Does Hope Seem Hard in 2026?

This month, I’m revisiting a piece I wrote at the end of 2020. It was about plans…and hope. 

In 2020, we collectively endured a pandemic no one could have imagined, and I personally lost both of my parents. As I consider the turmoil of 2025, I realize the world is still not as I’d hope it would be. Maybe that’s true for your world as well.

But five years changes a person. 

In 2020, I had  a much smaller community, and I had not yet even signed my book contract. I was at the end of my five-year prognosis with end-stage heart failure. We had no idea how the pandemic might end.

Back then, both hope and plans were risky, and honestly, always will be.

Turns out—as I wrote five years ago—hope IS the plan…still.

And in the years since writing this post, I’ve learned a few things about hope. (I’m still learning.) But for now, here are

5 Little Things I’ve Learned About Hope Since 2020:

1. We wish for something, but we hope in Someone. There’s a difference. Over the course of my disease, this is the God I’ve come to hope in. One who isn’t changed (or challenged) by temporary optimism or fleeting circumstance. Hope is rooted in the faithfulness of our steadfast God.
2. Hope doesn’t hinge on probabilities, predictions, or prognoses. In fact, often situations that we are told have the smallest chance of coming true can evoke the largest amount of hope. Hope is more than a wish or an expectation. It is both an anchor and a buoy.
3. Hope isn’t an easy ask. Often long-held hope can challenge our faith. Sometimes it feels easier to carry the burden of an unanswered prayer than to hold on to the hope that God will answer it. But that’s when we need real hope most of all.
4. Hope is a story we can’t fully remember on our own.  When we all share our stories, we can trace the thread of hope through this hard life. That’s why I’m deeply grateful for each of you, sharing in this journey with me. I often need to see your hope to find my own.
5. There’s a traditional Russian saying, “Hope dies last.” As long as you haven’t abandoned hope, you are still in the game. No matter how shaky you may feel.

In this new year, hope may sound hollow and hard. But don’t lay it aside. Stay with me. We will keep moving forward a bit each month. Not with easy answers, but with honest questions and real talk about the One who is Hope Eternal. 

Now THAT sounds like a plan. 

Listen to this post read by the author HERE.

To read or listen to my original post, “On Hope and a Plan,” click here. (Audio link at bottom of post.)