Welcome to StoriedHope! I’m Lauren, and I’m so glad you stopped by!

The name “StoriedHope” holds a lot of meaning. Merriam Webster defines “storied” as “having an interesting history: celebrated in story or history.” Throughout history, people have searched for hope. Life is hard – sometimes incredibly hard – and we hunger for assurance that things will not always be like this.

We see this search for hope in our own life choices and in media. We long for hope that life can get better, and we pursue that through self-help books or bigger paychecks or changing our circumstances. In media we see our search for hope in books, music, movies – anything that tells a story. Because a story isn’t a story without hope.

Hope is a recurring theme in the Bible, the greatest Story. From the first chapters of Genesis, when Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden (and friendship with God) because of their sin, the story of the Bible points to a day when that sin would no longer keep people away from God. Sin – our sin – would be dealt with through the sacrificial death of Jesus.

When Jesus died, the penalty for our sin was paid. When He rose from the dead three days later, our victory was sealed and our hope was guaranteed. No more will we have to worry about our failings and inadequacies and try to somehow earn ourselves into God’s favor. When we trust Jesus and surrender to Him, He makes us His children, heirs of hope.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

It’s true. Every single one of us, as human beings, longs for hope. This search for hope is wired in us and it’s in our stories, too. But only in the greatest Story will we ever find the hope we are looking for.

So about the blog. StoriedHope is a place of stories. A place of hope. A place of hope-filled stories.