Imagine living in a world full of darkness, drug addictions, fear, separation, infertility, loss, evacuations, war, Cancer, uncertainty, death. That’s the world we’ve seen up close and personally. It’s the world we’re all living in. Because, like it or not, we’re living in a sin-tainted world. Really bad things happen.

But imagine, if you will, the possibility of hope. That sentence alone allows the sun to break through the clouds.

Then imagine that there isn’t just a possibility of hope, but that hope lives. It’s not just a possibility, it’s truth. Hope is alive in the form of a Savior, a King who took our place on the cross. He came to save us from the very world we’re living in, He came to save us from ourselves, from the darkness and the fear.

Hope is a word that has always meant something to me. That’s why I had Jon from Jon’s Customs tattoo it on my arm the other day. I want it to be a constant reminder to me that hope lives. I want it to be a conversation piece, so that I can tell others about Christ and the hope that He brings.

It’s not just a “Well, let’s hope so” kind of hope, but a deep assurance. An assurance of life after death, an assurance that God’s alive, working on our behalf, no matter what comes our way. That’s the kind of hope I’m talking about, that I have tattooed on my arm.

I chose to do it in French because the French language has played a major role in our lives. We’ve experienced l’espoir during some dark days in Africa. That’s something that I don’t want to forget.

Because of Christ, hope is real. Hope, l’espoir, is alive.