Ann Voskamp's Blog

When You Feel Lost & Alone, Where is God?

If there’s one thing I know, it’s that we all long for love. Where we can find the real intimacy that we were made for? In “Deeply Loved“, Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are warm-hearted friends who share vulnerably from their lives and people they’ve helped to show us how to experience the compassionate, sympathetic love of Jesus. I’m delighted to welcome Bill and Kristi to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Bill and Kristi Gaultiere

Sometimes we all feel alone.

Maybe we even hide from other people—even though we long to be found.

In those times it’s hard to believe that someone even cares enough to find us. 

Have you ever lost a child or another loved one in a crowd?

If so you’ll remember the panic, ache in your stomach, and thoughts careening down rabbit trails to your worst fears!

That’s how Bill and I, Kristi here, felt the day our happy family day at Disneyland went dark.

We were with our three young children and having so much fun, laughing, playing, exploring. I had to change our baby’s diaper.

Then all of a sudden our precious four-year old girl was gone!

“Bill, have you seen Jennie?”

“No. Last I saw she was with you.”

My heart started pounding out of my chest and my thoughts swirled in fear. What if she’s been kidnapped? 

We began searching for her frantically, describing our beautiful little girl to strangers, running to find an employee, hearing the loud speakers announce, “Code red! Code red!”

Soon a host of people joined our search. Forty-five minutes later we found our precious girl, waiting in line to see Minnie Mouse.

“The Good Shepherd not only searches for the lost sheep but also for the lost child in each of us.“

We all long to be wanted and to have others notice if we are missing, but we’ve talked with many people who got lost emotionally as children, and no one came looking for them.

They received little or no empathy from their parents, went through trauma that caused them to shut down emotionally, or became self-sufficient, trying not to have any personal needs. 

As a feeler in a family of thinkers, I hid my emotions and felt insecure.

I got lost in pleasing others to feel wanted. 

Bill got lost as the oldest of five children with so many responsibilities that he believed it was immature to play, have emotions and needs, or ask for help. 

How about you?

The Good Shepherd not only searches for the lost sheep but also for the lost child in each of us. With deep compassion for our pain, shame, fear, sin, and needs, Christ humbled himself, taking on the very nature a human being (Philippians 2:6). Our High Priest was tempted and tried in every way we are and He is always ready to sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:15). Biblical empathy is seeking to find and understand someone’s emotions, thoughts, and experiences to help them know they are deeply loved by God. 

To be found with Biblical, Christ-like, empathy means you are receiving and appreciating tenderhearted warmth, gentle inquisitiveness, patient listening, validation of your emotions and needs, and grace that loves you as you are. When you receive Christ-like compassion like this, you feel seen, heard, and wanted. 

Without Christ-like compassion, separated from deeply loving relationships, your true self won’t develop well and important parts of you will get lost. Every part of you needs to experience Christ-like compassion, including your emotions, thoughts, needs, values, memories, and dreams. If any parts of you are dismissed by others or denied by you, then they get lost in the dark of your unconscious.

It’s hard to have joy in loving others when you’re emotionally lost from not receiving Christ-like empathy.

“It is God’s relentless, loving pursuit to find you—with your emotions, wounds, sins, needs, beliefs, and strengths—so that you wake up to be fully present, trusting God and loving others as God loves you.“

When Bill was an infant, he was left alone to cry in the basement until he learned that crying brought no response. It took him many years to learn how to trust that anyone—even Jesus—truly wanted to find and care for his lost emotions and needs.

I never lost the ability to feel but I hid in shame and fear. I needed to trust that Jesus accepted me and even delighted in me. 

When you get stressed, hurt, or stuck feeling bad about yourself do you cry out to be found by Jesus?

Jesus never wants you to be lost. When you are alone, hurting, or in danger your Good Shepherd searches for you. He finds you, puts you atop his shoulders, and sings with joy as he carries you home! (Luke 15:3-7).

The process of being found and saved by Jesus includes knowing God more fully and joining God in knowing ourselves more fully. To know more of God but with only a small part of ourselves is not a very intimate relationship.

We all need to be emotionally found by our Savior to help us learn to believe, trust, and apply the truth of his ever-reaching, ever-deepening love.

David, a man after God’s heart, offered vulnerable prayers like, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24). 

The Holy Spirit’s continual searching for you in Psalm 139 is the deep compassion of God. It is God’s relentless, loving pursuit to find you—with your emotions, wounds, sins, needs, beliefs, and strengths—so that you enter into being fully present, trusting God and loving others as God loves you.

“Learning to relate to Jesus’ emotions and receive His compassionate love for you will help you cry out to be found by Him and appreciate that you are deeply loved by God—now and always.“

When I feel alone and like no one would understand me I’ve learned to connect with Jesus’ emotions in the Gospels like a mirror. 

Jesus felt weary after a long journey (John 4:6). 

He felt troubled and anxious about going to the cross (John 12:27).

He felt terrible pain when he was abused (Mark 15:15). 

He felt angry when vulnerable people were mistreated (John 2:17). 

He felt deep sadness when people rejected him and his message of peace (Luke 19:41).

Learning to relate to Jesus’ emotions and receive His compassionate love for you will help you cry out to be found by Him and appreciate that you are deeply loved by God…

Now and always. 

Reading “Deeply Loved” is like talking with close friends who truly understand you.

Dr’s Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are therapists and soul friends to countless people. They are the founders of Soul Shepherding, a nonprofit ministry to help people go deeper with Jesus in emotional health and loving relationships. They invite you to come on retreat with them.

In their new book, Deeply Loved, Bill and Kristi show you how to stop settling for shallow relationships by receiving and reflecting God’s great compassion for you. You’ll discover how to release worries, comfort hurts, and resolve conflicts. You’ll learn how to resist judging your emotions and needs by agreeing with God’s grace. You’ll appreciate Bible-based empathy practices to know that you and the people you care for are deeply loved by Jesus.

Get your copy now and invite your friends to join you in experiencing the deep, deep love of our Lord and Savior.

{Our humble thanks to Baker Publishing Group for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {09.27.2025}

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

Let yourself smile, be crazy inspired, laugh, love & really live the gift of this life
just a little bit more this weekend…

Smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything —

and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))! 

Serving up only the Good Stuff for you & your people right here:

Photo by Ronni Kurtz 

Photo by Jude Arubi

Photo by Paria Karimi

Photo by Nastya Dulhiier

I cannot get over the beauty of old towns on the river with their little cobblestone walks and bridges.

Heart Vitamins for you this week:“God’s Good Design in Creation”Don’t miss this! When You Can’t Keep Going-A Convo on Ministry & CallinGThis is a must listen! You Are Not Alone: Storms in Faithful Christian Experience You need to read to thisa powerful story of finding hope after tragedy- But God Don’t miss this read SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:You’ve Been Through So Much — Now Let God Use ItSo soul-encouraging Sing with Getty and Other Greats in This New HymnalTUNE IN: WATCH HEREBeth Moore: Untangling Our Knotted-Up Lives LIFECHANGING READlet’s raise kids that know they need Jesus! YESSSSS! The best!Soundtracks for your Weekend!So so sweet! You need to listen to thisthank you Jesus! On repeat! And Some fall treats for your Weekend!So comforting! A MUST TRY THIS WEEK!! Looks delicious! Add this to the meal plan?Apple Fritter Cake…YES! Baking now! AND! Apple Pie Muffins! SO SO GOOD!! Creative Bits for you this week: This is amazing!! So so cool! candle Making? We have to try this! calendars are fun too! Maybe this week? This Sourdough is art! Are you this ambitious? Encouragement for the Mothers this weekend:“Practical Strategies for Your Fear”A conversation you want to hear!“Find a Mentor/Be a Mentor” with Ruth Maybe you need this listen today. This is for you momma! So so good! Maybe try one this week? Click here to readReady to smile this weekend?!!Don’t steel my toes! This is the BEST! This is amazing! Wow!! Incredible! All the laughs!! ADORABLE!! Could you resist? On Repeat! Thoughts to Really Ponder Discovering How to Pray: Prayer in the PsalmsI found this so moving“Let God into Your Story” with Toni CollierReally, so thinking about thisThe Romans Road: How the Book of Romans Changed the World You need to read this! Not sure I agree or what to think, but really wrestling with this one Deeply thought-provokingBlog Post of the Week How did we all get here — and now what?
About Violence, Tribalism & The Real Call of God’s People

When grief cuts deeply, words come slowly. There is nothing wrong with this, or with feeling deeply enough to weep. Tears that slowly come can slowly water healing… can grow us into new, redemptive ways of being.

Maybe now isn’t the time to rush forward, but rather to reflect inward: How did we all get here, how are we somehow contributing to what’s happening, who do we personally want to be right now…so we can move toward where we all really want to go?

We mark days like this — us who’ve been marked by deep grief, who are heartbroken and weary that we are still being marked by all this violating violence.

I once had dinner with the theologian Miroslav Volf and we found ourselves sharing how we both, as young children, experienced losing siblings to violent deaths, and Volf living through the violent Balkans wars — this is a world of all kinds of evil and violence and cultural warring, and where is there to turn?

Keep Reading Where do we go from here?What we’re Listening to on the Farm this weekTauren Wells, Elevation Worship – “Joy In The Morning”on the book stack at the farm

It’s easy to get lost in the everyday moments of our lives feeling like God isn’t near and we aren’t always sure how to talk to Him like we want to. Whether we are struggling with specific circumstances or in a season of thriving, we are all looking for the same thing: encouragement to keep going and stay focused on God’s goodness in our lives.

In this heartfelt collection of 52 devotions, bestselling author Sarah Molitor shares her personal experiences of witnessing God’s work in her life, inviting readers to embark on their own journey of connecting with God through prayer.

It’s true: heartache, grief, suffering, and obstacles—they all come in waves. There is no controlling life’s storms; there is only learning the way to walk through the waves.

In WayMaker, bestselling author Ann Voskamp hands us a map that makes meaning of life and shows the way through to the places we’ve only dreamed of reaching. In the face of suffering through seemingly unbearable situations, we can rest in the fact that we are not alone. 

No matter what it is you want in life, the difference between success and failure is resilience. In Rules of Resilience, Valorie teaches you how to build or strengthen your own personal resilience system, offering practical strategies you can employ immediately to conquer obstacles, overcome setbacks, achieve greater happiness, and succeed at higher levels than ever before. She also

reveals how to build a level of mental and emotional fitness and strength that will transform your work, relationships, finances, and healthconsolidates intriguing research into easy-to-remember rules that can be put into practice right awayguides you through any current or potential challenge, enabling you to conquer obstacles and achieve your life goals in a healthy and meaningful way

If you’re tired, overwhelmed, or wondering if you’re doing this parenting thing right at all, this practical and encouraging book is for you.

Beloved author of Memory Making Mom Jessica Smartt is right there with you in the trenches of parenting and family life. She has great news: a strong family culture has nothing to do with flawless behavior, a Pinterest-perfect home, or continual harmony. In Come on Home, Jessica will equip parents to create the family they long for, with the people in their actual homes. It’s never too late to build a strong family.

It’s easy for everything in our lives to seem fine on the surface. But deep down inside, there’s often another story at play—one of overwhelm, stress and heartache, of finding ourselves stuck in old patterns. Rather than feeling the weight of it all, it’s easier to spend our days on autopilot, ignoring the noise inside.

But what if the peace and relief we most lo n g for comes from tuning in with what’s happening inside, instead of tuning it out?

In her newest book Motherhood is Not Your Highest Calling, Vicki addresses the unattainable expectations that often burden mothers and redirects the focus to God’s grace which covers our shortcomings.

Vicki seeks to remind her readers that our identities are not found in motherhood, but in God alone and who we are in Him.

Something to Add to your calendar? Embracing You with Ann Voskamp

WHAT IF… life expectations that you’ve been handed, that define success, fulfillment, and meaning in ways that do not correspond with the actual topography and reality of your life, leave you looking for a better way?

Join us for an uplifting evening with four-time NYT Best Selling Author Ann Voskamp.

Grab your ticket here!Hope Story Conference

We’re gathering for our 8th annual Writer’s Conference in beautiful Charlotte, NC on January 29-31, 2026, and we’d love you to join us! Experience three unforgettable days designed to awaken your words, strengthen your voice, and surround you with a community who believes in the power of story.

Across the weekend, you’ll hear best selling authors and keynote voices, learn from workshop presenters who will help refine your craft, and step into quiet writing rooms where inspiration becomes practice. Thursday night we’ll pause for Celebrate Your Story—a joyful evening where we recognize the milestones of our Hope*Books authors and invite everyone in the room to see what’s possible for their own writing journey.

This is more than another event. It’s a gathering designed to move your writing forward.

You don’t want to miss this! Grab your ticket here! Come and be “Loved to Life” Now ON SALE 30% off

Pick up  Loved to Life: A 40-Day VISUAL Pilgrimage with Jesus, that will:

give you enlightening insights to calm your real worriesground your identity in who you really are, regardless of failuresspeak to your deepest doubts in a profoundly steading wayand walk you in fresh, intimate ways with Jesus, Love Himself, that will grow your soul into real LIFEThe Broken way is 30% off right now!! You don’t want to miss this sale! Grab this one today! You can get our JOURNALs for nearly 50% off right now!! $13 for the Best Little Gratitude Journal & Sacred Prayer!The best little prayer pockets Download yours free when you join our email family Anywhere Sessions | Living Room Vol. 02 | Elevation Worship

Maybe enjoy the weekend by making a cozy meal and settling down with a good cup of coffee…

That’s all for this weekend, friends.

Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.

Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again

Share Whatever Is Good. 

Things will Still Bloom

I want to be the type of friend—and have the type of friend—who encourages and speaks words of life that are grounded in God’s truth for any moment. And even when I find that type of encouragement online, it’s a gift. Sarah Molitor is a Bible-believing, Jesus-following wife and mother (of seven kids she homeschools) who finds joy in encouraging others for any given moment. It’s amazing how in our world people are lacking yet looking for community, and they will take it any way they find it. We need godly community. So when you find a community like Sarah’s that points you to Jesus, stay there! It’s what we need because Jesus is what we need. I’m so honored to welcome Sarah to the farm for some encouragement today…

Guest Post by Sarah Molitor

It was mid-July, and I hadn’t yet planted our little vegetable gardens that I normally start at the beginning of June.

It seems so silly, but this bugged me—no matter how much my husband, Tim, tried to let me off the hook.

It was something that really didn’t take much time, yet I still hadn’t fit it in.

I started to guilt myself about all the times I could’ve done it and had instead chosen to do something else.

“There is an art to letting things go and being okay with that. “

By this point, I just wanted to say “Whatever” and pick it up the next year. There is an art to letting things go and being okay with that. 

But there is also something in my personality that can’t just forget about something so easily. My tendency is to pack it all in and make the most of every day, to keep up with traditions and things I’ve done in years past.

Over the last couple of years, though, I’ve been learning about seasons and shifts—that I can let certain things go and start when I start. Sometimes letting myself off the hook is healthy.

Still . . . I wanted my garden to grow!

And as I stared at those garden beds, wishing they would plant themselves, my husband said, “Just start, Sarah. Why does it matter when? You aren’t too late, and things will still bloom.”

Things will still bloom.

Wow, that hit me.

Here I was a month and a half late to planting seeds, and I figured it was too late for anything to happen—yet my husband saw it differently. My seeds would just bloom a little later than other people’s. Things will still bloom.

There have been many moments in my life when I felt like I wasn’t blooming while everyone else was.

I’m betting you’ve felt that way too.

Friends are getting married, yet you are still single. Babies are being born, yet you are struggling to conceive. People are finding community in churches, and you are still searching for where God wants you to land. Other marriages seem to be thriving, and for some reason you’re just not in sync with your spouse right now. Does all of this mean you are too late to bloom?

Absolutely not.

As a parent, I’ve also noticed my kids blooming at different paces. Every child does things at their own speed, yet as a culture we are consumed with milestones. Are they rolling by two months? Sitting up by six months? Crawling by eight months and walking by twelve months? Why is your child not saying 57 words by 19 months?

“If we rush the process and try to blossom too soon, we may wither away just as fast. Before blooming, don’t you want to know that your roots are stable and strong?“

This isn’t to condemn milestones; this is to condemn the idea that every single thing in life has to be a competition.

It’s easy to get caught up in a race to bloom without even realizing it. But the reality is we are all made uniquely in God’s image, and no two people are alike. So, sure, milestones are great, but they shouldn’t be the ultimate marker or goal in life.

Living for the Lord should be our aim.

Heaven should be our aim.

Just because you haven’t blossomed yet doesn’t mean God hasn’t planted things in you for His glory. He sure has (see Psalm 139:14), and maybe right now is a season of more planting. Maybe it’s a season of growing deep roots. Maybe it’s a season of hiding under the soil, completely protected until it’s time to come up and blossom beautifully. If we rush the process and try to blossom too soon, we may wither away just as fast.

Before blooming, don’t you want to know that your roots are stable and strong?

You might feel like you are too little too late, but don’t believe that lie.

Whether in friendships, marriage, or parenting (or anything else for that matter), we are allowed to change our minds, shift gears, try something new, and even leave behind some old ways of doing things. It’s okay to realize, Hey, that worked well for me last time, but this time I’m going to try something different and see if it’s a better fit.

We don’t want to be flaky, but we do want to make sure that whatever season we are in, we are effectively living out God’s purpose for us. Otherwise, we are dragging things in from the past and trying to make them work for the present. Square peg, round hole. They aren’t always going to work.

We have to start again and trust the Lord that the starting over will result in a fresh blossom in our lives. And God is likely to teach us something totally different with each new beginning.

The comfort of it all is that, as we desire and yearn for more, God is faithful.

Our lives will be filled with many blooming seasons. They will also be filled with many seasons where blooms aren’t visible, but growth is still happening. Both are needed, and both are healthy. So don’t guilt yourself into quitting something before you even have a chance to start.

Because, chances are, things will still bloom.

Let’s walk forward into this week asking the Lord to show us the areas where He wants to work.

Pray that He would prune back any areas of our lives that aren’t serving His Kingdom.

And then let’s thank Jesus that He is faithful to tend to our hearts and grow us in a way that is far better than what we would’ve done ourselves.

“Forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Sarah Molitor is a wife, mom to seven kids, and author. She has a passion for serving others and enjoys authentically and consistently engaging with her growing social media community, where she encourages, challenges, and inspires women daily. Sarah connects with individuals all over the world, frequently sharing bits of her family, home, and everyday life. She loves candy (but dislikes chocolate) and finds extra joy in homeschooling and hosting others.

It’s easy to get lost in the everyday moments of our lives feeling like God isn’t near and we aren’t always sure how to talk to Him like we want to. Whether we are struggling with specific circumstances or in a season of thriving, we are all looking for the same thing: encouragement to keep going and stay focused on God’s goodness in our lives.

In this heartfelt collection of 52 devotions, bestselling author Sarah Molitor shares her personal experiences of witnessing God’s work in her life, inviting readers to embark on their own journey of connecting with God through prayer.

You can continue to be encouraged by Sarah on Instagram @modernfarmhousefamily or on her website at modernfarmhousefamily.com.

{Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

How to Really Build a Family That Lasts Forever

It’s a humbling grace to welcome Jessica Smartt to the front porch today, as she’s writing from her own front porch, overflowing with farm cats and probably caked with debris from all those free-ranging chickens! Jessica and her husband live on a family homestead start-up in North Carolina with their kids, Jessica’s sisters and their families, and her parents. The four white houses form a cul-de-sac that’s home to a lot of mud, soccer games, cookouts, and the occasional cousin spat. As a recipient of a strong family, she knows strong families aren’t perfect, but they are worth it. It’s an honour and joy to welcome Jessica to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Jessica Smartt

October 4, 2021.

Two weeks from Grammy’s 93rd birthday. 

Six of us huddled around her bed. There are so many details I can’t forget.

The crackling rattle in her labored breathing, each breath so unnaturally far from the last one. My sister on the other side of the bed, so strong, singing hymns. Her voice wavered and caught, but she kept singing, distinctly and loudly. 

I was not sure when it happened.

Her breaths were minutes apart.

When was she gone? When was she here?

We told her she could go, that we would be okay. We realized she was crying—eyes glassy, distant, fixed on nothing—but somehow we knew she had heard. 

In the final minutes, my dad spoke familiar, comforting words over her. 

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). 

It was a holy room, full of sorrow and hope, aching and beauty . . . and so much love. She was dearly loved. 

I don’t want to die, but I do want to die like that. 

Ninety pounds with a handful of sweaters to her name when she died. But Grammy? She was the richest, whole-est person I have ever met. 

She built a legacy. 

Legacy: the long-term impact of the events or actions in a person’s life.

To use the word legacy feels so cliché, imperfect.

How can I explain what she left? What she did?

Seven children, 21 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren. 

Every single one of them knew they were loved by Grammy. 

One time she was going to the store. “Do you need anything?” she asked me with her beautiful smile. “Oh, yes, some potato chips, some pretzels, some ice cream, some candy . . .” It was a lame attempt at a joke from a nine-year-old. 

She came back an hour later, saying, “I think I got it all!” I felt terrible, and terribly loved.

She lived meagerly, spent all she had on all of us. Always on us. Her double-wide was the house of canned peaches and Schwan’s pizzas and perfectly layered macaroni and cheese and Push Pops and Country magazine and the old awful couches where we made so many memories. 

Grammy made home. She defined it. 

“You wonder if you have what it takes to break the cycle, to overcome the challenges in your circumstance to give your kids a different legacy. And I want you to know: Family doesn’t have to be perfect to be strong. “

Her life was spent at the kitchen sink and the stove. She poured hours into loving people with sausage, eggs, and Folgers coffee. She gave us a rich, rich life. 

I want this kind of legacy. Her life was not wasted. 

One time my husband told my mom, “Thank you for loving Jessica so well. You loved her well, and now she can love well.” My mom was loved, and she loved, and I can love. It has been legacies of love. 

I imagine you reading this now. Are you crying with me? Grammy is an inspiration to those of us who want to build a lasting legacy of love and faith. 

But if you aren’t crying, maybe you’re mad. Because maybe this all feels foreign, impossible. Family is so messy, so terribly specific and practical. You wonder if you have what it takes to break the cycle, to overcome the challenges in your circumstance to give your kids a different legacy. 

And I want you to know: Family doesn’t have to be perfect to be strong . 

My Grammy spent her life planting seeds, growing a family. Some of her work was fruitful and reaped blessings. Some of it was not. She planted and sowed, suffered and rejoiced. 

And then she went Home.

As I write this, I am one week from turning 43. I am not old and wrinkled in my bed. I am not really thinking about a heavenly home. Perhaps you, too, are in the thick of it, building your home, building a family. 

It is not fun to think that you and I are approaching the place Grammy was. In truly a blink, our short lives will be over. We could ignore this fact and try not to think about it (which is what I mostly do). 

But we could also number our days and gain a heart of wisdom.

How does thinking about Going Home—having an eternal perspective—impact growing our family? 

First, it makes the small things seem small again.

In light of eternity, spats with our husband or grumpiness with a child hits us in a different way. When the vacation gets canceled, when the family night ends in a tantrum, when a child is in a funk . . . remembering how short life truly is helps us to keep these things in the proper perspective. 

But also, in some amazing way, thinking of heaven also makes the little things matter more . 

“But ultimately, our temporary haven, at its best, points us toward our Real Home.“

I am loving people into eternity by pointing them toward God’s love for them. I get to make them dinner again! I can discipline with fresh hope and a little more patience. I am not just dealing with annoying humans; I am loving immortal souls. 

We want our kids to come home. We want them to like being home. We want to build a beautiful home. 

But ultimately, our temporary haven, at its best, points us toward our Real Home. 

This gives me hope.

When we fall flat on our faces (we will), it is not the end of the story. If we do everything wrong and seem to irrevocably mess up our job as parents, it is not the end of the story. 

Someone stronger than us, more loving than us, is calling us Home. 

He is preparing a place for us. As we parent our children, God is parenting us.

I want to build an amazing home, but even if I fail, it is okay.

Home is waiting. 

Jessica Smartt is the author of Come On Home: A Grace-Filled Guide to Raising a Family Who Loves (and Likes) Each Other .

If you’re tired, overwhelmed, or wondering if you’re doing this parenting thing right at all, this practical and encouraging book is for you.

Jessica and her husband, Todd, have three kids whom they homeschool. She is passionate about energizing everyday moms to save childhood and build close-knit families. Jessica loves spinach and artichoke quiche, a clean kitchen, being warm, national parks, and food that anyone else made.

You can find Jessica on Instagram and at Jessicasmartt.com.

{Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

How To Read Your Bible So You Really Encounter God (Best Bibles & Resources)

To be raw honest,  I have fallen deeper than I have ever known.

“God’s Word to you is never a passing word or line — God’s Word is your very lifeline. In tumultuous times, there is only one voice that can calm seas.“

Deeper in love than I have ever known.

And quite honestly, I didn’t expect it to go quite like this. But it’s been such a season, personally, collectively — a long season of tenderness, unspoken broken, and us all battling the dark, in all kinds of very real ways.

And, in the middle of everything, there’s nothing falling fully into the words and arms of God, because like Jonathan Edwards said, and this is what heals all the hurting hearts:

God is a communicative being. 

The Word Himself has a Word for us and where else “would we go? [He alone] has the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that [He alone is] the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:67)

Levi Voskamp

“There is nothing like knowing that the Communicative God wants to communicate with you.” 

God is a Communicative Being who never stops communicating Truth to a world that is in a brutal daily communication war to decide “this is the Way, walk in it.” (Isa 30:21)  

There is nothing like knowing that the Communicative God wants to communicate with you.

God’s Word to you is never a passing word or line — God’s Word is your very lifeline. In tumultuous times, there is only one voice that can calm seas. 

When the sun comes to the window every morning, it comes on fire with a message it can’t contain: 

The One who is the Word wants to have a word with you.

“Apathy for God’s Word leads to atrophy of a soul.” 

To neglect the only Voice that calms waves is to invite internal chaos.  One day, either this world is going to break apart, or your own precious, beautiful world is going to know heart break, and the only way you’re going survive is if you’ve set time apart to let God’s Spirit blow in. 

Apathy for God’s Word leads to atrophy of a soul. 

Knowing God’s Word is the only way to know your own face. Who we are is only found in the home of Him. 

The One who spoke you into being is a Communicative Being who longs to keep speaking to you. 

“The One who spoke you into being is a Communicative Being who longs to keep speaking to you.”

And in a world that’s hurting deeply, and struggling towards real light, I find myself stumbling out of bed each morning and falling hard for Him and all His Words. 

When the world is all stirred up, a soul can be stirred up to meet with God.

I reach for my Bible first — because if you don’t reach for your first love first, nothing’s going to turn out in the end.

When life spins a bit wild — the best thing to do is fall wildly in love with the Author of Life, who is the author of your Life, and let Him write you a love story, your love story. 

How I Fall Deeper in Love with the Communicative God 1. Pine after the heart of God:  

Want the One who wants you more than anyone else.

I have found this true, especially at the bottom of all kinds of unspoken broken: God is never an obligation, but always worthy of anticipation. Time with God isn’t an action on some to-do list, but an act of Love with Someone. 

“Want the One who wants you more than anyone else.”

God isn’t a duty , when you are attracted to His beauty.  

I can not help it, because this has been my story: 

Fall in love with the One who erases all of your falls. 

Pine after the One who hung on a tree for you, the only One who ever loved you to death and back to the realest life. 

2. Peer into the heart of God:  

You fall in love by peering into the eyes of someone. 

“When life spins a bit wild — the best thing to do is fall wildly in love with the Author of Life, who is the author of your Life, and let Him write you a love story, your love story.” 

When you look into God’s Word, you are looking God in the eye. Peer into the Word like you are looking long into the eyes of God, like you are longing for God.

Read His Word with intentionality instead of randomly: begin to read through the Gospels, work your way through the Epistles, or read one book of Scripture five times through. Highlight themes, repeating words, phrases that connect your heart to His. Trace His face by tracing lines, underlining lines. Study His face, His heart, memorize His eyes.

Grasp God. Simply spend time reading and re-read and re-read the passage from the living Spirit Book like you are reading the eyes of God, listening for God to speak.  

Peer into the heart of God because God gives us time, how can we not give Him back some time, any time?    

Sleepless nights with young children, season of being stretched? Leave a Bible flat open always by the coffee maker. Every time you brew a cup, quaff back the realest draft of Living Water. With each literal cup you stir: Steep in His Word.

Make the soundtrack of His heart, the soundtrack of your life: Listen to His word with apps like this and this while you get ready for the day every day, every time you get in the car, every time you work out, tying the Word in audio to something in your routine, to tie your heart to His.

3. Personalize the heart of God:

When you personalize God’s Word, you see it’s a Word personally for you. 

In the margins of the journaling Bible, or in a separate journal, personalize the Scripture reading from the morning. Write the verses, the text back to yourself, using your name, writing from the perspective and heart of God.

Listen to the movement of the Spirit through His Word. Listen for the heartbeat of God for you through the Word. 

“Write the Scripture reading back to you like it’s a love letter from God — because it is.” 

Write the Scripture reading back to you like it’s a love letter from God — because it is. 

The practice of personalizing Scripture is a practice of entering into His presence, the practice of tuning the heart to hear God speaking personally to you through Scripture, of dialoguing with God through His infallible, living Word. 

The practice of personalizing Scripture moves reading God’s Word from a cerebral, intellectual practice, to a deeply intimate practice of heart communion.

Personalizing Scripture lets you be personally intimate with God. 

And when you personally know God’s intimate heart for you — this is what ultimately changes your heart. 

4. Present your heart to God:

Presenting all of yourself to God is the gift your soul wants most. 

Presenting your honest heart in lament, in worship, in prayer, in confession, in repentance, in vulnerability to God gives the soul the gift of communion with God — what every human being was made for.  

“Unless we genuinely present all of ourselves to God, we won’t experience God genuinely present to us.” 

After pining after the heart of God, peering into the heart of God, personalizing the heart of God,  the act of fully presenting your whole heart to God through worship music, through vulnerably journaling, through honest prayer journalling, praying Scripture back to God — this transforms the present moment. 

Unless we are wholly present to God with all of ourselves — our lament, our worship, our hopes, our confessions, our heartbreak — we can’t receive the present of wholeness. 

Unless we genuinely present all of ourselves to God, we won’t experience God genuinely present to us. 

The only way to intimacy is through the door of vulnerability. 

5. Participate with the heart of God: 

God’s invitation is always participation in God’s work. 

“God’s invitation is always participation in God’s work.” 

The Triune God is a relationship of participation. Each member of the Godhead lives in fulfilling, self-giving relationship with each other, participating fully in the sacrificial life of each other. 

And God’s invitation to every human being is a life of participation in the God’s work. Linger and listen long to the heart beat of God: 

How is God inviting you from your holy experience in His Word, in presenting prayer — to participate with Him in His holy work in the world? 

Where is He inviting you to participate in the sufferings of Christ, to participate in His redemptive work in your world, participate in ushering in shalom and the Kingdom of God around you, how is He inviting you to participate in following His narrow way especially today? 

“God communicates to us that we might participate with Him.”

Ironically, truly observant Christ-followers move from cheap, sideline observations to costly, sacrificial participation. 

Only conclude your time of encounter with God after counting how you will make even one degree of movement toward participating more with God.

God communicates to us that we might participate with Him.

And it’s in participating in the Triune God’s heart that we feel the recalibrating of our own. 

Early in the morning, first thing, there’s this  turning on of my lamp and this sacred encounter with God:

Pining after the heart of God, 
Peering into the heart of God, 
Personalizing the heart of God, 
Presenting the whole heart to God… and then
Participating in the heart of God
As this ignites a passion in the heart 
for the passion of the Christ. 

“The way to counter all kinds of darkness, is to get down on your knees and let God light your own heart on fire.” 

There is no more fulfilling way to begin the day because I can testify: Short-change time with God and its your own joy that falls short. 

Especially when the world is dark and hurting, what it direly needs is more hearts on fire for God’s — because you fight fire with fire. 

The way to counter all this heartache,  is to encounter the heart of God.

The way to counter all kinds of darkness, is to get down on your knees and let God light your own heart on fire. 

When your heart is breaking, only the sweet balm that comes from breaking open His word can bring healing to your  wounds.  

I linger long under lamplight with His Love letter open like a light in my hands, kindling me. 

Though my hands are holding His Word, there’s enough light for me to see: 

Encounter God and you can count on the arms of God carrying you through. 

(Warning: Only Use if You Want Dramatic Change in your God Relationship) The God-Encounter Resources that Have Been Utterly Life-Changing For Me:

Women’s Study Bible

The Life Application Bible

The Chronological Life Application Study Bible

ESV Journaling Bible, Interleaved

Loved to Life: A 40 Day Study of Jesus through the book of John

Common Prayer

Streams in the Desert

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

Gifts and Gratitudes: A Year of One Thousand Gifts

YouVersion

Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children

Dwell: Audio Bible App

Sacred Prayer: 90 Days of Deeper Intimacy with God

Daily Prayer

The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

Lectio 365

Don’t Pretend, Don’t Defend: How Authenticity Builds Resilience

I know how it feels — the sting of messing up, of letting others down, of watching something unravel you never meant to tangle. I’ve wanted to hide, to fix it quietly, to move on fast. Valorie Burton, CEO and personal coach, reminds me of a deeper way forward: what if we didn’t rush past our mistakes, but walked through them with honesty and grace? Valorie has learned that when we stop covering up our struggles and start growing through them, something beautiful happens — we find the kind of resilience that truly lasts. It’s a joy to welcome Valorie to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Valorie Burton

“Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” Romans 12:3

When I was sixteen, I experienced a series of three small driving accidents about nine months after I’d barely passed my driver’s test.

My car was a $400 “snow car” my dad had bought from a coworker. If you grew up or live in a place where it snows a lot, it’s nice to have a car you don’t mind getting dinged in the snow. “Flo,” as I named her for her fluorescent yellow color, was a Volkswagen Rabbit stick shift with faux sheepskin seat covers.

The first incident occurred as I was giving a friend’s younger brother a ride home from school.

I slid across a sheet of ice while rounding a corner, hitting the curb with a loud thud, and landing in the crunchy, snow-covered grass. I managed to slowly drive us back to the school as one of the tires made a persistent and rhythmic clunking noise with every rotation. Turns out I’d bent the axle. A mechanic fixed it, or so we thought.

Eight months later, the engine mount broke. Apparently, I’d also cracked that when I hit the curb, and it eventually gave way to the engine’s weight.

On another occasion, I bumped the front of the garage while parking, creating a dent in the drywall and a crack in the cement baseboard. I hoped no one would notice, and when they did, I pretended I had no idea how it happened.

The third mishap was the most egregious, though.

One day after school, I backed out of the garage and down our short driveway, which was lined with small pencil shrubs. For a reason I can only attribute to my novice driving skills, I didn’t back straight down the driveway.

Nope. I curved a little to the left and split two small bushes right down the middle!

I am embarrassed to admit that not only did I pretend I didn’t do it, but I also made up an elaborate story to defend myself:

“You see, I was sitting at the dining room table doing homework when I heard wheels screeching on the pavement outside,” I explained to my mother. “I looked out the window and a car was taking off directly from our driveway and speeding down the street! I ran outside, and that’s when I noticed they’d run over our bushes!”

I know, not my best moment. My mom was skeptical but seemed to buy it—that is, until she mentioned it to one of her friends over the phone. Her friend responded, “Lee, come on! That makes no sense!” But of course, not only had I run over the bushes, I had lied about doing it as well.

If I had fessed up, I might have had to pay for new bushes, but if I was caught lying—well, that consequence would be much worse. So I defended my story.

And the consequence of that was deeper. It meant my word couldn’t always be trusted. Just writing that last sentence still stings.

Who wants to be thought of as untrustworthy?

To make matters worse, those solo accidents I had at sixteen ended up being a warning sign I didn’t heed. The summer after my first year of college, I was hit by a pickup truck that ran a red light and ran into my driver’s side at a major intersection. I blacked out and don’t remember much about the accident.

Soon after that, I began having major problems with my back that have continued.

For once, the accident was not my fault. It was caused by a teenage driver who sped past a police car that was sitting at the red light. His light had been red long enough for the left-turn arrow in front of me to run through a cycle. When our traffic light finally turned green, the cars in the two lanes to my left noticed the oncoming truck barreling through the intersection and stayed put.

I didn’t see it, however.

I hadn’t looked to my left or right before pushing on the gas. Taking off without making sure the coast was clear was a novice’s driving mistake.

If my parents and I had paid attention to the warning signs before that accident, we might have acknowledged that I needed driving lessons.

I had never taken driver’s ed because I was younger than my high school friends, and I didn’t want to take it on my own after them. I decided to opt out of it and study on my own instead.

The multiple mishaps were a warning sign about my questionable driving skills back then and a precursor to the accident I wish had never happened.

We all make mistakes.

“Accepting who you are and where you are, without your ego jumping in to make you look good at the expense of the truth or avoiding hard conversations and facing consequences, is an act of resilience.“

We even do things we shouldn’t and need a second chance.

When that happens, the humility to acknowledge our imperfections gives us resilience.

Authentic people are honest—with themselves and others. Accepting who you are and where you are, without your ego jumping in to make you look good at the expense of the truth or avoiding hard conversations and facing consequences, is an act of resilience.

You have it in you to navigate your toughest challenges, and you’ll do so more quickly and easily if you don’t pretend things are okay when they aren’t or defend poor choices or behaviors.

Responding in these ways can feel vulnerable, but they’re worth it.

If you are willing to be uncomfortable, your comfort zone and your capacity to push through challenges will expand.

Don’t pretend and don’t defend. You’ll be better, wiser, and stronger for it.

Valorie Burton is an internationally known life coach and founder of The Coaching and Positive Psychology (CaPP) Institute. A Master Certified Coach, she has trained thousands of personal and executive coaches worldwide. Her message has an intriguing, research-based emphasis in the pioneering field of applied positive psychology—the study of what happens when things go right with us. She teaches that resilience is a skill that can be learned and that anyone who wants success and authentic happiness must learn it. Valorie, her husband, Jeff, and their children live near Atlanta. Learn more about her coaching and training at valorieburton.com and cappinstitute.com. 

No matter what it is you want in life, the difference between success and failure is resilience. In Rules of Resilience, Valorie teaches you how to build or strengthen your own personal resilience system, offering practical strategies you can employ immediately to conquer obstacles, overcome setbacks, achieve greater happiness, and succeed at higher levels than ever before. She also

reveals how to build a level of mental and emotional fitness and strength that will transform your work, relationships, finances, and healthconsolidates intriguing research into easy-to-remember rules that can be put into practice right awayguides you through any current or potential challenge, enabling you to conquer obstacles and achieve your life goals in a healthy and meaningful way

If you’re ready to learn the secrets of life-changing resilience, let Valorie be your guide in this transformational book.

{Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

How did we all get here — and now what? About violence, Tribalism, & the Real Call of God’s People

When grief cuts deeply, words come slowly. There is nothing wrong with this, or with feeling deeply enough to weep. Tears that slowly come can slowly water healing… can grow us into new, redemptive ways of being.

Maybe now isn’t the time to rush forward, but rather to reflect inward: How did we all get here, how are we somehow contributing to what’s happening, who do we personally want to be right now…so we can move toward where we all really want to go?

“This is a world of all kinds of evil and violence and cultural warring, and where is there to turn?

We mark days like this — us who’ve been marked by deep grief, who are heartbroken and weary that we are still being marked by all this violating violence.

I once had dinner with the theologian Miroslav Volf and we found ourselves sharing how we both, as young children, experienced losing siblings to violent deaths, and Volf living through the violent Balkans wars — this is a world of all kinds of evil and violence and cultural warring, and where is there to turn?

It’s striking, how “violated” and “violence,” come from the very same Latin root word, meaning “force.”

Whenever our words, our judgements, our tone, our presuppositions, our actions, forcefully overstep and violate a person’s sacred self, and space, and soul — we’re the ones doing violence to each other. 

Wherever there’s a forceful overstepping, there is a violation — and that’s always a desecration. 

Violence always lies about what every person truly is: sacred and too valued to be violated. 

And I keep returning to this, sitting with this: Whenever our words, our judgements, our tone, our presuppositions, our actions, forcefully overstep and violate a person’s sacred self, and space, and soul — we’re the ones doing violence to each other. 

And violence never genuinely defends anything; violence only desecrates the very lines in another’s story, that it desperately intends to defend in its own. Try to violently defend your right to speak, your family’s way of life, your right to live as you’re so led, by violently taking away someone else’s, isn’t any kind of defense, but is furthering all kinds of desecration.   

What is always wrong is the myth of redemptive violence. 

What is always an old and ugly lie is that violence can ever right anything. 

All violence can do is cut down — cut down others,  and cut down one’s self; violence is completely incapable of creating good.  

Rather, this is our daily work of building and creating genuine good, of ceasing to hate any in our family of humanity:  

The only way to overcome evil is to cover everyone with a love that others no one.  

Miroslav Volf once wrote this, and I’m finding it deeply reorienting in these disorienting days: 

“To triumph fully, evil needs two victories, not one—the first when evil is perpetrated; the second when evil is returned,” is what Volf wrote. 

Refuse to retaliate, and you refuse evil from winning twice.

The only way to overcome evil is to cover everyone with a love that others no one. 

This is all personal, this is about each of us personally. 

Evil withers and dies wherever it isn’t returned.

When people refuse to return violence, revolutionary possibility returns to the people.  

And we can only hope to defuse evil’s power, if we refuse evil’s craving to be returned —  and we can only refuse evil’s craving to be returned if we refuse to remake our God into the image of our own resentments. And this we know: Ours is the God who never demonizes his enemies, but sacrificially dies for them. 

The real call is to repay evil — with real blessing.

The real call is never to return evil; the real call is always to repay evil — to “repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called” (1 Peter 3:9).

The real call is to repay evil — with real blessing: Be far kinder than the narrative they have about you, because this is the best way to prove they’ve got the story about you all wrong. Always go higher and never let your response make you resemble the very thing you oppose. 

The real call is to repay evil — with real blessing: Do whatever it takes to grow your love for the other larger than you fears: because at the root of all kinds of violence, is some kind of fear. 

The real call is to repay evil — with real blessing: Only speak words that make souls stronger.

Really.  Always. By His Spirit, by His grace alone. 

Now is the moment we need to not only believe in freedom of speech for those we disagree with, we must also believe that cruciform grace, and the unwavering, non-violent honor of the sacredness of every person, especially of those with whom we disagree, is the only way for us all to actually stay free.   

For all of our broken hearts

What if brokenness is the path into the abundant life?

Together, we can finally let our broken parts be met by His broken heart — and become a meaningful healing to a broken world.

Discover The Broken Way — the way to not be afraid of broken things.

Because Christ is redeeming everything.

There’s no other authentic way forward — but a broken way.

How can we be Seeking Out God’s Gaze?

If you’ve ever found yourself feeling stuck, frustrated as though you’re working against yourself, you’re not alone. Anna Christine (A. C.) Seiple loves cultivating healing spaces to slow down and tune in with what’s happening inside, inviting God to soothe those stuck spaces within–precisely because she has needed these spaces herself. Drawing from years of formation shaped by trauma, spiritual direction, therapy, and her own work as a therapist, A. C. weaves story together with contemplative and therapeutic prompts, sharing the sacred spaces that have shaped her. The heartbeat of her work is to draw us into a deeper connection with the entirety of our embodied being, tuning in with the depths of the soul and inviting God to tend to the whole of who we are. It’s a joy to welcome Anna to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Anna Christine Seiple

Over the last few years, I’ve had the joy of watching two of my husband’s siblings welcome foster children into their families.

Seeing them open their homes to these precious little girls has been one of the most beautiful demonstrations of love I’ve ever witnessed.

One of these nieces came into my brother and sister- in- law’s home after being severely neglected and born addicted to drugs. 

Her new brothers loved having her around, and I watched my husband’s brother and his wife truly take her in as one of their own. Early on, she would often be on the hip of her new foster mom, not responding to tone or facial expressions, seemingly just going with the flow.

I’d try my hardest to connect with her when I saw her, but no games of peekaboo or flashy toys would prompt her to respond.

When we greeted her or said goodbye, it was as though she didn’t hear us.

I wasn’t sure if I should give up or keep trying to bridge the disconnect.

Then one night, I noticed something was different.

I was chatting with my sister-in-law Ally as my little niece was resting securely on her hip. 

After a minute or so, I saw her look up at Ally, seeking out her gaze.

I was struck.

I had never seen this sweet girl look at someone with that kind of connectedness before. Along with her eyes reaching out for contact, I saw the muscles of her mouth move into the shape of a smile, something else I had never seen her do. And as her face sought out Ally’s face, my niece reached her little fingers toward her as well. She then began to bounce her entire little being as her whole body shouted with playfulness, “Come on! Play the game!”

My sister-in-law responded, mirroring the little smile and silliness that was reaching out to her. Her brown eyes lit up with the little brown eyes looking up at her. In harmony with her eyes, Ally’s whole face was glowing, matching the smile that was inviting her to be with her in this moment. And to complete the whole interaction, she met the little fingers reaching for her, grasping them and holding this precious girl a little tighter.

“During the months she had spent in her foster home, her body had learned that she was not alone and was no longer neglected. Her body knew that she was seen and heard and that she would be held.“

Just for a moment time seemed suspended as they waited for what would come next. Then in a rhythm they clearly both knew, Ally bounced up and down. Their bodies moved together, wiggling in playful laughter that they savored together.

As I watched this sweet girl come alive, I felt as if I was witnessing a sacred healing. Over and over again, I saw my niece seek out Ally, moving all the little muscles in her face to play their game of finding each other and sharing a connected moment.

It was clear she felt a sense of security, knowing that as she played this game, my sister-in-law would respond. During the months she had spent in her foster home, her body had learned that she was not alone and was no longer neglected. Her body knew that she was seen and heard and that she would be held.

And then when we all sat down to eat, I noticed something else.

Rather than sitting silently in her high chair, as Ally offered her a bite of  potatoes, she shook her head and squealed in protest as she pushed her little hands against the plastic spoon offered to her. 

Later that night, Ally later said to all of us, “Even though it makes days harder, I’m so grateful for how she’s pushing back now in ways that she never did before.”

She explained, “When she was first with us, she used to just go with the flow no matter what I did, so it wasn’t as stressful for me to manage life with her and the boys.

“Now that she’s made so much progress, she pushes back in the way a ­two-year-old normally would. And while that’s frustrating in one way, I know it means that she’s developing, which is a good thing. It makes meals and other moments more stressful for me, but it’s so worth it knowing what that means— she’s growing and she’s healing.”

Rather than seeing her foster daughter’s behavior as a problem or something that had to be changed to make her own life more convenient, Ally dignified and honored her little girl’s embodied being, exuding so much love, grace, and patience. She saw the bigger picture.

“I can’t help but wonder: What might it be like if we were to extend steady and gracious care to the parts of us that seem like problems? “

As a mom to two older boys, she knew it was typical for a toddler to get frustrated at mealtime or when stuck in a high chair. What human wouldn’t be frustrated if they didn’t get a say in their dinner while being restrained in a chair?

The loud cries from this girl’s tiny body meant that she felt safe in her circumstances and was now engaging differently with the world around her.

Rather than being unresponsive in a state of learned helplessness, she could start to explore the world in new ways.

Reflecting on their interactions felt like an invitation to consider how we might extend a soothing balm of tenderness to the parts of us that we sometimes try to restrain or silence.

I can’t help but wonder: What might it be like if we were to extend steady and gracious care to the parts of us that seem like problems?

What if we tried mirroring God’s own lovingkindness— care that isn’t solely concerned with our behavior, but instead, sees the whole of who we are, delighting in our growth and our healing?

Anna Christine (A. C.) Seiple is a licensed counselor, retreat leader, instructor, and researcher. She loves integrating neuroscience with spirituality, honoring the entirety of our created being. She holds two master’s degrees—one in clinical mental health counseling and one in biblical studies—and is currently a postgraduate researcher working on her PhD at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She enjoys nature, dancing, and adventuring with her husband. Connect with A. C. on Instagram @a.c.seiple and online at acseiple.com.

It’s easy for everything in our lives to seem fine on the surface. But deep down inside, there’s often another story at play—one of overwhelm, stress and heartache, of finding ourselves stuck in old patterns. Rather than feeling the weight of it all, it’s easier to spend our days on autopilot, ignoring the noise inside.

But what if the peace and relief we most long for comes from tuning in with what’s happening inside, instead of tuning it out?

Join therapist Anna Christine (A. C.) Seiple on a compassionate, mindful exploration of the depths of our souls. With gentleness, wisdom, and expertise, A. C. invites us to connect with our body and get curious about the spaces within that feel most stuck—and find where we need safety, attunement and care.

{Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

When You Wonder If Motherhood Is All You Are

One afternoon, she pulled a well-worn Christian parenting book off her bookshelf and, almost absentmindedly, began scanning the introduction. It didn’t take long before her eyes landed on a phrase so familiar from her young motherhood days: “Motherhood is a high calling. Perhaps the highest calling God can give a woman.” The words made her wince. She muttered under her breath, frustrated at the weighty and unrealistic expectations that had been laid upon mothers of her generation. Then came the shock—this wasn’t just any book. It was a book she herself had written years ago. In that moment, award winning author Vicki Courtney realized with a pang of honesty: she had once been part of the problem. In this excerpt from Motherhood Is Not Your Highest Calling, she invites us back into God’s Word to uncover a deeper and freer truth about our identity in Christ. It’s a joy to welcome Vicki to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Vicki Courtney

I recall a Sunday years ago at my previous church, where the service specifically addressed the topic of “biblical womanhood” and “biblical manhood.”

The men and the women were placed in separate groups and taught a lesson that had been prepared by a male pastor on staff. I was out of town on that Sunday, but in the aftermath, multiple women reached out to me because they had found the lesson troubling. 

One of the women sent me the outline, and upon reading it, I could certainly understand the concern.

The lesson stated that a woman’s ultimate life purpose was to “help men’s worthy leadership with submission and respect and prioritize the nurturing and raising of children.” 

A woman in the class lodged a formal complaint to the staff that the teaching suggested a woman’s value is directly dependent on her role as a wife and mother. She argued, “I am complete in my relationship with God, with or without a man or children.”

She went on to share that she had served many years as a missionary prior to meeting her husband and that once married, she struggled to have children. She and her husband were in the process of adopting a child, and the lesson left her feeling as though she was “less than” or out of God’s favor. 

Other women took offense that the responsibility of “nurturing and raising of children” was laid solely on their shoulders. Many worked full-time jobs to help pay the bills, some even outearning their husbands or working longer hours to make ends meet. 

Worst of all was the fact that this brand of “womanhood” was (and often still is) presented as “biblical,” suggesting that women who don’t follow the template and fulfill their so-called purpose (marrying and having children) are disobedient and outside God’s will for their lives.

I thought about how hurtful this teaching is to so many women in the family of God.

Single women who dream of marriage and motherhood but aren’t sure that dream will ever become reality. Or married women who long to be mothers but struggle with infertility. Or women who simply don’t feel called to have children.

How invisible they must have all felt in a church culture telling them that marriage was what every woman was destined for, and that children were a mandatory by-product of marriage.

I felt a wave of compassion for all the women who had been exposed to this toxic teaching and were left wondering if they were less loved by God, or who were questioned and challenged over the years about being single or childless or working outside the home. This hardly sounds “biblical.”

That lesson became a turning point for me. I began to rethink many of the “biblical womanhood” teachings I had accepted without question over the years and sadly even recycled into some of my early books and Bible studies. Fortunately, those books are now out of print, but it grieves my heart all the same to know I may have added to the confusion and pain many Christian women experience in unpacking their identity. 

I began to dig deeper into the Scriptures about the roles of women in the church and home and could find nothing that supported the assertion that a woman’s primary purpose is linked to marriage and motherhood or that being a mother is a woman’s highest calling.

Given the amount of attention the topic has generated over the years, you would expect there to be a score of Scriptures supporting the oft-taught conclusions that a woman’s ultimate purpose is to be a helpmeet to her husband and bear children. The lack of Scriptures that speak to women’s roles, let alone parenting, is truly astounding. 

What I further realized is that, if I’m going to be wise and responsible in discerning the meaning of different passages of Scripture, I needed to consider the few that speak to women’s roles within the larger context of the patriarchal times in which they were written.

Over the years various Bible theologians have studied these passages without agreeing on their meaning, but context gave me clues that my original understanding of biblical womanhood was far too limited. One much-touted example was the Proverbs 31 woman (aka “a virtuous woman” or “a wife of noble character”), who has been propped up as the ultimate biblical role model for Christian women because of her domesticity and her devotion to her husband and children. 

But what we can too easily miss is how extraordinary this woman was beyond marriage and motherhood.

When was the last time you heard someone highlight the fact that she ran a business selling linen garments (verse 24) and ensured her trading was profitable (verse 18)?

Or that she dabbled in real estate and used the earnings to plant a vineyard (verse 16)?

Or, that she prioritized caring for those in need in addition to caring for her family (verse 20)?

Or that she had servant girls to help her on the home front (verse 15)?

And never mind that she wasn’t even an actual woman who existed, but rather a list of idealized attributes in the form of an acrostic poem that was thought to be recited by pious Jews of the day!

My point is, many of the positions we’ve been taught related to the roles of women often rely on isolated Bible verses taken out of the context of the whole of Scripture or the time they were written (and the cultural norms of the day).

And when we do, we create burdens for ourselves and others that God never intended us to carry. 

One of my greatest joys in life has been being a mother.

While I consider it an important calling, it is not my highest calling.

Nor is it yours.

And that should come as a great relief

Our ultimate value…is found in who we are in Jesus Christ.

Our identity as being a child of God comes first and foremost. 

Vicki Courtney is a national speaker to women of all ages and the best-selling author of numerous books and Bible studies including, Move On, Rest Assured, 5 Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter, and 5 Conversations You Must Have With Your Son. She is a two-time ECPA Christian Book Award winner and has appeared on CNN and Fox News as a youth culture commentator. Vicki and her husband, Keith, reside in the Texas hill country and are the proud parents of three grown children and ten grandchildren.

In her newest book Motherhood is Not Your Highest Calling, Vicki addresses the unattainable expectations that often burden mothers and redirects the focus to God’s grace which covers our shortcomings.

Vicki seeks to remind her readers that our identities are not found in motherhood, but in God alone and who we are in Him.

{Our humble thanks to NavPress for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {09.07.2025}

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

Let yourself smile, be crazy inspired, laugh, love & really live the gift of this life
just a little bit more this weekend…

Smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything —

and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))! 

Serving up only the Good Stuff for you & your people right here:

Photo by Andy Chilton 

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez

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Photo by Julia Peretiatko

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez

I am so ready for all the fall flavours and Saturday mornings starting with baking!

Heart Vitamins for you this week:“How to (Really) Pray in the Dark”Don’t miss this! The Power of ProximityThis is a must listen! A WALKING MIRACLE- God gets the final say You need to read to thisShowing Christ by Helping Others Don’t miss this read SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:From Anxiety to Boldness: How to Overcome the Spirit of Fear!So soul-encouraging “The Dish on Gossip” with Melissa Kruger and Courtney DoctoTUNE IN: WATCH HEREReflections of our Creator- How to see them and how to be them LIFECHANGING READChrist on Every Page: How the Book of Jonah Points to Jesus YESSSSS! The best!Devotional of the week:   Forever Welcomed: A Study on God’s Impartial Love for All by Oghosa Iyamu  

Most of us know the feeling of standing in a crowd and asking ourselves, Do I belong here? 

I deeply appreciate Oghosa Iyamu’s vulnerability in sharing that she has had seasons in her personal life and ministry when she has not only felt unwelcomedbut invisible. 

But as Oghosa reminds us, God’s welcome transcends our circumstances and perceived limitations, bringing us back again and again to a profound, impartial love. 

Click here to grab a copy of “Forever Welcomed” Soundtracks for your Weekend!Praising together! You need to listen to this“Whatever you say” On repeat! “Holy Forever” This is so beautiful! Jesus be lifted up ON repeat!! And Some fall treats for your Weekend!Pumpkin Coffee cake!! A MUST TRY THIS WEEK!! The best comfort soup! Add this to the meal plan?Pumpkin spice latte anyone? TRY ONE AT HOME THIS WEEK September Dinner ideas for you! SO SO GOOD!! Creative Bits for you this week: This is so creative! So so cool! The sweetest thing ever! We have to try this! Let’s bring this back Maybe this week? How fun is this?! This week’s project? Encouragement for the Mothers this weekend:changeA conversation you want to hear!changeMaybe you need this listen today. They are watching So so good! Such an encouragement Click here to readReady to smile this weekend?!!She loves her books!! This is the BEST! So cute!! So cute! This is so fun! Incredible!! I love this so much! So beautiful! Thoughts to Really Ponder Finishing Well with Ray Ortland and Crawford LorittsI found this so movingHere’s Why the Church Is Vital to Spiritual FormationReally, so thinking about thisGod wants to hear how we feel and then wants to shepherd us towards truth Wow! A Must Try! A Crash Course in Grace: My Journey Compiling a Year of Daily ReadingsA must read! What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week“Who Else” (Live From Passion 2025)“Christus Victor (Amen)”on the book stack at the farm

Oghosa Iyamu is a Bible teacher and writer with over twelve years of ministry experience serving on staff at churches and working in Christian publishing. She holds a Master of Divinity from Southwestern and is passionate about helping others see the beauty of God’s Word through its historical and theological depth.

Her debut Bible study, Forever Welcomed: A Study on God’s Impartial Love for All, traces the theme of God’s gracious and undeserving welcome from Genesis to Revelation. It’s a six-week journey that invites readers to explore God’s heart for every tribe, tongue, and story, and to live as people formed by His hospitality.

We are fragile and we know it. Sometimes, living with Christ in a messed-up world feels less like victory and more like walking uphill. Ann Voskamp, sits at the edge of her life and her own unspoken brokenness and asks: What if you really want to live abundantly before it’s too late? What do you do if you really want to know abundant wholeness?

This one’s for the lovers and the sufferers. This one’s for the busted ones who are ready to bust free, the ones ready to break molds, break chains, break measuring sticks, and break all this bad brokenness with an unlikely good brokenness. You could be one of the Beloved who is broken—and still lets yourself be loved.

So exciting!! Friends, ‘Living the Word: Gratitude Honors God’ is available to stream beginning Tuesday, August 26 on Pure Flix Premium.Learn more about Pure Flix hereCome and be “Loved to Life” Now ON SALE 30% off

Pick up  Loved to Life: A 40-Day VISUAL Pilgrimage with Jesus, that will:

give you enlightening insights to calm your real worriesground your identity in who you really are, regardless of failuresspeak to your deepest doubts in a profoundly steading wayand walk you in fresh, intimate ways with Jesus, Love Himself, that will grow your soul into real LIFEThe Broken way is nearly 60% off right now!! You don’t want to miss this sale! Grab this one today! P.S. And WOW! Both our JOURNALs are Over 40% off!!! $13 for the Best Little Gratitude Journal & Sacred Prayer! Download yours free when you join our email family Something fun to end our week: Can we tap into fall?

Maybe enjoy the weekend by making a cozy meal and settling down with a good cup of coffee…

That’s all for this weekend, friends.

Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.

Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again

Share Whatever Is Good.