What brings me hope
Passing the torch of hope to others
Photo submitted
By Rosalind Tompkins
Special to the Outlook
I had a hope chat with newly licensed Hopeologist Linda Blackshear Smith on my latest Think Hope Podcast.
As I edited the episode, I remembered when I first realized that my overall brand is hope. It happened in 2016, while I was at a TD Jakes Pisgah Conference in Dallas, Texas. I was walking in the mall early one morning before the sessions began and I was super hyped and inspired by just being in the atmosphere of thousands of people of faith from all around the globe.
As I walked the empty but well-lit corridors of the mall with my earbuds in listening to worship music, I suddenly said, “My brand is hope.” It was as though I was answering a question based upon what one of the speakers had said about knowing your brand and how it will inform everything that you do and the legacy that you leave behind.
Instinctively I knew that my brand was hope because of my saying and the title of my first book, “As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Hope,” but it was as if a light bulb was turned on during a pivotal season of transition. And that began the purposeful shaping of the next chapter of Mothers In Crisis.
Soon after that, we developed the Hope Campaign which led to acknowledging and celebrating Hope Fridays then establishing April as the National Month of Hope. During that time, I also received the title of Hopeologist (from the Lord) and I decided to trademark the name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It is under Class 35: Promoting the public awareness of hope through public advocacy.
I then developed and copyrighted from my latest book, “As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope, the Practice of Hopeology and we began to conduct Hope Immersion Retreat Workshops. As a result, we are now licensing new Hopeologist and certifying others in the Practice of Hopeology. Seeing others accepting the mantle of hope and running with it brings me hope.
To hear my hope chat with Linda Blackshear Smith, please listen to “Think Hope Podcast” at www.blogtalkradio.com/thinkhope, Apple Podcast, Audible, and Amazon Radio.
Rosalind Tompkins, Ph.D. is author of “As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope,” and other inspirational books. Tompkins is also founder of Turning Point International Church, the Chapel of Mothers In Crisis. She’s also founder of Turning Point International Alliance with ministries and churches in Pakistan, Nepal, Eswatini, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, and St. Vincent in the West Indies.
