Sharing Your Hope Story
At our first Soup & Scripture event we shared a template for Sharing Your Hope Story.
We want to encourage women to intentionally seek ways to share what God is doing in their lives, and equip you with a helpful tool that can help you organize and communicate your story in a meaningful and impactful way. You can find a printer friendly copy of the document here that we hope is helpful to you!
The first page of information explains the WHY. And the second page is a worksheet for the HOW.
We've included all of the same content below for you to review - and our prayer is that we can all be attuned to the fingerprints of God in our lives this year and have the confidence to share His goodness with those around us.
Sharing Your Hope Story
There is power in sharing our personal experiences. When we stop to reflect on what God is doing in our life, and have the confidence to share it with others, we remind ourselves that God is at work in our world, community, and everyday lives. Often, when we think about sharing our faith, we focus on the moment we met Christ or a tragedy we have experienced. And though focusing on who we were before and after knowing God is a story worth sharing, God also works in the everyday moments of our lives. 1 Chronicles 16:8 says “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” We want to invite you this year to step out of your comfort zone and share with someone what God is doing in your life. This may be with an accountability partner or family member, with your small group or bible study, or at an upcoming Ladies of Hope Event.
3 C’s to Help Write Your Hope Story
Current – Focus on a recent lesson that the Lord has taught you - within the last year, if possible. Keeping it current reminds others that God is always at work.
Concise – Remember, this is not a teaching session. What you share should last 5-10 minutes -which is only about one page typed!
Christ-centered – Keep it focused on what God has done, not on the dramatic details. It’s about Him. It’s not about you. You want to remember what God accomplished through you or through the circumstances. When our eyes are focused on God, others see and learn by our example.
Remember:
Keep it general! You should not share anything that would embarrass someone or lead to gossip. Protect your spouse, family, and anyone that is part of the story. When appropriate, omit names and/or ensure that you have permission from all involved before sharing.
There are no “small” stories. We serve a BIG God and any personal experience with His fingerprints is worth sharing.
You may be in a current struggle or experience that God is still teaching you through. A story still filled with anger, hurt, or bitterness may require more time before God asks you to share. That’s okay, let God continue to heal your heart.
If you are interested in sharing at an upcoming Ladies event, the Ladies of Hope leadership team will read your story in advance to provide feedback and ensure it aligns with the information above.
How to get started. Use the template below to jot down some notes and brainstorm what God might be prompting you to share. In an informal environment, you could share your story simply by talking through the notes below. If you want to present more formally, use these notes to type up your story into one page that you can then share with others!
1. Ask God – what is something recent He has done in your life? If you journal, it may be helpful to look through recent entries. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Prayerfully jot down some notes about what you think God wants you to share. Highlight three parts to your story: How I was:__________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What happened:_____________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How I am now:_______________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
