How do you thrive, flourish and bloom when it feels like you've been planted in the soil of darkness, despair and death? Are there any practical steps that you can take in order to tend to the garden of your heart and soul and begin to bloom? This week's episode is part one of a two part mini-series on Tending to the Garden of Your Heart and Soul. This week, we look at tending to our own heart and soul in these three ways:

1. Caring for your heart and soul brings you light when you feel the darkness surrounding you
2. Connecting deeply with God, self and others brings you love when you feel like your sinking in a pit of despair
3. Community is the lifeline you must hold on to in order to turn your season of death into a season of life

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So how do we show up to the lost, lonely and brokenhearted? How do we walk alongside of those living in darkness, despair and death? What does it take to make sure that we are ready when the time comes to show up and be fully present even when the sights, sounds and smells make us want to run the other way?

"To be the one who shows up for others in their pain, we have to show up and face our pain." - Nate Gustafson

1. We show up and face our pain by naming our pain
2. We show up and face our pain by refusing to numb the pain
3. We show up and face our pain by going into the place of our pain.

Quote from Henri Nouwen in his classic devotional Inner Voice of Love

1. "You have to live through your pain gradually and thus deprive it of its power over you. Yes, you must go into the place of your pain, but only when you have gained some new ground. When you enter your pain simply to experience it in its rawness, it can pull you away from where you want to go. What is your pain? It is the experience of not receiving what you most need. It is a place of emptiness where you feel sharply the absence of the love you most desire. To go back to that place is hard, because you are confronted there with your wounds as well as with your powerlessness to heal yourself. You are so afraid of that place that you think of it as a place of death. Your instinct for survival makes you run away and go looking for something else that can give you a sense of at-homeness, even though you know full well that it can’t be found out in the world.

   You have to begin to trust that your experience of emptiness is not the final experience, that beyond it is a place where you are being held in love. As long as you do not trust that place beyond your emptiness, you cannot safely reenter the place of pain. So you have to go into the place of your pain with the knowledge in your heart that you have already found the new place. You have already tasted some of its fruits. The more roots you have in the new place, the more capable you are of mourning the loss of the old place and letting go of the pain that lies there. You cannot mourn something that has not died. Still, the old pains, attachments, and desires that once meant so much to you need to be buried.

   You have to weep over your lost pains so that they can gradually leave you and you can become free to live fully in the new place without melancholy or homesickness.”

As we begin a series of reflections on the Spring theme of "Bloom", let me share some words of hope that I pray will help these frontline Hope Warriors - Teachers and Nurses - thrive and flourish as they pour out their lives for the possibilities of a brighter tomorrow. Teachers and Nurses...

1. May your hearts be rescued by God's love for you today
2. 1. May your heart be open to the Father's love. His love sent his One and Only as our rescue from darkness through his sacrificial, life-giving love
   2. May your heart receive the love of the Father that is displayed in the beauty of creation that comes to life after the darkest of winter nights
   3. May your heart become free because the Father's love paid the price for you to experience freedom from darkness, despair and death
3. May your minds be renewed by God's love for you today
4. 1. May your mind be blown away by God's gift of new life, new hope and a new future
   2. May your mind remember that only God's love can satisfy your deepest desires and longings for love
   3. May your mind meditate on the gifts and graces that were given you you for the purpose of blessing our broken world
5. May your souls be restored by God's love for you today
6. 1. May your soul pause in the midst of life's chaotic demands and find peace
   2. May your soul soak in the love that never fails and never gives up on you
   3. May your soul feast in the presence of the God of abundant grace and mercy

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Feeling like you just don't have an ounce of hope to offer a single soul today? Some days, some weeks, months or years can feel that way for sure. Sometimes we force ourselves to power through to teach that class, take that shift, call that disgruntled family or offer our last drop of compassion when we're feeling so empty and feeling like we're the ones dying without hope.

This episode is a shift to allow you to care and connect your weary and wounded soul to the promise that "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you" (Romans 8:11, NLT).

You are an Agent of Hope if you give of your heart and soul to care for, serve, and love the least of these in our world. And you deserve to have some hope and encouragement for your own heart and soul so that you can continue to love and bless those in your life who count on you. So don't miss an opportunity to receive hope for your heart by signing up for the Hope Connection Newsletter and get a FREE e-book just for signing up today! Sign up now by clicking HOPE.

If you feel tired, weary, worn out, burned out or believe you're broken beyond repair, you're not alone. There were people who walked, talked, and witnessed the greatest miracles of Jesus who were weary, worn out and broken down with doubts. In this week's episode, you will discover that resurrection hope can restore weak and weary souls.

• The Light of Resurrection Hope rescues us from the darkness of doubt (John 21:1-9)
• The Love of Resurrection Hope renews our strength from the desperation of despair (John 21:10-14)
• The Life of Resurrection Hope restores our weak and weary souls from the death of hope (John 21:15-17)

Burnout, brokenness, weak and weary souls are all too common among Agents of Hope. Your doubts and despair does not have to define you. You deserve to receive the love of Jesus so your weak and weary soul will be restored. Listen to this week's episode and please subscribe and share the episode with your friends and family on social media. Don't miss an episode or any of the Hope Connection resources and training. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter by clicking on HOPE.

While the events of that first Easter Sunday were unfolding, there were two unsuspecting disciples walking the 2-3 hours back home still in shock and disbelief at everything that happened. It's on that lonely, broken road where the resurrected Jesus appears and starts walking with them. This encounter with the resurrected Jesus is our guide to see how resurrection hope empowers Agents of Hope to bless people on the broken road to make sense of their sorrows.

• Resurrection hope empowers Agents of Hope to care deeply about stories of sorrow and sadness (Luke 24:13-18)
• Resurrection hope empowers Agents of Hope to connect spiritually to people on the broken road (Luke 24:19-27)
• Resurrection hope empowers Agents of Hope to foster community for the hurting and hopeless (Luke 24:28-24)

To help you feel renewed and restored with hope as you juggle your lengthy to-do list, I want to send you a FREE resource. Sign up to receive this special guide - 26 Ways to Renew Your Hope. You will also receive the Hope Connection newsletter dedicated to becoming Agents of Hope for the hurting and hopeless. Sign up NOW by clicking here.

Today begins our new series: Resurrection Hope. This is the beginning of Holy Week and in this month's podcast series we will discuss how the resurrection of Jesus is the answer to one of the deepest questions: Where is the hope?

We all have three types of hopes, but only one of them can withstand the torment, trials and pressure that comes from living in a lost, lonely and brokenhearted world. The three levels of hope are discussed in detail in John Eldredge's book All Things New. They are...

1. Casual Hopes - Things like, "I hope the line for coffee isn't too long." Or we think, "I hope it doesn't snow on Easter this year." These are good hopes that point out that our heart has longings and desires for something more, greater and better than our everyday experiences.
2. Precious Hopes - Things like "I hope my daughter makes a good friend at school this year." Or we will say to someone, "I hope I get that promotion at work and get to show the company what I can do with this new project." These are good longings and sometimes are our hearts greatest desires, but they are not meant to sustain us through the suffering and fires or trials and troubles.
3. Ultimate Hope - We are created to unite our life to a source of hope, healing and life that goes way beyond casual hopes or even precious hopes. We were made to find hope in something greater than ourselves or greater than human will power. We were created to experience the resurrection hope of Jesus which empowers us to become the Agents of Hope that God envisioned for us.

For more support on your journey to becoming an Agent of Hope that brings the love of Jesus to a world dying without hope, subscribe to the Hope Connection newsletter by clicking on HOPE.