About the book:
Hunting Hope: Dig Through the Darkness to Find the Light (April 2016, Worthy Inspired)
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.
Purchase a copy: Hunting Hope: Dig Through the Darkness to Find the Light
About the author:
Nika Maples is the author of Twelve Clean Pages, the memoir of her survival of lupus and a stroke that left her quadriplegic at age 20. After learning to walk and talk again, she became a public school teacher, winning 2007 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year. She holds an MA in English Education from Columbia University and currently is pursuing an MDIV from The King’s University. When she is not traveling to speak, she lives, writes, and laughs as much as possible in Fort Worth, Texas.
My Review:
If we’re out in the cold long enough , we’ll forget how it feels to be warm, to be happy. We’ll start to believe that winter will last forever. (Kindle Location 31)
While written primarily for women this book still has some applicable points for others as well. There was alot about this book that I enjoyed. I appreciated Nika Maples open and honest personal life examples to share with us the hope that is found in God for those who hunt after it. I believe you can see part of her personality in her writing. At times Maples is serious and at other times she is comical in her examples and illustrations which brings good variety to her writing. I also enjoyed how Maples weaves in many Bible references and in some cases shapes and changes the readers perspective on how God shapes us through our pain, our dark seasons and the winters in our lives.
God is earth’s only hope, so He wants leaders who will never lose sight of Him. That’s why when God needs a leader, He makes a hope hunter. The hard truth is: hope hunters are made in the dark. (Kindle Location 97)
Maples reminds us that pain is not something to be avoided but that we can learn and grow from all of our experiences even the painful ones. It is those times that bring us closer to God because He walks with us through the pain. Maples points toward spiritual practices like prayer and fasting during these difficult seasons of life to connect more deeply with God to more clearly discern His will and voice.
Alot of people wonder where God is in their pain and suffering and Maples does well at informing the reader that God is there with them during these times. Maples also does well at informing the reader how to recognize God’s work in these seasons and more clearly connect with Him during those times when we feel alone in our dark seasons.
Maples also encourages the reader to share their story with others. As we do so we illustrate to others God’s work in our lives and can point others to the hope that is found in God alone. When we share our stories it is not just the winter seasons that declare God’s greatness but also all the seasons God walks with us through in life.
Everyone’s story is valuable because everyone’s story is God’s story. We will defeat the enemy “by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony,” by retelling what God has done in our lives. (Kindle Location 1829)
Every moment in my life proves God’s faithfulness, not just the winter ones. The spring and summer days speak of Him, too.
NOTE: I received an advance copy of this book to provide a fair and unbiased review.
Landing page: http://litfusegroup.com/author/nmaples
Reflections 