Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 38

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [1.28.2023]

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:

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

some winter sweetness to start off your weekend…

YES!!! to find our true purpose…
“…we can reject God’s existence but we can’t stop wanting him. We were made in his image, and we’ll never find ourselves until we find ourselves in him.”

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A post shared by Andrew Johnson (@manhoodgodsway)

ohhh such a good reminder… for us all

okay you just have to read this one! what a great secret to keep!

there is always such joy in giving, serving, loving and sacrifice.
what can WE do? how can WE love? #bethegift

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A post shared by Dr. Edie|LIFE COACH + Natural Health (@ediewadsworth)

“Your life doesn’t inspire you because comfort and pleasure isn’t inspiring.”
– so good –

this song – whatever you do, don’t miss this one!

*inspiring quotes for helpers from Mr. Rogers*

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A post shared by CAIN (@caintheband)

– now that’s a song to keep on repeat –

Did you see this?! We are *so* excited about this!

So you know that playlist in your head that plays over & over on all our digital screens,
that somehow got stuck on repeat?

Truth is, social media streams can beat you down with a refrain of inferiority —
that becomes the beat of the song that pounds around in your heart,
beating up parts of you & shattering your sense of security.

Maybe it’s time for a new song! A BRAVE SONG!
That tells you who you *really* are…are you ready to start a new mental playlist?
(Really. Your soul will thank you for this one.)

Tired of Social Media’s Soundtrack That You’re Less than?
You Really need this BRAVE SONG About who you Really Are

*Don’t miss this one*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

Look (!!) All that You get free
for Pre-Ordering Your Brave Song now

We’ve put together one glorious bundle of FREE gifts for you, so we can put some joy into your hands now,especially for you and the brave hearts in your life, to profoundly thank you from the absolute bottom of our hearts for pre-ordering Your Brave Song.

When you pre-order, (Your Brave Song will arrive just after Feb. 7th, perfect for Valentine’s Day!) and you’ll get, all as free bonus gifts!

  Printable Lunchbox Cards with words of affirmation (also make great Valentines cards for friends!)

  Identity in Christ Pocket Cards: Print these & tuck in your pocket or purse or backpack, & you get a new playlist in your head and heart, of who you really are in Christ!

  Identity in Christ Art Prints: to rest that In Christ you are: Soul-Safe, Brave, and Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. Seen, Heard, Free, Known, and Redeemed. Accepted and Protected,  Strengthened and Strong, and you Belong. You are held in the arms of God who sings a love song over you, for you, because of you. And today you are a love song back to Him.

  “You Are Loved” Printable Party Pack : a HUGE 50-page printable kit with everything you need to throw a “You Are Loved” party for ANYONE in your life. This kit includes party invitations, favor gift tags, photo booth props, cupcake toppers, a cake topper, a coloring page, note cards / table tents, 8×10 artwork/signs for decorations, & a “you are loved” banner!

Get all the details & give us your deets, to get ALL your free gifts over on the Your Brave Song book page — & Have God’s Song ABOUT YOU on Repeat in your heart. Order Your Brave Song & Get ALL Your FREE Gifts

Each situation is very different and sometimes what is best & right & good, is definitely not this…
but there is a real time and place to think of our relationships in terms of repair and remain.

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A post shared by Katy | Outdoor Family | Adventure Mama | Conscious Parenting (@katyrobinbird)

queue the tears!

you’ve just got to read this! this boy? his dreams? truly amazing!
A million little ways we can love and help and spread gift…

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A post shared by Upworthy (@upworthy)

oh what a sweetheart! to see her dreams come true? < happy tears >

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

– we all just need a bit of lighthearted cuteness for our weekend –

*on letting your kids go – so good for a mama’s heart*

what this woman does with her one God-given life? wow! yes!
(and what will we do with ours?)

– well this is just beyond adorable –

On the Book Stack at the Farm

Don’t miss Alli Patterson‘s recent guest post: Why You Need to Take a Risk on God

Read Kat Armstrong‘s recent guest post: Growing Hopeful When Life is Hard

come along and enjoy this with us?
glory, glory, glory

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. 

Tired of Social Media’s Soundtrack That You’re Less than? You Really need this BRAVE SONG About who you Really Are

I’m sorry for that soundtrack that somehow got stuck on repeat in your head because it’s been playing on loop in mine too.

You know.

You are your mental playlists.

That playlist that gets tracking through the neural matter of your mind, that someone cranked too loud with that refrain you’d never allow to reverberate in the head of anyone else, that sings these circles ‘round your soul:

Why am I the odd guy out in a world of insiders, why do I have all these wrinkles throughout my life, where everyone else has all these filters, why is my life a veritable circus when everyone else’s life is more like the red velvet balcony booth at the symphony?

And all our digital screens keep scrolling, like a player piano with its roll of programmed notes — and that song of deficiency keeps cranking till its screaming on repeat in far too many weary heads.

Your social streams can beat you down with a refrain of inferiority — that becomes the beat of the song that pounds around in your heart, beating up parts of you and shattering your sense of security.
Social streams shape your only soul.

“Decades ago, researchers found that if you left a woman alone in a room with a stack of magazines and let her leaf through them, her body image and self-esteem tanked,” notes Melissa Hung, PhD, associate director of clinical training at the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Psychology.

“The difference is that those magazines weren’t in people’s hands 24/7,” she says. “They weren’t the last thing they looked at before they went to sleep, the very first thing they looked at in the morning, the thing they checked at lunch.”

But now we’re constantly carrying these flickering magazines around in our hands and how do you keep showing up when everywhere you turn, you can hear this drumming that you can’t keep up with all the people looking happier, hustling faster, cooking better, laughing louder at bigger tables with more seats?

Your social streams can beat you down with a refrain of inferiority — that becomes the beat of the song that pounds around in your heart, beating up parts of you and shattering your sense of security.

You are your mental playlists.

Social streams shape your only soul.

And in a loud world, we need a louder, surer song, the song that sings far beyond the walls of this small world and straight across the expanse of this whole reverberating universe.

What you get to to do is turn down the song of inferiority in your head and turn up the song of identity, of who you really are, that’s sung over you, that’s sung because you.

What you get to do do is turn down the song of inferiority in your head and turn up the song of identity, of who you really are, that’s sung over you, that’s sung because you.

This song is as real as the oxygen filling your lungs right in this moment.

“The Lord your God … is always with you.
He celebrates and sings because of you…” Zeph. 3:17 CEV

The Triune God sings the most divine love song because of you, because His heart cannot silently contain His love for you. The God of the heavens is not far off, but here, right here, and the wonder of your presence moves the Maker of the universe to burst into song! Let the reality of that soundtrack literally resonate off the walls of your soul!

“Can you imagine it? Is it possible to conceive of the Deity breaking into a song: Father, Son and Holy Ghost together singing over the redeemed?” marvels the esteemed Charles Spurgeon.

The God who’s very voice spoke light out of the dark, He actually delights in you and He absolutely refuses to let anyone stay in the dark about His insuppressible love for you.

This is not cliche poetry. This is cosmic reality.

“Einstein…. tells us that the real universe is not silent, but is actually alive with vibrating energy,” writes the American Scientist. “Space and time carry… vibrations with textures and timbres as rich and varied as the din of sounds in a tropical rain forest or the finale of a Wagner opera. It’s just that we haven’t heard those sounds yet. The universe is a musical that we’ve been watching all this time as a silent movie.”

Now is the time to hear His love song across space.

Pause the beats of all the social streams and listen, listen:

The voice of God serenades your soul and the stars. You are the catalyst of the love canticles of Christ.

Attune the soul to the opera of His passion. Listen:

The God who took nothing and spoke everything into being, He takes wild joy in you and the Almighty breaks into an ardent aria because of you.

These aren’t mere words, but in Christ, this is your true life story.

“God is so happy in the love which He bears to His people that He breaks the eternal silence, and sun and moon and stars, with astonishment, hear God chanting a hymn of joy…” writes the venerable theologian, Charles Spurgeon.

Can you hush all your soul and hear it even now, how the Maker of heaven and earth makes music not just over you, but because of you, that the Word is moved to writes love songs because you — you — move Him, that a heavenly symphony plays the strings of God’s heart, and one singular, divine baritone breaks into the megaphone of the endless love beating within the holy heart of Love Himself for you, for you, for you.

The voice of God serenades your soul and the stars.

You are the catalyst of the love canticles of Christ.

It’s not too late to change the beat in your head, in your heart; it’s never too late to change the beat in the hearts of the people you love.

The moment you feel weary of how life’s waves keep beating you down — is precisely the moment you need to hear the beat of God’s love song over you, because of you.

The more you can hear who you are in Christ, the less you hear the world telling you who you aren’t. Only the Word gets the last word about who you really are. And Jesus doesn’t attempt to improve who you are — Jesus actually imparts to you a wholly new heart 

The more you can hear who you are in Christ, the less you hear the world telling you who you aren’t.  

The more you turn to gaze on His face, the more you fully see who you truly are.

Only the Word gets the last word about who you really are. And Jesus doesn’t attempt to improve who you are — Jesus actually imparts to you a wholly new heart.

You’re no longer marked by shame, because the marks in His hands underline your name.
You’re no longer bound by failure and fear, because you’re found in Him, held secure, no lies can slither near.
You’re no longer held to a crushing standard of perfection, but held close in His arms of safest grace.

At the heart of Christianity, is that you get a new heart, and a new identity.

What God says about your identity, is who you are in reality.

And your identity isn’t based on what you think of yourself, or what what anyone else thinks of you — your identity is based on the belovedness that God actually sings over you.

You need your own brave song.

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

Look (!!) All that You get free
for Pre-Ordering Your Brave Song now

We’ve put together one glorious bundle of FREE gifts for you, so we can put some joy into your hands now,especially for you and the brave hearts in your life, to profoundly thank you from the absolute bottom of our hearts for pre-ordering Your Brave Song.

When you pre-order, (Your Brave Song will arrive just after Feb. 7th, perfect for Valentine’s Day!) and you’ll get, all as free bonus gifts!

  Printable Lunchbox Cards with words of affirmation (also make great Valentines cards for friends!)

  Identity in Christ Pocket Cards: Print these & tuck in your pocket or purse or backpack, & you get a new playlist in your head and heart, of who you really are in Christ!

  Identity in Christ Art Prints: to rest that In Christ you are: Soul-Safe, Brave, and Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. Seen, Heard, Free, Known, and Redeemed. Accepted and Protected,  Strengthened and Strong, and you Belong. You are held in the arms of God who sings a love song over you, for you, because of you. And today you are a love song back to Him.

  “You Are Loved” Printable Party Pack : a HUGE 50-page printable kit with everything you need to throw a “You Are Loved” party for ANYONE in your life. This kit includes party invitations, favor gift tags, photo booth props, cupcake toppers, a cake topper, a coloring page, note cards / table tents, 8×10 artwork/signs for decorations, & a “you are loved” banner!

Get all the details & give us your deets, to get ALL your free gifts over on the Your Brave Song book page — & Have God’s Song ABOUT YOU on Repeat in your heart. Order Your Brave Song & Get ALL Your FREE Gifts

Why You Need to Take a Risk on God

When you think of someone who’s a “risk-taker,” do you put yourself on that list? Too many of us don’t because that word conjures up images of jumping out of airplanes. But author Alli Patterson redefines risk as the essential practice at the heart of real faith. She encourages us to expand our view of risk, and embrace the idea that the security, trust and certainty in God that we all desire is actually sitting on the other side of risks, large and small. Alli’s biblical wisdom and challenging encouragement to move, reminded me that the faith of a follower of Christ is dead without the willingness to move at his Word. It’s a grace to welcome Alli to the farm’s table today… 

Guest Post by Alli Patterson

One day at my boss’s request, I walked into her office and sat down. I had given my two weeks’ notice a few days before that. I was leaving my career to pursue what I thought was a God-given opportunity.

My boss slid a paper across the desk and said, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I glanced down and saw a curved graph on the paper in front of me. Based on my current level, pay, and performance rating, it showed my projected salary and bonus structure over the coming five years. She wanted me to see in black and white what I was walking away from. I listened to her tell me about all the money that was about to come my way and promised to consider things one last time. I walked out feeling the weight of this risk and thinking, Of course I don’t know what I’m doing.

Risk isn’t a personality trait; it’s a skill you can learn, strengthen, and grow.

I had never thought of myself as a risk-taker. Unfortunately, that self-assessment is pretty common—especially among women—but it’s wrong.

Risk isn’t a personality trait; it’s a skill you can learn, strengthen, and grow. And you must. Risk is an essential part of living out the three rhythms of coming to Jesus, hearing his Word, and putting it into practice.

If you are trying to come, hear, and practice, then it’s going to lead you straight into a risk. Warm up to it.

Taking risks is critical for a strong foundation. 

You’ve probably had more experience than you think. You need a robust view of risk if you’re going to live a robust life of faith.

The word ‘risk’ conjures up images of skiing black diamond slopes but goes way beyond physical feats. It can be the willingness to start a conversation with a stranger, to try to break a long-standing habit, to give away money, or to share something vulnerable with your spouse. It might even be taking your time and energy to design a breast-pump accessory from your experience nursing five kids that you weren’t sure you could get manufactured. (My brilliant friend actually did that.) Come to think of it, having five children is yet another kind of risk!

You take risks all the time—the trick is to get really good at identifying the risks that God is putting in front of you. The risks you take on God himself are the ones that will turn your foundation to rock. Your spiritual life will live or die based on your ability to see and take risks on God.

Most of us are working with an underdeveloped view of risk, and it’s keeping us on shifting ground.

Whatever your risks are, I promise you this: God is going to prove himself faithful.

Wherever your foundation is weak is a place you haven’t gotten good at either seeing or taking risks on God. Risk is the path on which you move toward rock. It’s the way you get to the well-built life you want. Like so many things in God’s kingdom, the way to a strong foundation is the opposite of what you might imagine at first glance.

When I was in my boss’s office that day, her question “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” was like a whisper in my ear telling me the lie that if I had any doubt, then it couldn’t be right, that it couldn’t be God.

Rock isn’t formed under your life by holding tightly to things that feel safe. Rock forms for a strong, secure foundation when we walk willingly, at his invitation, into a risk to follow Jesus. I’m not talking about cliff-jumping or a Vegas roulette–type risk, but rather the ones that emerge as you live out these three rhythms of faith: come, hear, and practice. These three rhythms work together in a repetitive cycle that produces opportunity after opportunity to take risks on God.

Jesus loves any size risk you take because it’s the faith he wants to see.

Your faith in action looks like your willingness to risk something on God. Your faith expands a lot every time you say yes. Your foundation gets a little firmer every time you say yes. With each risk, you gather the evidence God is there, he is gracious, and he’s true to his Word. As you begin to come, hear, and practice, God loves even the tiniest risk.

As with anyone else in your life, you need time and experiences with Jesus to get to know and trust him. Maybe your risk is to trust that the pattern you’re seeing in your life is truly God instead of blowing it off as coincidence. Maybe you need to take a risk to simply rearrange your schedule and give God the first hour of the day to pray and read the Bible. Trust me—I know that time is precious. My risks are often about being willing to be interrupted with my time and say yes to caring for people when it seems like my tasks won’t get done.

Whatever your risks are, I promise you this: God is going to prove himself faithful. Give him the chance to show you. He is good enough to show patience with your doubt and do something huge in your life with the smallest speck of real faith, as Jesus said in Matthew 17:20: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Some risks are tiny. Some are huge.

Jesus loves any size risk you take because it’s the faith he wants to see. He is inviting you to come and see that anytime you stand on him, you end up standing in the end.

Say yes. Whatever it is, do it.

Alli Patterson is an author and Bible teacher currently serving as a teaching pastor at Crossroads Church. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, Alli is passionate about helping others connect with God through his living and written Word so they can walk in the strength and power of God’s wisdom. She lives with her husband, Bill, four kids and a bratty calico cat in Cincinnati, OH. Alli is a fan of Mexican food, Ohio State football, geeky Bible maps and timelines, pedicures, long runs and good books.

Trouble in this life may be inevitable but collapse is not. Live each day strong, hopeful and connected to Jesus. How to Stay Standing is the modern Christian’s manual for developing an unyielding faith and a life that stands firm no matter what comes at you next.

Based on words from Jesus himself in the parable of the wise and foolish builders, Alli Patterson extracts and explores the 3 essential practices for your faith every day that will dig down and put your feet on a foundation of rock so that your next season is all about How to Stay Standing.

[ Our humble thanks to Revell for their partnership in today’s devotional. ]

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [1.21.2023]

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:

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

ahhh… this winter beauty and stillness

OK, this is such a needed reminder over here! for you, too?
God’s pleasure in everyday, ordinary tasks

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A post shared by The Giving Tree, Kenmore NY (@thegivingtreekenmoreny)

loving our neighbor doesn’t have to be hard and complex – what a great idea this New Yorker had!
#bethegift

what stops us from praying? and how can we turn it around?
some great conversation and practical tools –
(plus they talk about our favorite BREATH PRAYER!)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Good News Movement (@goodnews_movement)

< so. many. tears! >
There is so much kindness and care in the world!!!

– now this is just the cutest! –

*deep, biblical encouragement for any of us facing suffering*
…and those loving friends in hard days

– well worth a listen this weekend –

okay!! who do you know that could use encouragement?
this is important Kingdom work too! Who are you going to write to this weekend?

when we feel weak and overwhelmed.. THIS RIGHT HERE

< aww!! now this is seriously the sweetest! >

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

are you looking for a little extra JOY this season? Read this!
may we be lookers -and finders- of beauty in ALL things 

< you just HAVE to see this sneak peek of what they’re building in China!! >

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A post shared by Good News Movement (@goodnews_movement)

>> PURE DELIGHT <<

ooh, we want to try this!
the surprising power of taking a tech sabbath (and actually unplugging)

that crowds of Californians are gathering around and chasing THIS? so beautiful!

this might just be the stillness we crave this weekend – pause, quiet, and listen?
take in these Scriptures of His promises for *YOU* this weekend

– what a song to put on repeat this weekend –

“You are worthy of it all,
You are worthy of it all,
For from You are all things,
And to You are all things,
You deserve the glory”

[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. 

Growing Hopeful When Life is Hard

The Bible is a literary masterpiece. But it sure doesn’t feel like that all the time. Kat Armstrong is on a mission to fix that. She wants to spark your holy curiosity and help you put your faith back together. No matter the mountain you’re climbing or the valley you’re walking through, you can see and understand the storylines woven through Scripture. It’s a grace to welcome Kat to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Kat Armstrong

Dr. Rev. JoAnn Hummel likes to joke that she’d never even climbed a tree before she set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She was fifty-four years old—with two arthroscopic knee surgeries under her caps—when the mission of the Freedom Challenge compelled her to hike eight days to the summit of Africa’s tallest mountain.

I didn’t understand why she would go eight days without a shower or wake up at midnight, every night, to hike for hours in freezing temperatures—until JoAnn explained that her adventure would raise money for the rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked people. She was on a mission.

The sheer achievement and the important cause would have been joy enough. And summitting Kilimanjaro created a lifelong bond among the women in her hiking group, producing stories they will relive until glory. But JoAnn also delighted in a deeply personal experience with God on Mount Kilimanjaro––an encounter forged in adversity that fundamentally changed her perspective.

As you climb nineteen thousand feet up the largest freestanding mountain in the world, the air
gets thin. Real thin. The higher you go, JoAnn explained, the less you can talk because you have to focus on your breathing; oxygen is harder to come by with each step. Concentrating only on the air drawing in and out of her lungs sustained her when the mountain’s terrain felt impossible.

With each labored inhale and exhale, JoAnn began to understand what it means that God is closer than our breath.

When your life feels like an impossibly high mountain to climb, and when you are winded from adversity, Jesus can calm your fears with his nearness. 

I would have been scared out of my mind doing what JoAnn did. When I told her this, she said, “The fear was real, but Jesus was close.” And isn’t this profound wisdom for how you and I can process the fears of life?

When your life feels like an impossibly high mountain to climb, and when you are winded from adversity, Jesus can calm your fears with his nearness. 

He is as close to you as your own breath.

JoAnn set out to climb in solidarity with human-trafficking victims and raise awareness of their plight, and she accomplished her goals. But she also cultivated hope in adversity, a skill we could all stand to develop.

Mountains were the highpoint of the ancient world’s terrain and the metaphorical high points of our faith life too. The Mount of Transfiguration continues to be the peak that takes my breath away, where I feel God’s nearness the most. The Transfiguration was the mountaintop experience where Jesus showed Peter, James, and John how to deal with distressing circumstances––with a glimpse of Christ’s future glory.

I know you might be in one of life’s snowstorms right now, or maybe your story is paused on a massive cliffhanger. Hang on a bit longer. The way Jesus encourages his disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration will bolster your faith.

I know you might be in one of life’s snowstorms right now… Hang on a bit longer.

Six days before Jesus’ transfiguration, he’d been teaching his disciples about his upcoming death. Can you imagine how alarming that would have been for Jesus’ disciples? Although Peter had just confessed his faith in Jesus as Messiah, none of the disciples could comprehend how much Jesus’ kingship was going to cost them.

The cross would come before glory.

Jesus’ actions on the Mount of Transfiguration were meant to help his disciples process the troubling announcement of his death and the intimidating truth that followers of Jesus need to deny themselves and take up their cross to truly be a Christ follower.

One of the ways we grow hopeful when life is hard is to listen to Jesus. I know it sounds overly simplistic, but if I’m honest, I really struggle to listen to Jesus. In my life, his voice gets crowded out by all the Zoom meetings, chattering kiddos running through the house, doorbell delivery rings, and the onslaught of notifications and ads coming my way through social media. Perhaps one of the reasons God positions the Transfiguration on a mountaintop is to move his disciples away from the noise and distractions of their lives . . . so they can pay attention to only his voice.

Perhaps one of the reasons God positions the Transfiguration on a mountaintop is to move his disciples away from the noise and distractions of their lives . . . so they can pay attention to only his voice.

Some of my friends who have been pastored or mentored by JoAnn, the Mount Kilimanjaro climber, call her their “ministry godmother”. Ever the shepherd of those she leads, JoAnn wrote devotionals for her Freedom Challenge climbing group. Of course she did. One of her Mount Kilimanjaro devotionals happened to be a teaching on Jesus’ transfiguration.

Here is her Transfiguration takeaway: Jesus wants to transfigure you.

Jesus desires for you and me to be changed by his revelation and then, JoAnn says, take our “newly given clarity back to the people and lives given to us.”

You probably have a God story or two you retell often when sharing about your faith. For Peter, James, and John, Jesus’ change in appearance would certainly be one such story. I’m convinced those three disciples were transfigured at the Transfiguration—because it showed up in the writing of each of them later in their lives. And here’s what transformed in their lives: They gained hope to carry on when life got hard.

Do you ever feel like your faith or Bible reading is fragmented? Dissecting passages or pulling verses to apply to your life may not lead to an organized understanding of Scripture. The Storyline Bible Studies follow a person, place, or thing to thematically guide you to a cohesive understanding of the Bible.

The Mountains Bible study will guide you through five mountaintop Bible stories because mountains are holy ground for connecting with God. In the Valleys Bible Study you will discover how God repurposes valley settings throughout Scripture to signal tests of faith–and deepening of confidence in the One who is with us in the valley. No matter the mountain you’re climbing or the valley you’re walking through, these studies can help you see and understand the storylines woven through Scripture.

Each study is five weeks and pairs with its thematic partner. Get free guides for small groups or preaching at The Storyline Project.

[ Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotion. ]

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [1.14.2023]

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 – Photographer

would you take a pause this weekend
to behold the glory and beauty of our Creator?

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what a breathtaking sight!

ohh! a literary treasure hunt for kids?! now THIS is a fun idea!

a stranger gives a $15,000 piano to this amazing autistic boy –
if you watch one thing this weekend, make sure it’s THIS!

“I give You the glory 
Again and again 
This praise isn’t for me 
My worship is only 
To give You the glory”

THIS! So much this!

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< ohh! this is just too much cuteness! >

Ok, I SO want to try what this park ranger started in a city park?
hint: it’s not what you think! and something we are ALL FOR!!

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tears!!
>>YOU are so deeply loved like this too<<

THESE right here – important, sacred words on death and the best gifts… this is worth reading.

“To ignore death is not to create a culture of life. It’s to avoid the thing that makes a truly good life possible…   The values of death are the ones we should live by. They are truer: a kind of final analysis, freed from the distractions and short-term vanity of our daily lives.”

what these grandparents are doing to be intentional with their grandkids?
READ THIS ONE. inspiring and beautiful and calling us ALL to a higher level

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this college basketball star just went absolutely over and above to love his sister
wow, wow, wow! #bethegift

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

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– now those are words to cling to! –

this unsuspecting anglican priest, professor, and poet – a poet for bruised evangelicals …

THIS powerful key to freedom and
ideas to create a healthy confessional community of your own

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how adorable are these little ones?!

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“…though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us.”
What powerful words to hold onto!

On the Book Stack at the Farm

Don’t miss Trillia Newbell‘s recent guest post: 52 Weeks in the Word: A Surprising Benefit from A Year Reading God’s Word

Read Barb Hill‘s recent guest post: How To Overcome Feeling Stuck

it really is beautiful, this earth He has given us.
enjoy it with us this weekend? come along for awhile and breathe in peace

“Christ is my firm foundation
When everything around me is shaking
He won’t fail”

[from our Facebook community – join us?]

Yeah, it may feel like Mount Everest in front of you.
But the deal is:
*Every mountain that every Christian ever faces,
the Lord levels with sufficient grace: The Lord Will Provide.*

You don’t have to climb mountains named I Will Perform.
You don’t have to climb mountains named I Will Produce.

Jesus *flattens* that mountain before you with His Grace:
*The Lord will Provide.*

With enough strength.
With enough wisdom.
With More Than Enough of Himself.

More important than you trying to muster up sufficient *grit and determination* for the new year — is that you simply accept *His sufficient grace and LIBERATION* every day.

Every single mountain in front of you is named…
“The Lord will provide.” Genesis 22:14

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. 

How To Overcome Feeling Stuck

After years of waiting to start a family of her own, Barb Hill decided to write a book that she believes will resonate with so many. With every twist and turn of disappointment and grief that waiting brought, she learned that although it appears our waiting seasons only come into our lives to take and withhold, there is so much goodness veiled within this difficult experience. Barb not only shares sacred details and insights from her own waiting seasons but narrates the many conversations about waiting she has had with her clients as a trauma therapist. In her book, Seasons of Waiting: An Invitation to Hope, Barb not only invites us to hope again, but she also encourages us to release the shame and fear that has entangled itself around our hearts and exchange it for the peace and freedom we long for. It’s a grace to welcome Barb to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Barb Hill

‘“Hope” is the thing with
feathers That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the
words And never stops at all.”
– Emily Dickinson

A while back, a friend and I were exchanging stories about times our futures felt out of focus and uncertain. My friend shared that she felt left behind in life. Everyone around her seemed to be catapulting into the next season of their lives, but she felt lost and exhausted.

I would leave each event feeling the painful tug between celebration for those I loved and grief for dreams unfulfilled.

We agreed that some of our most trying times came when we felt torn between urgency to make a decision and the desire for God’s direction.

When my friend shared her confused and exhausted feelings, I resonated with them deeply, and as we talked together, a slideshow of memories began flashing across my mind.

So, many of them revolved around bridal showers, weddings, and baby showers I had either coordinated or been a part of.

The bittersweetness of these occasions were often too much for my heart to bear.

I would leave each event feeling the painful tug between celebration for those I loved and grief for dreams unfulfilled.

I not only felt the tension between the bitter and the sweet of these occasions, I felt the push and pull between the pressure of losing time and the desire to choose what was best for me.

This tug-of-war inside my heart made me feel stuck—arrested between my experience and someone else’s.

This tug-of-war inside my heart made me feel stuck—arrested between my experience and someone else’s.

Ultimately, it felt like a war waging inside me between faith and sight.

As a therapist, this “stuck feeling” is a common complaint I hear from my clients and is often the catalyst for many to seek therapy.

Feeling stuck is immobilizing and parallels a freeze response, one of four trauma responses (along with fight, flight, and fawn).

When we’re stuck, we feel frozen, unable to make the next move.

This response could be a result of fear triggering a trauma-like response.

When we’re stuck, we feel frozen, unable to make the next move.

Our conversation and the memories that re-played in my mind reminded me of when the Israelites escaped Egypt and were traveling toward the Promised Land.

They faced an impassable Red Sea and the terrifying sound of their enemies pursuing them. They froze in fear.

This trauma response stemmed not only from the immediate terror, but also from four hundred and thirty years of generational trauma as slaves.

Moses offered this powerful charge: “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again” (Exodus 14:13, NLT).

If fear caused them to freeze, then faith could empower them to stand still.

This story holds so much wisdom for us. If fear caused them to freeze, then faith could empower them to stand still.

Their outward position wouldn’t change, but their mental and emotional posture could shift from fear to faith.

I’m not suggesting you need more faith to overcome fear, but exercising the faith you do have, however small, empowers you with truth that supersedes the fear of the moment.

This story also shines a spotlight on the collision between the spiritual and the natural as you make decisions.

…exercising the faith you do have, however small, empowers you with truth that supersedes the fear of the moment.

The “standing still,” “not yets,” and “hold ons” allow space for God to arrange circumstances so the scene and season you are walking into is prepared for you.

There are practical implications for your waiting, and God asks you to stand still so you can move forward.

If you’re waiting for financial provision, a healing, a breakthrough, or just the next step, God’s word to you first is to stand still.

Barb Hill is a writer and licensed mental health therapist whose life journey has been full of twists, turns, and detours—invaluable lessons and teaching moments that have shaped her passion for supporting others in both their navigation of faith and mental health.

Barb’s debut book, Seasons of Waiting: An Invitation to Hope, is a 52-week devotional in which she comes alongside the reader as a compassionate guide to validate the disorienting experience of waiting. As we journey through each season together, something transformative happens–-we begin to see God, ourselves, and our waiting differently. This transformation reorients our hearts and minds so we can embrace a more fruitful way of waiting; one that empowers us to live wholeheartedly.

[ Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in this devotional. ]

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [1.7.2023]

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:

Danny Green – Photographer Danny Green – Photographer Danny Green – Photographer Danny Green – Photographer Danny Green – Photographer

start the weekend with us breathing in all the majesty of God and His creation?

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– starting off the new year with this heart story… (swipe through…)

What are your reading goals this year?

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what words to cling to and hold dear to our hearts this year!

filling cracks and broken places with art and beauty? isn’t this like the Lord?!
#bethegift

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take a read through this whole New Year’s Blessing – this. for you, for each of us.

oh this song! so much yes!!

“My heart desire to draw in close to You
My soul will find it’s only rest in You

In Your presence I am free
I’m captivated by Your peace
You resurrect this heart to light
And only You will satisfy”

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family with six boys has the BEST reaction when they learn they’re having a girl! children really are a GIFT from our kind God :)
don’t miss the whole article here, too

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what a reminder! you can’t shine a light AND look at yourself… so good!

– an easy, non intimidating way to start reading the Bible –
this is so good

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For your reading goals — a little of creative inspiration

he might be crazy… or he might be a HERO.
what this man did? ASTOUNDING!!
#bethegift

this mans resolve in the wake of his son’s death? so so good for all our tender, grieving hearts

Post of the Week From Around These Parts

The one thing we need more than anything else this Christmas and New Year… don’t miss this!

The Real Epiphany Every New Year Needs (Through Storms & Broken Hearts & Heart Surgeries)

Read it here

oh my! for all the battles and hard things we’re fighting and facing…
maybe we can all remind our souls these words!

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YES! Yes, yes, yes!!!

a case for enjoying Scripture – THIS! 5 reasons you’ll grow to enjoy regular Bible reading

THIS! on unceasing prayer with our friends – taking this right into the New Year with us

16 must-have Bible, theology, sermon, and apologetics apps

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this kiddo! just too cute!

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this sure gave us a giggle!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/2157050...

these best friends had babies just two days apart! how much fun is this?!

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

ease into this weekend with these beautiful, Alaskan scenery?
glory, glory, glory

“I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
Over every heart and every mind
‘Cause I know there is peace within Your presence
I speak Jesus”

[from our Facebook community – join us?]

Okay, Soul —
it’s *really* gonna be okay today, this week, this year.

Because in Him, whatever goes bad,
He’ll work it for good. It’s what God does.

He turned water into wine;
He will turn the broken into beautiful.

God’s *line of work* is *transformations* —
so hold on to Him as your *lifeline.*
*You can’t be undone.*

No matter what went down yesterday, (this year) —
today, (this coming year) is your very own fresh canvas and there really is hope:
*The future is as bright as the faithfulness of God.*

He says to you Himself:
“…don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present.
I’m about to do something brand new…
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert.”
(Isaiah 43:18 MSG)

Right now through your most unlikely desert places,
God is making unbelieveable roads… you better believe it!

Yeah, you can go face the day and this new year with brave joy —
God’s. got. your. back.

That’s all for this weekend, friends.

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

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

Share Whatever Is Good. 

The Real Epiphany Every New Year Needs (Through Storms & Broken Hearts & Heart Surgeries)

It’s grey and overcast the morning of the Epiphany, the day of the new year when we turn to mark the three kings coming with their gifts for Jesus, gifts for Light coming into the World for all of us.

And I keep humming it in the early light on the farm:

“What can I give him?
Poor as I am
If I were a shepherd… “

That’s the one line rounding my mind as I tramped through bleak midwinter knee-high drifts in a once-in-a-generation snowstorm, during that midnight hour moving from Christmas Eve to the first moments of Christmas Morn, as I had made my one last check on new lambs, on the whole flock, in the howling, blizzarding dark.

That little girl of ours, whom I’d just tucked in under a glimmer of Christmas tree lights, she was supposed to check in at cardiac in the city hospital during the week of Christmas, for a 6 hour heart ablation.

“Could there be an absolutely more perfect Christmas gift — to get a new heart? ” a friend had smiled gentle, and an ablation is definitely not a heart transplant, which is someday on our horizon, but I got what she was saying about the heart ablation — and in a moment, more than a few fears of mine had melted away.

The week of Christmas had loomed large on our calendar for months: a heart ablation before any Christmas celebration.

We’d explained to our little Shiloh the why, explained to her the how and what of this heart ablation, the need to burn and cauterize that electrical currents that keep jolting her heart to race in wild arrhythmias.

There are days we need to slow our hearts down, to settle down, waiting for Holy Love come down.

All we all wanted for Christmas is a new heart.

Not some new slippers or new mittens or any new techno-gadgets that made some top-ten list.

That’s at the heart of every new year:

In all our heartache for a different story, all our heart longings for more happiness and less failing, all our heart break over all the hard battles in a broken world — all we all long for is a whole and perfect heart.

In all our heartache for a different story, all our heart longings for more happiness and less failing, all our heart break over all the hard battles in a broken world — all we all long for is a whole and perfect heart.

Her cardiologist had unexpectedly called, just right after I’d again confirmed our 3 night reservation in the city, and the re-arranged calendars of our whole family of more than 10, all meeting in the big city the day before her pre-op appointments, and before the 6 hour heart procedure, to make memories together with her in Christmas markets, and up and down candy cane lanes, and through lit gingerbread villages, to carve laughing memories together even deeper into our hearts.

But then her cardiac conference team had reviewed her file one more time.

That’s why the cardiologist was calling me now:

There would be no heart ablation.

Considering everything again, her team made a different call: the risk of dislodging a blood clot, of actually causing a stroke, were considered too high.

“No new heart for Christmas?” She’d asked me with big eyes, and I’d stroked her cheek so gentle, her eyes trying to read mine, and I so wish there was a way to give her heart a new rhythm.

Sitting in the manger straw, in the blustery storm of Christmas Eve giving way to Christmas Morn, stroking the nuzzling cheeks of newborn lambs…all I could think is:

There is literally nothing in all the world I wish I could give our one little wondrous girl more than an ablation and brand new heart rhythm, a new heart with a perfect beat, a steady rhythm, strong and sure and whole. I’m wild to give her long life and more years and certain hope and a new lease on being fully alive, forget whatever you can order, buy, wrap, or return for another size — what the girl needs is a steadied heart.

And on Christmas morn in a storm in the barn with my lambs, here I am, thinking of what I’m desperate to give her, with those words of the chorus ringing like Christmas bells in my head, about what I can actually give Him:

“What can I give him?
Poor as I am
If I were a shepherd
I would give Him a lamb…

If I were a wise man
I would do my part
Yet what can I give him —
Give Him my heart
Give Him my heart.”

One of my lambs lays its head in my open hand, and it’s repeating like a thrumming beat: “Give Him your heart, give Him your heart.”

The Maker of stars, who strung together constellations like diamonds on strings, birthed whole whirling galaxies into being with only a Word, who breathed on to a heap of dust and a human heart began to beat, He is the Gift Giver who already has everything, because He is everything, who made everything, and all He wants in the whole cosmos is the gift of your heart.

Heavenly Love broke into this world to divinely mend all the broken hearts with His.

A shepherd may give the Babe-God a lamb, but the One born in a manger, surrounded by sheep, He is nothing less than the Lamb of God who came to be the Good Shepherd who’d rather die than abandon one of His lambs, the Lamb of God who came to lay down His life because He’s the only One who’s ever loved you to death, the One who is the Lion of Judah on the throne who devours death and raises His own to eternal life, the Lamb of God born into our stinking mess, only to be the King who redeems every mess we’ve ever known.

Do not doubt that real mystery and miracle met in a manger…. and meet in the muck and mire of every single new year.

Heavenly Love broke into this world to divinely mend all the broken hearts with His. Only this Jesus is the Lamb of God who whispers:

Dare give me the gift of your whole heart, and I’ll give you mine and make you whole.

Dare give the Lamb in the manger the gift of your failing heart, and the Lamb won’t fail to give you a new, whole heart.

The new heart we’re wild for, is the new heart we get, because the Lamb in the manger is more than wild enough with a love of us that He’s come to give us His.

That’s always the epiphany: Whatever is going down this New Year, whatever was under the Christmas Tree, because the Lamb in the manger went to Calvary’s Tree, what this old heartbroken world can get for Christmas, for a New Year, is honest new hearts.

The brave woman who honestly can’t bear much more, the man who is, frankly, sick and tired of navigating too much, the tender relationship that’s been bruised and beaten up by much more pain than anyone signed up for, the parent whose carrying much more unspoken broken than they’ll ever have words for… and the little girl whose heart slam races much too fast …

That’s the revelation at the start of every New Year:

The new heart we’re wild for, is the new heart we get, because the Lamb in the manger is more than wild enough with a love of us that He’s come to give us His.

After I had left my new lambs under Christmas stars, and waded through snow up to my hips, all the way back to the house, I had sat a bit with our little girl sleeping in the defiant light of the Christmas tree, our little girl who needs a heart made new.

And by Epiphany, that Christmas carol, “In the Bleak Midwinter” whisper-changed its steadying refrain in my heart, us all coming with the 3 Kings to to Christ and the Light of Him, us all coming with our limping New Year’s resolution and our hopes and fears for this coming next year:

Because He is the Shepherd,
He gives us Himself, the Lamb,

Because He is the wisest,
He does the whole part,

Because what does He give us,
Just what we need most,

He gives us a new heart,
He gives us His heart.

There’s the only real epiphany and truest revelation that any dark or New Year needs…. and the storm begins to melt away and now all the days start moving toward the light.

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

52 Weeks in the Word: A Surprising Benefit from A Year Reading God’s Word

I have known and absolutely loved Trillia Newbell for at least 10 years now and one thing that I know is that she and I share a heart to see men and women know and love their Savior. Trillia is truly one of my most favorite people; you can trust how Trillia handles God Word. I’m so thankful she graced us with this challenge of 52 Weeks in the Word. Her book helps you get in the Word so you can know the Waymaker. Be blessed by this brief reflection from her book and from her heart that faithfully follows after Him.

Guest Post by Trillia Newbell

The Psalms are rich with lament and rejoicing, sorrow and joy, singing and crying. It’s here that we get a sense that there’s permission to feel however we feel and bring it to the Lord. Isn’t that good news? We don’t have to pretend when we approach God. We can bring all of it, all of who we are to Him.

“We don’t have to pretend when we approach God.”

It is in His Word that we learn how to lament and run to the Lord.

I don’t like to lament. I want to be happy and escape from any feelings of longing.

I don’t like the idea of sitting with my feelings. No, thank you!

However, through a series of devastating circumstances, I’ve learned that lamentation is not only appropriate, it’s healthy.

As I’ve suffered and grown in my understanding of lament, much of what I’ve learned has stemmed from reading the Psalms, while also learning about the life of Jesus through the Gospels.

Psalm 42 (along with Psalm 43) is an example of the type of honest, vulnerable, and lamenting language God invites us to share with Him.

In the case of this psalm, it would appear that the psalmist wrote it to be sung congregationally (see the heading before verse 1). He longed for the presence of the Lord and acknowledged his deep sorrow as he waited (vv. 1–3).

Or take for example his honesty about his questions and fears:

My tears have been my food
            day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”(v 3)

Oh that we’d be so vulnerable before our loving Father. He knows our tears. He sees our tears.

In the past, in a season of spiritual depression and sadness, I might have said to my soul, “Suck it up.” But not the psalmist. He doesn’t rely on his own strength and might. Instead, he turns to God:

“Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (vv. 5b–6).

The next time you sense sorrow, exhale: It isn’t a sign of weakness; even Jesus was sorrowful (Isa. 53:3; Matt. 26:38). Rather, it is a sign of our humanity and our need for our Rock and Salvation.

The Psalms remind us that we can take every pain, confusion, and sadness straight to the Lord—they remind us where our help comes from.

What matters even more than learning how to lament — is knowing where to run.

And the very first Psalm helps us gain an understanding where we can find true Hope and experience joy and happiness in the Lord.

Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the lawof the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1-2)

Psalm 1 leads us toward true happiness (blessed), toward a life lived delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night.

You want a blessed life? Read your Bible. Ask the Lord to help you meditate on His Word.

“When we read God’s Word, the goal isn’t to check off a list; it’s to delight in the Lord.”

This is the year: we could delight in the law of the Lord and ultimately be led to a knowledge of and love for our Savior.

This is the year we can learn that Jesus was a man of sorrows.

This is the year where we can see the faithfulness of God to rebellious people. This year, we can taste and see that the Lord is good.

When we read God’s Word, the goal isn’t to check off a list; it’s to delight in the Lord.

One of God’s sweetest gifts, besides Himself, is His Word.

Scripture is God-breathed. Both the Old and New Testaments are His words that reveal Him to us (2 Peter 1:21). The Scriptures are useful, binding, relevant, and true (2 Tim. 3:16–17).

The law is perfect and revives the soul (Ps. 19:7). The Lord uses His Word to bring people to Himself (Rom. 10:17). God has been gracious to give you and me access to know many things about Him: His creation, His desires for us, and, most important, His Son.

Are we reading and treasuring this precious gift? 

What a treasure we have in His Word that we might know the One we will enjoy for eternity.

Have you ever been disappointed or frustrated with your inability for consistent Bible study? Reading through the Bible in a year can feel daunting. It can be hard to know how—or where—to start. Perhaps you just need a friend who follows Jesus to help?

Trillia Newbell is a trusted Bible teacher and lover of the Scriptures. She describes herself as a “forever student” and she’d like nothing more than for you to join her in the grand and thrilling adventure of growing in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ!
She is the author of several books including the latest, 52 Weeks in the Word: A Companion for Reading Through the Bible in a Year.

If you are ready to read through the Bible this year, join us for the 52 Weeks in the Word Challenge!

Sign up and receive monthly encouragement emails from Trillia herself with a downloadable Bible Reading Calendar for the month, her best bible reading/study tips, podcast links, and more fun surprises!

[ Our humble thanks to Moody Publishers for their partnership in today’s devotion ]