Sharing Hope

As Easter approaches, I think a lot about hope. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He imparted hope. Even in His last days, while warning the disciples that He was going to die, He also interjected hope. They didn’t really get it, but I don’t always, either. And I know the whole story!

I also like to consider hope in my writing. It’s a word I can attribute to the characters in almost all my stories. By the end, they find hope. It may be their strengthened or newfound faith, it may be through a situation that resolves (even if it doesn’t go their way), or maybe because they also find love, but my characters almost always end up hopeful about their future.

Sure, that’s partly because romance readers expect a happily-ever-after ending. But it’s also because I long to show hope through the little stories I make up. Doesn’t it seem like hope is desperately missing from our world? People feel stuck in unfulfilling lives. They’re trapped in bad relationships. They’re caught in addiction. They don’t see anything hopeful about the future.

We have a different perspective, don’t we? No matter what the situation, we know there’s always hope in Jesus. That’s one element that can be used in any writing to point people toward Christ. Fiction or non-fiction, every genre, CBA or ABA, any book can show hope. And that hope draws people straight to Jesus.

One of my favorite parts of writing is that a book doesn’t have to explicitly lay out the gospel or give a plan of salvation. Our view of the world comes through in our writing, whether we want it to or not. And, if hope in Jesus is part of our lives, it’ll show. Like in the old song, let your little light shine!

I hope you have a joyful and blessed Easter!

Abbey Downey never expected her love for writing to turn into a career, but she’s thankful for the chance to write inspirational romance as Mollie Campbell. A life-long Midwestern girl, Abbey lives in Central Indiana, where her family has roots back to the 1840s. She couldn’t be happier spending her days putting words on paper and hanging out with her husband, two kids, and a rather enthusiastic beagle.

You can check out Abbey’s books at www.molliecampbell.com