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I am, sitting in my kitchen (which currently looks like a tornado hit it because this is my life right now as a mom), and I can't stop thinking about yesterday's 2nd reading, from Romans.You know how some Scripture passages just hit differently? No matter how many times you've heard it, it still has the ability to reach down into your chest & make you feel alive.That's Romans 5:1-5 for me. Every. Single. Time."Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ... we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint..." Paul is telling us to BOAST about our struggles. In a world that tells us to curate our lives into perfect little Instagram squares, here's St. Paul saying "Actually, talk about your hard stuff. Be proud of how it's shaping you."The world is constantly telling us not to get our hopes up.But our faith is encouraging us to do the exact opposite.This is actually why our "Get Your Hopes Up" tee exists.I know, hope can often feel like such a fluffy word; like something you slap on a coffee mug or cross-stitch onto a pillow. But biblical hope? That's different. That's not wishful thinking or “toxic positivity.” That's the deep, bone-level knowing that God is working all things together for good, even when (especially when) we can't see it.And if there was ever a time we needed that kind of hope, it's right now. We're living in this incredible Jubilee Year of Hope, amidst a divided Nation & war-ridden world, and I think God is inviting us into something really special. He's asking us to get our hopes up - not in our own abilities or the world's promises, but in His unfailing love that's been "poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit."Here's what I love about this passage though - it doesn't promise everything will be easy. It actually guarantees the opposite. But it also promises that our struggles have purpose. That the ordinary, messy, sometimes-really-hard parts of our lives are not obstacles to God's glory. They're the very places where His glory shows up most brilliantly. Our struggles are shaping us into who God has designed us to be. This is why we as Christians MUST get our hopes up.Because when we cling to the virtue of hope, it truly does not disappoint.(And neither does wearing a soft organic cotton tee that reminds you of this truth every time you put it on - just saying 😉)What's one area where you need to "get your hopes up" today?