August 24, 2026

“Don’t get your hopes up.” We’ve probably all heard it. Maybe we’ve even said it to ourselves.

• Don’t expect too much.

• Don’t get ahead of yourself.

• Be realistic.

Sometimes lowering our hopes feels like wisdom. Especially when we’ve hoped, prayed, believed—and been disappointed. But protecting ourselves from disappointment can quietly protect us from possibility, too.

What if hope isn’t something to manage—but something that helps us move?

I think of hope as believing the future can be better than the present—and that we have a part to play in helping make it so.

Hope doesn’t guarantee the outcome. It does something in us: It changes what we can see. It strengthens our hands. It gives us courage to take the next step.

When we believe nothing will change, standing still makes sense. But when we begin to believe something good might still be ahead, we show up differently.

We try again. We build. We pray. We take the next step.

Maybe the invitation isn’t to protect ourselves by hoping less. Maybe it’s to believe forward in faith—and let hope strengthen our hands for whatever is ours to build.

Get your hopes up. Then put your hands to what’s yours to do.

“As long as we have hope, we have direction, the energy to move, and the map to move by.” - Lao Tzu

Intentionally Own It!

• What growth does this week's message invite me to embrace?

• Who am I becoming as I embrace it?