Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 13

The Miracle of the Mop Lady in Bethlehem: The Miracle Story All our Hopes & Fears Need

I stood in Bethlehem once and there were stars unblinking in their brave hope, right there over that little town of Bethlehem.

I’d stood there for a long time, neck craning, right outside the Church of the Nativity, looking up with a holy imagination and prayers that deeply know that He’s the realest reality.

No matter any outcome… Hope always still comes

And then I’d finally turned and bent low to walk into the Church of the Nativity — because there is no finding Hope until you humble yourself to believe.

Our guide said the door is impossibly low so that pilgrims couldn’t ride their steeds, their camels, their donkeys, straight into the Church of His Nativity.

I’d stood silently with that for a long time by that low, carved inner door and something settles into me:

No one gets to meet God unless they let go of any laurels they’re riding high on or counting on, and the doorway to God is only for those who humbly bow before God as the One who is over all.

It’s a deep relief: Any problem shrinks low when we humbly just exalt Christ on High.

And when you bend low through that door in the Church of the Nativity, and you come close to that place in Bethlehem, kneel down and touch the place where the Creator of the Cosmos birthed Himself as a creature… where God came to this sod? That’s what strikes me:

God is with us.

God let His divinity fill a container of skin and filled His lungs with all the hurt of here and God is here right now with us.

We aren’t alone in this mess. We aren’t alone in any hopelessness.

Us on this pale blue dot of a planet in the vast blackness of the cosmos — we are “the visited planet.” He came. He sees. He knows. We are not alone.

Emmanuel comes to give the gift of withness. Withness in the tenderness, withness in the brokenness, withness in the messiness, withness in the aloneness. He knows the whole story of every one of our stories, all the unspoken broken, He knows it all, & He stills whispers: “I’m with you. That’s my name – Emmanuel, this is who I AM: God with you.”

Nothing is asked or required of you — Emmanuel just wants to be with you.

When you kneel exactly where they say the Star-Maker first came and grazed earth — you kinda exhale in awe:

The gift you get is the presence of God, Emmanuel, who wants to be in your presence, who wants to be with you, who chooses to be with you, who is with you right now, not because of anything you do, or anything you can do, or anything you have to do, but simply because He chooses to be with you.

Kneeling there in Bethlehem, wrecked by the incomprehensibility of the Maker of the Universe pulling on flimsy flesh to come be with us, all I can think is how the the Holy Other curls His newborn fist in the cradle of a barn feed trough — and we are all saved from our hopelessness because God came with infant fists and opened wide His hand to take the nail sharp edge of our sins and take us close to Himself, to give us Himself.

So now we get the withness of God, we get courage from the heart of God with us, we always get the tender face of God, no matter what we face. You don’t get criticalness, you don’t get harshness, you don’t get resentfulness — you get withness. You can be behind, be imperfect, fall short of expectations – and that is always still what you get – you get the withness of God.

In the midst of all our tender heartache and questions, God gave us more than explanations –God gave us an actual experience of Himself, because God knows explanations can be cold & Christ’s arms and heart are warm.

I trace the stars they’ve engraved right into the floor of the Church of the Nativity — running my fingertips over those stars again and again, and there is One who came through all the cosmic dark like a star and His light embraces our own tender, bruised hearts …

And there may be loss and there may be some sadness and yes, there is unspoken broken —but there is always, always, always Hope.

Stories may not have gone as we hoped — but Hope is not gone. Hope comes down, and Hope never, ever stops coming. No matter any outcome… Hope always still comes. He took on skin and comes with lung and warm breath because this is the gift we all need: Hope Himself came down to be our Hope and resuscitate that hope you can’t afford to let die. Let your broken heart prepare Hope room.

Prepare Hope room and prepare room for things to change and people to change, and the hurting to not hurt, and the wounders to heal, and the impossible to find a possible way, and let nothing stop you from following the star this Christmas to where Hope comes down to the darkest, lowest places. 

Because Christmas is coming right now for where we feel sadness and loss and tenderness. Christmas is coming right now for the sadness we can’t speak out loud, for the unspoken broken that has cracked a bit of heart — and all our hopes and fears are held in Him, Emmanuel, the One who is coming right now to crush all fears and despair and dark and is here, right now with us.

A heart can keep burning within…

And when I’d ascend the back stairs from the basement of the Church of the Nativity with its starry floor…. I stand at the back of the Church of the Nativity for awhile, looking up at the lit stained glass telling the story of His birth, rising there like a star above the altar. Stand there — waiting. Waiting for God knows what.

Waiting for God to come make His presence known, that we can feel His withness, feel the hope of Him here.

And that’s the moment when I’d heard the slosh of water, heard a spilling of water, up near the altar.

And then a woman, bent and small, she’s stepped out of the shadows — with her mop.

I watched as she’d began this slow choreography of grace across the floor — with her mop.

This dear woman is mopping up the birthplace of God.

She’s mopping up the mess down here — a bit like God came down here to mop up our mess. Our mess of hopelessness and weariness and and all kinds of unspoken brokenness.

But I can hear music? Music echoing — ?

Where in the world is the music coming from? Haunting notes, high and lovely. From the dark? From behind the altar?

Her shoulders, her shoulders, are moving with the notes.

That’s where the music’s coming from:

The music’s coming from her. The music’s coming from within her.

She turns with her mop and the whole thing feels like I’ve walked in on the heavenly host welcoming Him, anointing Him and I kneel low — like shepherds who have to bow in worship too — and something in me brims…. and spills.

O little town of Bethlehem…the hopes and fears of all our years…

And I can feel the beat and refrain of it now within me:

We aren’t abandoned in all this — we get to let it all go and abandon ourselves to God.

We get to let go — and be small and let God do it all, be our all, make a way through it all.

We get to let go — and let God near, let God be with us, Hope with us here.

And here is this exquisite woman, with her bent back and humble mop letting her heart pour out to God, in the place where God first touched this sod, first let His loud cry mingle with humanity.

And here I am, a kneeled mess who can’t stop spilling, my shoulders moving with the breaking of my heart over the beauty and rightness of her lowly offering, right where He Himself came low and offered Himself.

The woman leans her mop up against a pew.

She steps in close toward me.

And then she cups my face in her wrinkled, warm hands.

What in the world is happening? 

And then she gently kisses my one wet cheek — and then kisses my other wet cheek.

My tears are being kissed by a stranger — an angel? — in the birthplace of God.  There’s hope in all our hurts, when we bend low, lean in, become like Jesus to each other. 

And all I can hear is this angelic whispering to a heartbroken world: “Do not be afraid — for you have found favor with God.”

And favor isn’t found merely with God — favor is found beside God. Favor is found by those who let God stay the closest beside them, right here with them.

The woman’s eyes search me and my eyes search hers — and it’s this holy moment in Bethlehem, in the Church of the Nativity. This is a meeting. Our eyes meet and rest in each other — with each other. God with us.

And she nods and smiles and I try to smile brave through tears.

And I exhale with the grace of it all:

You don’t have to work for the coming of the Lord—you don’t have to work for hope, work for rescue, work for Christmas.

There’s no performing Christmas, producing Christmas, or perfecting Christmas.

There is only Christmas finding us — grace finding even us. Hope finding even us, God with us.

He will prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord.

“This is the true preparedness of heart for coming to Christ—the preparedness of coming to Him just as you are,” Charles Spurgeon wrote.

Just as you are, right where you are, He unfolds Himself in that mess that is your impossible, in the mucked straw you wish was different, right in the stench that doesn’t carry any scent of hope. Rejected at the inn, holy God comes in small to where you feel rejected and a bit hopeless and small and God is with you now.

Wherever you are any unspoken broken—God always wants to be with you. You are not ever left alone. The presence of God with us is the gift… Love comes down, and no matter what, He loves to be with you…

You always get your Christmas miracle. You get God with you.

The Woman with the Mop in the Bethlehem Birthplace of God, she stands beside me, touches my streaming tears with her fingertips, wipes my cheek in this caress of communion and this right here is the heart of God:

He kisses us with grace and holds us with hope and wraps us with love and we are soul-safe always in Him.

As the Angel with a Mop in Bethlehem wipes away a bit of my spilling….. it’s the holy that happened under that one blazing star in a manger in Bethlehem that wipes away all our tears and fears and all our hopes are meeting in the love of Him right now.

The stars over Bethlehem, and all of us, sing clear, and all our hearts hear….even here and now.  

Come continue the journey from Christmas… and turn & gaze on the One who gave you His whole life, His whole heart ―and you’ll find the love you’ve been looking for your whole life, come be Loved To Life …

And come find here all your free gifts for pre-ordering “Loved to Life,” including the Free Audiobook of The Greatest Gift, perfect for your Christmas week, and free access to Ann’s 4-part Christmas video series, filmed at the farm, unwrapping the wonder of Jesus in The Greatest Gift, how He gives us the gift of Himself and a new heart…

These Free Christmas Week Gifts — along with so many other free gifts! are yours, as our sincere thank-you for Continuing the Journey with Jesus & pre-ordering Loved to LifePre-Order “Loved to Life” & Get “The Greatest Gift” as a Free Audio Book & All Free Thank You Gifts Here

Exactly What You (Miraculously) Need For Perfect Family Holidays (& “Fix” Impossible Things)

It’s only a few days before Christmas, when I’m standing in the kitchen with a pulse oximeter at the kitchen table, checking the heart rate of our youngest daughter’s single ventricle heart that sometimes breaks into these wild galloping arrhythmias.

The things you can bake, make, or fake for Christmas — can’t fix all the things that aren’t things. 

We do this a couple times a week, check on how fast her brave little half-a-heart is pounding.

But this morning — I kinda wonder, in the final holiday crush of things, if there’s anything to slow down my own heart pounding with all the holiday things that need to still happen, that still need to get done.

The light catches on the Advent candle and something catches in me:

The things you can bake, make, or fake for Christmas — can’t fix all the things that aren’t things. 

The things that you can buy and wrap for under the tree can’t actually wrap your life up with a neat bow. 

There are relationships that are still cracked and bruised. There is still brokenness and dysfunction in places you hoped had healed. There are still failures and loss that are tender to the touch, and there are hearts that are racing with overwhelm … and breaking achingly slow.

Unwrapping the Greatest GiftThe Greatest Gift

And there is snow melting slowly out in the orchard… and a story I once heard seeps into the edges of my heart-racing thoughts, a story of a girl named  Taylor Storch who had headed with her family to Colorado for a little skiing.

Thirteen-year-old Taylor had laughed loud as she skied down the mountain before she had fallen — crashed — down a straight rocky slant of the earth. By nightfall, she was gone, slipped off this earth and Home, and her parents, Tara and Todd, were signing papers to give away Taylor’s still-warm heart.

They ended up giving Taylor’s heart to a woman in Arizona whose heart was failing so weary that she couldn’t get off the couch anymore — a woman named Patricia Winters.

Taylor’s mama had only one request. Taylor’s mama had called Patricia Winters and asked her if she could come hear Taylor’s heart beating inside of Patricia Winter’s chest.

Taylor’s mama flew from Dallas to Phoenix and knocked on Patricia Winters’ door, and Patricia Winters  opened the door and she opened her arms and she welcomed them in. And Taylor’s mama fell into her arms and the two mothers just held each other, Taylor’s heart beating right there next to her weeping Mama’s.

All the thing we desperately wish we could fix in a heart beat this Christmas — God comes to change in a heart beat. Because the newborn babe who comes to the manger — comes to to give us His very own heart.

And then Patricia Winters reached over and handed Taylor’s Mama a stethoscope.

And she laid that stethescope up against Patricia Winters and she could hear it, right there in Patricia as clear as a beckoning bell:

Thrum. Thrum.

Taylor’s mama could hear it loud and long, right there in her ears….

Like a thunder vibrating right through her —

Her daughter’s still-beating heart.

What  Taylor’s Mama really hearing — was the heart of her girl in a different body.

And I look down to check the heart rate of our own little girl and it’s my own heart that slows, profoundly moved and turned around.

The turkey won’t make the holidays, and the lack of cookies won’t break them, and what you didn’t get done or made or bought or cleaned can’t wreck the holidays. You don’t need the perfect gift, the perfect table, the perfect traditions, the perfect capture with the perfect filter for the instagram — to make all the broken things perfect.

All the hurting places this holiday that I am trying to fix with all the things, with gifts and baking and decking and making?

All the thing we desperately wish we could fix in a heart beat this Christmas — God comes to change in a heart beat. Because the newborn babe who comes to the manger — comes to to give us His very own heart.

I can hear my own heart:

Thrum. Thrum. Thrum.

My own heart’s racing, aching, and failing to make the perfect holiday …

Even when you don’t think you can forgive what’s happened — when it’s actually His heart beating in you, you can forgive in a heart beat.

But that’s the point in the middle of the holidays:

Your heart can’t forgive the words that should never have been said, your heart can’t forgive the remark that was more like a blade and left a mark how many years later. Your heart can’t forgive the side joke, the backhand, the over-the-top family that just gets under your skin.

Your heart can’t forgive. That’s why He gave you His heart.

When God leans in close to all our hurting places here, what God actually hears — is the grace-beating heart of His Son. 

You don’t need any thing to make a holiday. 

Things don’t make our holiday into holy-days — only a new holy heart can.

Only the set-apart holiness of a new heart can make the holidays into holy-days. 

Only a holy, new heart can make holy-days. 

Love Himself comes down this Christmas, so that you get the gift of a new, holy heart: “And I will give you ia new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you” (Ezekiel 36:26)

And, honestly? 

Even when you don’t think you can forgive what’s happened — when it’s actually His heart beating in you, you can forgive in a heart beat.

For unto us a Son is given — so we can be forgiven, and so we can forgive. 

Things don’t make the holidays — only His holy heart can make these days into holy-days. 

Turns out: You don’t need all the things for the holidays, you simply need one thing — a heart willing to see it: There is still Love and grace for us all beating at the heart of the universe. 

Right where you don’t believe…  is where God can meet you with a miracle. 

I look up from the sink. The Christmas tree is there by the fireplace — and it’s right there, what all the hard relationships, gatherings, families need at Christmas:

The Tree is where God’s grace does heart transplants: God takes our broken hearts —- and gives us His.

Every Christmas Tree testifies to the hope of heart transplants: Christ going to Calvary’s Tree to give us His own heart.

His holy heart is what is at the heart of these holy-days. 

We don’t need all the things, all the list of to-buy things, to-bake things, to-make things  — because we’ve been given the heart of Christ and that is the miracle that we need more than anything, because the miracle of a new heart is what changes everything.

 It’s really true: Right where you don’t believe…  is where God can meet you with a miracle. 

Miracles can happen in a heart beat — when it’s His heart is beating in you.

You never have to feel behind this December, or feel like you’re missing Him this Advent, And His miraculous gift of a new heart!

Our Free, Thank You Christmas Gift for You:

Wherever you, whatever you’re doing, Ann will read that day’s Advent readings to you! Anndd? You’ll also receive the gift of free access to Ann’s 4-part Advent Christmas video series, filmed at the farm, unwrapping the wonder of Jesus in The Greatest Gift, how He gives us Himself and a new heart.

Come continue the journey from Christmas… and turn & gaze on the One who gave you His whole life, His whole heart ―and you’ll find the love you’ve been looking for your whole life. Come be Loved To Life …and find here all your free gifts including the Free Audiobook of The Greatest Gift, perfect for your Advent joy!

You know how a 25 Day Advent journey by the Christmas tree, to unwrap The Greatest Gift of Jesus in the manger is a gift of love?Imagine how continuing a 40 Day Pilgrimage with Jesus, walking intimately with Him through the Gospel of John, through Holy Week, to Calvary’s Tree will actually give you LIFE — and experiencing the gift of a new heart.

So here, right now, is your invitation to continue the journey from the creche to the Cross and into abundant life, for the 40 days leading up to Easter: Pilgrimage with Jesus, through the whole of His life, as told in the Gospel of John, and deeply experience the rest of the story of Jesus, experience His signs and wonders, discover the seven I Ams of Jesus and intimately experience the love of Christ.

Discover each day, corresponding to that day’s devotion from Loved to Life…. these 40 original woodcut illustrations, all available as free, evocative, downloadable ornaments, for your own Easter Tree, that illustrates more of the life of Christ, the rest of His story: His love, His sacrifice, His resurrection — His heart of love for you.

If you’ve loved the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree with ornaments that beautifully tell the story of how, right from the beginning, all the stories of the Old Testament have been anticipating Jesus’ birth, you’ll cherish celebrating Easter by decorating an Easter tree—a tree that completes the New Testament story of Jesus’ life and His love, sacrifice, and resurrection — to give us life.

These — along with so many other free gifts! are yours, as our sincere thank-you, when you pre-order Loved to LifePre-Order Loved to Life & Get All Your Free Thank You Gifts Here

When Family & Life Feels Tender, How Joy Can Meet You This Christmas

It was on Gaudete Sunday, that third Sunday of Advent when the world lights the joy candle — Gaudete meaning “rejoice” in Latin — it’s our third son, Levi, who stands at the front of the church to preach the Christmas sermon wearing a thrifted flannel plaid shirt and a pair of faded jeans with an old leather belt. 

Rejoicing is only sustainable if you can find joy in a story you’d rather get rid of. 

Levi first clears his voice, and his lapel mic crackles, and he says that when he was asked to preach, the pastor said he could take whatever tack he chose.

Rejoicing is only sustainable if you can find a meaningful joy in a story you’d rather get rid of. 

And because he and his wife are both artists, they are going to tell us a story, Aurora illustrating Levi’s words.

But instead of starting with Once upon a time, he starts more like the way Truth always begins: “Once upon a Tree…” 

And as he outlines the family tree of Jesus, his bride begins to draw, and our son chokes up speaking of the God who keeps having his vulnerable heart broken by His people who reject Him, lie to Him, wander far from Him, get bored with Him, betray Him — brothers who rape sisters and families who live with incest and lusting liars who begin affairs — and Aurora’s drawing this family tree of God, writing bold at the end of one tree limb: liar …and then  another tree branch reads: prostitute … and then: murderer, bastard, adultery…. 

Branch after branch: unfaithful. 

By the time Levi says God doesn’t whitewash his family tree, but comes to our dark to seek and save the lost, everything’s blurring for me.

Because I know family trees with branches of mental health dysfunction and alcoholics, whole branches of broken marriages and nervous breakdowns and atheism and estrangement and deep shame and all kinds of busted hearts.

God doesn’t whitewash any of the brokenness in His family tree  — but He goes to Calvary’s tree to wash us all clean in spite of our brokenness, to graft into His family tree. 

But this is what matters:

God doesn’t whitewash any of the brokenness in His family tree  — but He goes to Calvary’s tree to wash us all clean in spite of our brokenness, to graft us into His family tree. 

Who does this? How is this actual reality?

Levi’s choking it back, as Aurora draws wanderers who are gently brought back to the narrow way by the crook of a shepherd’s staff, and then Levi says something that rents me right open: 

“The people God breathed life into, made for intimate relationship with Himself, made in His image, they kept wandering away, rebuffing Him, rejecting Him —- but God didn’t remove Himself from their story.” 

And all this wet gratitude brims and I’m brushing it back with the back of my hand, and all the messy people who are honest with their less than perfect, painfully messy stories are undone: 

What could ever be more moving than God never once removing Himself from our story? 

What could ever be more moving than God never once removing Himself from our story? 

This is the gift of Christmas: 

God doesn’t remove Himself from the part of your story that reeks to high heaven, that you’re the most desperate to move the furthest away from the shame, the heartbreak, and the messiness.  

God doesn’t remove Himself from the place in your story that everyone else moves away from, shies away from, turns their faces from. 

Where everyone else abandons and removes themself from your story — is exactly where God moves closer to hold and restore you in that part of the story. 

Dung happens … and dung happens to be exactly where God enters the world. 

Family trees twist …. And God isn’t for a moment ashamed of your family tree because His own family tree is worse, and He goes to Calvary’s Tree to defiantly graft you into His family, His heart, His love that straightens everything out in the end for all eternity.  

Others may try to remove you from the roster of the righteous, or remove you from the who’s who of those who have made it, who are good enough to be blessed and favored, but God moved Himself out of heaven, to move into your worst dung heaps to prove His love for you is unmoveable. 

Others may try to remove you from the roster of the righteous, or remove you from the who’s who of those who have made it, who are good enough to be blessed and favored, but God moved Himself out of heaven, to move into your worst dung heaps to prove His love for you is unmoveable.

That’s what the story of the manger proves:

The Divine Love of God wants to be with us in the dung heaps of our stories, and the muck of the manger fertilizes holy hope for all our mire.  

God never removes Himself from our story — but moves closer to restore and re-story us —- which is the most moving part of our story.

My heart aches with this burning thanks. 

And it’s after Levi takes us from the creation of Eden, to the crèche of Bethlehem, all the way to the cross of Calvary, that he then invites the whole congregation up to the table of communion — that he comes back to take his wife Aurora’s hand, so they can come to the Communion Table together.

And I’m walking behind Levi and Aurora toward the bread and the wine  — when I notice exactly what belt he’s wearing with his thrifted shirt and worn jeans. 

He’s wearing my father’s belt. 

My father’s same old leather belt that I can remember him wearing since I was four. That same braided leather belt Dad bought when we moved to Texas for a tender few months of solace after my baby sister Aimee was killed in a farm accident in our family farmyard.

That same 45 year old belt of my father, who we unexpectedly lost just over three years ago, in the same place, and the same way, as we lost my sister. 

On the way to the communion table, I reach out and gently touch the back of Levi’s belt…  touch my father’s belt.  

It’s on Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, the Joy Sunday, my third son preaches a sermon-story that spans the family tree of God, right past all of our Christmas trees, right to the Calvary tree of restoration… while he’s wearing the belt of the man in our own family tree  who was held by this belt for decades after the traumatic grief aftermath of losing his little girl — until he heartbreakingly left this world, the same way she did.

Yet: There isn’t a painful family tree in the world that God can’t powerfully redeem. 

There isn’t a painful family tree in the world that God can’t powerfully redeem. 

Because the tree of Calvary roots every aching family tree in the soil of hope to bear the fruit of joy – and all our sorrows have a way of making all our joys taste sweeter. 

Because God knew, before you were born, that He would break into time and come as  the Word  into the world, to restore and re-story every part of your story. 

Because in the midst of tender Christmases, in the midst of every single one of our traumatic stories: There is always a way to still rejoice because God is tenderly re-storying us. 

There is always a way to still rejoice because God is always tenderly re-storying us. 

Rejoicing is always possible — because God came to the Creche, to go to the Cross, to make all our re-storying possible. 

Because  even now, after everything, there is a story that holds us all together. A Story that is rooted in the One who “will come up from the stump of Jesse;  and … He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,  Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist” (Isaiah 11:1-5). 

And all our tender Christmases, and all our messy stories, the belt of His righting love, that never removes itself, but moves closer to hold us all together.

In these last waiting days of Advent, family meals are eaten around the table, belts are adjusted — and all of us can find ourselves bound closer to God, held together by God, the flickering candles dancing their brave rejoicing in the dark.

Come, especially If it’s Tender, for a Christmas that restores Rejoicing Exploring the Family Tree of God — So our Christmas Tree Holds Hope and Real Comfort — and We Feel ourselves Held:3 Award-Winning 25 Day Christmas Devotionals for the Whole FamilyThe Greatest Gift (adult edition): Christian Retailing’s Best award, 2014 Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (Family Edition): Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016 The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019, (pop-up edition with your own 14 inch tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age)  Especially in the hard & the hurting, This is How we can Still have The Greatest little Christmas

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [12.14.2024]

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

So we are diving back in with Multivitamins for our Weekend! So many of you have asked for the return of the weekly multivitamin email, and we’re so with you — because who doesn’t need a bit of good news? We are figuring it out here, a bit of happy work in progress, but we are so excited for what is to come!

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

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

The wonders of the season with Mercy House Global

The wonders of the season with Mercy House Global

The wonders of the season with Mercy House Global

The wonders of the season with Mercy House Global

Ah, the wonders of the season! Come curl in with all kinds of fair-trade loveliness that supports Mercy House Global, a sisterhood of second chances that provides a healing home & hope, where every life is celebrated! Can we just start off our weekend with this:

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WOW! Such a talented choir singing in Ukrainian!

Shiloh and I watched this more than once, kinda awed

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You have to read about how God is rising up a new generation whose heart is FOR HIM! You don’t want to miss the real encouragement of this one:Bibles Flying Off Shelves at Unprecedented Rate! What’s Going on?! The Word became Flesh and Dwelt Among us — and people are hungry for more of the Word! What a fun song! On repeat at our house this week!

Steven Curtis Chapman hit it out of the park!

Wanna brighten your day: Take a look at the most beautiful Christmas Towns [image error] WHAT A FUN WANDER THROUGH LOVELINESS! Doesn’t This Look Fun?!

It’s soul-good to simply create a little bit of beauty!

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The Kindness of others will never fail to bring joy! #BeTheGiftCan we just sit with this fora minute? And soak it in?“How Do Christians Engage the Culture?” CLICK HERE TO READ Trust me you do not want to miss this:

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The Virgin Birth Is More Than an Incredible Occurrence: Beautiful hope: Read HereThis will bring a smile to your face! ( Yes, its sheep) Post of the Week From Around These Parts:When People Have Hurt You, If You Really Want Peace: A Story of Seats… For Advent & the Peace Candle

You know, they can go ahead if they want to, sure, and light the hope and peace candles those first two weeks of Advent —-  but honestly, that doesn’t mean you aren’t still out here scrounging around for even just a bit of hope that there’s going to be any real peace to be found:

Peace in the weary family, peace around the awkward Christmas table, peace on our blinking screens, in the blaring headlines, or in the tender chambers of our hurting hearts, peace in this whole bruised ole world. 

Turns out — and this is where I keep tenderly sitting, where I feel deep hope

Your Heart Will Thank You For ReadingOn The Book Stack at the Farm

JoinEmily A. Jensen and Laura Wifler in exploring what it truly means to be a gospel mom, a woman who experiences renewal by Christ’s righteousness, knows her mission and purpose, and lives free from guilt and unhealthy comparison.

Evie Polsley loves being an advocate for the New Living Translation and helping people discover Bibles that eliminate barriers so they, too, can fall in love with God’s Word! The One Year Bible is a great way to stay on track in your Bible reading and enjoy exploring God’s story

The Greatest Gift

Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014, NYTimes Best Seller

(adult edition)

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

Best Inspirational Book of the Year, ECPA, 2016, NYTimes Best Seller

(family read-aloud edition)

Breathtaking!

Nothing is impossible with God

Pssst… Did you Catch a Peek of my newest book That finishes the story The Greatest Gift began: Come be Loved To Life

A 40-Day Spiritual Pilgrimage following the entire life of Jesus, through the Gospel of John, into the Fullest Life

This coming year, take a 40 day journey, from barely getting through — to passionately living the fullest life. Come be Loved to Life

You know how the 25 Day Advent journey by the Christmas tree, to unwrap the Greatest Gift of Jesus in the manger, is a gift of love?

Imagine how a 40 Day Pilgrimage with Jesus, walking intimately with Him through the Gospel of John, through Holy Week, to Calvary’s Tree will actually give you LIFE!

So here — is your invitation to continue the journey from the creche to the Cross and into abundant life, for the 40 days leading up to Easter: Pilgrimage with Jesus, through the whole of His life, as told in the Gospel of John, and deeply experience the rest of the story of Jesus, experience His signs and wonders, discover the seven I Ams of Jesus and intimately experience the love of Christ. Hang 40 ornaments on an Easter tree, tracing the path from the wood of the manger to the wood of the cross, and finally to the empty tomb, where we experience the rising life, and life to the full!

Discover more of the heart of Jesus each day, and experience these 40 original woodcut illustrations, all available as free, evocative, downloadable ornaments, for your own Easter Tree, that illustrates more of the life of Christ, the rest of His story: His love, His sacrifice, His resurrection — each corresponding to that day’s devotion from Loved to Life.

If you’ve loved the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree with ornaments that beautifully tell the story of how, right from the beginning, all the stories of the Old Testament have been anticipating Jesus’ birth, you’ll cherish celebrating Easter by decorating an Easter tree—a tree that completes the New Testament story of Jesus’ life and His love, sacrifice, and resurrection — to give us life.

These — along with so many other free gifts (!!) are yours, as our sincere thank-you, when you pre-order Loved to Life

Pre-Order Loved to Life & Get All Your Free Thank You Gifts HereAnd Our Free, Thank You Christmas Gift for You!

You never have to feel behind this December! Or feel like you’re missing Him this Advent!

As our heartfelt thank you for pre-ordering Loved to Life you get the the entire free audiobook of the classic, NYTimes bestseller, The Greatest Gift! 

Wherever you, whatever you’re doing, Ann will read that day’s Advent readings to you! Anndd? You’ll also receive the gift of free access to Ann’s 4-part Advent Christmas video series, filmed at the farm, unwrapping the wonder of Jesus in The Greatest Gift.

Pre-Order Loved to Life & Get Your Free Audiobook of The Greatest Gift HereBreath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)

Wow, just wow! You’ll have this one on repeat!

This one will get you singing too!Take minute to slow down & take get some Inspo for a slow and cozy Weekend Morning

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. 

When People Have Hurt You, If You Really Want Peace: A Story of Seats… For Advent & the Peace Candle

You know, they can go ahead if they want to, sure, and light the hope and peace candles those first two weeks of Advent —-  but honestly, that doesn’t mean you aren’t still out here scrounging around for even just a bit of hope that there’s going to be any real peace to be found:

You can wage peace –wherever you war against your own self-righteousness.  

Peace in the weary family, peace around the awkward Christmas table, peace on our blinking screens, in the blaring headlines, or in the tender chambers of our hurting hearts, peace in this whole bruised ole world. 

Turns out — and this is where I keep tenderly sitting, where I feel deep hope:

You can wage peace –wherever you war against your own self-righteousness.  

I once went to a Christmas concert right about this time of year, and lingering before the humble nativity mid-Advent, you can feel it: 

While the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, comes down to the manger, right into our muck and mire, to meet us with grace— how often do we, with mucky, mired lives, try to sit in the place of the King and meet others with our judgement? 

While the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, comes down to the manger, right into our muck and mire, to meet us with grace— how often do we, with mucky, mired lives, try to sit in the place of the King and meet others with our judgement? 

During the intermission of the Christmas concert, I slipped out for a cup of warmed, mulled apple cider, mingled with all the other smiling merry-makers, and then, eventually, made my way back to my seat… only to have someone lean over and very gently smile, “Hi…. um… I think you’re in the wrong seat?” 

And as I blushed and fumbled an embarrassed apology, and turned to find my own seat, my heart felt this settling; 

What if peace is mostly about committing to not sit in the place of the Prince of Peace Himself? 

Only the Prince of Peace can sit in the judgement seat. 

All the rest of us have only mercy seats saved for us.

And we are only saved when we sit in the mercy seat. 

Only the Prince of Peace can sit in the judgement seat. All the rest of us have only mercy seats saved for us.
And we are only saved when we sit in the mercy seat.

Because the thing is, in the midst of us all looking for peace: 

If you’re judging anyone there from your judgement seat  — you’re somehow not in your right seat. 

You’ve somehow sat down in God’s seat — and God wants His seat back. 

Because…

If we happen to be sitting in judgement of anyone, haven’t we somehow put ourselves in the place of the only One just judge — the only One who can happen to bring the justice that brings real peace? 

It’s a profound epiphany to realize you don’t want to sit in the judgement seat, because it’s not judgement for yourself that you ever want. 

Because: 

If we hold all their sins and failures rightly against them, shouldn’t God rightly hold all of our sins and failures against us? 

It’s a profound epiphany to realize you don’t want to sit in the judgement seat, because it’s not judgement for yourself that you ever want. 

Isn’t it impossible for me to be in the mercy seat for me, while simultaneously being in the judgement seat for them? 

This changes things, interior things. This moves much peace in. 

When you realize what you daily need, more than anything else, is the mercy seat — for how you’ve hurt someone when you didn’t realize it, for how you’ve been self-centered and didn’t see it, for how you’ve got a blind spot and wounded someone a lot — that you absolutely need to stay in the place where you’re served extravagant grace, that you desperately need the seat where only grace is coming to meet you … then you’re kept from stealing the seat where you sit in judgement of anyone else. 

This is where I find myself as we light the Peace candle the second week of Advent, this is the hope I return to and repeat:

When the anger burns over their barbed words, when the angst rises over the real injustice, when their wrong disturbs your peace — there is deep comfort in simply whispering:

“I’m in the wrong seat. Come, mind, come heart, I’ve found you sitting in the wrong seat. Come back to your right seat of mercy, and much of your interior world rights.” 

Move your mind and heart back to the mercy seat, and your whole life gets deep peace back. 

Move your mind and heart back to the mercy seat, and your whole life gets deep peace back. 

You get peace when you stay in the mercy seat, and let the Prince of Peace alone have the judgement seat.  

And there in your mercy seat, you get to say it aloud, and feel the relief and freedom of it: 

“I hope you can hear how you’ve hurt and harmed me, but no matter what, nothing ever has the power to take away the peace I have from sitting right here in the mercy seat, where I’m completely safe bedside the Prince of Peace, whose grace and justice is working to make the realest peace.” 

You can hear that too this time of year, hear the bells chiming everywhere, as the old familiar carols play… and “the words repeat. Of peace on earth, good-will to men…”

Come the second week of Advent, the Peace candle flickers, and I have my own words that I repeat, and what I feel is the hope of real peace burning warm and sure within…

There’s this deep comfort in simply sitting in the right seat.

OUR FREE GIFT FOR YOU THIS ADVENT SEASON TO BRING MORE PEACE

My newest book finishes the story The Greatest Gift began: Come be Loved To Life

A 40-Day Spiritual Pilgrimage following the entire life of Jesus, through the Gospel of John, taking us to the Tree of Calvary & the Fullest Life.

You know how a 25 Day Advent journey by the Christmas tree, to unwrap the Greatest Gift of Jesus in the manger is a gift of love?

Imagine how a 40 Day Pilgrimage with Jesus, walking intimately with Him through the Gospel of John, through Holy Week, to Calvary’s Tree will actually give you LIFE! 

So here, right now, is your invitation to continue the journey from the creche to the Cross and into abundant life, for the 40 days leading up to Easter: Pilgrimage with Jesus, through the whole of His life, as told in the Gospel of John, and deeply experience the rest of the story of Jesus, experience His signs and wonders, discover the seven I Ams of Jesus and intimately experience the love of Christ. Hang 40 ornaments on an Easter tree, tracing the path from the wood of the manger to the wood of the cross, and finally to the empty tomb, where we experience the rising life, and life to the full!

Discover each day, these 40 original woodcut illustrations, all available as free, evocative, downloadableornaments, for your own Easter Tree, that illustrates more of the life of Christ, the rest of His story: His love, His sacrifice, His resurrection — each corresponding to that day’s devotion from Loved to Life.

Turn & gaze on the One who gave you His whole life―and you’ll find the love you’ve been looking for your whole life. Come be Loved To Life — and come here for all your free gifts including the Free Audiobook of The Greatest Gift, perfect for your Advent joy!

Why Do I Want This So Badly? Getting Honest with God (and Yourself) About Your Heart Motivations

Emily A. Jensen and Laura Wifler are two ordinary Christian moms with an extraordinary passion for showing women how to practically apply the gospel to every aspect of motherhood, and life, in general. As busy moms, Emily and Laura would be the first to tell you how easy it can be to let our thinking and decision making slowly but surely drift away from God and onto our own wants and interests. How do we spot this subtle shift in our own thinking and how can we get our focus back on Him? It is my absolute delight to welcome Emily and Laura to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Emily A. Jensen and Laura Wifler

Every person was designed to worship. What does it mean to worship?

Does it look like bowing down or reciting prayers or even raising your hands as you sing to God?

It could, but that’s not the only way for someone to fully give themselves to God in worship. Worship is an expression of our commitment to or our adoration of something or someone—it’s spending our time, attention, care, words, and precious resources on what we love and value.

When we worship, we bring figurative offerings and sacrifices to the altar of something or someone in our lives, and we lay those things down, typically in exchange for something we desire—unconditional love and acceptance, wealth, popularity, happiness, and so on.

For Christians, we ought to direct all our worship to the Lord.

This is the sum of the first and greatest commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.1

God is deserving of all that we are and all that we have. Our whole life and breath and thoughts and time and talents and money should be given up in service and gratitude to him. But as fallen humans, that’s not often how we direct our worship.

Instead, we tend to struggle with idolatry—worshipping false gods in our lives.

Though few people set up actual statues or have figurines in their houses where they might bow or pray, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have functional idols that we live for. As moms, each of us tends to have pet issues or lifestyles or things we want that are of tremendously high value to us—so high that we’re willing to give a ton of time, attention, and money to make them happen. Whether we intend it or notice it doesn’t change the fact that those things can become idols in our lives, detracting our worship from the One True God and putting it onto something or someone else.

Someone who idolizes being seen as accomplished or successful might pour an undue amount of time into their work, even to the detriment of their family, their marriage, or their physical health. Someone who idolizes being specially connected to someone talented or famous might pour significant time and money into their child’s sports training, competitive leagues, and traveling in hopes that the child will become great and thus show everyone else how great their parent is.

“Who we say we worship (God) might not actually be what we worship when we look at our lives and the way we spend our time, attention, and money.“

Few (if any) Christian moms think these things consciously. If we knew that’s what we were doing, we’d (hopefully) repent and make changes. But such thinking can creep into our lives unconsciously, and that’s also why it’s so important for us to soberly and prayerfully evaluate our lives and choices from time to time. Who we say we worship (God) might not actually be what we worship when we look at our lives and the way we spend our time, attention, and money.

When we have a strong reaction to a situation or decision or we operate in an extreme in some area of our lives or motherhood, these are like little flags of warning. Like the tears of the hurt child who comes into the room, these disproportionate or exorbitant actions or emotions might reveal a need to pause and ask, What’s going on here? What am I worshipping? Is it God or is it something else?

Uncovering and tearing down our idols to reorient our worship toward God takes humility, compassion, and curiosity. It takes prayer and the leading of the Spirit, who searches and knows our hearts. It takes being willing to notice where our time and money and energy actually go versus where we think they go. It’s like the screen-time report that our phones give at the end of each week—it might be hard to look at or something we’d prefer to ignore, but those hours and percentages reveal something about how we’re spending our lives and, even more so, what we love, desire, and value deep down.2  

Amid this spiritual self-inventory, we need to remember the following:

1. We’re not going to solve all of our problems in one go.

We can only address the things that God has shown us for now. Try not to let the search for idols paralyze you from moving forward with something that is otherwise good and seems in line with God’s will.

2. It’s helpful to examine these things in Christian community so that others can help you sort things out.

You might be too hard on yourself in an area that isn’t a big deal, or you might be avoiding addressing an area that seems to be obviously out-of-whack to others.

3. God gave us a spirit not of fear but of love and self-control.

He is bigger than our idols, and his grace is bigger than our idolatry. Trust that regular patterns of confession and repentance are doing the good work of sanctification.

“Beholding him is how we find joy and freedom.“

As Christian moms who have the Spirit and the flesh, our motives (this side of heaven) will never be wholly pure and perfect. We will not be able to fully rid ourselves of other loves or idol worship. We know how hard and frustrating this can be. But we want to pause and encourage you that you don’t have to wait until your motives seem totally pure and perfect before you make a decision in faith.

Just as it’s good to prayerfully evaluate our reasons and motivations, after a time of searching, it’s also good to lift our eyes from ourselves and focus them more firmly on God.

Beholding him is how we find joy and freedom.

Mark 12:30We’ve found the following list of questions, developed by David Powlison, helpful for believers to uncover their motivations and potential idols: David Powlison, “X Ray Questions by David Powlison,” accessed August 23, 2023

Emily A. Jensen and Laura Wifler are the cofounders of Risen Motherhood and the authors of the bestselling Risen Motherhood book. Through their ministry, podcast, and books, they help moms connect their faith to their motherhood. Sisters-in-law Emily and Laura live in central Iowa with their families.

Join Emily and Laura in exploring what it truly means to be a gospel mom, a woman who experiences renewal by Christ’s righteousness, knows her mission and purpose, and lives free from guilt and unhealthy comparison.

As friends, fellow moms, and expert guides, Emily and Laura walk women step-by-step through the practices and thinking of how to rest in the grace of Christ, gaining peace and assurance in motherhood.

This is your masterclass on gospel-meets-motherhood! Gospel Mom: How to Make Biblical Decisions and Discover the Mom God Created You to Be, along with its companion workbook Becoming a Gospel Mom, is available now anywhere books are sold.

{Our humble thanks to Harvest House Publishers for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

What Is Fear Causing Me to Miss Out On?

Evie Polsley is a suburban girl at heart but has been converted to a National Parks fan by her amazing husband. Though they live in the Midwest, they have taken their daughters to a National Park at least once a year since their oldest was born 16 years ago. The only thing Evie loves more than being with her family as they discovering new expressions of God’s amazing creation is exploring God’s Word. Evie is a member of the Bible Team at Tyndale House Publishers, where she helps provide resources to people of all ages who want to better understand the Bible and apply it to their lives. It’s a joy to welcome Evie Polsley to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Evie Polsley

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105, NLT

I have never been “outdoorsy.” Growing up, when my family would go camping, one of my favorite times was when it would rain, forcing us to stay in our camper and play board games. My husband, on the other hand, is a National Park nut. We have National Park posters hanging up in our house, our family has Ken Burns’ The National Parks: America’s Best Idea documentary series on replay, and I now own hiking boots.

As someone who is scared to death of heights, has a terrible sense of direction, and has watched way too many reels about bears being in places they shouldn’t, the idea of hiking through woods and mountains makes my worst-case scenario mindset go into hyperdrive.

One of our first hikes at Yosemite National Park was on a trail that had a steep drop-off right alongside a waterfall, which made the “steps” slippery.

I clung to my husband, Kevin, and tried with everything in me to push through, but fear soon took over, and I ended up scooting down the stairs, unable to stand up.

Through a lot of frustration, embarrassment, fear, and anger, Kevin finally convinced me to take an alternative route that would be longer but not as steep. As we hiked switchback to switchback, I started complaining: “Are we going the right way?” “This is taking forever.” “We’re lost! There is no way we are going the right way.” Kevin looked at me and said, “I have a map. I have a plan. It’s going to be okay. Just take my hand and rest for a minute.”

As I held his hand, stopping to look at interesting formations or plants along the way, my fears began to dissipate, and I started to enjoy it. When we made it to the end of the trail, I was mesmerized.

” If I had let fear control me, I never would have experienced God’s power and closeness in a way I never could have imagined.”

I gazed around me at the splendor and majesty of the mountains, heard the gushing of the waterfall, and felt its reviving spray on my skin. Breathing in the scent of nature in its pure form and seeing God’s magnificent creating skills on full display, I was transfixed. And I almost missed this life-enriching experience because I was afraid. If I had let fear control me, I never would have experienced God’s power and closeness in a way I never could have imagined. Standing near Navada Falls, Psalm 8 came roaring to life:

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!” (Psalm 8:3-9, NLT).

I think sometimes I approach the Bible like I do hiking. I am overwhelmed by its enormity, I don’t know how to tackle it, and I am scared something might bite me (okay not really, but I am scared I’ll be pushed out of my comfort zone). Do I miss part of God’s amazing presence because Leviticus seems boring or Ezekiel feels like too much to handle?

“Do I miss part of God’s amazing presence because Leviticus seems boring or Ezekiel feels like too much to handle?“

To be completely honest, sometimes I avoid reading the Bible because I feel unworthy or not smart enough to understand it. I avoid the beautiful view of who God is because I am afraid of failing or looking stupid.

But when I relinquish those fears and doubts, when I take God’s hand and say, like Eli instructed Samuel, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10), I am transfixed by the beauty of his Word just as I am in awe of his creation. Even during the lengthy switchback portions of the Bible that can seem difficult or boring, just knowing I am walking with and listening to God can help me push through.

The Bible is a guide for us to better understand who God is and who we are in him, but we don’t have to sprint through it. It’s a complete story, but God also wants us to stop and enjoy his goodness, basking in portions of Scripture along the way.

Remember, God’s Word is a lamp to guide our feet, not a floodlight that illuminates the entire way.

Take God’s hand, relax in his presence, and enjoy the journey.

Evie Polsley is a member of the Bible Team at Tyndale House Publishers. She loves being an advocate for the New Living Translation and helping people discover Bibles that eliminate barriers so they, too, can fall in love with God’s Word! The One Year Bible is a great way to stay on track in your Bible reading and enjoy exploring God’s story. One Year Bibles can take you through Scripture in two different ways. The daily reading path explores one passage each from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. The chronological path uses a more story-based format with passages combined in timeline order instead of by category. There are study, journaling, and devotional editions available as well.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [12.07.2024]

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

So we are diving back in with Multivitamins for our Weekend! So many of you have asked for the return of the weekly multivitamin email, and we’re so with you — because who doesn’t need a bit of good news? We are figuring it out here, a bit of happy work in progress, but we are so excited for what is to come!

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

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

Meg Loeks- Photographer

Meg Loeks- Photographer

Meg Loeks- Photographer

Meg Loeks- Photographer

Good things being delivered for all of us — and us all sending His love out into the world!

What a beautiful series of inspiring images from such an artist and friend, Meg Loeks

It’s the Onions, Again, Honest!

The love of these two little boys and their tenderness really choked me up

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A post shared by 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 (@majicallynews)

Well, wasn’t expecting that! Mesmerizing!

Shiloh and I watched this more than once, kinda awed

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A post shared by Trulala CandyArt (@trulala.candyart)

How Do we Have A BETTER CONVERSATION?

This is a deeply thought-provoking article around a culturally pressing conversation that I’m prayerfully trying to understand:

Prayerfully listening hereFeeling A Bit Stuck in your story? Watch This:

This was on repeat at the farm this week

How Far Do you Think One Coffee Shop Owner Should Go to Really Love His Community?

Deeply moving! To love like this! #BeTheGift

LET’S LOVE LIKE THIS! Did you hear the heartwarming story behind this year’s Rockefeller Christmas Tree?Simple Joy to make, & Give, this Christmas

It’s soul-good to simply create a little bit of beauty!

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A post shared by Dani | Hamburgdaniahoi |Wohnen|Pflanzen|Pudel|DIY|Balkon (@hamburgdaniahoi)

Wait for it…. right?!?! There’s Music in the most unexpected places!

We laughed aloud over this one!

Profound Read, Worthy of several Reads:“Gratitude for Our Turbulent Families”

A friend found this deeply meaningful & shared & this is paradigm shifting. A Must Read:

Worth reading & prayerfully returning to LET THE CULTURAL CHRISTIANS COME UNTO JESUS:

The world is realizing anew that our faith has tangible benefits. This is an opportunity for the gospel.

Beautiful hope: Read HereDr. Lennox Might be the CS Lewis of Our Times:

Leaning into learn from Oxford mathematician, apologist & theologian Dr. John Lennox always enlarges

both the heart & mind for Christ

Post of the Week From Around These Parts:How Christmas Is Only Half the Story & Why You Can’t Miss The 2nd Tree in The Story

“Everyone loves to reduce Jesus to some quaint, palatable manger scene – but do you really think there’s actually a revival of people who want Jesus to actually have the lead role in their lives?”   

I reach for the half & half for my coffee & dare say it aloud:“Yes.” 

Your Heart Will Thank You For ReadingOn The Book Stack at the Farm

The Urgency of Slowing Down teaches us how we can trade the stress, fatigue, and feeling of overwhelm that hustle culture leaves us with for the beautiful life-giving unforced rhythms of grace Jesus has for us.

In Chasing Sacred, Bible teacher Mikella Van Dyke breaks down the misconceptions and reservations so many of us have about what it means to study the Bible.

The Greatest Gift

Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014, NYTimes Best Seller

(adult edition)

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

Best Inspirational Book of the Year, ECPA, 2016, NYTimes Best Seller

(family read-aloud edition)

Preparing The Heart For His Coming

Nothing is impossible with God

Pssst… Did you Catch a Peek of my newest book That finishes the story The Greatest Gift began: Come be Loved To Life

A 40-Day Spiritual Pilgrimage following the entire life of Jesus, through the Gospel of John, into the Fullest Life

This coming year, take a 40 day journey, from barely getting through — to passionately living the fullest life. Come be Loved to Life

You know how the 25 Day Advent journey by the Christmas tree, to unwrap the Greatest Gift of Jesus in the manger, is a gift of love?

Imagine how a 40 Day Pilgrimage with Jesus, walking intimately with Him through the Gospel of John, through Holy Week, to Calvary’s Tree will actually give you LIFE!

So here — is your invitation to continue the journey from the creche to the Cross and into abundant life, for the 40 days leading up to Easter: Pilgrimage with Jesus, through the whole of His life, as told in the Gospel of John, and deeply experience the rest of the story of Jesus, experience His signs and wonders, discover the seven I Ams of Jesus and intimately experience the love of Christ. Hang 40 ornaments on an Easter tree, tracing the path from the wood of the manger to the wood of the cross, and finally to the empty tomb, where we experience the rising life, and life to the full!

Discover more of the heart of Jesus each day, and experience these 40 original woodcut illustrations, all available as free, evocative, downloadable ornaments, for your own Easter Tree, that illustrates more of the life of Christ, the rest of His story: His love, His sacrifice, His resurrection — each corresponding to that day’s devotion from Loved to Life.

If you’ve loved the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree with ornaments that beautifully tell the story of how, right from the beginning, all the stories of the Old Testament have been anticipating Jesus’ birth, you’ll cherish celebrating Easter by decorating an Easter tree—a tree that completes the New Testament story of Jesus’ life and His love, sacrifice, and resurrection — to give us life.

These — along with so many other free gifts (!!) are yours, as our sincere thank-you, when you pre-order Loved to Life

Pre-Order Loved to Life & Get All Your Free Thank You Gifts HereAnd Our Free, Thank You Christmas Gift for You!

You never have to feel behind this December! Or feel like you’re missing Him this Advent!

As our heartfelt thank you for pre-ordering Loved to Life you get the the entire free audiobook of the classic, NYTimes bestseller, The Greatest Gift! 

Wherever you, whatever you’re doing, Ann will read that day’s Advent readings to you! Anndd? You’ll also receive the gift of free access to Ann’s 4-part Advent Christmas video series, filmed at the farm, unwrapping the wonder of Jesus in The Greatest Gift.

Pre-Order Loved to Life & Get Your Free Audiobook of The Greatest Gift HereNutcracker — as told by 1500 drones?!!?

attempting not one, but two, Guinness World Record Titles!

Dare you to Listen & Not Want to Start Singing! No Good Deed You’ve Done Will Remain Hidden

“Our future will be like that of George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, where by grace we’re made aware of every single ripple effect of every single good thing we ever did through the power of Christ’s Spirit.”

This was a powerful, beautiful readTake minute to slow down & take get some Inspo for a slow and cozy Christmas

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. 

The Urgency of Slowing Down: Why Hustle & Miss Glimpses of Glory?

Laura L. Smith’s writing feels like you’re sitting down with a friend over a plate of warm, gooey cinnamon rolls and a Bible. Spend just a few minutes around Laura and it is apparent that she loves God’s Word, and she loves God’s people. She also loves her husband of twenty-nine years and their four young adult kids. Her latest book, The Urgency of Slowing Down, teaches us how to trade hustle culture for the unforced rhythms of grace Jesus has for us. She lives in the charming college town of Oxford, Ohio, and it’s a joy to welcome Laura to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Laura Smith

“Have you seen the sunset?” my husband asked as he walked in the door with our youngest son.

“No, should I?” I asked, but I was already wiping my hands on the kitchen towel and

headed outside. Brett wouldn’t have asked that question unless there was something spectacular going on in the sky.

The sun was almost finished with its nightly performance. It sat low, almost touching the horizon. Dark violet, deep tangerine, vivid crimson, all trimmed with gold, illuminated a strip of sky.

I exhaled and turned to go back inside and the tasks at hand. But I felt a tug to stay one more moment, and as I pivoted back toward the magnificent artwork God created that evening, I heard Jesus speak to my soul:

Receive.

Receive. Fully receive this beauty. Don’t take a glance and keep on going about your day, your life.

This. Is. Spectacular.

Here is a glimpse of glory. Hold on to it. Why would you consider walking away?

But we do, don’t we?

We’re so busy going to the next thing and the next that we don’t always take time. In fact, we get in seasons when we rarely pause to receive any of the goodness God puts in front of us.

Our heavenly Father has created so much beauty, so much goodness: the melody of rain falling, the smell of bread baking, the warmth of sunshine on our face, music that makes our feet tap, conversations that nurture us. Are we receiving God’s gifts? Do we make time to receive them? Do we even remember how?

“If we’re too busy scrolling our feeds, trying to get to the next level or step, checking things off our lists, we might just miss these spectacular gifts God intended for us. And wouldn’t that be tragic?“

I don’t want to miss the sunsets or any of the other glorious things God has given me because I don’t think I have time for them. If we’re too busy scrolling our feeds, trying to get to the next level or step, checking things off our lists, we might just miss these spectacular gifts God intended for us. And wouldn’t that be tragic?

Paul wrote to the church of Philippi: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

Maybe you’re in a situation that is challenging or painful and you’re struggling to see anything lovely or pure in your life. Paul totally gets that. He experienced shipwreck, rejection, poverty, and wrote this letter from prison. And yet, Paul speaks of a true, inner joy. He says he’s been able to find contentment in every situation—his high highs and low lows (vv. 11–12).

Paul exclaims that the secret is Jesus. That we can do all things through Christ’s strength—even find complete joy in a jail cell. Because Jesus is good and loving and full of light and truth.

Something lovely to think about could be the evening stars. Glancing at the sky is one thing, but gazing at it is another thing altogether. Allowing the brilliant beauty to fill you. 

Something true could be meditating on Christ’s promise that no matter what is going on in your life, you are fully and totally loved by Him.

Something pure could be a pristine white snowfall outside your window. Gaze at it.

God still creates perfect, bright things in this world—untouched, unmarred, unspoiled.

We can find hope in these lovely, true, pure things. We don’t need health, wealth, or everything figured out to focus on loveliness. It’s all around us. If only we’ll slow down to notice.

The more I look for things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy, the more I find them. And the more I’m aware of all this goodness, the more filled with joy I become. 

“This shift of our attention from the pain or tension to beauty reminds us that God is still there, and He’s still doing good things.“

I spy foxtail grass growing along the edge of a field and reach out, allowing my fingers to be tickled against the fuzzy caterpillar-shaped ends. I hear the laughter bubbling up in my daughter’s throat before it fully escapes, and I can’t help but smile as I feel her contagious joy.

God puts beauty and goodness all around us to restore us. When we focus on noble and pure and excellent things, our hope is renewed. We become thankful for what we have. We become encouraged by the wonderful things and people all around us, even when there is hardship or darkness in our lives. This shift of our attention from the pain or tension to beauty reminds us that God is still there, and He’s still doing good things.

If we’re constantly rushing, we’ll miss joy. But if we pause and focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy—if we receive it, savor it, inhale it, let it soak in—we’ll be filled with abundant, overflowing joy that will fuel us to do the things that truly matter.

I choose the latter. To work from a place of joy. To fully see and savor a sunset.

Care to join me? I’ll be out on the porch gazing at the sky.

Laura L. Smith is a best-selling author, speaker, and podcaster whose mission is to tear down lies and replace them with the life-giving truths of Christ’s love.

She loves Jesus, her prince-charming of a husband, their four young adult kids, the sound of church bells, the taste of mochas, and the freedom and joy found running along wooded trails.

Laura’s newest book, The Urgency of Slowing Down teaches us how we can trade the stress, fatigue, and feeling of overwhelm that hustle culture leaves us with for the beautiful life-giving unforced rhythms of grace Jesus has for us.

Find Laura at www.laurasmithauthor.com where you can grab your very own copy of The Urgency of Slowing Down.

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

(My Newest Book!) How Christmas Is Only Half the Story & Why You Can’t Miss The 2nd Tree in The Story

When she said it to me, she kinda shook her head: “Everyone loves Christmas – but do people really love what Christ came for?” 

The woman reached over to pick up her full coffee mug, held it as if she was underlining what she said next: 

“Everyone loves to reduce Jesus to some quaint, palatable manger scene – but do you really think there’s actually a revival of people who want Jesus to actually have the lead role in their lives?”

“Everyone loves to reduce Jesus to some quaint, palatable manger scene – but do you really think there’s actually a revival of people who want Jesus to actually have the lead role in their lives?”   

I reach for the half and half for mine and dare say it aloud:  “Yes.” 

Yes, because what people really want is the whole story. And they won’t settle for half a story, a reductive story, a fake story, or a commercialized story — because people want to do more than just see Jesus in the manger, they actually want to walk with Jesus, gaze in His face, hear His voice, know the beat of His heart. People actually want to do life with Jesus because they are tired of being worn out, and a ctually want to live, fully, really live. 

Now is that time that we are at a revival point in history, where we all refuse to be distracted into settling for anything less than the full love story of Christ: Which is more than just tucking a pretty creche under the Christmas tree, but it’s ultimately about walking with the Christ who takes the nails on Calvary’s Tree to powerfully crush the enemy and resurrect us all to actual life. 

The most neglected tree of Christmas has not actually been Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, but the rugged tree of Calvary.  

What people really want now at Christmas is to experience the greatest gift of Jesus coming down and entering into life here – and then what they actually want every day is to be with Jesus, keep company with Jesus, and be loved to the fullest life in Jesus. They want to pilgrimage with Jesus every day. 

Now, just yesterday, when it’s hardly even the third day of Advent, a friend messages me: “Not sure if you remember what you wrote for an Advent reading, but it cut open my heart that you wrote:

“We lost ourselves at one tree.  And we only find ourselves at another tree.”

And I’m cut to the quick: The most neglected tree of Christmas has not actually been Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, but the rugged tree of Calvary.  

But now? Now there’s a revival happening everywhere, and people want to walk with Jesus:  

We may deck out our Christmas trees, but people aren’t willing to neglect or gloss over the most oft’ forgotten tree of Christmas: the tree of Calvary. 

“If God doesn’t do another thing for us here on earth – the Second Tree is enough!” 

Now? In days of revival like these? 

Because much was lost at Eden’s tree, we may linger starry-eyed at our Christmas trees, but what we all need most is to walk with Jesus all the way to the Tree of Calvary. 

It’s exactly what my friend messaged me next, in the early days of Advent, that is an echo of revival happening everywhere: 

“How my heart is just filled today because of that Second Tree! If God doesn’t do another thing for us here on earth – the Second Tree is enough!” 

Revival! Real Life! The Second Tree is Enough! To walk with Jesus, do life with Jesus, pilgrimage with Him to the Second Tree!

“All our hearts are actually longing for more than just beautiful holidays —- we’re all actually longing for a beautiful Savior.!”

Because if the God of the universe had just been born under a star and lay swaddled in the manger straw of Bethlehem, that might awe us. 

But it’s only when we follow that God to where He lay down His life on a rugged Tree at Calvary to give us His life  — does the story of God actually fully comfort us.

Because the reality is: 

All our hearts are actually longing for more than just beautiful holidays —- we’re all actually longing for a beautiful Savior. 

What we are all longing for is more than a magical Christmas — we’re all longing for a spiritual encounter with the very real God. 

Christmas may be about the celebration of the birth of a child — but there’s more: Christ came for  the celebration of our rebirth into the best life! 

Christmas may be about family all coming home for the holidays — but there’s more: Christ came so all of your days could be about coming home to our smiling heavenly Father who embraces you as His family! 

Christmas may be a natural fit for a secular holiday, but Christ came as the perfect fit for the God-shaped hole in our hearts, to change and give life to all of our days.

Christmas may be about the centrality of family and a child-centered holiday — but there’s more: Christ came for everyone, for the centrality of a flourishing life in Him in the midst of everything, for joy-centered days, every day, enjoying Him and the life of wholeness our souls were made for!

Christmas may be a natural fit for a secular holiday, but Christ came as the perfect fit for the God-shaped hole in our hearts, to change and give life to all of our days.

The greatest gift of Christmas is to behold the babe Jesus.  

And the greatest travesty of Christmas would be to leave Jesus in the manger instead of walking with Him as friend, teacher, Lord— as King, as Savior, as your very life – your everything.  

I pour another cup of coffee, with another dash of half and half, to drink slow and linger in front of the soft, glowing lights of our Christmas tree, but what the heart’s feeling is the glowing heat of these days of revival and the longing to actually pilgrimage with Jesus because of the love of the second tree, the tree of Calvary, and the life He came to give: 

You really love Christmas – when you really love what Christ came for.

You really love Christmas when your Christmas ignites with the blazing hope that: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… In him was Life, and that Life was the Light of all mankind…” John 1:1-4. 

You really love Christmas — when you love the life that Christ came to give you.

I drink the coffee cup empty in front of the Christmas tree. And I long to keep company with Jesus to the full life found at the Second Tree. 

The heart fills.

My newest book finishes the story The Greatest Gift began: Come be Loved To Life

A 40-Day Spiritual Pilgrimage following the entire life of Jesus, through the Gospel of John, taking us to the Tree of Calvary & the Fullest Life

This coming year, take a 40 day journey, from barely getting through — to passionately living the fullest life. Come be Loved to Life

You know how a 25 Day Advent journey by the Christmas tree, to unwrap the Greatest Gift of Jesus in the manger is a gift of love?

Imagine how a 40 Day Pilgrimage with Jesus, walking intimately with Him through the Gospel of John, through Holy Week, to Calvary’s Tree will actually give you LIFE!

So here, right now, is your invitation to continue the journey from the creche to the Cross and into abundant life, for the 40 days leading up to Easter: Pilgrimage with Jesus, through the whole of His life, as told in the Gospel of John, and deeply experience the rest of the story of Jesus, experience His signs and wonders, discover the seven I Ams of Jesus and intimately experience the love of Christ. Hang 40 ornaments on an Easter tree, tracing the path from the wood of the manger to the wood of the cross, and finally to the empty tomb, where we experience the rising life, and life to the full!

Discover each day, these 40 original woodcut illustrations, all available as free, evocative, downloadable ornaments, for your own Easter Tree, that illustrates more of the life of Christ, the rest of His story: His love, His sacrifice, His resurrection — each corresponding to that day’s devotion from Loved to Life.

If you’ve loved the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree with ornaments that beautifully tell the story of how, right from the beginning, all the stories of the Old Testament have been anticipating Jesus’ birth, you’ll cherish celebrating Easter by decorating an Easter tree—a tree that completes the New Testament story of Jesus’ life and His love, sacrifice, and resurrection — to give us life.

These — along with so many other free gifts! are yours, as our sincere thank-you, when you pre-order Loved to Life

Pre-Order Loved to Life & Get All Your Free Thank You Gifts HereAnd Our Free, Thank You Christmas Gift for You!

You never have to feel behind this December! Or feel like you’re missing Him this Advent!

As our heartfelt thank you for pre-ordering Loved to Life you get the the entire free audiobook of the classic, NYTimes bestseller, The Greatest Gift! 

Wherever you, whatever you’re doing, Ann will read that day’s Advent readings to you! Anndd? You’ll also receive the gift of free access to Ann’s 4-part Advent Christmas video series, filmed at the farm, unwrapping the wonder of Jesus in The Greatest Gift.

Turn & gaze on the One who gave you His whole life― and you’ll find the love you’ve been looking for your whole life. Come be Loved To Life

and come here for all your free gifts including the Free Audiobook of The Greatest Gift, perfect for your Advent joy!