This book (toolkit) combines practical concepts based on research with spiritual truths and provides strategies that caregivers can use to build or restore hope in children and youth who are suffering from what I call “The Terrible Ds”. This two-pronged approach, combining the practical with the spiritual, is God’s blueprint for victory. The practical approach, the science of hope, offers strategies or pathways to restoring hope in youth for a brighter future; however, the spiritual approach plays an even greater role in restoring hope. It is vitally important for children and youth to believe in a loving God, for them to know the depths of God’s love for them, for them to learn about and believe in the truth of God’s Word, and for them to have a cheerleader in their lives to support and encourage them. Scientific research on trauma survivors validates this belief.
Scientific research is clear that spiritual faith and spiritual support are key to raising one’s hope from low hope (hopelessness) to high hope (confidence in the future). And as hope carriers, we need to make room for children and youth to access a loving God. The companion youth devotional gives youth space to express themselves, to unlock their emotions, and it introduces them to their Heavenly Father. That devotional is a way for youth to learn how to access a loving God. And when children and youth know the depths of God’s love for them, it will ultimately lead them to casting away fears or feelings of hopelessness about their future.
This book is a hope-based interactive devotional for young people who have lost hope or feel hopeless due to childhood trauma or adverse childhood circumstances. It is designed to instill or renew hope and to give the reader tools and strategies to overcome the Terrible Ds (despair, despondency, depression, disappointment, discouragement, disheartenment, and disillusionment.)
