Hunting Hope

Hope is not an accident. Sometimes it has to be hunted, and hunting it takes courage.

About Hunting Hope

Hope hunters know how to excavate hope from hardship. There is dirt underneath their fingernails and sweat on their shirts. They rake through the rubble of an unwanted situation, digging into difficult circumstances because they have come to expect that adversity will produce good. They believe that light always triumphs over darkness. They have learned to walk through winter with their eyes on spring.

Nika Maples became a hope hunter after suffering a massive brainstem stroke that left her quadriplegic in her twenties. Doctors warned that she had as little as 48 hours to live, and—if she lived at all—she would never walk or talk again. There was no hope on the horizon. So Nika started to hunt for it. Today, she not only walks, but she speaks to audiences everywhere about the power of hunting hope when a situation appears hopeless. She says hope remains camouflaged in the daily mundane. If we are not looking for it, we will miss it, though it is right before our eyes.

Whether you or someone you know is going through a situation that feels hopeless, you will find encouragement in Hunting Hope. Whether you are experiencing a medical trauma, a financial hardship, or a relational crisis, you will find empowerment in Hunting Hope. As you read, you will cling to 20 truths about God’s character and practice 5 daily disciplines that will develop your own character in crisis.

Maybe it doesn’t matter what causes suffering in our lives as much as it matters what suffering causes in our lives. Maybe we were all meant to be hope hunters.

My Thoughts

An amazing, thoughtful, inspiring read that encourages you to look at your own life and see comparisons. While I may not have suffered a stroke like Nika did but the courage she had to face the physical complications and how she overcame this was inspiring. She took something that could break most people but her faith in God helped her through this time. I love how she was not scared to show us her faith. She let us in to her emotions, her life and those whom she had touched to show us God’s words.

At first, I struggled a bit at the beginning of the book but each turn of the page inspired me to continue to read. I saw myself in those pages, I saw the emotions, the struggles, the fears and how I sometimes pull away from my faith at those times. She taught me how to re-examine my relationship with God, how to understand and look at situations differently and gave me renewed hope.

Nika writes brilliantly and personally. You feel as though this book is a conversation with her and she already knows what your next question will be and is already answering it. You can immediately start applying the knowledge into your daily lives and it will help you on your faith journey. A brilliant book to add to your library.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 4.5/5

About the Author

Nika Maples is the author of Twelve Clean Pages, the memoir of her survival of lupus and a stroke that left her quadriplegic at age 20. After learning to walk and talk again, she became a public school teacher, winning 2007 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year. She holds an MA in English Education from Columbia University and currently is pursuing an MDIV from The King’s University. When she is not traveling to speak, she lives, writes, and laughs as much as possible in Fort Worth, Texas.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.