Being A Hope Dealer

Today I'm excited and grateful that my friend Roman Nowak

would name me as a Beacon Of Hope, especially since

I love the idea of working with intention to be a hope dealer.

He posted this kind celebration on Twitter Sunday night

and it has me connecting some hopeful dots because

what I know from my work spanning the ages and stages

is that kids need hope builders, perhaps now more than ever.

In a May 2018 post in Psychology Today, hope was cited as the number one resilience skill we need to overcome life's stressors.

In that article, some tips for sharpening that glorious strength.

As a weird coincidence, I've been working my way through 

this manifesto by John Pavlovitz for several weeks now.

In a popular post earlier this year, this pastor author wrote a

poignant post about going easy on everyone as they grieve.

Check it out if you want some radical reading on hope.

Then today, I found this treasure in the bargain bin;

I'm eager to plow through it next and learn about

The Hope Quotient.

Seems weird that it's five years old already

and I haven't heard about it yet, but

I'm pretty jazzed about it now.

Finally, as I was planning this post, the postal carrier

delivered this rapid-fire novel, addressed to My Sweet Friend,

straight from Amazon Prime to my front door.

If you are the hope dealer who sent this treasure my way,

know that I feel thankful and blessed by your kindness.

This reminder from Servant Leaders and Speaker Manny Scott 

gives me pause and makes it all the more urgent 

to find ways to share hope with those 

who find themselves with a hope deficit.

And Julia Cook's latest light invites people to be Hope Builders.

So many ways to savor hope, 

to cultivate hope,

to nurture hope,

to spark hope,

to be the hope.

To fan hope's flame.

What are your inspiring strategies for Being A Hope Dealer?