All that I can say is that Nika blew us away! I have helped with this conference for 7 years. We have had over 25 speakers. Nika is the first to have an OVERWHELMING STANDING OVATION.
Hope is not an accident. Sometimes it has to be hunted, and hunting it takes courage.
Hope hunters know how to excavate hope from hardship. There is dirt underneath their fingernails and sweat on their shirts. They rake through the rubble of an unwanted situation, digging into difficult circumstances because they have come to expect that adversity will produce good. They believe that light always triumphs over darkness. They have learned to walk through winter with their eyes on spring.
Nika Maples became a hope hunter after suffering a massive brainstem stroke that left her quadriplegic in her twenties. Doctors warned that she had as little as 48 hours to live, and-if she lived at all-she would never walk or talk again. There was no hope on the horizon. So Nika started to hunt for it. Today, she not only walks, but she speaks to audiences everywhere about the power of hunting hope when a situation appears hopeless. She says hope remains camouflaged in the daily mundane. If we are not looking for it, we will miss it, though it is right before our eyes.
Whether you or someone you know is going through a situation that feels hopeless, you will find encouragement in Hunting Hope. Whether you are experiencing a medical trauma, a financial hardship, or a relational crisis, you will find empowerment in Hunting Hope. As you read, you will cling to 20 truths about God's character and practice 5 daily disciplines that will develop your own character in crisis.
You will become a hope hunter.
Maybe it doesn't matter what causes suffering in our lives as much as it matters what suffering causes in our lives. Maybe we were all meant to be hope hunters.
Hope is not an accident. Sometimes it has to be hunted, and hunting it takes courage. Hope hunters know how to excavate hope from hardship. There is dirt underneath their fingernails and sweat on their shirts. They rake through the rubble of an unwanted situation, digging into difficult circumstances because they have come to expect that adversity will produce good. They believe that light always triumphs over darkness. They have learned to walk through winter with their eyes on spring.
When we experience chronic pain or loss, our natural response is to hide our hearts in order to protect them from additional pain. We default to public images of competence, minimizing, and prioritizing and we avoid getting the help we need from our friends, family, and the church. But when we distance ourselves from people, we are ultimately distancing ourselves from God. He wants a close relationship with us and will seek to remove the veils we are hiding behind. Thought it may seem uncomfortable at first, letting go of our self-protection always leads to renewed life. Beyond the veil there is always hope.
The Lord left incomparable jewels hidden for us in the book of Psalms. From the hidden connections between the five books of Psalms to the first five books of the Bible to the gentle references to the coming Savior, the Psalms are a diamond-mine waiting to be discovered. Learning about the messages of love tucked into the Psalms will enrich your personal Bible reading in new and exciting ways. Hear your own heartbeat in the words of the psalmists, and walk through the Psalms as a treasure-hunter.
It is tempting to think that any and all darkness is not from the Lord, but the Bible tells story after story of faithful people who were led through periods of darkness for the purpose of preparation for greater tasks. "If darkness is not also of God, then the fact that winter exists is unfathomable to me. Look at the way that barren branches bring forth the buds of spring. Look at the way that cool, grey skies hold within them the promise of brightest blue. God uses our darkness, too, and usually to bring forth Life in us."