Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 27
September 13, 2023
I’m Hiring! Two Open Positions to Serve With Ann
Current Open Positions:
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR for Ann VoskampThe Executive Director prayerfully co-labours and serves with Ann Voskamp by investing in content management, speaking engagements and book launches through a strong representation of Ann’s heart for Jesus and serving His church and sharing His healing hope.
Responsibilities:
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Priority responsibility: Blog and website content management: Management of all blog posts and publisher relationships for guest blog posts and the formatting, selecting photographs, preparing and publishing post in WordPress and formatting and email sending of all blog posts through Flodesk Oversee all content and website copy Handle/approve information that needs to be posted in a timely mannerExecutive Director for Ann Voskamp
First point of contact for all things regarding Ann Support Ann by checking in and gauging needs: Maintain Ann’s calendar, arrange meetings and appointments and provide reminders Manage all publisher and author relationships and logistics for guest blog posts Create bridges to new partnerships with publishers to host new author’s books and messages and serve their messages in fresh and creative ways across all our channels Brainstorm and invest in serving Ann’s community and ministry: development and execution of podcast, retreats, courses, print resources, and other helpful resources as requestedCreation of a robust spiritual formation app and community, creating channels for consistent spiritually formative content and support of community Manage and oversee the workflow for production of upcoming podcast and create relationships with underwriters and ministry partners Manage logistics/due dates for Ann’s seminary commitments Manage details associated with Ann’s various boards and creative communities: Mercy House Global, The Keeping Company, Grace Case, Grace FlameDevelop and maintain an efficient documentation and filing systemIn writing and in person, a cruciform representation of Ann Maintains deep confidentialityDreams, prays, runs and executes with intentionality, ministering with joy alongside Ann and the teamBook Launches
Make all needed travel arrangements and set up pre-order and launch scheduleManage schedule of appearances/coordinating with publishersSchedule necessary blog reviews, giveawaysSchedule podcasts interviews if applicableBrainstorm with Ann for other ways to serve the message of her book and executeManage social media communities related to booksCoordinate/oversee launch team managementSpeaking/Vendor Events
Respond to requests from groups, eventsCoordinate the master schedule for Ann’s speaking eventsVet and finalize speaking engagement contracts: Coordinate Ann’s travel arrangements associated with speaking engagements and general travel for ministryProvide Ann’s schedule/itinerary in summary and helpful one-sheet prior to eventBe available for any urgent needs while Ann is traveling/serving at an eventPosition Qualifications:
The Executive Director will have proven leadership and relationship management experience. Other qualifications include:
Unwaveringly Kind
An optimistic, glass is always full person
Known for being deeply compassionate toward everyone at all times
Personal thriving relationship with Jesus Christ
Passion for discipleship and evangelism
Proven experience as an executive administrative assistant
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Excellent knowledge of social media and Google
Flexible, nimble and responsive
Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people and communicate with people at all levels
Excellence in organizational management with the ability to set and achieve objectives and manage a budget
Ability to multitask and prioritize daily workload
Discretion and confidentiality
Relentlessly intentional, profoundly invested, and deeply committed to ministry for the glory of King Jesus
Location: Remote
Hours and expectations:
This position is a remote 15-20 hr/week positionHours worked include attendance of weekly team meetings as well daily set “office hours/respond times.” Beyond that, the employee may set her own hours.Salary: TBD
Creative Graphics/Reel/Artistic Content CreatorAnn’s Creative Content Creator is a cutting edge creative as well as strategic thinker with a huge heart for people. The CCC will create creative visual content around Ann’s words and build out social media plans to serve Ann’s community in deeply impactful ways.
Desired Skills and Traits
● Joy-filled person who is energized by creating
● A glass always full person
● Ridiculously organized and excited to create in fresh ways
● A kind and clear communicator, especially when somebody is behind deadline
● Unflappable and dependable
● Can work efficiently and autonomously
● Energized by collaboration and open to feedback
Job responsibilities include:
Schedule and write social media content from Ann’s words, including Facebook,Threads, Instagram (Grid and Stories) TikTok and Pinterest Create and manage social media content from Ann’s words Create visually beautiful and compelling graphics Photograph flat lays of books for social media and blog posts Manage special projects like website redesign, printables, graphics for book launches, photoshoots, etc. Manage social media metrics & analyze monthly/quarterly social media data to develop ways to better serve Ann’s community Strategize and execute how to serve a community to grow in spiritually formationally healthy and robust ways Edit videos and Create reels to share Ann’s wordsExperience
At least 1-3 years working in social mediaSoftware: WordPress, Flodesk, Canva, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok & Graphic Design and Video Editing software of your preferenceLocation: Remote
Hours:
This position is a 15 hr/week position.Hours worked include attendance of weekly team meetings as well as daily “office hours/respond times.” Beyond that, the employee may set her own hours.Salary: TBD
Please submit applications hereApplications warmly accepted until Wednesday, September 20th, 2023.
September 4, 2023
After Huge Life Change, How Do You Fully Live Again?
One of the many things I appreciate about Dr. Lee Warren is that he helps me name and embrace the world’s immense sorrows as well as Christ’s incredible joys. Only someone who has experienced intense seasons of darkness, as Dr. Warren has, can speak with authenticity to both of those realities. As Dr. Warren reflects on the years-long healing journey he’s taken since his teenage son died, he reminds us that hope always has the final word. It’s a privilege to welcome Dr. Warren back to the front porch today….
The Atlantic coast is my favorite. I love the wild surf, great sand, plentiful shells, and perfect sunrises and sunsets.
But the water and the beach aren’t why the Atlantic is my favorite.
I love it because in 2010 we had one of our best family vacations there, on Kiawah Island in South Carolina. All but one of our kids went with us since this was before anyone was married and long before grandkids came along. My wife’s parents, Dennis and Patty, also came, and we rented a beautiful house on the water.
It turned out to be the last time we traveled anywhere with both my son, Mitch, and Lisa’s mom.
Mitch died of knife wounds in 2013, at the age of nineteen, and we lost Patty in January of 2018 after a devastatingly brief illness.
It was Christmas 2020 when Lisa and I realized we needed to take a breath. We’d had the stresses of moving four times in the previous four years, as well as the intensity of Patty’s diagnosis and death, our ongoing grief for Mitch, and the realities of Covid.
So when Lisa looked up from her iPad one evening and said, “It’s a miracle. The same house we stayed in at Kiawah is available for Christmas week,” we reserved the house and then called the kids to tell them about it.
Life got in the way and only half our kids and their families could come. Lisa’s dad also stayed home, wanting to hold on to the joyous memories of ten years before.
So we had the same huge house but only half the people.
You can’t navigate your life by trying to make every moment match some magical time in the past or by being too afraid to live it because of something that happened before.
Everywhere around the house, I could see and hear moments from the past—Here’s where Mitch, Josh, and I wrestled; here’s where Patty showed us all the seashells she’d found; there on the deck is where we took that crazy picture in the pool.
Then something remarkable happened as Lisa and I walked the beach late one day toward the end of the week: I decided to think about my memories instead of just remembering them.
I again realized something I’ve pondered a lot in the years since Mitch died: Memories often paint an imprecise picture of the past.
The truth is that the real events we remember are rarely exactly as we recall them. We tend to glorify and make perfect our good memories, and we magnify and sharpen our bad ones. This has to do with the neuroscience around how memories are stored, with painful things having a more powerful impact over pleasant things.
There’s a survival advantage to it, but it can make life hard to enjoy.
Why? Because, unless we’re aware of it, we often either continually compare today to some perfect, idealized past we can never match, or we constantly miss out on new opportunities for fear of something happening that we remember and don’t want to feel again.
But you can’t navigate your life by trying to make every moment match some magical time in the past or by being too afraid to live it because of something that happened before.
Hope says even though it’s dark, it’ll be light again soon.
I realized as we walked that evening that I thought I was walking where I’d been with Mitch, but that sand and that water have turned over countless times in the years since we were there together. And it all finally became clear to me: You can’t find closure by touching a beach or being in a place or reliving some experience; you have to change your mind about it.
The opposite is also true. You can’t find happiness or avoid more pain by refusing to revisit the sand you walked on before your loss.
With that clarity in my thinking, I took a deep breath of the salty air and admitted to myself that I’d come to Kiawah to try to reconnect to some previous version of my life when Mitch was happy and Patty was healthy, but neither one of them was there.
I sent my father-in-law, Dennis, a text message:
Dad, I figured something out. I thought coming here would heal a wound, and you thought it would open one. We were both wrong, because there are no old beaches. They refresh themselves with each high tide.
My son’s death would always be a thing in my life, but it could not be the thing.
We don’t have to live in “but” as long as we can hold on to “and.” That’s how we can find the new “okay,” and that’s how we can grab on to life again.
I could finally see how to square Jesus’s seemingly irreconcilable John 16:33 promise about life being hard with his John 10:10 insistence that He came here to give us an abundant life.
They square up because of hope.
Hope says even though it’s dark, it’ll be light again soon.
That day on the beach, the wind picked up and I pulled Lisa close. She laid her head on my shoulder, and we turned back toward the house.
Suddenly, Lisa straightened and pointed to the sand in front of us. She said, “Look! There’s Jase’s little footprints heading up to the boardwalk.”
It was getting dark, but as I followed her gaze to the footprints of our toddler grandson, I could clearly see for the first time in years.
There are no old beaches. Mitch’s footprints were all washed away from Kiawah Island, and yet we could still see Jase’s.
We don’t have to live in “but” as long as we can hold on to “and.”
That’s how we can find the new “okay,” and that’s how we can grab on to life again.
Lisa and I stepped onto the boardwalk to go to the house where the kids were waiting to watch a movie with us.
I took one last look back at the beach, and I was able to breathe in the air of how grateful I was to have had time with Mitch here in this hallowed place and for the thousands of other beautiful moments we shared in his tragically short life.
And for the first time since Mitch died, I felt truly happy that evening as the sun set over South Carolina.
I deeply appreciate this man, having read his first award-winning book, cover-to-cover: Lee Warren, M.D. is a brain surgeon, Iraq War veteran, podcaster, and award-winning author. In addition to his full-time practice as a neurosurgeon, Dr. Warren hosts a podcast exploring the complex interplay between faith and science in unlocking the secrets of the mind, body, and spirit for better living and for making sense of faith in difficult circumstances. He and his wife, Lisa, have four adult children and four grandchildren and live in North Platte, Nebraska.
Dr. Warren’s latest book, Hope Is the First Dose: A Treatment Plan for Recovering from Trauma, Tragedy, and Other Massive Things, is for anyone facing the hardest losses of life. He’s spent more than twenty years studying the best prescription for patients when surgery or medicine are no longer the answer. Reaching beyond platitudes, Dr. Warren speaks from his own seasons of grief and renewal to offer us hope for the abundant life Jesus promises and help us discover how to move forward through trauma or tragedy.
[ Our humble thanks to Waterbrook for their partnership in today’s devotional. ]
September 2, 2023
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [9.2.2023]
Happy, happy, happy weekend!
Come along with us here because who doesn’t need a bit of good news?
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:
Marcin Zajac – Photographer
Marcin Zajac – Photographer
Marcin Zajac – Photographer
Marcin Zajac – Photographer
Marcin Zajac – PhotographerCan hardly take in all this glory–thank you, Lord!
< These words. >
Reading for the Love of God—Why Christians Should Be Good Readers
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Audrey Smit | Designer (@thislittlestreet)
Oh my! You just have to see all the different beauty this woman is bringing to the world. What a wonder!
(Don’t miss the other beautiful art on her page. Just WOW!)
What’s real, good friendship? When boundaries, personal priorities, and other “good things” hinder real-life friendship. A must read if you’re looking for real, good friends.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by SHE JOURNEYS WITH HIM (@shejourneyswithhim)
OH YES. Offer him those loaves and fishes.
Don’t miss this listen–What is the real use of reading? Is what we read more important than how we read? Why do some people who read for years never develop the habits of reading well?
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Upworthy (@upworthy)
< way too cute! >
This new one is so good!
THIS! As a family that lives with dirt under our fingernails…
“…manual labour can be good work, that skilled labour is not mindless, that exhausting work can be deeply satisfying, and that even a stinky, slimy, grimy, smeary, nasty job can be a locus of the sacred.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by elisabeth elliot speaks (@elisabethelliotspeaks)
Oh that our hearts would want what He wants, no matter the cost.
If you’re facing an empty nest–or an emptier nest–these words are a gentle hug for you.
Grab a warm cup and do your heart a beautiful favor…
Read this (below) post, then…
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dr. Anita Phillips | Trauma Therapist (@dranitaphillips)
…turn on this beautiful playlist. The combination of piano & hymns with nature & bird sounds? It does something deep and profound for the soul.
If you’re in need of some calm, anxiety-free time… try this.
– what a giggle fest! –
ABSOLUTE MUST READ.
“Jesus Met Me On the Morning of My Funeral”
— and how Jesus met him right in the middle of radical Islam. Oh, our Jesus! What a God!
4 Practical Ideas on How to Raise Compassionate Children from our friends at Compassion
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Mighty Pursuit (@mightypursuit)
What an amazing recalibration. What is life REALLY all about?
For anyone who loves writing or feels called to write:
Rediscovering the Joy of Writing: Six Lessons for a Lifelong Habit
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Apple Fox Farm – Babydoll Sheep (@applefoxfarm)
Too. Much. Cuteness!
What this business does to bring hope (and happy flower color) to the streets of Chicago.
…trading violence for beauty. Just beautiful.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Upworthy (@upworthy)
Oh my! HEARTBURST!
On the Book Stack at the Farm
Don’t miss Joyce Koo Dalrymple‘s recent guest post: The Courageous Role Women Played in the New Testament & How it Deeply Encourages Us
Come along on this stunning glory soak?
glory, glory, glory
YES!
“Christ is my firm foundation
The rock on which I stand
When everything around me is shaken
I’ve never been more glad
That I put my faith in Jesus”
[from our Facebook community – join us?]
…just for today — DO. NOT. WORRY.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you deal with whatever hard things
come up when the time comes.”
Matt6:34MSG
Just for today:
Be a prayer warrior—not a panicked worrier.
Worry is just the facade of taking action — when prayer really is.
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.
September 1, 2023
How Does Jesus Reach Out To Women? Be Surprised By courageous Women of the New Testament
When you meet Joyce Koo Dalrymple you can’t help but absolutely love and esteem her — she’s truly one of the most radiant souls I’ve ever known. I first met Joyce when I was pursuing my master’s degree at Wheaton College and she and her family so graciously welcomed me into their home in Wheaton and Joyce has become one of my very dearest, wisest friend. We’ve shared our hearts for serving people and Jesus, loving our families, and our beloved youngest daughters who are both heart warriors adopted from China. Joyce absolutely embodies the spirit of the women in her book, who love and follow Jesus in faithful and courageous ways. It’s a humbling delight and grace to welcome Joyce to the farm’s table today…
Guest Post by Joyce Woo Dalrymple
Even though I knew the road would not be easy, I trusted that if God called me, He would lead me.
I already had two young children and a career in law when I felt a sense of call to go into ministry. As an Asian American woman, I was uncertain what opportunities would be open to me. I had not seen many examples of people who look like me as ministry leaders.
Even though I knew the road would not be easy, I trusted that if God called me, He would lead me.
During seminary, people (including my professors) often asked why I was pursuing a Master of Divinity, the most common degree earned prior to getting ordained or licensed to become a pastor or minister.
So, I kept going back to God to ask, “Did I hear You correctly? Am I allowed to feel a desire to teach and to pastor? Is this calling from you, God?”
Jesus reached out to women from the margins and placed them in the center of the story.
I felt a gentle nudge to study the passage of the Samaritan woman, where Jesus chose a marginalized woman to become the first evangelist to non-Jewish people. That fueled my hunger and led me to study every passage where Jesus interacted with a woman.
Repeatedly, I read how Jesus reached out to women from the margins and placed them in the center of the story. He affirmed their faith and invited them into ministry.
I wanted to know how Jesus views women and by extension how He sees me. What I discovered surprised me and became the subject of a complete Bible Study of Women of the New Testament!
Women are everywhere in the New Testament. They follow and they serve Jesus, they seek Him for healing, and they play creative and essential roles in the early church.
Motivated by love, these women are honest and persistent, often defying cultural gender norms in their pursuit of Jesus. Their bold faith, displayed by their words and deeds, disrupts a male-dominated world.
For much of our history since, however, their stories have been mediated and interpreted through a male-centric lens, which may often miss these disruptions.
This may mean that you will be surprised when you see what an active and courageous role women played in the days when Jesus and His apostles announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God, and the role Jesus continues to invite all of His disciples into today.
In this LifeChange study guide of Women of the New Testament, we study how Jesus welcomes marginalized and culturally neglected people as disciples, publicly affirms their faith as examples for others, and empowers them to lead and use their gifts.
We will also allow the women’s words to speak for themselves as they follow Jesus and tell others about Him:
Throughout their interactions with Jesus, women are seen, empowered, and commissioned by their Savior in powerful ways.
“I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”—Mary (Luke 1:38)
“If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”—the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years (Mark 5:28)
“Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!”—the Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon possessed (Matthew 15:22)
“I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who has come into the world.”—Martha, after her brother Lazarus died (John 11:27)
“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.”—the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:29)
“I have seen the Lord!”—Mary Magdalene, the first witness of the Resurrection (John 20:17-18)
As Jesus reveals Himself to these women, they express a remarkable understanding of His identity and mission. Throughout their interactions with Jesus, women are seen, empowered, and commissioned by their Savior in powerful ways.
Alongside the men, they generously give and serve, teach, and lead in ways that help spread the gospel.
As we consider these extraordinary New Testament women, may we all—men and women alike who follow Jesus—be inspired by their stories, draw closer to Jesus in wholehearted devotion, follow Him in countercultural ways, and partner together to transform communities!
Joyce Koo Dalrymple is a pastor, speaker, and podcast host. She leads Refuge for Strength, a women’s ministry focused on spiritual formation and listening to God in community. A former television journalist and attorney, she frequently guest preaches at local churches and speaks at women’s events and retreats.
Keep reading with Joyce in her Lifechange Bible study- Women of the New Testament. Discover eight women who challenged norms and transformed communities. Lifechange Bible studies have sold over 3 million copies and cover every book of the Bible and important topics. They train you in good Bible study practices as you enjoy an engaging study of Scripture.
[ Our humble thanks to Intervarsity Press for their partnership in today’s devotional. ]
August 26, 2023
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [8.26.2023]
Happy, happy, happy weekend!
Come along with us here because who doesn’t need a bit of good news?
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:
Kyle Campbell – Photographer
Kyle Campbell – Photographer
Kyle Campbell – Photographer
Kyle Campbell – Photographer
Kyle Campbell – PhotographerHow she captures peace & beauty–take a moment to pause and breathe deep
A beautiful farm? A thought-provoking read.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Christie Purifoy
Placemaker (@christiepurifoy)
Ah, yes. This.
“Paperback or hardcover? Used or new? Let’s talk about our book habits.”
29 Rules for Reading — these are just too good to miss.
Car Karaoke with Keller? This was an unexpected and happy watch–smiled the whole way through!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Allison Byxbe (@allisonbyxbe)
what a reminder!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Upworthy (@upworthy)
This is the best.
“Library kids are going to save the world.“
Big ol’ grins over here! This woman puts a camera on her birdfeeder and what she caught… well, you just have to see. These are just delightful!
– This song is good for the heart. –
What a joy to join my friends at the Apprentice Institute. You can listen to our conversation on “Waymaker” here. I pray you are deeply encouraged.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Cory Asbury (@coryasbury)
< tears >
A Glorious View: God’s sufficiency and grace for those of us who need it most – how illness & pain made way to receive the most glorious view
Learning to Read Again – on learning to re-read in an age of internet reading…
“The sad truth about re-learning to read is that, like learning to pray and learning to exercise, it takes practice.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Good News Movement (@goodnews_movement)
< What a love! >
View this post on InstagramA post shared by J O N T U R N E R (@jontdrummer)
Ohh! We’re just a puddle over here.
Post of the Week From Around These Parts
Yep, right around this time of year, every single year, I seize on this silly easy plan
to squeeze the last little bit right out of summer, before the days fade away to fall, & this 14 point rhythm I return to every year at the end of August, it never ceases to bring me ridiculous joy …
& boy, this year, do I need this easy plan right now before fall comes calling
How gardening & having gardener’s eyes shapes your view in the BEST of ways. Don’t miss this one.
“Much has been written and said about gardening’s practical health benefits, and those effects are real and important. But less is shared about the way that gardening can reshape what you notice, and how that can impact your days.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by DeborahJ.Flora~ADelightfulGlow (@adelightfulglow)
These words! Make sure to read all the way to the end.
A really beautiful poem on the notice of nature – “Questions for a Time Traveler”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Mercy House Global (@mercyhouseglobal)
Love this from our friends at Mercy House Global.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dave Adamson (@aussiedave)
– Read this all the way to the end. –
This one is on repeat here this week.
I don’t know what circumstances you’re facing or what battles you’re fighting–let this be the soundtrack of Hope & Truth over you and your situation.
[from our Facebook community – join us?]
This weekend, all that matters is just friendship with God.
To wait with Him in the Garden…
to let Him kneel & wash your wounded places…
to stay with Jesus, to keep company with Jesus,
to keep watch with Jesus, right to the end.
He let Himself be forsaken of the Father —
so we in our sinful brokenness,
would never, ever, ever be forsaken.
All that matters today —
is staying close to Jesus…
Today, we could stop & feel the humming
Peace of something sacred in our veins,
enlarging our lungs.
Even in our darkest places —
look for it, feel along for it —
*there is the light of Christ’s graces.*
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.
August 23, 2023
14 point Easy Plan To Squeeze More Summer Out of Last Days Before Fall (with Free Printable)
Only a few more weeks technically left of summer now.
Even as kids head back to school and pumpkins ripen, there’s still a string of days left of sweet corn and swimming suits and bare toes and zinnia bouquets and light like falling on faces we love and all the days are adding up to make years.
And only a few more days till our youngest daughter starts back to reading and writing and arithmetic, and our Shalom heads out the farm laneway, turns and waves, and drives down our gravel road, off to her first year of university, a handful of days here in the very last weeks of summer, before we stand on the front porch and wave goodbye, as the minutes slip away, and everything changes again.
“You don’t miss a beat when thankfulness is the beat of your heart.”
You don’t miss a beat when thankfulness is the beat of your heart.
You only get so many summers.
All 4 of our sons have about flown the coop, up and gone, calling another door home. All our time together, it all went by in a blink. Why did I think it somehow wouldn’t?
There are days when I have to blink back the brimming regret of the days we didn’t take off more for the lake, didn’t take more time to make a memory that would make a bunch of love that would last beyond time, didn’t light one more campfire and roast just a few more melting s’mores.
Before the sun even comes up today, and this week slides toward the weekend, the clock ticking so loud in my ears — there’s this rolling over in the morning toward the Farmer, this desperate murmur in his ear:
“Only a few more days left of summer —- what are we going to do?”
The Farmer doesn’t even open his eyes.
“Be grateful. We are going to be grateful.”
And he draws me so close the words brush my ear, those words of every soul whisperer, and you never miss a beat when thankfulness is the beat of your heart.
“It’s never the wasting of time that hurts so much as the wasting of our intentions.”
And before the sun goes down, a bunch of the kids carry corn cobs up to the side porch and we sit there in this circle husking and I keep looking round at their sun-kissed faces, that’s all I can think, my hands all full of these husks:
It’s never the wasting of time that hurts so much as the wasting of our intentions.
There are corn husks and silks all over the porch. Who cares what the calendar says?
Calendars can con: there are really only as many days left as you actually really choose to live.
In the end, everyone ends up at the end of their lives — but only a few live the whole expanse of their life.
And come evening, after everyone leaves the dinner table, I’m still sitting there —
eating the last of chocolate crumbs right off the plate.
The Easy Seize-the-Last-of-Summer Plan
Free Printable of the Seize-the-Last-of-Summer Plan
Just do two a day:
1. Make a fruit pie
2. Eat under stars
3. Walk through the woods, some trees, long grass
4. Dip both feet in water
5. Sing hymns around flame {choice: candles or campfire}
6. Lick drippy ice cream
7. Find a swing and swing high
8. Pick a bouquet of wildflowers : set in sill. Or #BetheG.I.F.T. and give it away.
9. Play one game of anything out on grass {frisbee, baseball, soccer, croquet, volleyball}
10. Eat something fresh {from the garden or the market or your mother’s}
11. Lay down on grass, look up and watch clouds for five minutes
12. Dance. Dance on the beach, on a porch, on your toes, dance on until something in you feels lighter.
13. Open a window. Listen to the world. Slow. Still. Pray before that open window.
14. Sit with someone you love and watch the sunset. Say it out loud: Thank you.
Click here to Print your Free Seize-the-Last-of-Summer Plan :14 Simple Memories to Make Anywhere in the Last Few Weeks of Summer
{Looking forward to seeing your photos on Facebook or Instagram of your own
#SeizetheLastofSummer #1000gifts}
Maybe in this season, we all just need the gift of Joy… a bit of Hope?
To stand together — FOR each other — knowing that an act of kindness, giving it forward, can be more powerful than any sword in starting movements that move us all toward Love.
The way forward — is always to give forward.
We all only get one life to love well — and being a gift with you gives reviving joy!
August 19, 2023
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [8.19.2023]
Happy, happy, happy weekend!
Come along with us here because who doesn’t need a bit of good news?
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:
Jessica Walker – Photographer
Jessica Walker – Photographer
Jessica Walker – Photographer
Jessica Walker – Photographer
Jessica Walker – PhotographerThe heavens declare His glory, don’t they? Just wow!
A new study finds that performing acts of kindness improves mental health symptoms.
Don’t miss this one ;)
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Sally Bone Clarkson (@sally.clarkson)
–on overcoming disappointment and finding contentment–
Photos from the recent meteor shower & this is awe-inspiring!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by God First, Life Second (@godfirstlifesecond)
Why believe the Bible?
View this post on InstagramA post shared by THINQ Media (@thinq_media)
< Powerful >
THIS SONG. These words.
“I want to walk just like You, I want to talk just like You
Lord, keep eyes on You
Take up my cross just like You , Lay my life down just like You
Lord, keep my eyes on You”
We watched this live… and it was deeply profound and life-giving and so Christ-centric
We read this aloud at the dinner table, just brimming… this read is holy ground.
The 6 Hymns Tim Keller Picked for His Memorial Service
Feeling weighed down or trying to find your way back to God? THIS.
“The Surprising Key to Connecting with God”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Kristin Nave | All Things Bible
Yes! Keep planting those seeds.
14 ways to make chores more joyful – and couldn’t we all use an extra dose of JOY?!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Lori Bochner (@bochnerfarms)
Time to find some flowers this weekend. Pick wild ones? Visit the farm store?
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Gabe Lyons (@gabelyons)
How can we take back technology for good, especially with our kids and our relationships with them? This is definitely worth a listen.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Western Wander Woman | Catie (@thewesternwanderwoman)
– YUM. –
This woman found love and connection in this unlikely place after she lost her husband.
This is just too sweet.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Upworthy (@upworthy)
Aw! This mama and her intentionality. #BeTheGift
10 favorite fall travel destinations & where will you find glory this fall?
Read Susie Larson‘s recent guest post: Why You Need This Happy Relief of Knowing What God Remembers & What God Forgets
Post of the Week From Around These Parts
You know what they don’t tell you about growing older?
These unexpected secrets about growing happier as you grow older –– not only are a relief but kinda set a fire under you for all that can still be. This is too good to miss.
ahhh. take a deep breath and come along with us?
“Every knee will bow, every tongue confess
But it’s my joy to do it now, Lord Jesus
You are the Lord, You’re the Lord of my life”
[from our Facebook community – join us?]
Others may not understand you, but you have One who stands with you, for you,
who laid down His life for you
because He wanted, needed, had to be with you.
Others may not really get you,
but you have One who left everything to get to you.
Others may think you’re too much,
but you have One who could never have too much of you–
and only wants more of you.
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.
August 18, 2023
The Unexpected Secrets to Growing Happier as You Grow Older
After I pass the lane for Appalachian Outhouses, there’s a flashing portable marquee sign about fires up ahead and watch for visible smoke, and then I turn past Turkey Cove Baptist Church and Possum Lane, and a billboard that reads Jesus will set you free from your sins, before I park on the side of a mountain to hear a word from God Almighty.
To live your calling completely unashamed is the most uncommon choice in the world.
I’m about to depart from my forties.
And when you’re about to depart, you want God to part all the noise and come make a holy visitation.
I come ready with a new fountain pen, an old deckle-edged journal and my travel Bible, because the Word always confirms and affirms through the Word and words and why not just travel down the roads that God has put your feet on?
I sit atop the Blue Ridge Mountains, clouds drifting by under my feet, when God comes on the clouds.
I let the Spirit hover over my deeps. I read the Word. I reflect back on my stack of decades. I sit up there on my own mount of transfiguration. I try to listen and take notes.
Life isn’t about finally finding yourself – life is ultimately about letting yourself be formed.
When you’re about halfway through your life, you realize God has never done anything halfway and you’ve got to live wholeheartedly before it’s too late.
To live your calling completely unashamed is the most uncommon choice in the world.
This will take courage, and Christ will take your hand, and this is your one life and you can’t let any fear or shame take it from you now.
Life isn’t about finally finding yourself – life is ultimately about letting yourself be formed.
Surrender to the Spirit’s winds and you win. Bend to what comes and you can gracefully bear it.
This getting older isn’t a disappointment for our younger selves, but rather our younger selves were unformed and had to grow through all these life-appointments to shed the false and the futile, and only now, in becoming older, can we become formed, through all kinds of suffering, into the cruciform fortitude of Christ.
Let your life be formed into the shape of a cross and you resurrect into the fullest life.
Someone had asked me the week before if I’m happier now than when I was struggling mightily with turning 40. I’m a slow learner and I’m still discovering and that’s what I told her:
Move with the Spirit and be formed by Word through the story you’ve been given, & this fluidity & bending the knee in praise is the exercise that expands the soul to hold God for all eternity.
Life has a way of humbling you and tenderizing you and forming you … And the only way to not break is to give up stiffly insisting on the lifestory you wanted – and gratefully surrender to embracing the lifestory you’ve been given.
It’s true: A bruised reed, God will not break – but we break our own selves when we’re stiff-necked and rigid about white-knuckle controlling our lives.
Surrender to the Spirit’s winds and you win. Surrender to gratefulness for what is – and you win a greater joy than whatever you hoped for. Bend to what comes and you can gracefully bear it. Let yourself be formed cruciform and everything in your life transforms. But grow stiff with bitterness and life’s winds will snap you and break your only heart.
I’m here still learning to be fluid, to move with the Spirit and be formed by Word through the story I’ve been given, and this fluidity and bending the knee in praise is the exercise that expands the soul to hold God for all eternity.
Up there in the clouds of the Blue Ridge mountains, I can still see it, when, for my 40th, we had piled all of the kids into the van, and headed east to the ocean and two of our young teen sons had taken off to climb one of the mountains fringing the coast.
I had watched them: They’d ferociously, relentlessly, surged toward the summit – but their descent had been this slow, careful picking down the slope, attentive and intentional, to keep themselves from slipping and falling and crashing all the way down.
Climbing to the top of the mountain is the easier of the two – it’s far harder to come downhill and stay in one piece.
When he’d finally completed the descent, our oldest son had come found me, shaking his head and said words to me on the eve of my 40th, that I am still thinking about now a full decade later:
“Climbing to the top of the mountain is the easier of the two – it’s far harder to come downhill and stay in one piece.”
Descents require more focus than ascents.
This is true and no one can afford not to be intentional now –– and yet it is also true that what maybe matters most in our lives aren’t on a downhill slide but increasing: “Across the world, life satisfaction and emotional stability begin to increase around the age of 55.” Perhaps it’s fair to say that the only thing that really is on the downhill slide after we depart our youth, isn’t the good life, but rather it’s the negative life that starts to decline:
Descents require more focus than ascents.
“A landmark longitudinal study across the adult life span by psychologist Margaret Gatz showed that negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, stress and frustration… actually decrease steadily with age.” One of the possible reasons for this decline of the negative life is fascinating: “Older people remember positive images more often than younger people, who are more likely to remember the negative. Whereas younger adults are devoting resources to other things, older adults are trying to focus more on emotional goals and enhance their well-being,” notes Mara Mather, professor of psychology at USC Dornsife.
There is only so much time now, there is still time now, there is always enough time to focus on what’s good and right and true and beautiful and all that’s saturated with the grace of Love.
The only thing that really is on the downhill slide after we depart our youth, isn’t the good life, but rather it’s the negative life that starts to decline
I refuse to believe it’s too late and I scratch it down in my journal there on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains:
One has been formed into joy who has radically accepted the present moment as a gift, who keeps enjoying the all-encompassing presence of God,
who has belly laughed with fresh-faced, gleeful babies and time-worn women whose faces are mapped with the lines of a glorious life,
who has, day after day, put their hand to the plow and did not turn back from the earthy, hard work of their one life even when it seemed like nothing quite turned out, who has gratefully lived with great generosity, and brave vulnerability, and surrendered cruciformity, whose life was a gift, whose love was a given.
And when I open the Word, it falls to where I’m chronologically at in my reading, the book of Ecclesiastes and the lines:
And I’m smiling at such an apt reading and the timeliness of how God speaks and I try to believe this about time on the top of a mountain, when my eyes fall upon the words in the next chapter:
“The fool sits back and takes it easy,
Sloth isn’t what you think, but at its core – sloth is when we resist God’s daily and steady work of transforming us; sloth is when we refuse God, refuse to surrender to the sacred work of being remade, refuse to die to old habits so we can be made new.
Whatever your age, only the fool sits back and slides flippantly down, but the wise never sit back and take it easy – but take heart and live wholeheartedly because life isn’t a gift you dare squander. Whatever your age:
Sloth is slow suicide by self.
Wasn’t it Josef Pieper, theologian and philosopher, who spoke of sloth as resistance to God and all God purposed for you to be with your one and only life?
Sloth isn’t what you think, but at its core – sloth is when we resist God’s daily and steady work of transforming us; sloth is when we refuse God, refuse to surrender to the sacred work of being remade, refuse to die to old habits so we can be made new.
Sloth is when we refuse to allow God to form us into all the glory He meant for us to be.
Sloth is slow suicide by self, refusing the saving, remaking work of God.
The air is rarefied up here in the mountains and I’m breathing deeply with certainty that there is enough time now for the sacred work of watching sunrises with hands raised in worship, enough time to make the brownies, to walk through the woods, read one more chapter, make the call, move the body, journal the words, give the time, sign up for the course, volunteer the hours, hold the reaching hand, be the gospel, be formed cruciform and transform, change your story and write more love into the next chapter. “There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth.”
Atop this mountain slope, just to the east, in front of where the sun rises, there’s a flaming butterfly bush, with these long, supple, purple trusses of flowers nodding in the wind.
Sloth is slow suicide by resistance to who you’re meant to be, & you’re meant to swallow down all this grace & all this possibility, & you’re meant to swill down these sacred moments & do what’s hard & holy & makes you more whole.
And for hours, as I sit still on a mountainside listening to God speak, I witness a swirl of Monarch butterflies, and flitting Red-spotted Purple butterflies with their iridescent wings, descend on blooms, ascend and descend again, drinking all the sweet out of all this glory that is.
You get burning bushes at every turn and I memorize this word from God.
Sloth is slow suicide by resistance to who you’re meant to be, and you’re meant to swallow down all this grace and all this possibility, and you’re meant to swill down these sacred moments and do what’s hard and holy and makes you more whole and you’re meant to swig back everything that is forming you cruciform, and today, and right till your very last breath, you get to suck the sweet dripping nectar right out of life.
When I come down off the mountain, past Turkey Cove Baptist and Possum Lane, and just before I turn at the billboard assuring that Jesus saves you from sin, I already can sense it, how that sign won’t be there anymore, the sign about fires up ahead so watch for the visibility of smoke.
Because I’ve seen my sign and can feel how the smoke’s all cleared and there’s this fire burning sure white-hot sure within.
How do you navigate changes and find the way through transitions…. and lean into the life you’ve always dreamed of — and trust that it’s not too late?
How do actually practically find way to still…. to live out a life of interior stillness in the midst of change and whirling storms —and stay centered on what is central to be steadied and strong?
What does it personally look like to form your mind, your days, your life, into the deeply meaningful, cruciform love of Jesus and let God love you in the ways He deems good and best?
What does it powerfully look like to have a new way of life, a new way of being that rests fully in the hesed lovingkind ways of God — especially now?
August 14, 2023
Why You Need This Happy Relief of Knowing What God Remembers & What God Forgets
I’ve known Susie Larson for years. We first met when I was a guest on her radio show. We talked about the thousands of ways God has shown us His goodness. Susie and I have shared the platform at speaking events, and we’ve enjoyed moments of prayer backstage. We both love Jesus. Love His presence. Treasure His nearness. It’s a grace to welcome Susie to the farm’s table today…
Adapted from Susie’s book, “Closer Than Your Next Breath“
Several years ago, I ran into an old friend at a conference. I smiled when I saw her because I never knew her as a person of faith. But we had some things in common and enjoyed one another’s company. I just loved her.
We found a cozy place to sit, leaned in, and caught up on life. Her daughter’s new Christian faith had inspired a spiritual hunger in my friend’s heart. I was so grateful!
She looked me in the eyes and said, “Susie, do you remember years ago, when I was going through that terrible divorce?” I nodded, and she continued. “Do you remember when you gave me a hundred dollars for groceries? I’ll never forget that moment. It meant the world to me.”
I sat back in my chair and said, “Hmmm. I don’t remember that at all. But do you want to know what I do remember? Every idiotic thing I’ve ever said, and what I was wearing when I said it!”
We laughed. But my words were sadly true.
How many promises have we abandoned because we deemed them out-of-date given our current season of life? But doesn’t God do some of His best work in the eleventh hour?
I don’t think I’m alone when I say that we’re prone to rehearse the things God has decidedly forgotten. And we’re just as apt to forget the things God has distinctly asked us to remember.
I’ve been camping out in the book of Genesis lately, overwhelmed by all the ways God’s presence shows up in our stories even when we’re unaware.
The Lord promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that he’d become extremely fruitful. Abraham bowed low to the ground but laughed on the inside. You can’t blame him. Yes, he’d received a promise from the Lord, but he was a shriveled old man.
Imagine him waking up slowly each morning to creaky joints and an achy back. It takes him forever to go to the bathroom, and he often forgets where he left his sandals. Not exactly prime conditions for a newborn. It was Sarai’s idea (not God’s) that Abram should sleep with her servant, so she’d get pregnant and give them a son. Yet when her idea backfired, she blamed her husband.
How many promises have we abandoned because we deemed them out-of-date given our current season of life? But doesn’t God do some of His best work in the eleventh hour?
And before we judge Abraham for bowing low while laughing on the inside, how often do we go through life with a similar disconnect?
It’s easy to sing worship songs while running through the grocery list in our heads. It’s instinctive to speak Christian phrases without believing them in our hearts.
Here’s the thing: We disengage our hearts when we go through the motions. And when we disengage our hearts, we disconnect from our faith.
Faith is our fuel, and our actions give us traction. Nothing happens in the spiritual realm when we say one thing and believe another. We spin our wheels while the Enemy has his heyday in our lives.
We disengage our hearts when we go through the motions. And when we disengage our hearts, we disconnect from our faith.
But when we dig down deep and grab hold of the faith God imparted to us when we received His Son, and when we choose to believe and therefore speak words consistent with God’s promises, the ground trembles beneath our feet. Mountains move, waters part. Hearts change. Heaven notices. And God’s purposes are established in and all around us.
You may occasionally forget who you are, but God never does.
You may remember your sins ad nauseum, but God never does.
He remembers why He made you and how He made you.
God knows what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. He knows what fires you up and what breaks your heart. He loves the masterpiece He crafted in you. God remembers His covenant to you. He remembers His promises.
He knows where you’re weak and gives you the strength you need when you need it most.
So even when your heart disconnects from your faith because you’re weary in the waiting, God—in His grace—draws near to remind you what’s true. God’s nearness is always for our good.
When God draws near, His presence shines a light on our hearts. We suddenly see what we missed only moments ago. Conviction moves us to repentance. God’s love draws us close. Jesus’ blood washes away our sin. And heaven rewards our steps of obedience.
When we choose to believe and therefore speak words consistent with God’s promises, the ground trembles beneath our feet. Mountains move, waters part. Hearts change. Heaven notices. And God’s purposes are established in and all around us.
We are children of God. Safe and secure. Loved and called. Our names are written in heaven. Our sins are at the bottom of the sea. God’s willingness to forget and His power to remember make us the most blessed creatures of all creation.
Though the road to salvation is narrow, the love of God runs deep and wide.
True, there’s only one way to the Father, and that’s through His Son, Jesus Christ. But it’s also true that we may find ourselves utterly surprised on judgment day when we find out who’s there and who’s not.
Some of God’s precious children will cross the finish line still tempted by their addictions (until they see Jesus). Others will stumble over the finish line, burned out and stressed out (until they see Jesus). On that great day when Jesus returns, He’ll find mature believers and immature ones, selfless and selfish ones, those full of faith and those still battling fear. Those who lingered long hours with Him and those who, like Lot, lingered too long with the world. But when we finally see Him, we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
We’re saved by grace and sealed by the Holy Spirit. And we’re all in different places on our journey. But God knows our names. He knows about our faith and our fruit. Nothing is hidden from Him. Every one of us is sometimes a pile of contradictions, yet He still lavishly loves us and is proud to call us His own. It’s grace that has saved us. The Spirit that has sealed us. And faith that changes us.
Draw near to Him. Invite Him to work wonders in your life. Listen for His voice. Do what He says. And trust Him when you can’t see, sense, or hear Him.
He’s with you even now.
And He’s committed to leading you every step of the way until you’re safely home.
Susie Larson is a popular radio talk show host, national speaker, and bestselling author. The author of twenty-two books, Susie is also a veteran in the fitness field and has twice been voted a top-ten finalist for the John C. Maxwell Transformational Leadership Award. Susie and her husband live near Minneapolis with their three sons, three daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren. Susie’s passion is to see people everywhere awakened to the value of their soul, the depth of God’s love, and the height of their calling in Christ Jesus.
Susie’s new book, Closer Than Your Next Breath explores the gift of God’s presence—even when we can’t feel Him. God is omnipresent—meaning He’s here, there, everywhere all at the same time—so no matter what you’re going through today or worried about facing tomorrow, He is closer than you can imagine, and His presence changes everything.
[ Our humble thanks to Thomas Nelson for their humble partnership in today’s devotional. ]
August 12, 2023
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [8.12.2023]
Happy, happy, happy weekend!
Come along with us here because who doesn’t need a bit of good news?
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:
Jacqui Wakelam – Photographer
Jacqui Wakelam – Photographer
Jacqui Wakelam – Photographer
Jacqui Wakelam – Photographer
Jacqui Wakelam – PhotographerThe way she captures beauty – just stunning
Words every mama raising Jesus-loving babies needs—
“Every mom teaches theology” with 4 really amazing keys for discipling our kid-disciples
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Praise on TBN (@praiseontbn)
THESE WORDS.
On friendship—“I’m 28, he’s 85. Our time together has taught me about friendship”-don’t miss this.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Tanner Olson | writer and podcaster (@writtentospeak)
Toy trucks at church – and might Jesus have had it this way too? ;)
< Oh goodness! TEARS. >
“You are the infinite God of the ages
Yet You chose to make my heart Your dwelling place…
Who else is worthy?
There is no one, only You Jesus”
Winners of nature photography competition & words don’t even do these justice!
You just have to go see these—
View this post on InstagramA post shared by 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 (@majicallynews)
< grin >
View this post on InstagramA post shared by K to the 2nd Letter (@kb_hga)
WOW.
Listen: turning devices into instruments with Andy Crouch.
Give this one a listen!
–Dennis Quaid on his white light experience and how it led him to God–
AMAZING.
Navigating change and transitions? Us too.
And our hearts are about splitting but THIS, this is the only real way to navigate the ebbs and flows of life and family and transitions…
“God wants us to laugh” – this is just soul-good.
maybe all just need a good laugh and a little joy this weekend?
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Janne Ford (@jannelford)
-heartburst!-
what a dream! and to accomplish at 84?
never think a dream in your heart is too small or unattainable
Read Kat Armstrong‘s recent guest post: Even the Worst of Us Gets an Invitation
Don’t miss Anne Graham Lotz and Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright’s recent guest post: How (Your) Simple Kindness is Part of Saving the World
come on a glory soak through our beautiful country with us?
This one is reaching such deep places..
“One, just One, just One found worthy
Holy is the Lord on high
You’re glory fills the temple“
[from our Facebook community – join us?]
Deep breath. Whisper it to your soul:
I don’t have to perform for Him today. I am sung over today.
*He performs His love for me.*
I am delighted in. I am rejoiced over. I am loved on.
Today, I’m listening everywhere for His love song over me.
“The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
*He will take great delight in you;
in His love He will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing*.”
~ Zephaniah 3.17
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.
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