of a cord.

Y’all. That’s visually gorgeous, yes?

For me, that means hope isn’t passive. It isn’t pretending the data is fine and calling that faith. It is waiting, looking, expecting, and staying tethered to Jesus while the facts are still unfolding. Biblical hope means I can wait without floating away into the scenery of a Lisa Frank idealistic world.

Trust me. I wish I could. Fact check my friend Jennifer G.

It helps me to remember that Jesus created us to live in the real world even when the ideal world is what we all long for in expectant waiting.

Its related verb, קָוָה (qavah, Strong’s H6960), means to wait, look for, hope, or expect. In Greek, ἐλπίς (elpis, Strong’s G1680) means hope, expectation, confidence.

That’s the kind of hope I want. Flimsy wishing has not served me well. Forced positivity may make me look sweet but it silenced kindness.

For those saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, hope is tethered waiting with confidence in Him. Jesus knows exactly how to fill a waiting space. He meets me with tenderness, steadiness, and joy, and he keeps making room in me for what is holy, good, and true—even past all the data He has available regarding the accuracy of my human effort.

Gotta love Jesus.

I have lived enough life to know that the data can get loud — silence, delay, sparse effort, tired hearts, anxious waiting, and all the little facts that try to tell me the story is over before Jesus does. The data may be real, but it is not the boss. For those saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, hope is tethered waiting with confidence in him.

Hope becomes especially beautiful to me in covenant community. I know there have been times I’ve shut down and walked away from connection, and I also know there are some connections that need space in order to become safe and healthy. Even so, I still want to be part of the kind of people Christ is making — people who stay curious, listen well, carry one another with tenderness, and make each other’s burdens lighter. I want shared hope, shared light, and shared presence. Jesus is still making room in me and among us, and I think that is beautiful.

What do you think hope means? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments 🩷