Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 42
October 31, 2022
When Suffering is the Soil of a Miracle
Words we never want to hear: “Cancer. Stage four. Terminal.” Yet when Colleen Chao received this unexpected diagnosis, God gave her the most wondrous gift in a dark and unexpected place. In her new book, In the Hands of a Fiercely Tender God, Colleen reminds us to look at the beauty of suffering in light of God’s goodness, and graciously points us back to the Only One who can turn our bitter griefs into breathtaking gifts. It is a grace to welcome Colleen to the farm’s table today…
The summer of 2017 was the first time in a decade that I felt well. I was tucking in more than three hours of sleep each night, I had energy, and the aches and pains of chronic illness were minimal. On top of that, my six-year-old’s health had improved enough for us to experience the edges of normalcy. My husband and I looked at each other and whispered with relief, “We’re not in crisis mode anymore!”
But as I showered before church on a midsummer Sunday morning, I felt a little lump in my right breast. My eyes filled with tears as I wondered, what if this is cancer? After all we’ve been through, what if we’re about to face our biggest health crisis yet? God wouldn’t do that to us, would He?
“Even in the scariest moments, holding my breath for that decisive phone call, mind racing, body trembling—I knew He was with me.”
We began a long and complicated testing process. Some days I had miraculous calm and confidence in God’s goodness. Other days I couldn’t loosen fear’s vise-grip on my heart.
Don’t make me walk this, Lord, I begged Him. And then just as quickly I would add, but if this is where You are going, I want to go with You. I don’t want to miss out on what You’re doing.
Even in the scariest moments, holding my breath for that decisive phone call, mind racing, body trembling—I knew He was with me. And as I hid myself in Him during those waiting weeks, His Spirit clearly impressed upon my spirit: “this lump is a gift.”
What kind of gift, I could not fathom. As we continued to test and wait (and test and wait some more), I hoped for the best, but readied my heart for the worst. Because what if the worst was the gift?
“What if the worst was the gift?”
Early in those 14 weeks of testing, I made a trip to an imaging specialist in San Diego. When I saw the images of my scans that day—I knew. There was no doubt. It was cancer.
I got into my car, trembling from head to toe, and began my ninety-minute drive home. As I drove, I poured out my heart to God—and while I have forgotten most of what I said to Him that day, I will never forget crying out to Him again and again, “Give me more joy and peace than I’ve ever experienced before.”
It wasn’t a timid question: “Would You give me joy and peace, God?” It was a bold request: “If this is where we’re going together, I’m going to need You to give me what I can’t conjure up on my own.”
In those moments, God’s presence seemed to fill every inch of my car. He was surrounding me. He was holding me together. And even as my body trembled and my heart quaked, I knew He was prompting me to cry out for the impossible as we set out for places I did not want to go.
He wanted to give me mind-blowing gifts—but first He wanted me to boldly ask Him for them.
“And here’s the thing about gifts from God: they’re not meant for us alone—they’re meant to be shared.“
And here’s the thing about gifts from God: they’re not meant for us alone— they’re meant to be shared.
I intuitively knew that if God was giving me the gift of cancer, and if He was going to give me supernatural joy and peace to go with it, it would not just be for me—it would be for others as well.
Like the depression and singleness and chronic illness that preceded it, cancer was to usher me into the sacred places of others’ sufferings, allowing me to be a conduit of Christ’s compassion and comfort and love.
F. B. Meyer said, “The grave may be dark and deep, the winter long, the frost keen and penetrating; but spring will come, and the stone be rolled away, and the golden stalk shall wave in the sunshine, bearing its crown of fruit, and men shall thrive on the bread of our experience, the product of our tears and suffering and prayers.”
For the past five years, cancer has been just that: dark and long, keen and penetrating—but all these tears and pains and prayers have been turned not only for my own good, but also for the good of other sufferers. It is the beauty of 2 Corinthians 1:3–7 at work:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer.
And our hope for you is firm because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
Even as I live in the cruelty of this terminal diagnosis, I am forever grateful for the gift God has given me in this suffering and struggle. It has not just been a gift but countless gifts.
Immeasurably good gifts. As for the joy and peace I begged God for five years ago, they have come in stunning proportions. He has out given everything I asked Him for.
Anxiety still pays me the occasional visit, depression peeks his head in every now and then, but joy and peace reign. If you knew me and my history with anxiety and depression, you would understand that is nothing short of miraculous.
“Our deepest sorrows, our sharpest pains, are right where God wants to outgive us with His breathtakingly good gifts.”
God loves working miracles on behalf of His suffering children. We see proof of this throughout Scripture and throughout history. Our deepest sorrows, our sharpest pains, are right where God wants to outgive us with His breathtakingly good gifts. It was Lilias Trotter who wrote, “Take the very hardest thing in your life—the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there, He can bring your soul into blossom!”
Whatever your suffering may be, God can do miracles in you and for you and for those your life touches—miracles of the heart and soul that will echo into eternity.
Even as our hearts quake in our suffering, we can ask for more peace and more joy and more faith and more hope and more wisdom—and we can trust that a fiercely tender God is holding us together and working these wonders in our souls to “brings us into blossom.”
Colleen Chao has written extensively about finding God’s goodness in the unexpected chapters of her life, including singleness, chronic illness, and terminal cancer. She’s worked as an editor and writer for global organizations, and an English teacher to some of her favorite people on earth—teenagers. When she’s not wrangling words, she enjoys beautiful hikes, side-splitting laughter, and half-read books piled bedside. She makes her home just outside Boise, Idaho with her husband Eddie, their son Jeremy, and Willow the dog.
Learn about how you can find hope and joy in life’s darkest days, in Colleen’s new book, In the Hands of a Fiercely Tender God. How do we suffer long and well? What do we do when we feel cheated? How do we face pressing darkness?
One thing Colleen has learned is that we cannot bear the suffering alone. We need lots of help. To that end, Colleen shares a precious devotional gift with the suffering soul: thirty-one days of wisdom, hope, and encouragement. Drawing upon stories from past saints, rich truths from Scripture, and habits that build joyful endurance, Colleen helps fellow sufferers to embrace one day at a time, to trust and love Jesus more, and put themselves In the Hands of a Fiercely Tender God.
[ Our humble thanks to Moody Publishers for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
October 29, 2022
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [10.29.2022]
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:
Adam Cornick – Photographer
Adam Cornick – Photographer
Adam Cornick – Photographer
Adam Cornick – Photographer
Adam Cornick – Photographerjust sheer grace to join other worshippers in Nova Scotia this past week.
and how this photographer captures the world there – breathtaking!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Andrea Vanzo (@andreavanzo_composer)
this is just the exhale and sigh of relief we all need to begin the weekend
“Wonder is what happens when we unexpectedly apprehend
the marvellous quality of the ordinary….
(And) if we can train ourselves to attend to the world with love,
we may find that the gift of wonder lies waiting to be received.”
book havens are the closest thing to heaven on Earth, no?
and you can find them ALL OVER this glorious world of ours
– oh my, this one’s powerful –
Cradle-to-Cross Wreath that coordinate with Unwrapping the Greatest GiftWhen our holidays are about Staying in the Story, being with Him — Peace leads us — and we can have ourselves The Greatest little Christmas yet!
A Whole Collection of Heirloom Pieces to Help you Stay in the Story this Advent Season
Read the whole Christmas Love Story, from Creation to the Creche, with all 3 of our Advent Books:And didn’t want you to miss this: ALL of our Advent books are ON SALE right now on Amazon — the lowest prices we’ve seen this year!! (But hurry, we have no idea how long the sale will last)
The Greatest Gift
(adult edition)
Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014, NYTimes Best Seller
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift
(family edition)
Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016, NYTimes Best Seller
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift:
Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019
(pop-up edition with your own 14 inch tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age)
We can be an army of wounded warriors — or a collective of wounded healers
THIS! “…when we imitate Christ, our own wounds, too, have the power to help others heal.”
From Karen Swallow Prior, this article is profoundly healing and transformative, for all of us who are wounded.
When loving your neighbor means you get to #bethegift
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Elevation Worship (@elevationworship)
– this might just be what heaven sounds like –
“An Ark Mentality Can’t Survive an Anxiety-Flooded Age“
How do we live in an anxious world? Seek out constant distractions? Or turn toward this this?
“It’s the anchor of my universe, my gravity
And my whole world revolves around the mystery…
I will boast in the Cross“
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Good News Movement (@goodnews_movement)
– the sweetest thing we’ve seen all week –
We had a suspicion…dogs ARE good for your soul!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Nicolina Kulander (@nicolinafotograf)
just bask in this peace for a moment
now these are just some of the most DREAMY bookmark ideas!
– on the liturgies of our Sundays –
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Tello and Rose Home Design (@telloandrose)
mmmm… a simple recipe for a hearty fall dish
View this post on InstagramA post shared by B E A W I L L I S (@hellowillisfam)
< Cue big, fat happy tears! >
This dad loving his family so well!
Read Melissa Zaldivar‘s recent guest post: Lost in the Fog? Let Hope Find You Where You Are
Read Jennie Allen‘s recent guest post: Feeling afraid, overwhelmed, and stretched? You are not alone
this beauty, this weekend? Come along with us and be in awe of the One who made it all?
For every person who is walking a hard way and looking for a way through, WayMaker is your sign. Your sign that there is hope, that there are miracles, and that everything you are trying to find a way to, is actually coming to meet you in ways far more fulfilling than you ever imagined.
Grab your copy of WayMaker — and begin the journey you’re desperately looking for…
PICK UP YOUR COPY OF WAYMAKER– this song! we could just listen over and over and over again –
“There’s never a sin your cross cannot cover
Nothing I’ve done scares you away
You are not shaken by complicated
Fragile hearts in your hands are safe
You came when I was broken
You loved me through all of my failures
You gave, when I had nothing to give, you gave“
You totally get permission to say you’re sorta done taking it all.
You’re done taking the pressure, you’re done taking the pounding surf,
you’re done taking the bills, taking the doctor appointments,
taking the deadlines, taking the demands & the kids & all The Things —
and if you’re honest — and you’d never say it out loud,
because you keep doing the heroic thing —
but you’d love for someone to just take your hand,
and make an island of space, and just slip the whole soul-flattening weight
of everything right off of you.
And guess what? *He does.*
Today. is. your. day.
You don’t have to take it today,
you don’t have to shoulder it,
you don’t have to carry it:
“Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—
*He will carry your load*”
Ps55:22MSG
So that’s it, that’s the only thing you’ve gotta do today, this is it:
#TakeOneMoreStep — you categorically do NOT have to take it all —
if you’ll just #TakeOneMoreStep — and pile the whole thing, everything,
all the troubles on God’s shoulders.
He’s saying: ‘Bring it to Me. I’ll carry the whole thing. Pile it on.’ —
and you could have the exhale of it right now —
you could get that island of relief & feel how grace is weightless…
Honest: When you just can’t take it anymore
turn to Jesus
and take it *just one step more.*
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.
October 28, 2022
Feeling afraid, overwhelmed, and stretched? You are not alone
When my heart’s hurting, she’s the one who calls immediately, the realest deal, so much like Jesus. My dearest friend Jennie Allen is a Bible teacher, author, and the founder and visionary of IF:Gathering, and lives with a contagious passion to help the next generation love God more every day, see Him for who He is through His Word, and give Him away as we meet and love the people around us. With every word she writes, the underlying message is: God sees you. He loves you. He has invited you into the beautiful story He’s written for this world. And, because He is a God of abundance, He wants to use you to bring more of His love into a world that desperately needs it. It is a grace to welcome my friend Jennie to the farm’s table today…
A few years ago, we watched our oldest son become a man. Mid-football season, Conner was asked to play starting quarterback, as a sophomore, in one of our biggest varsity games of the year. The older starter was injured. It was a lot of pressure, even for a boy who, not so long ago, wanted to be the real Spider-Man as his chosen profession.
The morning of the game, I dropped him off to meet the other players for a team breakfast. He opened the door and paused. He turned around and said, “Mom, I’ve never been so scared.”
Then—bam!—he slammed the door and stoically walked into breakfast with all the other boys slipping into men.
I couldn’t drive. I pulled over into a parking space and cried a bit because tenth-grade football players maybe can’t do that over breakfast tacos, but their moms can outside in the car!
Then I texted him—a seriously long text with all the words I wish I could have said before he closed the car door. I thought maybe these words would be fitting for you today too:
“This is my prayer for you–that you would experience how much God loves you, how much He wants to help you, how powerful it is to trust Him to do what is beyond your own resource.“
Nearly everything you have ever done has been within your capacity. This may be what excites me most about this moment in your life: what is required of you is beyond your age, experience, and current ability.
In my life, these have been the moments that have most built my faith in God. Because as you surrender and trust Him and jump into what scares you with all of yourself, you watch God strengthen you, help you, at times even carry you and you don’t remember what happened.
This is my prayer for you–that you would experience how much God loves you, how much He wants to help you, how powerful it is to trust Him to do what is beyond your own resource.
He is in you. He is with you and we’ll be there too. And if you feel afraid, overwhelmed, stretched beyond your capacities, the Holy Spirit will guide you. I imagine Him saying these words to you from Scripture:
“My child, I am here. I am with you, and I have such a great adventure for you! I am with you always, to the end of the age. Because of Jesus’ payment for your sins, we no longer have to be separated from each other. In fact, we get to be friends!
“There is nothing that can separate you from My love. Nothing!”
We can walk together and talk together.
We can play together and sing together.
We can dig together and dance together.
If you have surrendered your life to Me, we can do all things together for the rest of your days. There is nothing that can separate you from My love. Nothing!
I can’t wait to teach you all about Myself. I’ve been on tiptoe, waiting for you to know Me, because I have known you and planned you since before you were born. I have given you the ability to know Me through My Word, the Bible.
I put My Holy Spirit inside of you, to give you power to obey Me and to remind you that you are never alone.
“You will always have enough of everything you need, if you stay powered by this Light.”
I have gathered My church for you to belong to so you would always have a team to help you accomplish My plans for you. I prepared good works for you to do each day you are alive.
I chose you and adopted you as My child so you would know for sure that you are safe and secure in My love.
This is the greatest adventure you could ever sign up for.
This Spirit I lovingly put inside you . . . the Light of My presence! That Light is like a superpower inside you that helps you love people and love Me! You will always have enough of everything you need, if you stay powered by this Light.
Can I tell you something fun? I want us to be so close that we talk about everything! I want you to tell Me everything on your mind. I promise I will always help you. Look to Me, and I will show you the path to take.
My plan for My children has always been the same . . .
“The best way for others to know My love is to see your love.”
I want everyone who loves Me—including you—to come together and help each other.
I want you to get along.
I want you to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves.
I want you to notice and love the people who don’t love Me, and show them the depth of My love.
The best way for others to know My love is to see your love.
So . . . tell everyone about Me. Love all kinds of people. Remember that every human is created in My image, and that I love every single one of them.
Will you do that for Me? Will you help Me show all people just how strong and powerful and beautiful My love is?
“When you feel sad, when you feel lonely, when you feel like the world is scary or dark, remember that I will always be with you”
And one more thing: When you feel sad, when you feel lonely, when you feel like the world is scary or dark, remember that I will always be with you and I have a plan that is unfolding even now, as you read these words, as your lungs take in one breath after another, as you put your head on your pillow tonight and wake tomorrow to enjoy the day.
I promise I will make everything right one day.
I will build My church through you, and no enemy can stand against it.
I am on My way.
I am coming soon.
Until then, remember: My love for you lasts forever and ever.
My kingdom is coming. My will is going to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
You have a God who is with you as you give your kids a big view of God. He can lead and carry the burden that feels heavy to you. In our own power, we will fail, but if we allow Jesus to work in us – that is all we need to give our kids – His living, breathing, and active Word.
For Further Reading: Matthew 28:20, Romans 8:38–39, John 15:14, Acts 2:38, Psalm 139:13–14, Psalm 119:18, John 14:26, Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 1:4–5, John 17:18, Philippians 4:19, Proverbs 3:5–6, Hebrews 13:16, John 13:34–35, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 3:17–19, John 14:15–17, Revelation 21:4, Matthew 16:18, Revelation 3:11, Psalm 138:8, Matthew 6:10
Jennie Allen is an author, speaker, and the founder and visionary of IF:Gathering. She is a passionate leader following God’s call on her life to catalyze a generation to live what they believe. Jennie created Theolaby to equip parents and caregivers with tools and resources to give God to the kids in their lives.
She is the New York Times Bestselling author of Find Your People and Get Out of Your Head. Jennie has a Masters in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary and lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Zac, and their four children.
October 24, 2022
Lost in the Fog? Let Hope Find You Where You Are
Sometimes the fog of our grief gets thick and heavy, and we just need a friend to help cut through it. In the pain of grief, Melissa Zaldivar is a friend who understands what it’s like to endure loss and what it means to lean on Jesus, even when you can’t see Him in the middle of the fog. It is a joy to welcome Melissa to the farm’s table today…
Guest Post by Melissa Zaldivar
When I moved to New England, I thought things were just getting started.
Little did I know that those years would cost me everything.
In 2019, my life seemed to be cruelly unravelling. I went from feeling like I knew who I was, where I belonged, and what I “brought to the table” – to falling asleep on the couch every night because going to bed was too much effort.
I had started to slip.
For months I felt like I was slowly sliding down the side of a hill right into the Valley of the Shadow. It wasn’t one or two losses that started the landslide — it was a season of rejections and failures.
All of this felt tolerable at first. I kept telling myself things would get better. But you can only do that for so long.
Of course, we all want to avoid grief stories at all costs.
I’d rather talk about happiness and success than what was said in a graveside service or how it felt when 21 shots were fired as my grandmother held the folded flag in her lap.
But as much as we’d like to skirt around it, death and grief are everywhere because, as it turns out, every loss is a death in some capacity.
Maybe you cannot avoid thinking about the loss of a friend.
Maybe for you it is a loss of a job or a home or a season or a place. It could be the loss of a relationship or a past version of yourself that you liked more than the one you’ve changed into.
“We have this incredible hope beyond the grave, and yet we somehow are still afraid of the grave.”
But every single thing that makes today painful is linked to dying in some way.
And in Christ? We are people of the resurrection.
We have this incredible hope beyond the grave, and yet we somehow are still afraid of the grave.
Even though we sing and proclaim that death has lost its grip on us, we still keep one eye on the exit door in case death walks into the room.
We talk tough about pain and suffering from our high and holy towers, and yet often remain unwilling to descend and acknowledge the dust of life beneath our feet.
“When we lose what we love, sometimes all we can do is stand in the garden, let the tears fall as they may and wait for Jesus to whisper our name.”
I think of Mary in the garden in John 20:1-18 confused and heartbroken, having watched her beloved Jesus betrayed, arrested, beaten, mocked, and crucified. And now where was He? Where had they taken Him?
When we lose what we love, sometimes all we can do is stand in the garden, let the tears fall as they may and wait for Jesus to whisper our name.
Because if the gospel—which literally means “good news”— can’t come to us right in the place of our grief and questions then it isn’t truly good news.
If the hope we’re holding onto isn’t able to find us where we are, we’re grasping at the wrong thing.
But somehow, the pain and grief can birth the strangest, simplest and maybe most life-changing truth of all:
When we have nothing left to cling to, we are finally postured to receive His love the most.
“When we have nothing left to cling to, we are finally postured to receive His love the most.”
So lean into it, friend. Perhaps you’ll put your weight into it like collapsing your tired frame into a warm bed, or maybe like you’re grasping onto a liferaft, but either way, know that He isn’t looking for perfection–He’s looking for you.
Dare to believe that you are safe in Jesus’ presence and there’s no need to impress.
When we come with no ribbons or bows or whistles or tricks or good jokes, we can get down to the unfiltered truth:
God doesn’t need us to be at our best, He just wants us to be His.
Melissa Zaldivar is the author of What Cannot Be Lost and the host of Cheer Her On, a podcast about cheering others toward the Truth. Walking through intense and traumatic experiences throughout her life, she has learned that God is constantly present, even during the darkest of seasons and hopes to share that hope with her readers with practical wisdom and Biblical truth.
In What Cannot Be Lost, Melissa weaves inspiring passages of Scripture and insights from Little Women into her personal story, encouraging readers with her discovery that it’s when we have nothing left to offer that we can receive God’s love the most. And that’s something that can never be lost.
[ Our humble thanks to The Good Book Company for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
October 22, 2022
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [10.22.2022]
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:
David Rule – Photographer
David Rule – Photographer
David Rule – Photographer
David Rule – Photographer
David Rule – Photographerwhat a gift to glimpse these glorious mountains this past week in Wyoming
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Ann Voskamp (@annvoskamp)
you facing hard storms too? I’m right there with you.
Dear woman in ministry…such sweet encouragement!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Chris Tomlin (@christomlin)
Watch what happens here — and feel what really happens inside of you when you witness this glory!
What these parents do when three of their kiddos are given hard diagnoses —
Gives whole new meaning to making memories!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Shannon Leibold (@scripture.and.story)
THIS – yesss! say it a little louder!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by scatter sunshine (@scatter_sunshine)
Reminder: Jesus is the ultimate fixer. There’s nothing in our lives beyond His repair.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Crazy Love (@crazylove)
– this one simple thing could change EVERYTHING –
It’s not too early to start planning for the greatest Christmas:
This Advent, the tried and true traditions will hold us and the new ones will ignite us and this is the truest story I know:Jesus came down — and a bit of heaven can begin now, even here. This Advent, Stay in the Story that the rest of your year, your family, will need.
Read the whole Christmas Love Story, from Creation to the Creche, with all 3 of our Advent Books:The Greatest Gift (adult edition): Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014, NYTimes Best Seller
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (family edition): Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016, NYTimes Best Seller
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019
(pop-up edition with your own 14 inch tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age)
When our holidays are about Staying in the Story, being with Him — Peace leads us — and we can have ourselves The Greatest little Christmas yet!
A Whole Collection of Heirloom Pieces to Help you Stay in the Story this Advent Seasonmaybe what your soul needs is this deep exhale this weekend? glory.
the radical love and kindness in this boy is truly awe-inspiring
what could happen if we lived life this way too? #bethegift
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Fav | Poetry Podcaster (@legitfavour)
THIS — oh to dwell on the gift of life & God’s faithfulness
This Channel, her Story, our hearts are incredibly moved. Humanizing the homeless. Wow. Must watch!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by joanne choi ❁ (@findingjoy__)
– In every place & every season, we gladly give it all –
You, yes you, can be a world changer, too! Don’t know where to start? These suggestions are so good. #bethegift
Post Of The Week From Around These Parts
5 Secrets to an Awesome Life
(Even in the Midst of Some Awful, Traumatic Days)
Whether pain or trauma, despair or heartbreak, or just plain trying to make it through the day…you don’t want to miss this hope-filled tool to help you walk through whatever hard thing you may be facing.
This can change everything. This has been changing my life.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jennifer Tucker (@jenn_littlehousestudio)
Your faith can be unmoving even when your world is shaking if when foundation is rooted in the unchanging character of God instead of on the shifting sands of circumstances.
Pray this breath prayer and remind your soul that you are safe, no matter what,
because God is right beside you:
inhale: You are right beside me
exhale: and I am safe.
Looking for a lifeline in the midst of hard, anxious days?
Breath as Prayer is a beautiful & helpful guide to the spiritual practice of breath prayer, a practice that can help ease anxiety and strengthen your faith as you breathe deep, focus on Truth, and invite Christ into your struggles. If you are anxious or overwhelmed, if you are looking for a little hope, a little peace…this tool may be just what you need.
The wild forgiveness of this Pastor-and how he celebrated Indigenous People’s Day-this is real, deep love.
“If the stars were made to worship, so will I…”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jennifer Garner (@jennifer.garner)
Well, this is just some cuteness we can all soak up this weekend < sigh >
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Good News Movement (@goodnews_movement)
a bike bus to keep kids moving?! GENIUS!
God still does miracles! The power of music and how it saved this woman’s life – amazing!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Tammy Thao Pham
(@adventurewithtammy)
oh the beauty of God’s creation…full of awe!
– simple ways to spend time with your people this Fall –
On The Book Stack at the Farm
Read Rachel Marie Kang‘s recent guest post: Want To Imagine Possibility Beyond Your Pain?
Read Amy Hannon‘s recent guest post: Hurting? An Unlikely Way to Move Forward (Because Everyday Hospitality Heals)
Read Rachel Norman‘s recent guest post: Have You Been Hiding Your Pain From God?this might just be what your soul needs this weekend –
come away for a pretty fall walk amongst the vibrant colors and peaceful hymns?
but The Way through?
For every person who is walking a hard way and looking for a way through, WayMaker is your sign.
Your sign that there is hope, that there are miracles, and that everything you are trying to find a way to, is actually coming to meet you in ways far more fulfilling than you ever imagined.
Grab your copy of WayMaker —
and begin the journey you’re desperately looking for…
PICK UP YOUR COPY OF WAYMAKERthis one on non-stop over here..
“Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
You can have all this world
I don’t want anything else,
I don’t need anything else,
You are my one thing”
Happy Saturday!
And fresh mercies, clean slates, new possibilities, new habits!
“…take off your former way of life, your crumpled old self…
to take a fresh breath & to let God renew your attitude & spirit.
Then you are ready to put on your new self,
modeled after the very likeness of God…”
Eph.4:22-24(Voice)…
So let’s to do this thing!
We can do things differently, we can do hard & holy things,
& we take off the old habits & literally,
put on & wear new habits this next week:
Change your habits — and you can change *anything* into a possibility.
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.
October 21, 2022
Hurting? An Unlikely Way to Move Forward (Because Everyday Hospitality Heals)
When you think of the word hospitality, what do you think of first? For so many of us, the word immediately stirs up images of setting the fanciest tables and hosting the loftiest affairs. But author Amy Hannon reminds us in her latest book, Gather & Give, that the hospitality of the bible doesn’t seek to showcase ourselves but seeks to serve others, using the ministry of a shared meal to meet the emotional, relational, and spiritual needs of those around us. Having served thousands around her table in her three decades as a pastor’s wife, Amy’s biblical wisdom and relatable insights remind us that the purpose of true biblical hospitality is to demonstrate the heart of God to those around us. It is a delight to welcome Amy to the farm’s table today…
Jennifer and her husband are walking through a disappointing season of infertility. If you’ve found yourself on the same journey, then you know there are daily occurrences that remind you that you’re not yet a parent.
Jennifer confessed, it’s a struggle being both sad and mad that she’s not a mama while still being genuinely excited for people who are celebrating their new lives with little ones.
Through the frustration of this time, Jennifer has felt God teaching her to serve anyway. Through her heartbreak and tears, the Lord has been nudging her to love and serve the expectant mamas in her life.
Recently, one of her dearest friends, who was thirty-nine weeks pregnant and exhausted, mentioned that she needed to get groceries for some slow cooker meals that week. Prompted by the Holy Spirit (the one who replaces your intuition with God’s intuition), Jennifer asked her friend if she had freezer space, sensing in that moment the call to love and serve her friend.
So Jennifer planned to make three meals for them in order for this new little family to be fed when they got home from the hospital: Italian chicken sliders, white chicken lasagna, and southwestern taco bake.
“In those moments, she realized she could desperately desire something that someone else was being blessed with, while loving and serving that person with a glad heart anyway.”
The following night, Jennifer spent a couple of hours in the kitchen prepping, chopping, stirring, assembling, and wrapping meals. And while she worked, she prayed.
She prayed for God to bless her friend’s growing family, for happiness and health, grace and favor. Jennifer would tell you that those prayers were as much for her as they were for her friends.
In those moments, she realized she could desperately desire something that someone else was being blessed with, while loving and serving that person with a glad heart anyway.
Jennifer loved others deeply, humbly served her friend’s family, and gladly laid down her life, showing them God’s heart through her hospitality.
First John 3:16–18 tells us,
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
“If God’s people love people, then God’s people serve people.”
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” Simply stated: loving and serving go hand in hand. If God’s people love people, then God’s people serve people.
You see, love is more than a feeling, more than an idea, more than intention. Love is more than well-wishing or expressing concern. It moves. It gestures. It acts. Bob Goff explained in his book Love Does, “Love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.”
The depth of love we’re encouraged to show throughout Scripture moves beyond, “I’m so glad you’re in our neighborhood” and, “I’m so sorry to hear that!” Love moves to action.
Love goes to the grocery store. Love takes out the trash. It drives a meal across town.
Love vacuums and dusts. Love sweeps the porch. It runs errands on behalf of others.
“Love leans in, speaks with grace, and prays. Love opens the door. Love welcomes. And love serves.”
Love pours coffee and steeps tea. Love hosts an elderly neighbor or a gaggle of giggling girls.
Love loads the dishwasher. It sets a table or counts paper plates.
Love picks up a pizza. Love sears meat and roasts carrots. Love folds towels and washes sheets.
Love leans in, speaks with grace, and prays. Love opens the door. Love welcomes. And love serves.
“How can people who say they love God see emotional and physical needs of those around them and not be moved to action?”
In 1 John 3:17 it says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
How can people who say they love God see emotional and physical needs of those around them and not be moved to action? John said they can’t, or the love of God isn’t truly in them.
With respect to biblical hospitality, we can translate the passage this way: “What good does it do to have the means and the time to make a few freezer meals if you don’t prepare them for a pregnant friend?” “What good does it do to have the ingredients for soup in your pantry if you don’t make it and share it with your grieving neighbor?” “What good does it do to have a guest room if you don’t turn down the sheets and invite someone to stay?”
Here’s the bottom line, friends. If we say we love God and we claim that His love is in us, then we serve others.
God’s people love people. And God’s people serve.
Amy Nelson Hannon lives in Northwest Arkansas in the heart of the Ozark Mountains. She owns Euna Mae’s, a one-of-a-kind kitchen boutique named after her grandmother. She authored a comfort food cookbook titled Love Welcome Serve, and she hosted her own cooking show for several years. Amy speaks to women, hosts curated travel excursions and table events, and drums up all kinds of experiences in order to share her heart for everyday biblical hospitality.
In Gather & Give, Amy explores the spiritual and relational significance of everyday hospitality. This beautiful book includes a handbook with practical encouragement, real life stories, and easy-to-make recipes from Amy’s kitchen. Each chapter also includes questions to process in personal devotion or together with friends. Gather & Give will help you discover the true purpose of biblical hospitality, the eternal impact of a shared meal, and how Jesus used the table as His pulpit to love others well.
[ Our humble thanks to Thomas Nelson for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
October 19, 2022
5 Secrets to An Awesome Life (Even in the midst of Some Awful, Traumatic Days)
When I sit out on the early morning October shore of the lake, I’d come simply to witness.
Scarlet robed trees stretched their limbs in autumn mist like worshippers before the throne, and fog rises off the water like all of creation can’t help but rise in awe.
Awe rescales us smaller, so we are the right size to hold more joy.
“When we diminish our egocentric size of self, we expand our capacity for great joy.”
It is true: When we diminish our egocentric size of self, we expand our capacity for great joy in God.
It’s the happiest paradox: What you really have to do to make your life scale is to rescale yourself. Awe makes you feel beautifully small before a great God.
Water laps on the shore, kissing the hem of things with thanks and, somewhere out on the lake, again, and then there, again, haunting, a loon’s soft song searches.
These are sacred moments. These are places you can always return to in your mind when things take unexpected turns. Memorize those moments.
“Awe makes us see that we, and our problems are small, and one great God is over all.”
Before the wind blows in long months of snow, it’s been of the utmost importance to my soul to head outside for a daily soak in October’s saturated golden light.
This is more than what the scientists call “awe walks.”
This is more than what the Japanese call “forest bathing.”
This is what I call Glory Soaks, this is what I call God-Awe Walks.
Because the whole earth is full of His Glory, the habit of Glory Soaking simply steps outside to soak in His glory to wash the soul cleaner with worship.
Awe makes us see that we, and our problems are small, and one great God is over all.
Awe makes us feel delightfully insignificant, and significant, delightful joy.
When we are awed, we feel smaller and part of something larger, which makes our joy larger.
“Awe calms. Practice being awed and you’re practically rewiring your brain to be calm.“
When we feel smaller, we feel humility, which is the key to connectivity with God and people, which is key to wholeness.
Look at something beautiful and you can feel how your own heart slows down: When we are wildly moved, our fight or flight systems stops wildly moving.
Awe calms. Practice being awed and you’re practically rewiring your brain to be calm.
This can change everything. This has been changing my life.
5 Ways to Practice the Art of Awe:Go for a God-Awe Walk to arrive at where you really want to go. “A 2020 study showed that participants taking weekly 15-minute awe walks for eight weeks reported less stress and increased emotions like compassion and gratitude.” Go for a walk to see the sunrise up like a crescendo of glory every morning. Take an evening walk at sunset and stand in awe at how God paints the skies. Take a walk any time of day and look up at the vastness of His skies and let awe fill your eyes and heart and smile. Explore anything new to find new joy: a new street, a new book, a new hobby. New things opens us up in new ways to new wonders.What you see in pixels is never as powerful as what you see in person.Seek in person experiences — at the park, at the concert, at the coffee shop across the table from a friend instead of across a screen. Sometimes what leaves us down, is looking down at our pixelated phones, instead of looking into in-person, real face.Art remakes broken hearts. Gaze on a masterpiece once a week, crank deep moving music every morning, read one poem a day. Awe in art moves the soul toward hope.Keep an Awesome Book: document daily moments of awe, snapping a picture with your phone. A crimson leaf at your feet, a dog sleeping in a doorway, a steaming cup of coffee, a sunset caught in trees. Collate all your collected moments of awe in one book, your own Awesome Book, all the awe of your life. This is all a gift from one awesome God.
“Trauma is when pain overwhelms us. Awe is when God overwhelms us. Which is why awe heals trauma: our deep pain is overwhelmed by our great God.”
Why does awe matter, especially on some of our most awful days? Research finds that “awe experiences are linked with a decrease in markers for chronic inflammation (associated with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and bowel diseases and reduced rumination associated with depression . Awe may even expand our perception of time and, as another study suggests, make us feel less impatient .”
After our own kind of run-on “annus horribilis” that’s dragged from one staggering year of grief and loss into the next, I can stand on the edge of fall, and see what’s held us, what’s holding us:
The way through awful is awe.
Daily doses of God-awe is a kind of medicine that treats trauma.
Trauma is when pain overwhelms us. Awe is when God overwhelms us. Which is why awe heals trauma: our deep pain is overwhelmed by our great God.
This is why I keep prioritizing the habit of daily God-Awe Walks, of Daily Glory Soaks when heartache threatens to drown:
“Awe heals trauma.”
Awe heals trauma.
Trauma is healed by God-awe.
The fog lifts from the patient water.
A light wind sighs, satisfied. And the lake emerges. I can start to see: Is the whole earth full of God’s glory to help a whole world heal of painful stories?
All across the shining hills, the leaves whisper one flaming good-bye to all that’s been, not afraid but radiant.
When the woods blaze with color, if I wait and watch, will I see how they combust, ignite, like a sacrifice of praise to Him?
I can feel that: All gratitude to God begins with awe of God.
If you want to be a more thankful person, you need to look for ways to be more in awe.
Openly thankful people are people who are open to awe.
Wonder can be found wherever one’s feet are.
“Drama and trauma are not our soul’s home.
God’s shalom is our home.”
And I am simple awed … stilled … and I let go.
I have found whatever the loon was searching for, and it’s worth holding on to, letting it hold everything:
Drama and trauma are not our soul’s home.
God’s shalom is our home.
October mist rises off the lake’s calm and there’s always glorious space in a day to be awed by God.
Are you desperate for more than just a way through,
but The Way through?
For every person who is walking a hard way and looking for a way through, WayMaker is your sign.
Your sign that there is hope, that there are miracles, and that everything you are trying to find a way to, is actually coming to meet you in ways far more fulfilling than you ever imagined.
Grab Your Copy of WayMaker —
and begin the journey you’re desperately looking for…
October 17, 2022
Have You Been Hiding Your Pain From God?
Living in a broken world is painful, even more painful at times than we feel our hearts can endure. That is why I am so thankful for Rachel Norman and how she reminds us to keep bringing all the feelings, emotions, and overwhelming traumatic experiences to God, even the ones we would rather bury. Rachel is a mother of five and shares so graciously how with God we can go from brokenness on the journey to wholeness. And how acknowledging and working through all the things we’ve buried can help us live more fully with Christ. It is a grace to welcome Rachel to the farm’s table today…
Think of yourself as a modest two story home.
You have a few bedrooms, a few bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and a basement. The home is a lovely safe place with pretty furnishings, beautiful art and all the perfect trinkets in all the right places that make it so inviting .
And the basement…well, that’s where the ugly stuff is stored and stuffed.
Your Emotional Basement“Our emotional basement is where we put all the emotions and feelings we don’t want to see.”
Our emotional basement is where we put all the emotions and feelings we don’t want to see. Where we put the things we aren’t ready to deal with and don’t like.
That time when you were made to feel ugly? Feeling unloved or neglected as a child? Failing a grade in school? Being bullied and called names?
When a spouse or boyfriend cheated on you and left you? When God felt far away? When “friends” were spreading rumors? The traumatic death of a loved one?
Pain and suffering from infertility or the loss of a child? The sting of humiliation and shame?
Shove it in the basement.
Stuffing our overwhelming feelings in our emotional basement is what we do to avoid having all the ugly, unwieldy, or unpleasant things in our lovely house.
We don’t want others to see the less than presentable parts, and the truth is, we aren’t sure what to actually do with them, so we bury them out of sight.
This burying of the ugly parts of life is a clever thing to do until one day, our emotional basement gets full. And then it gets harder and harder to stuff things into it. Because now, when you open the door to the basement, instead of being able to throw some more stuff down the stairs, you realize that the junk has filled up the whole basement, and piled all the way up the stairs.
And then one fateful day, it starts overflowing into the house.
Could this one principle explain why we hardly ever cry, and then when we start crying we just can’t stop?
It’s ok, there’s no need to beat ourselves up over this. We’ve just been given a gracious awareness – it’s time to create some space around all that’s been piling up in our emotional basement.
It’s time to give ourselves some grace.
Many of us moms live feeling unhappy, stressed, anxious, and then feeling guilty for having these feelings in the first place. We get angry at ourselves, feeling like we can’t do anything right, and then we start feeling resentful of the impossible standard of perfection.
“It’s time to bring the buried feelings and piled up emotions into the gracious, loving presence of the Lord.”
A whole heap of feelings piled on top of buried emotions leave us looking for the nearest escape route from our own lives.
It’s time to break the cycle of self-condemnation.
It’s time to bring the buried feelings and piled up emotions into the gracious, loving presence of the Lord.
To honestly pray to Lord,
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Psalm 25:16-17
As you begin to empty your emotional basement and start bringing some of your true emotions to the Lord, keep giving yourself grace.
“we can never get where we want to go if we don’t accept the reality of where we are.”
You won’t do this perfectly.
You don’t have to do this perfectly.
But isn’t this a great place to start? Without the pressure of perfection? Simply starting where you are. Because we can never get where we want to go if we don’t accept the reality of where we are.
A buried wound cannot heal. But our gentle Shepherd,
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
Try Loving Yourself as You Would Love Your Neighbor As you begin the work of unpacking your emotional basement, be careful not to beat yourself up along the way. Cut yourself some slack. Do for yourself what you would do for others.
Can you imagine if you treated your neighbor as poorly as you treat yourself?
“Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is your first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law, and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
For most of us, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, would actually make us a horrible neighbor. If we treated our neighbor how we treat ourselves, we would focus on all she’s doing poorly in life. We’d criticize her for still wearing stretchy pants, and doing so little with her hair. We would point out all the bulges, wrinkles, cellulite, and blemishes.
When she was going through a hard time we’d tell her to stop whining and crying because it wouldn’t change anything. We would look her in the eye and tell her to get over it and muscle through her misery. We’d remind her there are people in the world with much worse problems so she should be ashamed of herself for feeling bad.
“In your journey towards healing and wholeness, remember to treat yourself with the same gentleness and compassion you’d treat a friend.”
If we loved our neighbor as we have loved ourselves, we’d tell her she’s a bad mom. We’d tell her that her house is never clean enough, her bank account is never large enough, and her to-do list is never done enough.
Think about it, If we loved all our neighbors as we have loved ourselves, we would be the most hated woman on the street.
In your journey towards healing and wholeness, remember to treat yourself with the same gentleness and compassion you’d treat a friend.
It may just change your life.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12
Rachel Norman is a mother of 5, author, parent coach, and lover of routine. She believes you can run a low-stress home without feeling out of control and overwhelmed. Rachel wrote If Mama Ain’t Happy to help mothers unburden themselves from comparison, ungodly and unrealistic standards, and comparison with the world.
Are you weary? Stressed? Depressed, anxious, and annoyed? And, to top it all off, do you feel guilty for feeling bad? Rachel Norman gets you. She knows how much you love your kids. And how, day after day, you put your family’s needs first, which means your own needs come last. Or don’t come at all. In If Mama Ain’s Happy, Rachel gently holds your hand and teaches you to discover and claim your own limits and boundaries so you can be a calm, resilient, peaceful mother. If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. But when mama is at peace? Everyone benefits.
[ Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
October 15, 2022
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [10.15.2022]
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:
Catrin – Photographer
Catrin – Photographer
Catrin – Photographer
Catrin – Photographer
Catrin – Photographertake a walk through the autumn woods in Germany
the glory of God can truly be seen all around the world!
Your life, the work you do? Does it feel too ordinary? God celebrates your ordinary life!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dusty | travel + adventure (@dusty.cressey)
the magnificence of these golden mountains? come along for a fall glory soak with us!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Christie Purifoy
Placemaker (@christiepurifoy)
ohh this golden wisdom for our weekend!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Court, Zach & Madi (@oursignedworld)
bursting with JOY after watching this father-daughter dinner convo…you aren’t ready!
– a beautiful reminder of all the little ways God meets you in your one precious life –
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Kristin Nave | All Things Bible
(@shelovesbible)
this is SO good. how to fight anxiety?
let the God of Angel Armies guard your heart!
yessss !! “let’s share stories of Jesus getting us through real life”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by SHARE YOUR SMILE (@shareyoursmileofficial)
sure got all choked up watching this one – the sweetness of the bond between this grandpa and his granddaughter. beautiful!
what a beautiful example of the church empowering others! #bethegift
75 years married?!? And they look FABULOUS! Here’s their secret…
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Good News (@tanksgoodnews)
don’t miss this one! this is what it’s ALL about, friends – putting others first
Post Of The Week From Around These Parts
hey, you’re really going to LOVE this if you want an easier Christmas (and who doesn’t want that)?!
You’re Going to Love This If You Want an Easier Christmas, an Easier Winter
Catch all the secrets here…As the leaves fall and one season changes into the next, I tell myself:
Wherever you prepare, prepare to be less stressed.
Plan at the end of the week, for the next week… plan at the end of the month, for the next month…. plan at the end of one season, for the next season.
What do you most want the next season to hold, for your soul, for your people, for your one holy life?
And I think: What do I want this next season, this winter, this holiday, Christmas season to hold — more than simply holding Jesus, and letting Him hold us?
It’s not too early to start planning for the greatest Christmas:
This Advent, the tried and true traditions will hold us and the new ones will ignite us and this is the truest story I know:Jesus came down — and a bit of heaven can begin now, even here. This Advent, Stay in the Story that the rest of your year, your family, will need.
Read the whole Christmas Love Story, from Creation to the Creche, with all 3 of our Advent Books:The Greatest Gift (adult edition): Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014, NYTimes Best Seller
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (family edition): Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016, NYTimes Best Seller
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019
(pop-up edition with your own 14 inch tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age)
When our holidays are about Staying in the Story, being with Him — Peace leads us — and we can have ourselves The Greatest little Christmas yet!
is fall your favorite season too? we’ll be over here living that sharpened pencil life…
need a small challenge to benefit your mental health and well being? this right here!
These HEROES, rescuing furry friends *sniff, wipes tears*
View this post on InstagramA post shared by mars || homeschool+motherhood+travel (@raisinghowells)
… a little creativity and a few smiles make the best memories!
turn those pears sitting on your counter into this DELICIOUS upside-down cake! Can you say: Yum yum?!
– for the Narnia SUPER fans among us –
maybe this calm and autumn beauty is just what your soul needs?
grab a cup and join us for this inhale of peace this weekend
“Honestly, the best book next to the Bible I have ever read is Waymaker.“
~Deborah L
but The Way through?
For every person who is walking a hard way and looking for a way through, WayMaker is your sign.
Your sign that there is hope, that there are miracles, and that everything you are trying to find a way to, is actually coming to meet you in ways far more fulfilling than you ever imagined.
Grab your copy of WayMaker —
and begin the journey you’re desperately looking for…
PICK UP YOUR COPY OF WAYMAKER– this on repeat over here –
…so this is what we’re doing here today:
simply being grateful for that one small thing…
& one more small thing… & one more small thing —
just taking back ground one grateful step at a time till the battle is WON.
*Gratitude wins our wars.*
Because gratitude isn’t only a celebration when good things happen;
Gratitude’s a declaration that God is good *no matter what happens.*
Today, listen to your absurdly glorious life.
Listen to the holy heart of your one sacred life.
You need to take time to listen to your life —
so you can make the life you need.
Life’s not about growing in status — it’s always about growing your soul.
Be small and love large:
because getting to be present to love your people’s hearts is a great gift.
Let’s be still long enough to drink down all this ordinary glory
and hear your heart keep beating how *all is 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.
October 14, 2022
You’re Going To Love This If You Want An Easier Christmas, An Easier Winter
Change sure is in the air.
The leaves here, all ablaze in their surrender, let go and soar.
They say it’s going to be an easier winter this year, at least that’s what the neighbours here say, those who take their horse and buggies when they head into town. Those who move at a different, slower pace, who see the signs all around them.
Mrs. Gingrich, she said that her strawberry plants are bearing a second, late fall crop, an unexpected, unheard of thing.
And all those kind folks with the horse and buggies, the Mennonites, they’ve noticed how there aren’t as many walnuts this year in these parts, which they surmise that an easier winter must be coming, as the trees know the squirrels won’t need to store up their usual warehouses.
And, they all say, when the fall trees blaze especially bright, the winter will be especially easy, as if the trees, even in their dying and letting go, are celebrating all that is still to come.
But this year’s Farmer’s Almanac fiercely disagrees with all our horse and buggy neighbour folk. The old almanac’s calling for “bone-ceiling cold and loads of snow” all across the midwest and up the east coast.
Riding my bike last night through the wood’s carpet of golden leaves, a whisper of leaves falling now and then around me, I couldn’t stop thinking of what Mrs. Gingrich and the Mennonites keep saying:
It’s going to be an easier winter this year.
After so many hard years, actually a whole string of years that have felt like one long hard winter, I know whose word I am going to take. And I know what kind of winter I am actually going to make.
It’s going to be an easier winter this year because the candles come out now, the blankets come out now, the books come out now.
The more your eyes focus on God, the more your life fills with peace.
The more you live in the Word, the more you have words to write a story worth living.
It’s going to be an easier winter this year because the tried and true traditions will hold us and the new ones will ignite us and this is the truest story I know:
The more your eyes focus on God, the more your life fills with peace.
The more you sit with Jesus, the more worry doesn’t sit with you.
The more you live in the Word, the more you have words to write a story worth living.
As the leaves fall and one season changes into the next, I tell myself:
Wherever you prepare, prepare to be less stressed.
Things get a bit easier, wherever you get things in order.
And I think I keep returning to this because I’m reading a book on calming chaos and making time for what matters and that’s what I read: “Plan on Fridays.” Plan at the end of the week!
Plan at the end of the week, for the next week… plan at the end of the month, for the next month…. plan at the end of one season, for the next season.
What do you most want the next season to hold, for your soul, for your people, for your one holy life?
And I think: What do I want this next season, this winter, this holiday, Christmas season to hold — more than simply holding Jesus, and letting Him hold us?
I can testify:
Planning at the end of the week, the month, the season, let’s you then start right away, ahead of things, first thing on Monday, on the first of the month, first thing, on the brink of a new season.
Instead of using the precious fresh energy of a fresh beginning having to plan ahead, you can already be ahead.
I confess, I am really not at all so sure about any notion of the scarcity of walnuts and the hoarding patterns of squirrels indicating how cold the wind will blow in a couple of weeks? But this I do know:
As the leaves are falling off the lit trees, ending one season, it’s time to think about preparing for the next season, time to think about another lit tree, a tree that can grow up in our hearts into a blazing star, a tree from the “shoot [that] will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” – Isaiah 11:1.
When leaves start to scatter across the lawns, I start to gather what I need for our Christmas tree, the Jesse Tree ornaments, the stories in the Word that tell the story of our messy, rescued family tree, and how, in King Jesus, we’ve been grafted into the safe and healing family tree of God.
They say it’s going to be an easier winter, and it will be, it really will be, with us preparing to simply ease our days and focus into the safe arms of God.
When we set aside time to prepare, we set ourselves up for good times.
I confess, I really have no idea how the squirrels are preparing for the winter, but I’m committing to it: It’s going to be an easier winter this year, because all our trees can speak of hope and joy and peace, and I’m preparing for our Christmas tree being a sign that it’s going to be good for all eternity.
This Advent, the tried and true traditions will hold us and the new ones will ignite us and this is the truest story I know:Jesus came down — and a bit of heaven can begin now, even here. This Advent, Stay in the Story that the rest of your year, your family, will need.
Read the whole Christmas Love Story, from Creation to the Creche, with all 3 of our Advent Books:The Greatest Gift (adult edition): Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014, NYTimes Best Seller
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (family edition): Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016, NYTimes Best Seller
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019
(pop-up edition with your own 14 inch tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age)
When our holidays are about Staying in the Story, being with Him — Peace leads us — and we can have ourselves The Greatest little Christmas yet!
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