May 10th - Beatitudes | Carriers Of Hope by Autumn Darden

In this episode, Autumn shares a deeply personal and powerfully hope-filled message on what it means to live as people of hope in the middle of real pain, loss, and delay. Tracing her story from childhood trauma and teen pregnancy to suicidal depression, radical encounter with God's presence, and years of heartbreaking miscarriages and infant loss, she shows that biblical hope is not naïve optimism—it's a "confident expectation of good" rooted in the character of God. Along the way, she unpacks why hope is not optional for believers (it's one of the three things that "last forever" in 1 Corinthians 13), and why so many of us feel "heart sick" when our hope has been attached to our own plans instead of God's will. Autumn invites us into her testimony of "restitution"—how God spoke, "I'm making restitution," and over time restored what the enemy had stolen: reconnecting her with the son she placed for adoption, blessing her with more children after devastating losses, and eventually calling her family into foster care and adoption again. Through it all, she highlights the difference between adding Jesus to our agenda and truly surrendering to His, and how real hope flourishes when we seek first His kingdom. We explore how to hold on to God's presence when we don't feel Him, what to do with hope deferred, and why tying our hope to His heart—not just to outcomes—can transform seasons of disappointment into stories of redemption. This isn't theory; it's an invitation to bring your own expired dreams and deferred hopes to Jesus, and to leave with a fresh, Spirit-empowered expectation of His goodness. For more messages and resources, visit www.hopeucnashville.com or download the HopeUC Nashville app.