Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 23

What if the More you Shared, The Less it would Hurt?

It never ceases to amaze me how so many of our stories have similar threads. We look into faces different from ours, hear names we’ve not heard before—and yet, we still sense something familiar. When daughters of God crack open the pages of their lives to one another, we often recognize a line, a phrase, a familiar arc of loss, shame, and escape. Martha and Stephanie know this all too well—and they also know the healing God can bring. It’s a joy to welcome them to the farm’s table…

Guest Post by Martha Ackerman and Stephanie Logan Segel

We get to interact with women most of the world had forgotten, because they are out of our sight: those behind bars. We get to see their smiles and hear their stories. And one story we’ll never forget is Dawn’s.

“Vulnerability changed my life.”

Dawn was betrayed by the people who should have protected her. When Dawn was a little girl, her grandfather molested her. 

Confused and afraid, she confided in her mother that something bad had happened. Her mama’s response: “Stop telling lies.”

Little Dawn was left to conclude that the things being done to her were okay, that all families did them. But when news broke of six additional family members he was abusing—and a pregnancy that had come as a result—Dawn realized that what had felt like darkness truly was. 

She felt guilty for not exposing his abuse and angry that her mother hadn’t believed her. As the darkness threatened to swallow her, Dawn ran hard after staying numb, exposing her body for money and emptying her mind with drugs. 

Dawn’s meth habit lasted 30 years and eventually led her to prison. The days behind bars stretched long, and a cellmate told her drawing helped pass the time. To Dawn’s surprise, the pencil in her hand felt like an old friend. 

Then she heard about Create: New Beginnings, our in-prison program that uses art projects—completed in community—to help women face difficult memories and complicated emotions. 

From the very beginning, Dawn could feel anger simmering barely below the surface. But what she didn’t expect was the sadness and the longing. 

One day, she painted a picture symbolizing her relationship with her son, who hasn’t spoken to her in years—a set of hands, just barely touching. As Dawn spread colors onto the canvas, she let her heart spill out. She painted the knowledge that her son loves her despite his silence. She painted the longing for what could be. 

Halfway through the 10-week class, Dawn underwent an unexpected gallbladder surgery. Her classmates rallied around to take care of her, decorating her cell and checking on her every day. And then—when she was ready—Dawn shared her most secret story—the story that started everything. 

“… healing comes from spilling—whether paint, secrets, or both. And in the midst of the mess, she met the One who makes beauty from ashes—and He is the One changing everything. “

“Vulnerability changed my life,” she said. “When I started talking about these things, it was hard—and it’s still hard. I still cry. But the more I talk about it, the less it hurts.” 

Her words bring us so much joy because she gets it. What Dawn has learned through artwork and through friendship is that healing comes from spilling—whether paint, secrets, or both. And in the midst of the mess, she met the One who makes beauty from ashes—and He is the One changing everything. 

Dawn is still behind bars, but she’s not standing still. She’s working on forgiving her mama now. It’s not easy, but Dawn says she longs to restore their relationship one day. 

“I know that she’s not saved,” Dawn told us. “She’s going to be 71 when I get out, and I want to make sure she goes to heaven, no matter what it takes.” 

Stories like Dawn’s remind us that Create: New Beginnings was God’s idea—and we’re floored that we got to be a part. When we created this program four years ago, we it could help women heal. As artists, we had felt the restoration of our own hearts through the act of creation. 

But we didn’t realize how far-reaching its impact would be, how many lives would be touched by its rippling circles of wholeness.

What we’ve also realized is that although we don’t all end up serving prison sentences, we all know feelings of pain, guilt, betrayal, and anger. We all have moments we’d rather forget. Longings we’d rather push down. Secrets we’d like to keep locked away. 

Whether we are in prison or not, many of us have similar questions about life, like… 

Who are we? 

Who can we trust with our stories?

How do we become better and stronger? 

How do we begin to heal from the pain in our lives?

Every single one of us can benefit from the healing power of art, whether we’ve experienced great trauma or had relatively safe lives. That’s why we created the book Create: New Beginnings for women’s small groups “on the outside.”

Just like the workshops Dawn experienced, this program offers a safe space for women to share their journeys and hear others’ experiences. The ten weeks of artistic projects and reflections explore the following themes…

Vulnerability: We identify the difference between what we show people on the outside and how we actually feel on the inside.

Forgiveness: We release bitterness and begin the journey to forgive.

Reconciliation: We think critically about a specific relationship that needs to be repaired.

Emotions: We identify and name them, both positive and negative.

Empathy: We share honest and compassionate appreciation for one another.

Shame: We revisit experiences that made us ashamed and determine why.

Self-doubt: We silence inner voices that make us feel less than others.

Pride : We compare healthy and unhealthy pride, considering what humility truly means.

Accountability: We take responsibility for a time when our actions hurt someone.

Courage: We admit fears and how we handle them.

Art projects are a way for us to work around our own defenses. As we create in community, we see the truth of our emotions and turn over to God the things that are weighing us down or holding us back. 

We see the beauty and value that He created in us and have been in us all along. 

God sees us. He loves us. He has a unique plan just for us. And He knows who He has created us to be. 

He promises…

“God sees us. He loves us. He has a unique plan just for us. And He knows who He has created us to be. “

“…to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3, KJV

He knows who we can become. 

Who we will be when we let ourselves be transformed by His immense love and unfathomable grace. 

We hope you will allow yourself to absorb these truths and remain open to letting God create in you a new heart.

One that is tender and responsive. 

One that is vulnerable and expresses empathy and compassion. 

One that is forgiven, and forgives, and works to reconcile what is broken. 

One that is free from the shackles of shame, confident and yet humble. 

One that holds itself accountable and has the courage to face each new day.

One that creates, again and again, a new and better beginning.

Martha Ackerman is a coauthor of Create: New Beginnings, Prison Fellowship’s restorative art workshop. Martha is an artist and jewelry designer who divides her time between South Carolina and NYC with her husband, James. They have two grown children, Holden and Lily.

Stephanie Logan Segel is a painter, artist, and coauthor of Create: New Beginnings, Prison Fellowship’s restorative art program. In 2017, she visited a prison for the very first time to create a mural inspired by the Human Connection Project, an original series sharing people’s stories through art. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

If you feel the need for a fresh start or are ready to heal from the pain in your life, Create: New Beginnings is for you. This 10-week series of restorative art projects rooted in Scripture provides space for you to process your life journey in community with other women. You don’t have to be creative or have any art background or experience at all—the goal is not to create a masterpiece. It is simply to deepen your relationship with God and others . . . and to walk forward into a new beginning.

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins & Supplements For the Soul & Your Week Ahead [01.27.2024]

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

Do you sometimes feel at the end of your rope? Looking for a fresh start — or wishing for a do-over?

Let’s embrace something new together.

We’re adding a special touch to our weekly Multivitamins – think of them as Supplements for the Soul. In this space each week, we’ll delve into small yet impactful insights and mental models that embody perseverance, renewal, growth, and redemption. Together, we’ll learn and rejuvenate, preparing to meet the upcoming week with renewed hope and peace.

And that’s not all – we’re bringing you some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you 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 right here:

Meg Loeks – Photographer Meg Loeks – Photographer Meg Loeks – Photographer

some winter sweetness to start off your weekend…

What a birthday surprise – 40 years later!!

Supplements for the Soul – Pareto vs Parables Radical Prioritization  Parable of the Hidden Treasure by Rembrandt (c. 1630).

You take a shortcut through an overgrown field.  The heat is oppressive, and it’s a dead silent day other than the noisy insects.  You keep watching your feet so you don’t step in a badger hole or get bitten by a sunning snake.  

Despite your eye’s being so intently focused on where you were walking, you don’t even see it — you more hear it as your foot hits it, that unmistakable chink of metal on metal.  

Curiosity gets the better of you, and you spread apart the weeds looking for what made the noise — and then ignoring the heat you start to dig furiously in the dirt with your hands.  

Treasure. More than you’ve ever seen in your life. Wealth beyond anything you could have imagined. 

Quickly you cover everything with dirt, and as the sun sets, you trudge home.  So much for saving time with a short cut.  

In the morning, you find out who owns the field, and ask the owner what he would take for the property.  It’s a lot more than it should be for such a derelict, weedy, unproductive piece of ground — but it’s nothing compared what that land hides.  The price is also much more than you have. 

You go home quickly, and put a “for sale” sign on the front lawn.  You drag out furniture and everything you own.  It’s an impromptu “everything-must-go” garage sale that includes the house. 

By the end of day…

Everything. Is. Gone.  

Except for…just enough money to buy the land.  

And you buy it, and it’s yours — but more importantly, the treasure is yours. 

This is what Christ says the Kingdom of Heaven is like.  A found treasure that is so great, you will trade absolutely everything to get it.  

This is Christ’s parable of the Treasure found in the field.  

Digitally imagined Vilfredo Pareto

Now let us skip forward in history 1900 years to an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto.  

In the early 20th century, Pareto, made the observation that approximately 80% of Italy’s land was concentrated in the hands of just 20% of the population; he went on to observe this same 80/20 dynamic in other countries and in other disciplines. This principle has since permeated many various fields, from economics to health to public policy to business, illustrating that about 80% of all outcomes result from 20% of efforts and causes.

This is the Pareto distribution, or the 80/20 rule.

Applied to faith — one would initially wonder, what 20% of being a Christ follower yields the majority of the impact? What can or should we pair down to make our faith journey more impactful?

But that is wrong.

The Parable of the treasure in the field would challenge us to think radically differently. How can we settle for partial devotion when Christ demands our entirety? The man did not sell the most effective or productive or expensive 20% of his belongings…he sold everything.

It’s a radical truth: For a Christian, prioritizing the kingdom of God is a 100% all in endeavour.

It is not a 20/80 optimization. Being 100% all in comes at the cost of looking irrational or extreme to secular society. This radical prioritization is our calling, where the joy of the kingdom overpowers any grasp on worldly wisdom.

True discipleship means being willing to give up the 100% – our everything – for the 10,000%. 

We will appear utterly crazy to the world.

Living out this parable today will mean recognizing that the greatest treasure isn’t found in material wealth or societal approval but in the transformative power of the Gospel. It’s a call to not just allocate an “impactful” 20% portion of our resources to God but to invest our entire being – and everything we possess – into His kingdom.

Yes, the cost is everything, but the reward is incomparable – and that more than justifies crazy, other-worldly, radical prioritization.

It’s about living in a way that constantly says:

 “I have found the treasure, and everything else is secondary.” 

“I’m all in.”

– written by Caleb Voskamp

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Multidisciplinary Artist (@bri_fitzpatrick)

A joyful reminder of how amazing His creation is!

On The Book Stack at The Farm

Read Kate Bowler’s recent guest post:

How to Live in the Beautiful & Terrible

Read John Mark Comer’s recent guest post:

Why “Wasting” Time with God is what Our Hearts Need Most

… and as we move toward Valentine’s Day and the season of hearts…

And as a mama of a little girl who will one day need a heart transplant — this.

No greater gift than to give someone your heart #BeTheGift

Round up of What’s HAppening aRound the Farm

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Levi and Aurora's House of Dreams (@tanglewood.house)

In which Levi works on his house…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aurora McGee (@auroramcgeeart)

And Aurora experiments with digital painting…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @olefaithfulfamilydogs

Malakai has a photoshoot with his puppies…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Melba Pearson Voskamp (@melbapvoskamp)

And Melba makes a bouquet of flowers!

A virtual little art gallery tour in New York

Some of these Valentine themed art pieces at the MET are just the cutest.

Unpacking a Box of Love

How many lives he had touched!

(tearing up here)

Looking for the perfect little children’s giftOr little reminder of Jesus’ Love? Introducing our exquisite Jesus Love Me wooden music box – the perfect gift or keepsake for any occasion – serving not only as a beautiful decoration but also as a tangible reminder of God’s constant love and grace for us. Featuring intricate laser engraving, adding to its timeless old-world charm, it ensures that it will be cherished by you and your loved ones for generations to come. CLICK HERE: View the Whole Collection of Keeping Company Resources Because we all need a Brave Song:

The simplest of truths, told through the sweetest of songs, can change the world.

Which is exactly the refrain of our very first children’s book Your Brave Song!

We all need a hope song,
a courage song,
a song that assures that our our bravery doesn’t come from inside of us,
it comes from knowing you’re loved by the One who created love and is Love Himself.

Your Brave Song includes:

 A page to attach your child’s picture that makes this a uniquely personalized kids’ book

 Exquisite hand painted, acrylic artwork by illustrator Amy Grimes

 Inspirational prose about finding your security and identity in Christ

 A rhyming song that kids can memorize easily so that they can return to its truth every day

Have God’s Song ABOUT YOU on Repeat in your heart. Get Your Brave Song Just in Time for Valentines

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Good News Movement (@goodnews_movement)

The smiles of getting to swim in the sea… one more time!

this one on repeat over here!

“Cause He made a way
When troubles comes
He’ll be our fortress
We know that those who place their hope
in Him will not be ashamed”

[from our Facebook community – join us?]

…at the end of the week, and you can look up at the calendar today and exhale:
It’s okay to feel bone tired —
you have One who gives His bone and His body for you and beckoned: Come Rest.

It’s okay to feel disillusioned —
you have One who destroys cheap illusions of perfection and offers you His.

It’s okay to feel done —
you have One who listens to the last nail be driven in
and proclaims all the hellish things finished.

It’s okay to feel battered and bruised —
you have One who storms your battles,
takes back everything that needs a comeback,
and proves His side won.

It’s okay to not feel okay —
because you have One — who made you His one.

You have One who left the clamor of the 99,
to find you, remind you, remake you, rename you, release you.

You have One who is more ready to forgive what you’ve done,
than you are to forget, One who is more ready to give you grace, than you are to give up,
One who is more than ready to always stand with you,
than you are to run.

One who is a greater lover, rescuer, saviour, friend—
than you have ever imagined Him to be even when your love for Him is most on fire.

Today, these worries, this world, may leave you feeling a bit depressed —
but you have a God who is obsessed with you.

It’s beautiful how that goes:
Whatever the story is today — it’s okay.
Because we know the ending —
and how it will be the beginning of the truest happily ever after.

Whatever the story is today — it’s okay.
Because the Writer of the story has written Himself
into the hardest places of yours and is softening the edges of
everything with redeeming grace.

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. 

Why “Wasting” Time with God is what Our Hearts Need Most

One of the things I appreciate most about John Mark Comer’s writing is how straightforward he is about Jesus’s clarion call to unhurry our lives—not to check off a box but so we have more space in our hours to recognize and receive God’s goodness. As John Mark reminds us today, when we “waste” time with God, we are letting God love us into people of love. We are doing no less than dying to what is not worth pursuing. We are answering Jesus’s call to come and see. It’s a joy to welcome John Mark back to the farm’s table….

Guest Post by John Mark Comer

Every morning I get up early and begin my day with the ancient Christian spiritual discipline of really good coffee. I go to a little room in my house, close the door, sit cross-legged on the floor, and pray. 

Some days my mind is sharp and alert, my heart is burning for God, and I feel God’s nearness. Other days (more often than not) my mind is like a “banana tree filled with monkeys,” as Henri Nouwen once said—it’s all over the place, my heart is troubled and afraid, and I struggle to pay attention.

But even then, my time in the quiet is usually the best part of my day. Truly. Something dazzling has to happen to outshine it. Because it’s here, where I am most deeply aware of God, that I am most happy and at ease.

In our fast-paced, productivity-obsessed, digitally distracted culture, the idea of slowing down, coming to quiet, dealing with the myriad of distractions within and without, and just letting God love you into a person of love, sounds like a waste of time.

In fact, professor James Houston once called prayer, “wasting time on God.” He didn’t mean prayer is a waste; he meant, in a culture like ours, prayer can feel like a waste of time. But to those who have discovered the possibility of life with God, it is the pinnacle of human existence.

“… to those who have discovered the possibility of life with God, it is the pinnacle of human existence.”

Once you’ve tasted of prayer— true prayer—you realize that deepening your surrender to and honing your attention on God are literally the most important things in the world.

Prayer—of any kind—will always remain a chore, another task on our religious to-do list, until we come to realize that the reward for following Jesus is, well, Jesus. It’s the sheer joy of friendship with him. 

Jesus himself said to his disciples, “No longer do I call you servants. . . . I have called you friends” (John 15:15). Prayer is how we cultivate this friendship.

You can be friends with Jesus. Like Mary who “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said” (Luke 10:39), you can sit before Jesus daily, letting him speak to you, teach you, direct you, and, above all, love you. 

If this isn’t your experience of prayer—if for you prayer is closer to boredom, distraction, and scary emotions coming to the surface of your heart—please don’t shame yourself or self-flagellate; that won’t help. 

Just keep praying.

“Once you’ve tasted of prayer—true prayer—you realize that deepening your surrender to and honing your attention on God are literally the most important things in the world.“

Stay with it. The one non-negotiable rule of prayer is this: Keep showing up. Stay with the process until you experience what all the fuss is about. Don’t stop until you know by direct experience what I’m stumbling to name with words. 

For years, when I read about monks and nuns who gave up a “normal” life to do little else besides pray, I’d think they were a little crazy. But what if we’re the ones who are unhinged? We who would rather binge Netflix or go shopping or play fantasy football than commune with Love loving? Who would rather give the vast majority of our time to slaving away for some job that will chew us up and spit us out the moment we’re no longer useful to the bottom line? Who choose to spend hours every day on our phones yet claim we “don’t have time” for God? 

Is your heart waking up yet? Is there a flame down in your soul starting to burn with desire for friendship with Jesus? 

Jesus is calling you to slow down and simplify your life around the three goals of an apprentice: To be with your rabbi, become like him, and do as he did. To make apprenticeship to Jesus the center of gravity for your entire life. 

The elephant in the room is that the vast majority of us have far too much going on to “add” Jesus into our overly busy schedules. I’m so sorry, but I don’t know how to soften the blow: There is simply no way to follow Jesus without unhurrying your life. 

Hurry is, arguably, the number one challenge you will face should you decide to take following Jesus seriously. Like an enemy, it won’t just stand in your way; it will actively fight against you.

So, this will require us to take intentional steps to slow down. It will likely start with a formation audit of our lives, where we take a serious look at how we spend our time and cut out more than we add in, in a desire to be with Jesus. 

“Hurry is, arguably, the number one challenge you will face should you decide to take following Jesus seriously.“

This may sound like no fun at all, but it’s good news—the best of news. Jesus is not a recruiter calling us to “hustle harder,” but the good shepherd of Psalm 23, calling us to “lie down in green pastures.” 

When Jesus said, “Come, follow me,” he was simultaneously saying there are some things we must leave behind. “Take up your cross” was a way of saying that sacrifice is required. There are things we must die to, release, let go.

In John 1, Jesus said to a few potential disciples, “Come and see.” Meaning, “Come and live the Way with me for a while, and see whether life together in the kingdom of love is not far better than any other kingdom, whether this path is not better than any other path.” 

Come and see . . .

John Mark Comer is the New York Times bestselling author of Live No Lies, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, and four previous books. He’s also the founder and teacher of Practicing the Way, a simple, beautiful way to integrate spiritual formation into your church or small group. Prior to starting Practicing the Way, he spent almost twenty years pastoring Bridgetown Church in Portland, OR, and working out discipleship to Jesus in the post-Christian West. He now lives in Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles.

John Mark’s latest book, Practicing the Way, explores ancient spiritual formation practices that help transform the deepest parts of us to become more like Jesus.

How to Live in the Beautiful & Terrible

Kate Bowler believes the cultural pressure to be cheerful and optimistic at all times has taken a toll on our faith. But what if we could find better language than forced positivity to express our hopes and our anxieties? Kate’s new book, HAVE A BEAUTIFUL, TERRIBLE DAY! is packed with bite-sized reflections and action-steps to help you get through the day. Good days. Bad days. Totally mediocre ones. Written in a season of chronic pain, Bowler understands that every day can be an obstacle course. She encourages us to develop our capacity to feel the breadth of our experiences. The better we are at identifying our highs and lows, the more resilient we become. It’s a joy to welcome Kate to the farm’s table…

Guest Post by Kate Bowler

These are terrible days. These are beautiful days. Somehow both realities feel inseparable in our minds now. 

We have the sense that something bad might happen, and has already happened. When we read the headlines, we do not shake our heads. We nod. Yes, we think. Of course that would happen. 

Our moods seem tight and jittery. We worry about groceries and school shootings and airborne viruses. We worry about kids and parents and friends and whether this, whatever this is, is all we can expect. We worry about the heart-stopping events we have already endured and what will happen next. 

We worry about how we will get it all done. 

We worry about everything that can never be undone.

“How are you?” people ask us. 

“Anxious,” we might reply. 

But when the sun begins its nightly descent, instinctively, we cast our eyes to the horizon. We have the sense that something lovely will happen, and has already happened yesterday. We notice how the white glare of the sun behind starched clouds is pooling into oranges and deep reds, and our breath begins to slow. We nod.

Yes, we think.

This is also what happens. 

Our moods thaw into awe.

We marvel at good medicine, the invention of cheese dip, and the delightful mischief in our child’s eye no matter how old. We marvel at the intricacy of flowers and the ingenuity of cities built from steel and concrete. We cannot believe how much our parents can drive us bananas and our friends can make us laugh so hard that we need to find a wall to support ourselves.   

We find ourselves surrounded by the daily miracles of planets turning and stars blinking and people who hug us when we come through the door. 

“How are you?” people ask us.

“Grateful,” we might reply. 

We might feel awful or wonderful, but we are running out of those middle-of-the-road feelings…the more boring, hum-drum feelings of being unfazed by the world around us. We are no longer able to be carried along by the momentum of ordinary days unfolding into other ordinary days. Instead, we are lifted and carried by currents larger than us, taking us further and faster than we wanted to go. There are highs and lows, soaring views and stomach-clenching drops. 

This is the new way of being in the world, the sense of unpredictably and precipitously rising and falling. We are made of feathers. We are made of stone. 

“God, whatever is true about You had better be true now.“

Something you should know about me: I wrote this particular book now because I am in the midst of a dark season of pain. I have physical pain that ripples down my back and pelvis, up and down my legs, and crawls up my neck. It feels cold and loud. It feels like lightning delivered intravenously, washing over me in waves. 

I almost never talk about it, because I find pain difficult to describe and even more difficult to describe over and over again to people who love me and cannot help me. (I am not recommending this kind of inwardness, only confessing that I haven’t figured out another way.) So, rightly or wrongly, I don’t talk about pain, but I think about it on a thirty-second loop.

Driving, scrubbing dishes, doing laundry, talking to friends, taking meetings, answering email, talking on the phone. Some days the pain is so deafening that I forget what room I’m in. People are talking and I can’t quite make out the words. I worry that the look on my face will give away how far I have drifted from where they can reach me. I am lost to myself, given over to a body that is deeply indifferent about what I put on the calendar. 

But I discovered that for roughly an hour first thing in the morning, my brain was bright and clear. So I wrote these blessings and reflections. It was all I could do. I couldn’t research long-term history books (as I am often doing). I couldn’t write long-form stories because that, friends, takes hours and hours and I had only a short burst before my ability to think detonated. But I could say:

God, whatever is true about you had better be true now.

Today.

I could not wait until tomorrow to have long, luxurious thoughts about the Christian past and some hypothetically wonderful person I might become if I could only get my act together. Instead, if I wanted to pray or bless this day, I needed to be able to place my faith alongside my reality. And my reality is fear, pain, and fear of pain. 

“Blessed are we, the grateful, awake to this beautiful, terrible day.“

If you are anxious or worried about whether your life can also be beautiful, welcome. Me too. Thank you for joining me here. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have company when, otherwise, I would assume the social media lie that everyone is living a spectacular and effortless life drinking green smoothies somewhere, doing beachfront yoga or noodling around Europe, is true. 

What I want more than anything is to bless you and me right now, and feel the truth of our realities without letting reality itself overwhelm us. People often say, “FAITH NOT FEAR,” as if faithful people can’t be afraid. But we are afraid for so many reasons, many of them both reasonable and realistic. So let’s just settle that controversy now: we can be faithful and afraid at the same time. Like the Psalmist David, we too can live faithfully when afraid: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You” (Ps. 56:3).

A few years ago, around Lent, I realized I didn’t have the right way to say, “Bless us in this new way of being.” So I started saying, “Have a beautiful, terrible day!” It made me laugh and it felt, well, honest. 

So here’s to us having beautiful, terrible days. And here’s a little blessing as we do:

Blessed are we, the anxious,

with eyes wide open to the lovely and the awful.

Blessed are we, the aware, 

knowing that the only sane thing to do in such a world

is to admit the fear that sits in our peripheral vision.

Blessed are we, the hopeful, 

eyes searching for the horizon, 

ready to meet the next miracle, the next surprise.

Yes, blessed are we, the grateful,

awake to this beautiful, terrible day.

Kate Bowler (a fellow Canadian), PhD is a New York Times bestselling author, podcast host, and a professor at Duke University. She studies the cultural stories we tell ourselves about success, suffering, and whether (or not) we’re capable of change.

At age 35, she was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, causing her to think in different terms about the research and beliefs she had been studying.

Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day! is a devotional for the rest of us—which is to say, the people who don’t have magical lives that always work out for the best.

Like modern-day psalms, Bowler’s spiritual reflections look for the ways we can expand our capacity for courage, love, and honesty—while discovering divine moments with God. With bonus sections to use during the seasons of Advent and Lent, this is an easy book to read along with other people too.

If you want to build your daily habit of spiritual attentiveness, this book is here to say: May all your days be lovely. But if they aren’t, have a beautiful, terrible day!

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins & Supplements For the Soul & Your Week Ahead [01.20.2024]

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

Do you sometimes feel at the end of your rope? Looking for a fresh start — or wishing for a do-over?

Let’s embrace something new together.

We’re adding a special touch to our weekly Multivitamins – think of them as Supplements for the Soul. In this space each week, we’ll delve into small yet impactful insights and mental models that embody perseverance, renewal, growth, and redemption. Together, we’ll learn and rejuvenate, preparing to meet the upcoming week with renewed hope and peace.

And that’s not all – we’re bringing you some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you 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 right here:

Ian Nelson – Photographer Ian Nelson – Photographer Ian Nelson – Photographer Ian Nelson – Photographer Ian Nelson – Photographer

ahhh… this winter beauty and stillness

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Julian Rad (@julianradwildlife)

Some really crazy captures —

and God cares for the least of them! How much does He care for us!

Supplements for the Soul – Rest in HimAmundsen vs. Scott

The year is 1911.

The cold is unforgiving, the kind that bites through to the bone.

The journey starts roughly 900 miles from the southernmost point on Earth. 

Two men, Scott, an Englishman, and Amundsen, a Norwegian, prepare to embark on a daring 900 mile race to the South Pole. Both are burdened with thousands of pounds of supplies and equipment essential for their journey.

It is a brutal and unknown journey. 

Remarkably, both Scott and Amundsen reach the South Pole; Amundsen achieved the feat first and successfully returned. 

But Scott never makes it back.

While there were several factors contributing to their disparate outcomes, one stands out: Amundsen’s disciplined approach to rest on the return journey.

After reaching the pole, Amundsen and his team were determined to return swiftly, not knowing if Scott would reach civilization first and overshadow their achievement. Amundsen’s unwavering discipline on the return trip resulted in consistent 15 to 20-mile marches and then rest, regardless of the weather conditions. Even if the weather was perfect — resting after their 20 mile march was more perfect.

This practice, later popularized, as “The Daily 20 March” by Jim Collins in ‘Good to Great,’ was a key factor in Amundsen’s survival. But what it really actually underscores is more than daily productivity, but ultimately the importance of rest in the midst of daunting challenges.

When we face chaos and disaster and daily pressures, we are also called to rest, and we have an advantage that, as best as we know from his logs, Amundsen never seemed to draw upon.

While not easy, we possess an unlimited resource that Amundsen lacked—the ability to find rest in faith in Christ.

Even Christ’s disciples struggled with resting in faith. In Mark 4, a life-threatening storm on the Sea of Galilee, have the disciples, in desperation, waking Jesus from sleep, fearing they will drown.  

Jesus then rebukes the wind and the sea, and the storm turns to a dead calm; waves that seem to promise a watery grave give way to a glassy sea of calm.

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee  by Rembrandt, 1632

And He turns to them, and says, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

And He also calls us.

Saying: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

In the midst of our marches through the storms, the cold, and the treacherous terrain of life, we are called in faith to rest in the Master; to find rest in the Master of the storms, the Master of the North and South Pole, and the Master of every journey in between. 

This week’s Supplement for the Soul: Every day, rest first in Christ, then do your 20 mile march & then rest. Leaving the rest to Christ — always resting in Christ.

A timely reminder in the middle of things of what really matters!

On The Book Stack at The Farm

Read Faith Eury Cho’s recent guest post:

4 Gifts the Presence of God Gives your 2024, Especially in Your Wildernesses

Read Sarah Molitor’s recent guest post:

How God’s Word Can Transform Our Words And The Lasting Impact of Memorizing Scripture

Read Hannah Kuhn’s recent guest post:

Want to Feel Seen, Heard, Loved, & Wanted In the Midst of Rejection & Fears?

Gratitudes and Beatitudes – A hardcover, linen-bound gratitude journal Join us on a transformative journey – celebrate joy with this daily gratitude journal

Read our son, Caleb Voskamp’s recent guest post:

Radically Flip the Script: A Gratitude Journal’s Guide to Joy in January and Beyond

Have you ever seen anything so ready to goooooooo!

Some truly beautiful churches made this list!

(Let’s maybe all create a little more beauty to reflect His Glory)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Toronto Only ➅ (@toronto_only)

I mean, sometimes you have to put your heads together to figure something out!

Sometimes – you just have to – confront the monsters in you life head on!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Inside History (@insidehistory)

Young or Old –

Sometimes you just have to dance!

[image error]

Maybe it’s time to plan a field trip to San Francisco? A new exhibition features the sketches and drawings of Renaissance artist, Botticelli.

“Most of these Old Masters are perceived as very remote and unapproachable, but through their drawings we can have a much more direct and fresh understanding on how they were thinking, how they were designing, how they were articulating their memorable compositions.”

– Furio Rinaldi, the exhibition’s curator

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Upworthy (@upworthy)

Brought tears and a smile…

…we can all choose to be a “Dave”

Ready for a  totally new way  to embrace the power of intentional daily gratitude — in a way like you never have seen or known before- that can be started at any point in the year? This creative new journal, Gratitude and Beatitudes, resets and reboot your daily habit of gratitude in a completely new way — so you can intentionally count gifts in a fresh, transformative way & find meaning and joy in the seemingly ordinary, turning each moment into a celebration of His divine grace.
Ready for a gratitude journal with totally new way to embrace the power of intentional daily gratitude — in a way like you never have seen or known before?
And we have a small collection of Gratitude Mugs that are the perfect complement to your Gratitude Journal, and a way to start the day with a gentle reminder of gratitude.

Join us in a fresh & entirely creative, year-long reflective Gratitude Journal

CLICK HERE: Whole Collection of Gratitude Resources to Help you Keep Company with Him this Year

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @cute.babieshd

Aren’t they just the absolute cutest?

For your new year, from my heart to yours:

Stories that Loan Strength,
that are Signposts that Point to the Light…
Books for a Better Year…

It’s healing good to be on The Way with you…

WayMaker:

Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of

Learn MoreOne Thousand Gifts:

A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Learn More The Broken way:

A Daring Path to the Abundant Life

Learn MoreThe Way of Abundance:

A 60-Day Journey into a Deeply Meaningful Life

Learn More Be the Gift:

Let Your Broken Be Turned Into Abundance

Learn More

Yes — isn’t that what we all want to hear ……

[from our Facebook community – join us?]

…if we’re honest, it can feel like life’s got us in a really hard place right now —
but on the inside, where God is making new life, we’re free.

It can feel like we’ve lost —
but not a day goes by without His unfolding grace that. makes. us. win. this. race.
It can feel like the night has won —
but nothing can ultimately steal us from the One Who is.

He held us, when we didn’t want to hold on,
He loved us, when we couldn’t love ourselves,
He carried us, when we didn’t know how to carry on.

Today *whenever* you feel like you may break, God will help you up, God will hold you up. God’s within. Bravely let Him carry you on.

The bottom line, and the finish line, is simply this:
The God who has carried you till now can be trusted to carry you till you’re through this mess you’re in… right through to the very end — which, then, on the other side, will be a perfect, forever beginning.

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 Our Souls Feel the Sacred Call to Rest

As a wife and mom, designer, writer, and a passionate advocate for community transformation, Jenny Marrs believes that beautiful spaces are most often imperfect and full of character. Just like people. Perfection is never the goal. Living well is. Here, she invites you to join her in finding a moment of stillness to remind ourselves that even in these busy days, God calls us to abide with him. It is a joy to welcome Jenny to the farm’s table…

Guest Post by Jenny Marrs

“Corrie Ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.

There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect: They cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” 

—John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

As I’m typing these words, I have six tabs open on my computer, dozens of text messages to respond to, 231 unread emails, and a to-do list spanning three pages in my planner. My work schedule is the most demanding it’s ever been, and I have approximately sixteen deadlines looming, with several dozen urgent decisions to be made by the end of the day. My kids’ schedules also seem busier than ever, leaving me feeling like a taxi driver and personal concierge most days. 

Yet, even amid a never-ending onslaught of demands on my time, I know I can find pockets of stillness right here in the midst of my real life. I don’t need to run away to a private island. I don’t need to quit my job and pull our kids from sports teams. I simply need to relearn the art of abiding. 

“… I know I can find pockets of stillness right here in the midst of my real life … I simply need to relearn the art of abiding.“

I need to truly engage in the sacredness of unplugging and resting. I need to turn off electronics and read a book, feeling the weight of it in my hands, turning the crisp pages instead of scrolling. I need to walk away from the to-do list and step into the pasture, relishing in the moment when sheep run toward me seeking treats and Daddy Donk, our donkey, nuzzles against me as I brush his coat. I need to unplug from the hectic pace of our culture and gather with friends around the table, sharing a meal while the kids run outside, laughter spilling in through open windows along with the warm breeze.

I need to start the day in prayer, asking for wisdom and discernment over the needs of the day ahead. I need to pause to look my kiddos in the eyes while they are talking, watching as their faces light up with delight. I need to take deep breaths, pausing to tally my many reasons for gratitude. I need to extend myself grace, fully aware that this journey of eliminating hurry is a lifelong one.

My husband, Dave, and I are similar in many ways, but when it comes to this idea of rest, we are polar opposites.

My soul seeks stillness and my body physically feels worn down after a period of frenzied activity in a nonstop schedule. Dave, on the other hand, essentially refuses to be still.

If we go on a vacation to the beach, I can lie on the sand with a good book for hours while he gets antsy after a few minutes and starts pacing the shoreline. At home, while I can sit by the fire and read or journal, Dave finds his place of soul rest while working with his hands out in the shop, and he is closest to God while on a tractor plowing the fields. Focused on a specific task at hand, Dave can be present and release the constant barrage of nonstop communication and pressing needs. He can quiet the noise of the world from his tractor cab and simply be. The way his soul is restored in the fields is just another reason I love this little farm of ours.

“God doesn’t need me to hold the world on my shoulders. He’s got this. I can rest.“

The truth is, there will be more seasons of overwhelm where I need a reminder to slow down, and there will be seasons where intentionally slow living comes easily and rest is tangible. No matter the season, I’ve learned the importance of carving out spaces in our home specifically for rest. For me, those spaces are the comfy chair where I can read next to the roaring fire in the winter or the porch swing where I can lean against oversized pillows and listen to the birds sing in springtime. I don’t need to overhaul my home to create a cozy little spot, I simply need to light a candle, pour myself a steaming mug of coffee, and exhale. 

Most important, I need to give myself permission to be present and remember that the world will keep on spinning if I check myself out of the race for an hour. God doesn’t need me to hold the world on my shoulders.

He’s got this. I can rest.

Jenny Marrs is a wife and mom, a designer, a writer, and a passionate advocate for community transformation. She and her husband, Dave, live in a rescued and restored century-old farmhouse, where they have a life full to the brim with five young kiddos, mud puddles galore, and too-many-to-count farm animals. Together, they have built and restored several hundreds of homes in their community over the last two decades and are the hosts of the HGTV show, Fixer to Fabulous, currently in its fifth season.  

Jenny’s book, House + Love = Home, is a welcoming guide to transforming any home into a beautiful, inviting space. Filled with stunning photos and tips to transform your own home,  House + Love = Home highlights the twelve areas that Jenny and Dave often remodel and show how each unique space can have intentional design elements that express the personalities of those who live there.  Woven throughout are essays by Jenny about their lives on the Marrs farm and how they seek to live intentionally with a deep abiding faith and purpose.

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

Want to Feel seen, heard, loved, & wanted In the Midst of Rejection & Fears?

Hannah Kuhn is a twentysomething writer from West Michigan who is passionate about using the power of God’s Word and her gift of writing to encourage others to cling to God when this world says you’re not enough. She is currently completing a master’s in creative writing as well as a book about how God has used the biggest burden in her life for His glory and her good. As a longtime writer and follower of Jesus, she combines both joys as a copywriter for Our Daily Bread Ministries—a place that’s very special to her. It is a joy to welcome Hannah to the farm’s table…

Guest Post by Hannah Kuhn

I committed my life to Jesus when I was seven years old, but I didn’t become a devoted friend of His until I was eighteen.

Growing up, the concept of being a Christian fit my personality. I was a perfectionistic people-pleaser who did what I was told and minded my own business. I went to church every Sunday with my family, I prayed before meals, I knew God made the world, and I understood why we celebrated Christmas and Easter.

I was a “Christian;” that’s what we did, and that’s what we believed. Maybe you can relate?

When I was a little girl, I started developing very aggressive, irrational fears. These reoccurring panic attacks held me captive and took away any sense of joy, peace, and rationality.

“He wasn’t just my Creator and Savior anymore, He was also my most loyal friend—always with me, and always fighting for me.“

As much as I wanted to give in and believe the loud, paralyzing fears in my head, my mom never gave in. She taught me that fear comes from our only true enemy, not from God. She taught me that since I accepted Jesus into my heart, He wasn’t just my Creator and Savior anymore, He was also my most loyal friend—always with me, and always fighting for me. 

As funny as it sounds, I like to say I met Jesus in my public school’s third-grade bathroom because whenever I felt a panic attack boiling inside of me, I excused myself to run cold water on my wrists and repeat the first verse I learned: “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NLT). I learned at a young age who God is, who our true enemy is, and the incomparable power God has. 

Unfortunately, youth groups, kid’s camps, and Bible studies weren’t really a part of my story.

I had a hard time fitting in and feeling welcomed at those programs my church had while growing up. The kids there had their own friends, and they weren’t interested in including anyone else.

Instead of leaving church spiritually filled up and reminded of God’s love, I left in tears feeling unwanted, unseen, and not good enough. 

“… if we want to know Jesus, we need to make the time to meet with Him.“

No matter what age you are, it’s hard to feel like no one wants to get to know you—like no one wants to be your friend. I knew from my faith and anxiety as a little girl that Jesus was my friend, but just like the other kids, I wasn’t being a good friend to Him. Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15 NLT), but I didn’t know what those commandments really were.

Good friends know each other better than anyone else because they take the time to get to know one another. If we can love flawed human beings (or rather, if Jesus who is perfect can love imperfect human beings), then why is it so hard to love Jesus sometimes? 

Suddenly I discovered a deep desire as a teenager to know Jesus, know His Word, and be a better friend to Him.

It’s a desire that never since appeared to go away.

Like we do with our other friends, if we want to know Jesus, we need to make the time to meet with Him. Talk to Him, tell Him what’s on our minds (the good and the bad—He wants to hear it all), thank Him for everything He is and all He has done for you, and then read His Word.

“It’s no coincidence that an all-knowing God would include answers and comfort for the things He knew His children would struggle with centuries after the Bible was written.“

Do you want to know what Jesus was like on earth? Read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Do you ever wonder what it looks like to live the way Jesus wants us to live? Read Matthew 5–7.

If you’ve ever questioned your worth, purpose, value, or identity, Jesus affirms all those things in His Word. 

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (NIV). It’s no coincidence that an all-knowing God would include answers and comfort for the things He knew His children would struggle with centuries after the Bible was written. 

You can open up the Bible and read from beginning to end (and at some point, I recommend you do), but I understand how intimidating it can be to even get started.

Having Scripture verses with a story that illustrates the point, like in the Our Daily Bread devotional, helps bring the message home.

When I was a teenager looking to know my friend Jesus, my church had monthly devotional booklets on their windowsill—my dad always grabbed one, so I started to as well.

The number of times that short but powerful daily devotional ended up glued to a page inside my journal was more than could be explained by any coincidence. Reading the articles in that booklet often made my eyes well with tears because they made me feel seen, heard, loved, and wanted.

In the Bible, Jesus says, “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7), and I certainly did, and continue to do so. God used those little Our Daily Bread daily devotionals to grow my relationship with Him from being just a believer to becoming a friend of Jesus.

“Jesus and I got to be better friends as my dependence on Him and His promises to me became more personal.“

Once I went to college, Jesus and I got to be better friends as my dependence on Him and His promises to me became more personal. While I started to find other devotionals and was blessed with good, Christian friends, I continued every morning to read the Our Daily Bread my parents always sent in the mail, along with a note of encouragement. 

Today, it’s a privilege to serve with the ministry that produced the devotionals that ultimately built the foundation of my friendship with Jesus, and it’s an honor now to be the one sending these booklets to people all over the world, including my parents.

Tens of millions of Our Daily Bread devotionals are printed in-house every year and have been changing lives for multiple generations. From mailboxes to prison cells, people all over the world are finding encouragement, comfort, and hope in God’s Word—and you can too! 

Our Daily Bread Ministries is a global Bible engagement ministry with a staff of 700 serving in 32 offices to distribute more than 60 million resources in 58 languages throughout 150 countries.

Often known for its global devotional, the ministry produces short-form Bible content across print, video, audio, and digital platforms with the goal to fuel a global Bible engagement movement.

For more than 85 years, the ministry’s mission has remained the same: to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all.

How God’s Word Can Transform Our Words And The Lasting Impact of Memorizing Scripture

Not too often is having seven kids the similarity you share with someone. But Sarah Molitor and I had an instant bond because of it. Pair that with raising our kids to love Jesus and His Word, and you’ve got yourself a great combo. With that many children, your home is filled daily with a lot of words and noise. Sarah’s goal is to encourage women to not just add to the noise but to change the atmosphere around them by choosing to speak life over everything. That’s something I’m so all in with. It won’t always be perfect, but with God’s help we can do it! It is a joy to welcome Sarah to the farm’s front porch.

Guest Post by Sarah Molitor

You haven’t lost your joy, nor have you lost the giftings God has given you… You just seem to have lost your footing a bit.

At twenty, I sat in our pastors’ office, saying something like “I’ve lost my joy, and I feel aimless. I feel like I can’t speak genuinely to others or encourage them in the way I was able to in the past.”

My pastor’s reply has really stuck with me. “You haven’t lost your joy, nor have you lost the giftings God has given you in the area of communication. You just seem to have lost your footing a bit.

So here are some questions to think on: Have you been willing to let the Lord guide you in all areas regarding His plan for your life? Are you honoring Him with your choices, your words, and how you spend your time? Have you been consistent in your Bible reading?”

These questions were easy to answer: no, no, and no.

How I chose to spend my time and use my voice wasn’t what God would have chosen for me. I knew that. It was more what I had chosen for myself. As a result, many of the giftings I knew I had were lying dormant and unused. I had been giving so much space to my feelings and words that I hadn’t given any to God’s Word.

If I wanted to rediscover what God had for me and how to continue honoring Him with the giftings He had given me, I needed to stand on solid ground—so I needed something solid to stand on.

“If you believe the Word of God to be true, then having His Word in your heart will only enhance the words you speak.”

If you believe the Word of God to be true, then having His Word in your heart will only enhance the words you speak.

There is a direct correlation between our hearts and our minds. In Matthew 12, when Jesus had just healed a demon-possessed man, some Pharisees accused Him of getting his power from Satan. Jesus knew their thoughts and said, “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. . . . For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. . . . A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you” (verses 33-37).

Wow! Thank you, Lord, that You give us Your Word to teach us how to best use ours.

My sweet friends, knowing God’s Word is the beginning of using our words intentionally. The Bible equips us with everything we need to use our words wisely. If you aren’t sure where to start on this journey, start in the Word!

“However you can, and whenever you can, memorize God’s Word.”

Recently, my extended family took a vacation to Mexico. Months beforehand, my parents issued a challenge to their grandchildren: anyone who memorized Psalm 91 and recited it in Mexico would earn twenty-five dollars. Talk about motivation. Over the next two months, the boys and I spent each day memorizing a new line or two (although, somehow, I didn’t qualify for the spending money—rats!).

After that vacation, we were dealing with some respiratory issues with our then-eight-month-old. One particularly difficult night, I felt like I had prayed all the prayers and cried all the tears. Then something happened. Slowly but surely, as I rocked and swayed our little one in the dark of the night, I began repeating the verses I knew. Then I began to replace some words with Griffy’s name to pray over him:

“He will rescue Griffy from every trap and protect Griffy from deadly disease. He will cover Griffy with his feathers. He will shelter Griffy with his wings. His faithful promises are Griffy’s armor and protection.” Even as I write this out, my body is covered in goose bumps at the power of God’s Word. The more I recited the verses, the more strength came to my spirit and the more peace I felt flooding my soul.

“Knowing God’s Word not only transforms our words—it transforms our whole life!“

It took months to memorize that chapter, and I thought I was doing it to help my boys. But God! His Word had been settling into my heart, and I needed it that night. I always will, but sometimes it speaks to me more and gives me words when I don’t have them. However you can, and whenever you can, memorize God’s Word. I’m not perfect at this, and I have to continually work at it. But remember my favorite saying? Forward progress is progress.

Here are some ideas to start (or freshen up your skills) with: use flash cards and take them with you to look at and memorize, highlight the passage in your Bible, put it to a song or a rap, or memorize one line per day.

Knowing God’s Word not only transforms our words—it transforms our whole life!

Sarah’s new book Well Said* authentically encourages and walks alongside you as you discover God’s good plan for making the most of the words we say every day, in every situation, to speak life into others and strengthen our faith and relationships. Knowing God helps us know the unique way He created us to speak so we can use that gifting to share His love.

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

Radically Flip the Script: A Gratitude Journal’s Guide to Joy in January and Beyond

Almost a year ago Caleb, my eldest son, and I had discussed ideas for a gratitude journal that could be started at any time of year, and that would be uniquely formatted in a way that allows you to reflect & look back every single day over the cumulative gifts from the previous days and months of your year — so you can see the accumulation of life’s gift over time! It’s with immense joy and a heart full of gratitude that I invite our oldest son, Caleb, of The Keeping Company – to share his experience with this little gratitude journal, a truly innovative and creatively inspiring method to embrace a daily habit of gratitude, grace, and glory through the simple act of recording life’s gifts. It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome Caleb to the farm’s wide kitchen table today!

Guest post by Caleb Voskamp

J

anuary often unfolds as the most challenging chapter of my year. 

After the twinkling lights and warmth of Christmas fade into memory, what remains feels stark, almost empty. It’s a bit like stepping out of the enchanting world of Narnia into a landscape where the world has jarred to a somber reality. 

It’s a bit like stepping out of the enchanting world of Narnia into a landscape where the world has jarred to a somber reality. 

A reality of putaway Christmas trees, unfortunate bathroom scale readouts, and December’s ‘let’s circle back to that’ – coming full circle.

In these moments, I can find myself embodying a bit of Puddleglum, C.S. Lewis’s famously gloomy character, especially during the short overcast days – and long, long, dark nights of a Canadian winter.

The skies during this time are like a gray canvas stretched tight and barren, devoid of the sun’s warm brushstrokes that whisper promises of brighter days.  

No color. For days. 

Only gray.  

Such days can often veer towards seeing only the flaws everywhere, and all the endless things that seem amiss in the world around me.

Yet, in the midst of this wintry introspection, a spark of Pollyanna’s spirit sometimes flickers to life. 

Jesus’ teachings, much like the starkness of January, offer blessings in the most unexpected of forms — in mourning, in meekness, in being poor in spirit, and even in persecution — it’s all about divine blessings in the places you don’t expect to find them.

Amidst the snow and freezing and gray, there’s the odd blessing — the freezing means less pests survive to harm the crops, and the cold of our latitude means we go year round almost never touched by the chaos of tornadoes and hurricanes. Snow can’t be that bad, because no one has ever asked to go outside and build a “hurricane man” in the front yard, have they?

The harsher the winter, the more biting the sleet and snow, and the more soul-gritting the grey skies, the more profound the blessings can be, despite being found in the seemingly most unlikely places. 

It’s in the heart of this cold, with a wintery chill lightly howling along a door that needs some weatherstripping (…it’s on my to do list, promise) that I’m reminded of Jesus’ radical words from the Sermon on the Mount. 

His teachings, much like the starkness of January, offer blessings in the most unexpected of forms — in mourning, in meekness, in being poor in spirit, and even in persecution — it’s all about divine blessings in the places you don’t expect to find them.

Last year, amid the beginning of winter’s grip, I began a practice that has gently but deeply shifted my perspective. Melba, my beloved wife, and I had the honor of creating a gratitude journal, a small yet powerful tool. 

When I sit down with this journal, often as the evening shadows stretch long and the world outside my window succumbs to the night’s embrace, I find myself reflecting on the day’s gifts. 

Unexpectedly, often, many of these gifts are unearthed from the parts of my day that were the most challenging, or from where I seem to be floundering in the deep end of life.

And sometimes, I really really need that evidence, because in the moment when January gray is so much easier to see, it’s the gentle reminders of past gratitude that can be a warm July sun to the soul.  

And honestly? There have been days that I have missed; days that have been filled in the next day with recollected gifts, or – days just left blank.

Despite that, especially when things seem gray and dark, it is helpful to read back up the page, to read the gifts I wrote down on this day in the previous months. 

I get to see what had been counted blessings in months prior, and it’s a piece of warm sunshine, to more concretely see a mounting heap of evidence of blessings, of gratitude, of transformation.

And sometimes, I really really need that evidence, because in the moment when January gray is so much easier to see, it’s the gentle reminders of past gratitude that can be a warm July sun to the soul.  

In that reflection, in the warm light of seeing that growing evidence of gratitude previously received – I find myself defaulting much less into a January Puddleglum.

(If you would like to join us, we’d love to slip a journal wrapped just like this in the mail for you)

And in practicing those living truths – breathes warmth into the coldest days of my soul.

And maybe that’s what’s needed most, maybe that’s what I needed the most: moments of gratitude sunlight piercing through the January clouds, illuminating the hidden beauties of life…

…moments found by embracing Jesus’ radical teachings. To mourn yet find comfort, to be meek yet live joyful in the promise of inheriting the earth, to be poor in spirit yet rich in the kingdom of heaven, and to find blessing even in persecution. 

And in practicing those living truths – breathes warmth into the coldest days of my soul.

Ready for a totally new way to embrace the power of intentional daily gratitude — in a way like you never have seen or known before?

Caleb and Melba, with the Keeping Company, are offering now, a singularly fresh and entirely creative, year-long reflective Gratitude Journal, Gratitude and Beatitudes, that not only gives you a gorgeous space to count 1000 gifts over the course of a year, but is uniquely formatted in a way that allows you to reflect & look back every single day over the cumulative gifts from the previous days and months of your year, to grow your sense of trust and joy in God’s provisions — all while guiding you prayerfully through some of the most life-changing words of all of Scripture, the Sermon on the Mount.

This creative new journal, Gratitude and Beatitudes, resets and reboot your daily habit of gratitude in a completely new way — so you can intentionally count gifts in a fresh, transformative way & find meaning and joy in the seemingly ordinary, turning each moment into a celebration of His divine grace.

You Need To Save This For When it’s Hard To Keep Going: About Resolutions & Getting Through 2024

Right about now is when it starts to get even harder to put one step in front of the other toward those hopes of yours.

Because it’s now the second week of January.

And the research says that “80% of people forget their resolutions by January 12,” and the health app Strava, analyzing more than 98.3 million uploaded data points, even goes far to dub January 19, just around the corner, “Quitter’s Day.”

You don’t have to work to become someone better to get to be loved — you’re already loved, so you get to become the someone you were always made to be.

And sure — there’s a part of you that does really want do that thing in the New Year, who wants to go to bed earlier, pray far more often, get outside and move your body, sort through the closets, tackle the garage, the piles of paperwork, write that book, do that project that you’ve been saying forever that you’re really going to do — that big thing that feels like an impossible thing.

And there’s another very real and honest part of you that really doesn’t want to do any of that at all — for a myriad of very valid and tender reasons.

Wherever you land, it’s true, and deep relief: You’re not under any obligation to prove your worth — you’re under a reign of grace and underneath everything are God’s everlasting arms. You don’t have to work to become someone better to get to be loved — you’re already loved, so you get to become the someone you were always made to be.

You get to do hard and holy things because they are the next thing —- to get to the most fulfilling things.

You get to do hard and holy things — because there’s no other way to get to the happy and holy things.

You know, we wrote it up there on the chalkboard in the kitchen years ago, and we all memorized it, because it’s true, and it’s hard, but there’s a brave hope in it:

Life holds Pain — and you get to choose what kind of pain you hold: either the Pain of Discipline or the Pain of Disappointment.

Life holds Pain — and you get to choose what kind of pain you hold: either the Pain of Discipline or the Pain of Disappointment.

Nothing happens without discipline. No music gets played without discipline. No games get won. No finish lines get crossed. No freedom gets tasted. And you want that freedom. 

And yet honestly? Forget “New year, New resolutions, New you.” What we need more than possessing a bunch of resolutions in hand, is to actually be a person who is resolved.

What you need more than splashy resolutions, is steady rhythms.

Which has me returning again and again this second week of January of that old cahoot who ran in his rubber boots.

Weren’t too many of anybody at all who believed the old guy could at all.

What you need more than splashy resolutions, is steady rhythms.

The kids and I read about the old guy one night after supper years ago as the dishwasher moaned away, crumbs still across the counter.

How the old guy ran for 544 miles — straight. Let that sink in. His name was Cliff Young and he wasn’t that young anymore. He was 61 years old. He was a farmer. Our boys had smiled big.

Mr. Young had showed up for the race in his Osh Kosh overalls and with his workboots on, with galoshes over top. Just in case it rained.

He had no Nike sponsorship.

He had no wife – hadn’t had one ever. Lived with his mother. Never ran in any kind of race before. Never ran a 5 mile race, or a half-marathon, not even a marathon.

But there he was standing in his workboots at the starting line of an ultra-marathon, the most gruelling marathon in the world, a 544 mile marathon.

Try wrapping your head around pounding the concrete with one foot after another for 544 endless, stretching miles. They don’t measure races like that in yards – but in zip codes.

First thing Cliff did was take out his teeth. Said his false teeth rattled when he ran.

Said he grew up on a farm with sheep and no four wheelers, no horses, so the only way to round up sheep was on the run. Sometimes the best training for the really big things is just the everyday things.

 Sometimes the best training for the really big things is just the everyday things.

That’s what Cliff said: “Whenever the storms would roll in, I’d have to go run and round up the sheep.” 2,000 head of sheep. 2,000 acres of land.

“Sometimes I’d have to run those sheep for two or three days. I can run this race; it’s only two more days. Five days. I’ve run sheep for three.”

“Got any backers?” Reporters had shoved their microphones around old Cliff like a spike belt.

“No….” Cliff slipped his hands into his overall pockets.

“Then you can’t run.”

Cliff looked down at his boots. Does man need backers or does a man need to believe? What you believe— is what is actually backing you.

The other runners, all under a buffed 30 years of age, they take off like pumped shots from that starting line. And scruffy old Cliff staggers forward.

He doesn’t run. He shuffles, more like it. Straight back. Arms dangling. Feet awkwardly shuffling along.

Cliff eats dust. For 18 hours, the racers blow down the road, far down the road, and old Cliff just shuffles on behind.

What you believe— is what is actually backing you.

Come the pitch black of night, the runners in their $400 ergonomic Nikes and Adidas, lay down by the roadside to sleep, because that was the conventional plan to win an ultra-marathon, to run 544 straight miles: 18 hours of running, 6 hours of sleeping, rinse and repeat for 5 days, 6 days, 7 days.

The dark falls in. Runners sleep. Cameras get turned off. Reporters go to bed.

And yet — through the black night, one 61-year-old man, far, far behind the others, keeps shuffling on, one foot in front of the other.

Cliff Young ran on through the night –and you better believe it: There is a Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not master it and the dark of discouragement that threatens doesn’t master the blazing light of Jesus at the center, the night of impossible that plunges you deep into hopelessness doesn’t go deeper than the love of your Jesus already for you, and there is no place His light won’t go to find you, to save you, to hold you.

Darkness can never travel as fast as Light. No matter how bad things get, no matter how black the dark seeps in, no matter the depths of the night — the dark can never travel as fast as Light. The Light is always there first, waiting to shatter the dark.

You can always hold His Word like a ball of light right there your hand, right up there next to your warming heart and you can always count on it: Jesus is bendable Light, warmth around every unexpected corner.

The darkness doesn’t understand the light, doesn’t comprehend the light, doesn’t get the light, doesn’t overcome the light, doesn’t master the light.

Cliff Young runs on through the dark — because he didn’t know you were supposed to stop.

He had no idea that the accepted way professional runners approached an ultra-marathon race was to run 18 hours, sleep 6, for 7 days straight. But Cliff Young didn’t know that. He didn’t know the accepted way. He only knew what he did regularly back home, the way he had always done it: You run on through the dark.

The race isn’t won by the big resolutions, but by the slow and steady rhythms. A steady rhythm outruns all the splashy resolutions.

Turns out that when Cliff Young said he gathered sheep around his farm for three days, he meant he’d run across 2,000 acres of farmland for three days straight without stopping or sleeping, without the dark ever stopping him. You gathered sheep by running through the dark.

So along the endless stretches of highway, a tiny shadow of an old man shuffled along, one foot after another, right through the heat, right through the night. Cliff gained ground.

Cliff gained ground because he didn’t lose ground to the dark. Cliff gained ground because he just kept on pressing through the dark.

And somewhere at the outset of the night, Cliff Young in his overalls, he shuffled passed the toned runners half his age. And by the morning light, teethless Cliff Young who wasn’t really quite that young at all, he was a tiny shadow — far, far ahead of the professional athletes.

For five days and fifteen hours, and four minutes straight, Cliff Young ran, never once stopping for the dark – never stopping until the old sheep farmer crossed the finish line – First. He crossed the finish line first.

Beating a world record.

By two. whole. days.

The second place runner crossed the finish line 9 hours after Cliff Young and that steady slow shuffle of his.

Cliff Young

The enduring shuffle of doing the next hard and holy and small thing — will win everything in the end.

That shuffle of Cliff Young would become known worldwide in running circles as the “Cliff Young Shuffle” — or the “Ultra Shuffle,” the unconventional way you run an ultra-marathon. A way of moving that can keep on going and going, a way of running that doesn’t over-expend energy, “that allowed runners to maintain a steady pace for long distances without exhausting their leg muscles.”

How do you do the Young Shuffle? After analyzing Cliff Young’s unconventional shuffle that won ultra-marathons of hundreds of miles, running experts concluded: “To do the Young Shuffle, you maintain a relaxed posture, keep your knees low, and shuffle your feet along the ground in a smooth, gliding motion. It’s less about speed and more about efficiency and endurance.”

The point is: The race isn’t won by the big resolutions, but by the slow and steady rhythms. A steady rhythm outruns all the splashy resolutions.

If you don’t overstride – you can overcome.

The same sure and steady rhythms, day in and day out – the making of the bed, followed by the opening of the Word, followed by the journaling of the heart, followed by the moving of the body — just this enduring shuffle of doing the next hard and holy and small thing — will win everything in the end.

Habit stacking — a daily rhythm of one small thing that always follows the next small thing — is it’s own kind of ultra-shuffle that wins the race.

The Young Shuffle is proof : If you don’t overstride – you can overcome.

Because: Resolutions won’t get you out of January — only a sacred, steady rhythm of grace can go the distance.

If we need to be more resolved then we need resolutions, the greatest resolve is to be re-solved and solved again by the only solution to every problem: grace.

Grace to get up again. Grace to begin again. Grace to run through the dark again, grace to stack the habits again, grace to still be accepted and loved again and again and again, grace to still just keep shuffling on, held by Love Himself who promises to carry you the whole way through.

When they handed old Cliff Young his $10,000 prize , he said he hadn’t known there was a prize. Said he’d just run for the wonder of it. Said that all the other runners had worked hard too. So Cliff Young waited at the finish line and handed each of the runners an equal share of the 10K.

While others run fast, you can just shuffle forward with perseverance.
While others impress, you can simply press on.
While others stop for the dark, you can keep on running through the dark.

And then the old cahoot in boots walked a way without a penny for the race — but with all the hearts of whole world.

While others run fast, you can just shuffle forward with perseverance.
While others impress, you can simply press on.
While others stop for the dark, you can keep on running through the dark.

The race is always won by those who have a steady rhythm that keeps running on through the dark.

Could be the year to pull a Cliff Young. 

When those reporters asked Old Cliff that afterward, what had kept him running through the nights, Cliff had said, “I imagined I was outrunning a storm to gather up my sheep.”

And in the early January that carry all kinds of challenging dark, there’s a way to rest easy, while easily moving forward.

Because right beside you is One who mastered the dark and overcame the storm to gather every single one of His sheep and now there is a Light Who shines in the darkness and there isn’t a darkness in the world that can ever overcome it.

And you can keep in step with Him, when you simply keep this steady rhythm of the pace of grace.

This May be The Year to Pull A Cliff Young Shuffle & purpose to:

… just for example — you can fill in each of these 12 prompts, just one for each month of 2024, however you are led of the Lord, so write down what works for you, such as:

January: Embrace: Imperfect.

This is The Year to be held by the arms of grace, not to any standard of perfection.

February: Engage: Silence — not screens.

This is The Year to engage silences regularly & retreat to the “back side of the wilderness.” Because when you do not need to be seen or heard — you can see and hear in desperately needed ways.

You find your true self when you look for your reflection in the eyes of souls — and not the glare of screens.

March: Be: still.

Be small. Be Loved. Beloved .

Let yourself be loved anyway He wants to love you. God is always, always good & you are always, always, always. loved.

Be still …. & know.

April: Believe: in Him for imposs-ABLE things.

Believe in Him who makes the ridiculously impossible into the miraculously possible,
the unbelievable into the you-better-believe-it,
the never into the now.
Be the brave people who pray it bold in the space between the end of one year & the beginning of a New Year: BUT GOD.

“Ours is the God who whispers: “With Me nothing, Nothing, NOTHING is impossible.“
Believe in Him for impossABLE things — because as long Emmanuel, God is with us & we are with God: nothing is impossible.

Believe in Him for improbable, implausible, impractical, impossABLE things.

May: Break: idols — or they will break you.

Break free, break out of ruts, break idols — or they will break you.

June: Daily: 3 for 10:

These 3 for 10 everyday: Word In. Work Out. Work Plan.
It’s not what you do every now and then, but what you do everyday, that changes everything.

Word in: Get into God’s Word for 10 minutes and let it get into you.
Work out: Work out. Even 10 minutes of moving is better than nothing.
Work plan: Write out the Work Plan — even just 3 things. And then just start: 10 minutes working the plan.

July: Do: Less. Pray More.

More than your doing hands, God wants your bended knees.

August: Let Go: of the Outcome.

Come completely committed to the process — and completely let go of the outcome.
In the middle of things seemingly not working out for us —- God is working out something in us.

September: Learn: Endurance.

Endure to do Hard & Holy Things. Break the idols of ease — or they will break you.

October: Live: Given.

Because #LoveGives.
Because God so loved He gave.
Because Living is Giving.

November: Give:

It
Forward
Today — 3 times a day.
Give It Forward Today & be the #GIFT — give an act of grace forward, 3 times a day. Be a #GIFTivst
It’s the Giftivists are the activists who believe that radical acts of generosity counter radical acts of inhumanity. #GIFTivst

December: Grow: Brave. Grow in Grace

Grow Brave. Grow in Grace. Which is basically the same thing.

Sooooo…. maybe take some time to pray and write down how the Lord is speaking to you about your 2024 — then slip the SOULutions into a frame or hang somewhere, to bring you back, again and again, to your Cliff Young Shuffle Year of just moving forward with grace.

Resolutions won’t get you out of January — only a sacred, steady rhythm of grace can go the distance.

Just: If we need to be more resolved then we need resolutions, the greatest resolve is to be re-solved and solved again by the only solution to every problem: grace.

 Simply click here for all of these free printables for 2024, plus a whole library of free tools: