Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 6

When an Important Friendship Ends, Here’s What to Do Next

If you’ve ever been tempted to put a sign in your front yard advertising for new friends, scream or sob in frustration over a “friend’s” behavior, or cringe at the memory of awkward friendship encounters, you can trust that Kristen Strong understands where you’ve been. As one who spent a good deal of time on both the military spouse and civilian sides of the fence, Kristen knows what it is to give her all to friend-making without getting anything back. But she also knows the rewards that come when you don’t give up finding the friends you need. Kristen wants you to know that you’re not alone in your friendship struggles. This incredible women has been such a good friend to me for over a decade and I’ve often told her she is the world’s most encouraging women, and the friend we all need! If you’re in a difficult friendship season, her book, Desperate Woman Seeks Friends, will be a friend to you. It is my absolute delight to welcome Kristen to the farm table today…

Guest Post by Kristen Strong

As a freshman in college, I became friends with a fellow music major, a senior named Patricia. We got along swimmingly, regularly sharing everything from our meals to our thoughts on Mozart to our interest in good-lookin’ males spotted across campus.

After finals that semester, we exchanged Christmas gifts along with sentiments like “I’ll miss you over break!” and “See you in January!”

Once Christmas break ended and I returned to campus for the second semester of my freshman year, I called Patricia while unpacking my suitcase. (This was in the 1900’s when we didn’t have cell phones or texting capability!) She didn’t answer, so I left a message on her answering machine. When she didn’t call back, I assumed she was doing some new-semester grocery shopping or something similar. 

However, when she barely acknowledged my greeting on campus the next day, I began to think there might be a problem. After extending a couple of invites that she flatly refused, my suspicion turned to confirmation that, indeed, there was a problem. 

Over the next several days, I asked her six ways from Sunday to please share with me what I had done wrong. I asked her every question I could think of in hopes of getting to the bottom of whatever happened. I felt desperate to make things right again.

No communication of any kind came my way, let alone answers to my questions.

I have a tender heart the size of Texas, and sometimes I think God placed my telltale ticker on the outside of my exoskeleton. Therefore, I hate to be on the outs in any of my important relationships. To not know why I was on the outs with Patricia felt like torture. 

Between taking nineteen credit hours that semester and immersing myself in other parts of campus life, I stayed busy.

At the same time, Patricia was an important friend to me, and in the weeks following our friendship breakup, I frequently lamented the loss of our relationship. At night as I tried to sleep, old fears resurfaced and slithered around me. 

At best, I’d surely done something to cause Patricia’s change of heart. At worst, I was unfriendable. 

As the semester drew to a close, I decided to give Patricia a peace offering of sorts by way of a small graduation gift. Within the thank-you note for that gift, Patricia positively stunned me with not only an apology for her treatment of me that semester, but also an explanation for her change in behavior.

She said that as a senior, she felt embarrassed to be hanging out with a freshman. So she’d thought it best to cut ties with me. 

I responded that I forgave her, and I meant it. I simply felt awash in relief that her problem with me wasn’t really about me after all. It was about her own insecurity of gal-palling with someone four years her junior. 

While this is true, I know that it’s possible there were other reasons Patricia didn’t want to hang out with me. Maybe I had personality traits that were more quirks than perks in her mind. I have no idea.

Either way, did that justify her dropping our friendship like it was too hot to hold? To go from being fully engaged in our friendship to fully estranged seemingly overnight? Nope. But she apologized for it, and a well-place apology truly covers a multitude of sins. 

Perhaps you suffered a painful friendship breakup, and to date you see no apology and definitely no answers in sight. That can be the hardest part of a friendship ending: You may never receive answers to all the inevitable questions, at least not here on earth.

If that describes your situation, I’m so sorry. May I gently offer a suggestion for how to proceed from here? 

Pivot your questions from those that have no answers to those that do.

When your friendship circumstances change for the worst, what do you know won’t change? 

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is dependable 100 percent of the time.

When questions and fears about the future of your friendships keep you up at night, what can you rest knowing is true?

God says, “Never will I fail you or abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5). He will never leave you, period. 

Will you be able to forge friendships that last?

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32). God didn’t spare His own Son for us, so He’ll spare no cost to bring us what (and who) we need.

“I’ve learned that what most helps me with my friendships—the ones that go as I hope and the ones that don’t—is to work on my friendship with Jesus.“

Jesus coming to us, dying on the cross for us, and being resurrected to life with us brings this truth full circle in our lives. 

When we pivot our questions to those that have answers in Scripture, we remind ourselves that the answer to every question is found in Jesus. And in that, I’ve learned that what most helps me with my friendships—the ones that go as I hope and the ones that don’t—is to work on my friendship with Jesus. He is our Friend who never fails us.

After facing a dramatic series of personal losses including a betrayal, author Phylicia Masonheimer wrote the following words based on the old him “Farther Along”: “Farther along, I’ll know all about it. For now—I only know that God is still good.” 

When a friendship ends without your say-so, you may never know why. But today, you can know that it did have God’s say-so—it was no surprise to Him. Farther along, the Lord will restore what the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25).

You will come out of the other side of this too. 

Phylicia Masonheimer, Every Woman a Theologian, email newsletter, June 10, 2024.

Kristen Strong, author of Desperate Woman Seeks Friends and of other books too, writes with the heart of a good friend and the wisdom of a big sister. Kristen loves sharing laughs, long talks, and meaningful stories with family and friends while holding a cup of strong black tea. She and her USAF veteran husband, David, have three beloved adult children. As a military family, they zigzagged across the country (and one ocean) several times before calling Colorado home. Connect with Kristen at kristenstrong.com and read more about Desperate Woman Seeks Friends at desperatewomanseeksfriends.com.

In Desperate Woman Seeks Friends, Kristen Strong shares with you the pitfalls and possibilities of putting yourself out there—and why it’s worth it to keep trying for the friends you need. Research shows friends are as important for our overall welfare as healthy eating habits and a good night’s sleep, and in this book, Kristen gives you a game plan for finding your friendship groove. Through tell-it-like-it-is talk and vulnerable stories, she wants to help you be a good friend to yourself and others through principles and practices that give life to your friendships. And Kristen wants to show you that while friends may fail you, your Friend Jesus never will. You’re meant to have lasting friendships that feed your heart and soul—you are not the exception.  

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

How to Experience God’s Heart Even When Yours is Broken

Beloved Bible teacher Linda Dillow, whose words and books have long mentored and discipled me, knows the weight of pain, loss, and broken dreams. As she walked through the most devastating season of her over eighty years of life, Linda did the only thing she could: she poured out her sadness, anger, and confusion to God. But she didn’t do it alone. She leaned on a battle-ready group of friends who helped her experience God’s peace even when hope seemed elusive. Her new book, Hope for My Hurting Heart: Eight Heart Skills to Help You Cling to God and Not Give Up, helps us discover how to move from hopelessness to hope. It’s an absolute joy and delight to welcome Linda to the farm’s front porch as she paints a picture of the body of Christ for us. 

Guest Post by Linda Dillow

It’s Wednesday morning. Six women, each facing painful situations in her life, sit around a wooden table with open Bibles and notepads before them.

They have come to seek God and to pour agapē love over one another. 

I am a member of this group. We call ourselves the Adoration Gals. 

Two women are therapists. One is a biblical counselor. Lorraine (my soul sister) and I are writers. And then there’s wise Valerie, who has a painful yet powerful story of endurance.

We do not come to chitchat about the weather.

We are God chasers who are determined to experience God’s presence.

Brother Lawrence showed us how to practice the presence of God in his book by that name, but he was a monk!

We Adoration Gals wanted to know how to do this as busy, scattered women in the twenty-first century. 

One woman has a beloved daughter with mental-health issues who threatens suicide weekly. Another woman just went through a painful divorce because her husband of four decades found someone he liked better. Most of us have a life-threatening health issue or have a loved one who does. We range in age from forty-seven to eighty-two (I am the oldest). 

As a group, how do we deal with our pain?

“..we are not satisfied with merely knowing about God. We want to experience Him. To encounter Him.“

We study God’s Word. We pray, love, and encourage one another. We run to God. But we are not satisfied with merely knowing about God. We want to experience Him. To encounter Him. We believe in God’s love, but we also want to receive His love. 

We’ve read several books about receiving God’s love because being filled first with His love is what enables us to go through hard times with grace and hokmah wisdom. We’ve learned that when we bring our pain before God and are honest with Him, we open ourselves up to receiving His love in a deeper way. Here are some of the ways the Adoration Gals experience God’s love.

Valerie: Light 

God often soaks me with love through light. He daily gets my attention as light appears in a thousand glorious forms. Sometimes it’s the way the morning sunrise dances on a single blade of grass. Or a chorus of sunrays that crescendos through a grove of trees. In these moments, God whispers gently, I know you are hurting, child. But I am here. I am the Light of the World. Take My hand, and follow Me. 

Dar: Meditation and the Word 

I receive God’s love each morning as I quiet my spirit, close my eyes and gaze upon the One who is love and sweetness itself. I hear Him say, I love to be with you, My beloved! My favorite book, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges, reveals how He loves me through my pain. 

Elena: Emotions 

“I know you are hurting, child. But I am here. I am the Light of the World. Take My hand, and follow Me. “

For years, I’ve deeply studied God’s Word. I use my mind a lot, so I love it when I receive God’s love through deep emotion. I take a walk, breathe in the fresh air, listen to worship music, talk to God, and then enjoy a really good cry. God loves me deeply in those moments. 

Lorraine: Solitude and Surrender 

I receive God’s love in solitude. First, I create outer solitude by shutting my office door. The click of the latch is my signal to mentally detach from the outer world. Then I find inner solitude—I lay face down, spread eagle, on my furry, white rug and whisper, “Abba Father, I need You. Fill me with Your love. Cleanse my motives and direct my steps for this day.” 

Diane: Worship 

I go to God like a little child, feeling a bit unworthy. As I listen to worship songs about His greatness and majesty, I refocus my scattered senses upon my Father. The music pulls me to a heavenly place. I’m fully there but also fully here. I’m learning to worship in my pain, and it is a beautiful thing. He loves me when I’m laughing or weeping. 

Do I hear you perhaps whispering, “I want to join the Adoration Gals”?

Yes, we are a special group who love God and each other. These special friends have upheld me in the midst of my pain and helped me keep my eyes on who God is. During my years of loss, time on my knees before my Abba became my place of refuge. 

Where I could be quiet when my head, heart, and world were racing? 

“We have substituted theological ideas for an arresting encounter; we are full of religious notions, but our great weakness is that for our hearts there is no one there. -A.W. Tozer“

Where I could weep and my soul could be understood?

Where I could receive God’s love but at the same time ask, God, will I ever feel delight again?  

Being immersed in God’s divine love transforms a person.

It’s not enough to just say we are Christians or that we believe in Jesus. Only the experience of God’s love is transformational. Sadly, many have missed this.

One of my favorite authors, A. W. Tozer, in his book, The Divine Conquest, says that “most of us who call ourselves Christians” do so on the basis of belief rather than experience: “We have substituted theological ideas for an arresting encounter; we are full of religious notions, but our great weakness is that for our hearts there is no one there.”

I’m so glad someone is there. There is a God who longs to love us in our times of pain, who is as close as our next thought, and whom we can know intimately.

This is what I long for you during your time of loss or shattered dreams—for you to truly know His deep love for you.

Linda Dillow is a best-selling author and a respected Bible teacher and conference speaker. Her books include Hope for My Hurting Heart, Calm My Anxious Heart,  and Satisfy My Thirsty Soul. Linda is the mother of four children, and grandmother of ten. She and her husband, Jody, lived overseas for 17 years and now make their home in Colorado Springs Colorado.

In Hope for My Hurting Heart, Linda Dillow offers practical wisdom, real-life stories, and biblical teachings to help you navigate pain and loss and find hope and healing through God’s love. Learn what it looks like to experience God’s presence in the midst of pain. A practical heart skill is included in each chapter.

Want to start your own Adoration Girls group? Use the eight-week Bible study as a guide for your gathering. Or use the study to help you grow in your own spiritual journey. 

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

Who is Jesus Really & How Is He Both God & Man? A Savior Who Stoops

I can honestly never, ever get enough of this absolutely brilliant soul, one of my hands-down favorite women, Lisa Harper, who pulls us in today with the vulnerable story of hosting a podcast and messing it up (with none other than Max Lucado as her guest) and how the non-negotiable fact of Jesus’ humanity allows us the grace to mess up, be humble, and still be loved by our Lord and savior. It’s one wild blessing to welcome Lisa to the front porch today as we discover the glory of theology and the how deeper knowledge of God transforms our lives daily.

Guest Post by Lisa Harper

Not too long ago, I had the undeserved privilege of hosting Max Lucado for our Back Porch Theology podcast.

I was so excited to get to sit across the table from dear Max, but I was also a smidge nervous because, while I’ve known him for twenty-five plus years, he’s one of my heroes of the faith, and I respect him immensely.

Unfortunately, my anxious enthusiasm got the best of me, and I yammered on and on and barely gave him a chance to say anything.

I was embarrassed when the podcast aired and thought, Oh my goodness, there I was with a great spiritual leader, and instead of gleaning from his wisdom, I gabbed almost incessantly. I might as well have plopped down on a piano bench next to Beethoven and hogged the keyboard!

I can be such a verbose, self-involved woman. And I’m certainly old enough to know better. I was glad to get to see Max again recently when we visited his church in San Antonio and have the chance to apologize in person. But here’s how he responded:

After giving me a warm hug, he replied sincerely, “Oh, Lisa, that’s not at all how I remember our conversation . . . I really enjoyed our time together.”

His genuine kindness left me with a grateful heart.

Max spends so much time with Jesus, he chooses to focus on what’s good in the image bearers around him instead of fixating on their flaws. In this modern era where being canceled, bullied, or shamed is all too common, his deep kindness stood out like a glittering diamond on dark velvet.

When someone with well-earned success and authority doesn’t live a segregated life in a proverbial ivory tower and instead chooses a humble, compassionate, and accessible way of life, it’s remarkable. The fact that the King of all kings did so is astounding.

From the very beginning of the formation of our belief system, the fact that Jesus has a divine nature—that he’s really and truly God in the flesh—has been nonnegotiable. In fact, the divinity of Jesus was so imperative to Christian orthodoxy that it was the main focus of the first two formal gatherings of spiritual bigwigs, the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and the Council of Constantinople in AD 381.

But you know how it is with us prone-to-wander Christ-followers, we tend to get in one ditch or another, so about a century after the matter of Jesus’s divinity seemed to be conclusively settled, another formal meeting of spiritual leaders had to be convened at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451 to condemn the “overcorrection” that happened after Nicaea and Constantinople, which was the erroneous assumption some were making that since Jesus was fully divine, He couldn’t possibly be fully human at the same time.

“Our Savior is indeed the King of all kings—perfectly powerful and reigning in absolute authority over the entire universe—and yet He chooses to commune with the likes of us in easy-to-reach humility.“

The rumblings of what would ultimately congeal into heresy in the early church went something like this: I mean, goodness gracious, how could God Himself shrug into an incarnate suit of skin and hang out with tax collectors and Samaritans without losing some of His deity? Surely all those warm fuzzies Jesus extended were just for the camera, right?

One ancient leader who held that unorthodox view went so far as to insist that when Jesus cried at the tomb of Lazarus, they were faux tears! Thankfully, the Council of Chalcedon established that Jesus Christ has two natures and is both truly divine and truly human simultaneously. The fancy theological term for this juxtapositional miracle is the hypostatic union.

Mind you, trying to wrap our human cognition around the fact that Jesus is perfectly divine and perfectly human at the same time is more difficult than playing Twister at my age while wearing two pair of Spanx! Thankfully, a plethora of ancient theologians – including Origen, Cyril of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Thomas Aquinas – as well as many modern scholars have studied and help clarify the astonishing reality of the hypostatic union with keen observations like this one from J.I. Packer:

The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man—that the second person of the Godhead became the “second man” (1 Cor. 15:47), determining human destiny, the second representative head of the race, and that he took humanity without the loss of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly divine as he was human.

Our Savior is indeed the King of all kings—perfectly powerful and reigning in absolute authority over the entire universe—and yet He chooses to commune with the likes of us in easy-to-reach humility. I was momentarily overwhelmed that a godly man like Max Lucado chose to overlook my bumbling and rambling. I will be forever undone that the Son of God chose to lay down His scepter in Glory and be born in a Bethlehem barn to envelop a yahoo like me.

The more I think about Him humbly condescending to wear an ancient pair of Pampers, the more gobsmacked I get.

All our Savior had to do was speak to a raging thunderstorm to make it subside to His majesty (see Matt. 8:23–27). All He had to do was stroll up to a chaotic scene on a tombstone-strewn hillside, and His presence alone caused an entire troop of the enemy’s minions to soil their lying britches because they recognized His deity (see Mark 5:1–13).

Yet before Lord Jesus chose to express His supernatural power, He deigned to be potty trained, to be weaned from Mary’s milk, to learn to read, to do His chores, and to apprentice at the home reno business of His earthly father, Joe.

Jesus is not some faraway, dispassionate, cape-wearing superhero who rescues us from a distance, y’all.

He’s the authoritative Deliverer who will ultimately defeat all our enemies and He’s the accessible High Priest, who is empathetic with all our hopes and heartaches.

Hallelujah, what a Savior.

I’m devouring this book — absolute page-turner of a book about the kind of life I really want in the end. Brilliant!

Lisa Harper is an engaging communicator as well as an authentic and substantive Bible teacher in person, on TV, and on the radio. She holds a master of theological studies from Covenant Seminary and is in the final, dissertation stage of an earned doctorate from Denver Seminary. She’s been in vocational ministry for 30 years and has written many popular books and Bible study curriculums but says her greatest accomplishment by far is becoming mama to Missy, her adopted daughter from Haiti. They live on a hilly farmette south of Nashville, Tennessee, where they enjoy eating copious amounts of chips, queso, and guacamole.

The term “theology” is often associated with academics in dusty offices. However, good theology is anything but sterile subject matter—it is meant to be lived, because God isn’t a proposition to be examined, He’s a Creator Redeemer with whom we get to engage! Join Lisa Harper for this substantive yet intentionally unstuffy exploration of biblical truths that really matter in A Jesus-Shaped Life. Learn more at LisaHarper.org.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {05.10.2025}

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

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

Smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything —

and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))! 

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

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out 

Spring is here and we need all the Flowers! Heart Vitamins for you this week:“Overcoming Insecurity ” from propel Women So soul-encouraging “Chosen Together: A New Calling”TUNE IN: WATCH HEREPray the Word Don’t leave before you readTHE HONEY-DO DUDE THIS, THIS: Read here:Soul strengtheners for you this week“You Need Biblical Worship”LIFECHANGING LISTEN “Don’t know what to do?”YESSSSS! The best!Your Discipleship is not in vain So encouraging! WOW! “You have Changed my Name “ YES! THIS!!Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord:This is majestic! Pretty incredible! Literal Chills! WOW! God is stirring revival! On repeat!!So beautiful! WATCH HERE!Just incredible! WOW!Recipes for you to try this week!

with warm weather coming in, I thought it would be the perfect time for us all to try some fun, new, spring drinks!

Strawberry Macha YES PLEASEBrown Sugar Espresso A MUST TRY!This mothers day: This could be the most Healing read of your Weekend“Not Too Late For (*Totally Free) Best Mother’s Day Gift

“Your story can hold all kinds of moments — and you can still leave a legacy of love, because, of all the moments, love is the most durable and strongest of them all.”

You don’t want to miss this read: Deeply healingFREE PRINTABLE’S FOR YOU:

FOR YOU & YOURS THIS WEEKEND: This free collection of bookmarks and notecards and journaling prompts—which you can print and package as a beautiful, heartfelt gift—can offer your mom what she wants most: to feel truly seen, deeply loved, and reminded that she’s leaving a LEGACY OF LOVE. But yes! It also unexpectedly gives you the priceless gift of deep healing, as you process these prompts, as you go back through memories, looking for whatever is “true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). You’ll also find optional prompts for your own tender places—lost parents, unmet longings, strained relationships—so that you, too, are seen and held.   …. Print out and give to your Mom — or send to your family to consider writing through and giving back to you to give you the gift knowing you’re leaving a LEGACY OF LOVE!

No printer? No problem! Digital options in our library are included. Mom far away? No worries! Just personalize from our library and send/text/email her the digital options this weekend —  and feel a bit more healing and love for everyone all around…

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS FREE COLLECTIONA section For the Mothers this week:Motherhood and the Hope of the GospelWOW! Christian Motherhood Encouragement YES! THIS!! We’re building legacy don’t miss this! 3 things to Prioritize Read here! Ready to smile this weekend?!!NICU Grandpa I LOVE this:Core Memories! This is AMAZING! “Just looking” Um… SURPRISE! This is the BEST! Can’t stop watching!To Keep Creating beauty Watch hereDeeply Inspiring What a beautiful way to includeCreative Inspiration for your Weekend: Creativity in surprising ways Click here: Trust the process! So Beautiful What a visual to trust the processWOW! We all make Art together How do we measure the world? Largest Bible Page in the World? Beautiful! Thoughts to Really Ponder this week“Surrender Yourself for More” with Priscilla ShirerDon’t miss this: “Your Church Needs You to Show Up”Doesn’t this resonate: LISTEN“A Gift From God” I found this so movingFight for Faith DON”T MISS THIS:What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week“Take You At Your Word”“Refiner”Post of the Week From Around These Parts: “How Moms Feel: A Love Letter For Mother’s Day“

The work of every parent is to now give the best they know how — and the work of every child is to forgive their parents the best they can now.

DON’T LEAVE THE INTERNET UNTIL YOU READ THIS! on the book stack at the farm

Her latest book, Watching for the Morning: 90 Devotionals When Hope Is Hard to Find, is a tender companion for dark seasons. Each day offers biblical truth, honest reflection, and Christ-centered hope for anyone walking through grief, waiting, or weariness.

The Story of Joseph offers the hope of redemption for every family, no matter how broken. In this new 8-week study you’ll dive deep into Joseph’s family tree and discover that even in the face of dysfunction, deceit, and deep pain, God as at work. He has a good plan, and He is building a beautiful family for His glory.

And… wow (!!) What Timing for a Sale!  Perfect to stock up on for gifts RUN! STOCK UP NOW AND TUCK “LOVED TO LIFE” IN WITH YOUR LEGACY OF LOVE GIFTwhat others are saying about loved to life On Amazon: GET YOURS HERE

Pick up  Loved to Life: A 40-Day VISUAL Pilgrimage with Jesus, that will:

give you enlightening insights to calm your real worriesground your identity in who you really are, regardless of failuresspeak to your deepest doubts in a profoundly steading wayand walk you in fresh, intimate ways with Jesus, Love Himself, that will grow your soul into real LIFEBonus FREE gifts:

This bonus free 40-day habit tracker is an invitation to cultivate rhythms of prayer and presence. Each day,
as you engage in your chosen sacred rhythm, you’ll fill in a quilt square — stitching together a beautiful life woven together with Christ’s love…

“40 Ways to Abide in Jesus” comes in TWO DIFFERENT, BOTH Bonus FREE, PRINTABLES (one as original beautiful art prints by my beloved daughter-in-law, Aurora (!!), to place around your home, or as one stunning cross-centered compass to frame and hang) —

24 “Who I am in Christ” cards with original woodcut illustrations 40 illustrated ornaments from the life of Jesus, for your own Easter tree —40-Day Bible Reading PlanPocket Prayers for your PilgrimageA Complete “Loved to Life” Community Pilgrimage Guide With the 7 I AM Statements of Jesus — to do a Lent Pilgrimage with your people 40 Days of Seeing Yourself in Jesus’ Story: Captivating artwork paired with prompts to help you personally – and very powerfully – step into the very scenes of Scripture, immersing your life in Jesus’ story

and so many (truly incredible!!!!) more deeply spiritually formative, profoundly helpful tools coming that will help grow us in connection to each other and the Vine of Life Himself… 

My heartfelt thanks for your support of ordering “Loved to Life” here, where you can also claim all the deeply formative and soul-nourishing THANK YOU gifts… from my heart to yours, connecting us all to His.

ORDER LOVED TO LIFE & CLAIM ALL YOUR BONUS THANK YOU GIFTS Download yours here: Come and let’s settle into Spring together:

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. 

Not Too Late For (*Totally Free) Best Mother’s Day Gift: That Will Be Deeply Healing for Both of you

You know what? What every Mom wants most is to be seen. Every Mom wants to know that, in spite of all of her faults and failings — that she somehow is still leaving, in spite of wounds and pain, a LEGACY OF LOVE. Every Mom wants to somehow, though so much went awry, to still hear, in spite of it all, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” still know that there was somehow good, that somehow, she still made a difference. And this free collection of bookmarks and notecards in our library of resources for you to personalize — and additional, personal journaling prompts—which you can print and package as a beautiful, heartfelt gift—can offer your Mom what she wants most: to feel truly seen, deeply loved, and reminded that she’s leaving a LEGACY OF LOVE. But it also unexpectedly gives you the priceless gift of deep healing, as you process these prompts, as you go back through memories, looking for whatever is “true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). You’ll also find optional prompts for your own tender places—lost parents, unmet longings, strained relationships—so that you, too, are seen and held.   …. Print out from our free library and personalize and give to your Mom to give her what she longs for most — or send to your family to consider writing through and giving back to you the gift you want most!

And so I sat down with this loveliest collection of prompts to give Mom the assurance of her LEGACY OF LOVE… and began to write to my own Mom…

Dear Mama,

You taught me a pinch of this, and a dash of that, and how tomato sauce usually needs a splash of sugar, and you’ve got to know, Mama, how in spite of everything, you’re leaving this legacy of love and good, and you’ve taught me how we are all going to get all kinds of things wrong and what matters is what you do with that afterward, and that expectations kill relationships, and you love as well as you’re willing to be inconvenienced. 

In spite of all that went wrong, Mom, you’re still living a Legacy of Love & good & you taught me: Shame dies when stories are told in safe places. 

You’ve got to know, Mom, in spite of all that went wrong, you’re leaving a legacy of love and good, and because of you, Mom, I know that:

The most important thing you can ever wear is a smile, and that there isn’t a thrift store on the planet that doesn’t hold at least one “eureka” find and even now, I sometimes laugh when I look in the mirror and see some spot that didn’t come out in the wash, because I can hear you telling me I won’t really even notice it much, if I just keep moving, and yes, you’ve taught me that: Just keep moving. 

And that: People’s judgements of you are often their own mirrors of self.

And you taught me how to tie your hair up when you’re about to really get down to work, and how to never leave a conversation before asking how you can pray, and if you cast stones, you end up breaking your own heart, and you taught me how to gently rub a scared little girl’s feet every night until she finally falls asleep and I can still remember you singing softly to me, Mama.

Because of you, I learned: The way you feel is not who you are – it’s only one part of you, a sign pointing something out, within the whole story of you.

Your feelings aren’t meant to drive you, but your feelings are lights on your dashboard about how the drive is going, and what needs your attention so you can keep on going in the best direction. 

Your thoughts never stay in your head, but become the reality you move into. 

Because of you, Mom, I learned that: Your thoughts never stay in your head, but become the reality you move into. 

You can turn the trajectory of what you track.

What you keep consuming — is what you keep becoming. 

Shame dies when stories are told in safe places. 

And because of you, I won’t forget: 

It’s everything to realize you can’t control anyone else’s lines in your story — and it changes all the things when you stop assuming you know why someone’s writing the story the way they are. The way you read someone’s actions might have nothing to do with their motivations or intentions.

Parts of your story are given to you, but what you always get to decide is how much goodness and love you write into the lines of the story that are your part. 

There’s no obstacle that can’t be reframed into a door of opportunity. 

There’s no obstacle that can’t be reframed into a door of opportunity. 

And you taught me courage when you didn’t back out on your own fledgling dreams and went back to school, and you taught me courage when you did the work late at night for years, and you taught me courage when you turned 180 degrees from closed doors and ended up walking across that stage in cap and gown to get your own degree. And you taught me courage when you surrendered and got help, and got help again, when you stood up and spoke truth straight into all the lies that threatened to lay us all flat, when you kept breathing through the grief that just kept on coming. 

As long as God keeps giving you permission to breathe, you always have permission to grieve. 

You shaped my faith by your earnest, honest prayers that always began with “Loving, Heavenly Father…”…. And you showed me that faith often looks like stacks of wrestling prayer journals and crack of dawn Saturday morning Bible studies in your front living room with a pot of team and jam and scones and heaps of vulnerability. And you showed me grace when you forgave me for thinking I knew it all at 14, gave me grace for being too in my head instead of being present to you, extended me grace for being much too certain instead of being much more curious. 

Because of what you taught me with your all your ordinary day, that’ve been stacking up into the story of your life, I’m learning that:

You can choose to not break anyone else with what just about broke you. Their poor behaviour can make you rich in grace, and lavish in you love. And you have agency over your actions, but not anyone else’s reaction. 

I’ve learned from your life: Only speak words that make souls stronger.

No matter what edition of our relationship we are in now – it doesn’t get to edit out any of the other editions.

And: Never hold anyone more accountable than you hold yourself, and if you’ve tasted amazing grace how can you not go to amazing lengths to pass it on to someone else? 

And you taught me that time is kind of relative, and not to ever take the hands on any face of a clock more seriously than the holy face in front of you, and that’s turned out to be a gift, this assurance that there’s no such thing as ever being too late, that you aren’t ever too late to begin again, that we aren’t ever running out of time when we walk with the One who lives beyond time, but instead are only gaining an eternity of Love. 

I’m still learning, Mama, that for all of us: No matter what edition of our relationship we are in now – it doesn’t edit out any of the other editions. We hold space for loss and love, for grief and good, and we all get to keep finding ways to hold on to each other.

Alway know: There were all kinds of versions and editions of you who helped me become far better versions and editions of me. And I promise to never, ever forget all the ways your good made me better.

And because we all never stop trying to see if there’s anyone who chooses to really see us — what I just really wanted you to give you, Mom, was the gift of really seeing you…

I see you, Mom.  

I see you, Mom — and I see grace meeting you, and love enfolding you, and Christ carrying you.

I see you at the stove, getting another meal on the table for us when you were starved just for some rest and solitude and a good hot soak in the bath. I see you folding yet another load of laundry and hauling in another load of groceries all by yourself and  carrying all this mental load and I see you trying to hold a house and home and a family together, and just wanting someone to come hold you. I see you being the mom taking care of us – when there were days you ached for someone to just come and take care of you.

I see you on the edge of your bed, tired but trying, and I see you pushed right to the edge time and again, and I see how you’ve kept finding a way, I see you putting one step in front of the other when it felt all too much and achingly alone, and I see now how brutally hard the road has been at times, and how painstakingly brave you’ve had to be, just to be…. just to be you.

I see how you’ve shouldered the heft of your cross and how sometimes it’s rubbed painfully raw and how you’ve trusted Jesus to be your Wounded Friend who has carried the weight of your cross every step too. I see you — and I see grace meeting you, and love enfolding you, and Christ carrying you.

And I can always see the times you’d throw your head back and laugh loud and how it made me feel inside, to see you happy on the outside, and I will always see how your eyes could read like love, and I promise you that I have that tenderness, and you, memorized for forever.  

Your story can hold all kinds of moments and you can still leave a legacy of love, because, of all the moments, love is the most durable and strongest of them all.

Mama?

Your story can hold all kinds of moments, and you can still leave a legacy of love, because, of all the moments, love is the most durable and strongest of them all.

Because the realest reality is:

Love happens in all kinds of small pockets of moments in a life, and those moments of love always go on forever, and distance can’t diminish love and time can’t erode love and brokenness can’t stop love and disagreements can’t delete love and illness can’t wither love, and sins can’t supersede love, and hard seasons can’t undo love and failures can’t overwrite love, and death can’t terminate love and you never have to fear: your love, in all kinds of moments, goes straight on through all kinds of valleys, and into always and forever, and will always be with me.

I love you, Mom…

Love,

Me xoxo

Give Mom the Gift of Feeling Seen, That You see the Ways She’s Tried to Leave a Legacy of Love

FOR YOU & YOURS THIS WEEKEND: This free collection of bookmarks and notecards and journaling prompts—which you can print and package as a beautiful, heartfelt gift—can offer your mom what she wants most: to feel truly seen, deeply loved, and reminded that she’s leaving a LEGACY OF LOVE. But yes! It also unexpectedly gives you the priceless gift of deep healing, as you process these prompts, as you go back through memories, looking for whatever is “true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). You’ll also find optional prompts for your own tender places—lost parents, unmet longings, strained relationships—so that you, too, are seen and held.   …. Print out and give to your Mom — or send to your family to consider writing through and giving back to you to give you the gift knowing you’re leaving a LEGACY OF LOVE!

No printer? No problem! Digital options in our library are included. Mom far away? No worries! Just personalize from our library and send/text/email her the digital options this weekend — and feel a bit more healing and love for everyone all around…

How Moms Feel: A Love Letter For Mother’s Day

There is a world where Mother’s Day is the day where mothers take a moment to pause to awe in the miracle that they ever got to be one at all. 

You are a constellation in my sky,
and your love connected all the dots — so I could see how everything is drawing the shape of grace across the dark.

A day where as your Mom, I realize I might never have gotten to hold you… might never have belonged to you …might never have looked into your eyes and known that I was going to love you straight right through everything, till my very last breath. 

I might never have gotten to be your home — and you may never have known how my heart’s always gone with you, wherever you go.  

Sure, some may swoon over swaddled tiny humans, or light up in the face of all the little people with the big-eyes, but I don’t want to go back to just a younger or different version of you. Back to only that giggling babe you once were who made my heart right  erupt, or back to that lispy toddler who crawled up in my lap to take my face in  chubby hands and tell me all the breathless things…

Because when I look into your eyes, I see all the ages and faces you’ve ever been and you are whole words to me and I’ve been the enthralled, front row witness to every single version of you and I’ll never stop wanting to see more of your brave becoming. 

Love isn’t about meeting fantasy expectations but meeting each other with grace.

Because this is the way I see you always in my world:

You are a star who is not small
to anyone who orbits your love blazing through it all.

You are a constellation in my sky,
and your love connected all the dots — so I could see how everything is drawing the shape of grace across the dark.

You are one rare story that has to be told by the God who so believes in you, He’ll move into you to keep writing hope on all your impossible walls, who keeps raising the sun over you, because He’s intent on raising all His dreams for you.

Love isn’t about becoming the figment of someone’s imagination— love is about becoming like Jesus to each other. 

And sure, frankly, maybe there were more than a few days when you wished I was somehow different — and maybe, true, there were a day or two when I wished you were somehow different too?

But you and I, we’ve been down more than a few winding roads together, and we’ve arrived… at that lookout where we can finally see the view we’ve both long been looking for: 

Love isn’t about meeting fantasy expectations — but meeting each other with grace.

Love isn’t about becoming the figment of someone’s imagination— love is about becoming like Jesus to each other. 

Love lets go of expectations so we can hold on to each other.   

The work of every parent is to now give the best they know how — and the work of every child is to forgive their parents the best they can now. 

And holding you has held together parts of me, and growing you up has been a needed growing of me, and getting to be a witness to your life has been the honor of my life that will never stop changing me all of my life.  And there are so many things about me that I wish I could go back to change for you. 

The times I failed to show up in the ways you’d needed, failed to show up so you felt seen, or showed up but in ways that let you down — I ache to go back and show you the comfort of Christ and the delight of God in you. 

And then there were the times I failed to do the most important work of being human and find ways to emotionally regulate, the times I wasn’t your calm and I was part of generational trauma I never wanted to exacerbate, the times I didn’t love you with all my attention and didn’t treat you as I would Christ – I am here saying more than I’m sorry – I am saying I’m committed to doing better from now on into forever. 

It’s the tender heartbeat of honest motherhood: 

Please forgive me of the sins in my own life that I didn’t slay, that you now have to daily wrestle in your own life to the death…

Forgive me for ever speaking to you in ways that didn’t express your infinite worth in the eyes of God.

And please forgive your mother for not being more like your Abba Father.

The forever work of a parent isn’t to take credit for your children, or take condemnation for your children, but to prayerfully keep taking your children to Christ no matter what

I got so much wrong, but maybe: Motherhood isn’t so much about getting it all right — it’s about you and I getting to be on this planet together at the same time, it’s about you and I getting to taste His amazing grace together, it’s about you and I getting to share life together in a way that’s singular and surreal and a bit sublime and and us doing this sacred work together:

The work of every parent is to now give the best they know how — and the work of every child is to forgive their parents the best they can now. 

Every moment compounds and what if all our moments filled with grace? 

And the forever work of a parent isn’t to take credit for your children, or take condemnation for your children, but to prayerfully keep taking your children to Christ no matter what — and I promise to always be your greatest prayer warrior and love you every day on my knees.

Every moment compounds and what if we all filled more of the moments with the power of prayer?

It’s always the prayers for our people that we weave into the matching of socks, the stirring of soup, the washing of dishes, that are what survive fire.

With you – nothing was really a sacrifice, but only more ways to love you. 

There is a world where Mother’s Day is the day where mothers pause to awe in the miracle that they ever got to be one at all – and simply say:

With you – nothing was really a sacrifice, but only more ways to love you. 

With you – there’s always grace and gratitude and prayers because this is how we can speak the language of love wherever we are.

With you – everything’s been nothing short of a miraculous gift.

With you, with you, with you…. always with you.

My heart for yours,

my walk with yours,

my life bound to yours,

till my last breath, then always and forever.

And the miraculous gift of getting to be your mom is all the thanks I’ll ever need.

The gift of giving Thanks: Gives the Greatest Joy! For Every brave heart, every mom, every woman in every season:

Who doesn’t want to experience the daily gift of more joy?

This Best Little Gratitude Journal, perfect to begin any time of year, is a fresh, new way to give thanks: Each day you record just 3 gifts — and on that very same page, you see all the gifts you’ve recorded on this day of the month, on all the previous months! And when you see how God has provided in the past, it not only multiplies your joy, it grows your deep trust in how He will continue to provide for all the days in the future… And those who write down just a few things they’re grateful for every day — find themselves 25% happier! Who doesn’t want the gift of 25% greater happiness! Life here is short — so it’s so worth expanding your joy! And giving the gift of MORE JOY!

Find the Best Little Gratitude Journal, my absolute favorite, right here:

You feel Stretched? How to Be A String in the Bow of the Lord

Erin Davis and I have a lot in common . . . fellow farm girls (she lives on a sheep farm in Missouri), moms of gaggles of glorious kids, and united in our deep love for Jesus and awe of His Word, we could probably talk endlessly and effortlessly for hours. We also both know what it’s like to feel pain in the walls of our chest while holding on to hope with both hands. In her new Bible study, The Story of Joseph: How God Can Redeem Imperfect Families, Erin explores how the gnarled branches of our family trees make space for God to work. It’s a joy to welcome Erin to the farm’s front porch today…

Guest Post by Erin Davis

“This won’t end well, and it won’t take long.”

That’s what the doctor whispered after he told us that my mom had early onset Alzheimer’s.

In the tsunami of grief and fear that followed, I grabbed onto those words and held on for dear life.

I knew we were heading into a dark tunnel; but I was sure it would be a short tunnel, and I put my hope in that. 

Now, several years in, the journey is not ending well — humanly speaking.

My mom, a gifted watercolor artist, devoted Gigi, and woman of deep faith in Jesus is fading from one life to the next slowly, painfully slowly. And I am learning a good, hard lesson. It’s a lesson every follower of Jesus must learn—it’s one God often uses our families to teach us. As I open God’s Word, it’s a lesson I see profoundly displayed in the life of Joseph.

The lesson is this:

I am a string in the bow of the Lord. 

If you know Joseph’s beloved biopic, recorded in the book of Genesis you already know that between the book ends of Joseph’s life we find beauty and betrayal, love and hate, triumph and loss. In many ways, Joseph’s whole life seems to be a set up for this powerful punchline, recorded in Genesis 50:19–20. 

But Joseph said to them, “Do no fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”  

You can read Joseph’s story in a few chapters in the Bible. Though we don’t know every detail, we can see his life from beginning to end.

Our lives don’t unfold that way, do they?

Sometimes reconciliation doesn’t come in a few years, or at all. Sometimes the people who threw us in a pit aren’t sorry. Sometimes sons aren’t reunited with their fathers. Often, our families are the reason we ask a very honest question of God: How long, O Lord?

How long until I receive the family I’ve been praying for?How long until God gives relief?How long until my heart is healed?How long until the relationship is restored?How long until my prodigal child comes home?How long until my marriage finds solid footing again?

“He will pull you back exactly as long as He needs to, not one second longer, to hit the target—His target“

God rarely answers our “how long?” questions with answers about time. I’ve never known anyone who knew exactly how many more days, weeks, months, or years they had to wait for God to move. But through His Word and by His character, we know it’s just long enough to hit the target He intends:

Joseph experienced this:

His brothers hated him . . . stretch. He was sold into slavery . . . stretch. He was thrown into prison . . . stretch. Famine came . . . stretch.His father died . . . stretch. 

And all along the way, God relieved the tension and then pulled Joseph taut again. Why? Read Joseph’s words again.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (v. 20).

We could sum it up this way: So God would get the glory. 

Here’s where Joseph’s story and your story intersect: You are a string in the bow of the Lord.

He will pull you back exactly as long as He needs to, not one second longer, to hit the target—His target.

The bull’s-eye our families are meant to hit . . . the bull’s-eye our lives are meant to hit — is His glory. 

The Bible doesn’t paint for us a perfect picture of the human experience.

Joseph’s story is just one of countless examples where our messiness shines a spotlight on our desperate need for the Messiah. 

King David makes another posterchild for this Truth. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he scribbled out his heartache:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

“…he shifts his eyes away from his circumstances and trains himself to look toward the character of God“

If you know David’s writing style, you know there’s always a pivot point where he shifts his eyes away from his circumstances and trains himself to look toward the character of God. No matter how long you’ve been asking how long . . . no matter how stretched you feel . . . no matter what pain points your family faces today . . . you can make the pivot with Him. 

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me. (vv. 5–6)

As I’ve walked the long journey of Alzheimer’s and ached to see God move in other areas of my life and family, I’ve internalized the truth of Psalm 13 as this prayer.

Borrow it as you cling to steadfast love of Jesus today: 

I am a string in the bow of the Lord. 

I am aimed toward His glory alone.

Erin Davis is passionately committed to getting women of all ages to the deep well of God’s Word. She’s the author of more than twenty books and Bible studies, including 7 Feasts, Lies Boys Believe, and Fasting & Feasting. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest. Hear her teach on The Deep Well podcast. 

The Story of Joseph offers the hope of redemption for every family, no matter how broken. In this new 8-week study you’ll dive deep into Joseph’s family tree and discover that even in the face of dysfunction, deceit, and deep pain, God as at work. He has a good plan, and He is building a beautiful family for His glory. Find it at MoodyPublishers.com. 

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {05.03.2025}

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

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

Smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything —

and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))! 

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

Photo by Michael Denning on Unsplash

Photo by Miska Sage on Unsplash

Photo by Aliya Solomon on Unsplash

Photo by Sabine Ojeil on Unsplash

Linger for a moment and exhale… spring is here!!Heart Vitamins for you this week:“Sacrificial Yeses and Necessary Nos”You don’t want to miss this“You’re Right Where You Need to Be”TUNE IN: WATCH HERE“The Presence of God” Don’t leave before you listenWOW! The character of God! THIS, THIS: Watch here:Soul strengtheners for you this week“I Will Trust Anyway” with Christine Caine LIFECHANGING LISTEN “Suffering and Joy can Coexist in Your Story”YESSSSS! The best!“Watching for the Morning” So encouraging! WOW! “A little bit for us on Prayer” YES! THIS!!Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord:This is majestic! Pretty incredible! Literal Chills! WOW! On repeat!! God is on the move! So beautiful! WATCH HERE!Just incredible! Choked me up… WOW!On Repeat! YES! THIS!! For the glory of God! Stunning!! Recipes for you to try this week!Strawberry Shortcake YES PLEASEOne pie… 4 Flavours A MUST TRY!On Christianity Today:“HELLFIRE-AND-BRIMSTONE EMPATHY”

“Data doesn’t sin. People do. A religion without empathy doesn’t only lead to forgoing the sweetness and light of the gospel. It rids itself of the hellfire and brimstone too. People used to call that “liberal.””

You don’t want to miss this read: Resources for you this week! 12 Daring Women of the BibleClick here to join us! So many good ones- The Bible Project Podcast You can’t miss this! A section on Books for you:Exactly how it feels! WOW! Thrown out Books YES! THIS!! Ready to smile this weekend?!!Actually me! I LOVE this:We have all we need! This is AMAZING! So Funny!! I can’t stop watching this! I want this to be me! Can’t stop watching!Road Trip? Watch here: I love this!! No hesitation!! YES!!Beauty for you this week: So inspiring! Click here: Wow! Just Wow! Watch here:Thoughts to Really Ponder this week“How to Study the Bible” Don’t miss this: “Build a Culture of Discipleship”Doesn’t this resonate: LISTEN“The Root of Anxiety” Listen here:God cares about me? DON”T MISS THIS:What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week“Graves to Gardens “Post of the Week From Around These Parts: “How To Find a Way to Live Through hard things?“

How do you keep taking just one step after another — when just you want to be on a whole other road?

DON’T LEAVE THE INTERNET UNTIL YOU READ THIS! on the book stack at the farm

Her latest book, Watching for the Morning: 90 Devotionals When Hope Is Hard to Find, is a tender companion for dark seasons. Each day offers biblical truth, honest reflection, and Christ-centered hope for anyone walking through grief, waiting, or weariness.

Deepen your understanding of God the Father with Strong and Secure, the 100-day devotional for teen girls and young women that explores topics like anxiety, self-esteem, and the pressures of everyday life and examines five key traits of God to guide you toward building an enduring relationship with Him.

wow! Look at us all Reading this together (!!!) got yours? gifted one to a friend? GET YOURS HERE

We can’t get over all your Beautiful Messages of how God’s using this one to literally change lives!

what others are saying about loved to life On Amazon: GET YOURS HERE

Pick up  Loved to Life: A 40-Day VISUAL Pilgrimage with Jesus, that will:

give you enlightening insights to calm your real worriesground your identity in who you really are, regardless of failuresspeak to your deepest doubts in a profoundly steading wayand walk you in fresh, intimate ways with Jesus, Love Himself, that will grow your soul into real LIFEBonus FREE gifts:

This bonus free 40-day habit tracker is an invitation to cultivate rhythms of prayer and presence. Each day,
as you engage in your chosen sacred rhythm, you’ll fill in a quilt square — stitching together a beautiful life woven together with Christ’s love…

“40 Ways to Abide in Jesus” comes in TWO DIFFERENT, BOTH Bonus FREE, PRINTABLES (one as original beautiful art prints by my beloved daughter-in-law, Aurora (!!), to place around your home, or as one stunning cross-centered compass to frame and hang) —

24 “Who I am in Christ” cards with original woodcut illustrations 40 illustrated ornaments from the life of Jesus, for your own Easter tree —40-Day Bible Reading PlanPocket Prayers for your PilgrimageA Complete “Loved to Life” Community Pilgrimage Guide With the 7 I AM Statements of Jesus — to do a Lent Pilgrimage with your people 40 Days of Seeing Yourself in Jesus’ Story: Captivating artwork paired with prompts to help you personally – and very powerfully – step into the very scenes of Scripture, immersing your life in Jesus’ story

and so many (truly incredible!!!!) more deeply spiritually formative, profoundly helpful tools coming that will help grow us in connection to each other and the Vine of Life Himself… 

My heartfelt thanks for your support of ordering “Loved to Life” here, where you can also claim all the deeply formative and soul-nourishing THANK YOU gifts… from my heart to yours, connecting us all to His.

ORDER LOVED TO LIFE & CLAIM ALL YOUR BONUS THANK YOU GIFTS Download yours here: Come and let’s settle into Spring together:

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 Find a Way to Live Through hard things?

When the woman reached out to hug me just before I got to the door, she whispered and I barely heard it through what was leaking down her cheeks, “I don’t know how I’m going to live through what I am going through right now.”

How do you keep taking just one step after another — when just you want to be on a whole other road?

She pulled back and looked me in the eye:

“Maybe it’s — I just don’t know how — to live through what I just really don’t want to have to go through?”

I read her eyes and she reads mine and how do you hear the voice of the Shepherd still calling your name when the lies of the enemy of your soul keep calling you names?

How do you live through this hard thing — that’s effecting everything? How do you keep finding a way forward — without losing your hope along the way?

How do you keep taking just one step after another — when just you want to be on a whole other road?

You get to decide whether thoughts get to you, or whether you give them to Christ

The woman brushes her cheeks with the back of her hand.

And I don’t know what grief that’s got her cornered at every turn, or if it’s a prodigal child she’s begging to make a u-turn, don’t know if it’s a mountain she’s got to take, or if it’s something that’s trying to take her — but I know that I know that overwhelmed look in her eyes and I feel the cracking ache in her brave voice and the details of our hard may be different, but all of our need for courage for today is the same.

The test results come back, but that doesn’t mean you back down from really fully living.

The relationship keeps fracturing, but that doesn’t mean you let anything break your spirit.

The prices may keep draining any savings, but that doesn’t mean anything gets to actually drain your joy.

The income may start to wither up, but that doesn’t mean you stop seeing all kinds of ripe possibility.

The to-do list and deadlines seem overwhelming, but that doesn’t mean discouragement gets to overcome you.

The knot in your gut that was there last night, may be right there strangling you a bit tighter as soon as you open your eyes in the morning, but you grab hold of that rope and you just tie it to just the next thing and just the next thing and you make that knot in your gut into a knotted lifeline from one moment to just the next thing.

Our battles aren’t won on fields, they are won between our ears. And we get to decide whether we get caught up in all the worries, or if we instead proactively take captive every thought, so Christ takes captive our every fear.

And I cup my friend’s face in my hands. And I nod, because I feel how hard it is too: Everyone is fighting a hard battle — but there are a lot of us fighting hard battles after already losing a whole string of other battles.

Because yeah, sure, it’s one thing to be fighting a hard battle — but it’s a whole other thing to be fighting a hard battle when you feel like you’ve already been on a long losing streak, when you have to keep fighting this battle even though it honestly feels like you’re not winning your battles quite as quickly as everyone else seems to be winning theirs.

But our battles aren’t won on fields, they are won between our ears. And we get to decide whether we get caught up in all the worries, or if we instead proactively take captive every thought, so Christ takes captive our every fear.

You get to decide whether thoughts get to you, or whether you give them to Christ.

You get to keep turning toward the Way and not walk away, and you win the battles behind your forehead when you keep surrendering to Christ as the head of all things.

When you don’t know how to go on, you hang on by passing it all on to Jesus.

When you keep giving everything to Jesus, Jesus keeps you –and then you can’t lose hope, because Hope Himself has you.

I look her in the eye and that’s what I want to tell her:

You win the battles behind your forehead when you keep surrendering to Christ as the head of all things.

The way you live through you hard thing is to vigilantly take captive every thought going through your mind, and make it surrender to the love of Jesus in and around and through everything.

And I tell her that and that I’m with her, with her, and I nod and I mean it.

Because what we all need in our battles is with-ness and witness. 

Brokenness needs with-ness and witness — someone to stand with us and someone to see us.

And she nods and squeezes my hand and smiles the bravest. And I whisper to her, “You will live through this.”

You’re going to be okay because Jesus is going before you, and He is never not entirely for you.

You’re always okay if you always stay with Jesus. Things are only truly bad wherever Jesus isn’t there — and where is Jesus truly not there?

You may be fighting a hard battle that you feel like you’re losing — but you’re never, ever losing, if your mind simply stays on the One who wins it all in the end. The battle you have ahead of you is already won, so rest in the One who gave everything to win your heart. Because the truth about every blasted battle is:

What you don’t know how to live through — Jesus already died for.

Where you don’t how to go on — Jesus already went through so you can carry on.

What feels hopeless — is where you meet more Jesus who is all your surest hope.

And that’s what ended up following me all the winding way home, under a smattering of spring stars.

What they call the dark night of the soul may feel as endlessly black as the limitless cosmos — but darkness isn’t God, darkness isn’t infinite. Darkness has limits, darkness has an end, darkness has borders.

And sometimes you exhale like the expanse of a night sky, like even your every breath keeps calling your Father’s name, YWHW.

And you breathe: All darkness has shores, and there is always light rising on the other side. You have to believe this. 

And if you can’t believe— just breathe. Next breath, next thing, next step — and know:

He made your every breath to be the sound of His name, YHWH, so as you keep breathing, you keep calling His name, and your breathing becomes the endless refrain of His name, that endlessly comforts your soul.

You’re going to be okay — your every breath sings the refrain of His name, and everywhere that He is, is more than okay.

You’re going to be okay — your every breath sings the refrain of His name, and everywhere that He is, is more than okay.

Just before dawn this past week, we wake early to stand in the dark and witness the Lyrids meteor shower across the night sky. We have to wait in the dark before dawn, wait for our eyes to adjust to the pitch black, wait to see the cascading light.

And when it comes — there is this catching of breath:

Nothing is ever too far gone for Hope’s light to come find you.

And we watch how the meteors live straight through the dark, and win the night, and on the other side, there’s the warming light of the rising dawn.

How do you practically, actually, live through what you don’t know the way through? How it the world do you really take captive every thought and live in the Way Himself, Jesus?

What does it personally look like to form your mind, your days, your life, into the deeply meaningful, cruciform love of Jesus and entrust everything into His hands?

What does it powerfully look like to have a new way of life, a new way of being, when life feels really hard and unpredictable?

The practical tool to begin true life-transformation for a different way of life when life is hard starts here: WayMaker

You Tired of Waiting, Hoping? What if this is the Real Answer to Your Prayers?

This brilliant woman has discipled me for more than decade and I couldn’t love her more. I’ve long believed that those most acquainted with suffering are often those most intimately acquainted with the heart of God. And that’s exactly what you’ll find in this powerful story from Vaneetha Risner, a woman who knows the ache of grief—and the hope that holds when life unravels. Vaneetha has walked through deep loss: the death of a child, multiple miscarriages, a painful divorce, and life with a debilitating disease. She has wrestled with God in silence and suffering—and found, sometimes in the ashes, that the presence of Christ is more than enough. She’s not writing theory. She’s writing from the frontlines of grief and grace, offering what every weary heart longs for: honesty, hope, and a clarity that comes from suffering well with Jesus. I’m so grateful to share this tender glimpse into her new devotional, Watching for the Morning: 90 Devotionals When Hope Is Hard to Find. This one? You’ll want to read it slowly—and then pass it on to someone who desperately needs to know they’re not alone. It is the utmost honour to welcome my dear friend, Vaneetha to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Vaneetha Risner

Years ago, I remember having coffee with a couple I’d recently met, as we each shared our lives and our stories.

We didn’t know each other well, but the conversation quickly moved into vulnerable territory.

I’d just told them about Paul’s death, which was on the heels of three miscarriages. Before I could finish, the husband interrupted me and said, “Don’t take this wrong, but we prayed for our children, and all of them were born healthy.”

I sat in silence for a few seconds as I took in his words. How exactly did he expect me to take that remark?

Did he think I hadn’t prayed?

Were they blaming me for our son’s death?

Did he believe my miscarriages were all my fault?

My mind was reeling after that conversation, but this attitude wasn’t new.

“My questions went unanswered—but His presence was undeniable.“

From the day we learned of Paul’s heart problem when I was pregnant, concerned friends assured me Paul would be fine if we prayed in faith. Their confidence was unwavering. It was all up to us. “Pray, believing you will receive,” they urged from James 5:15–16, “and he will be healed.”

So I prayed. I fasted. I recited set prayers. I read books on healing. I asked friends to pray. I begged God. I did everything I knew to do.

But months later, sitting beside Paul’s empty crib, I had more questions than answers. What had I done wrong? Why didn’t God heal Paul? Was I to blame? Or was God?

Nothing made sense. And in the ensuing months, I poured myself into theology. I wanted to understand this God whom I claimed to worship but couldn’t figure out. My questions went unanswered—but His presence was undeniable. I couldn’t explain Him, but I couldn’t walk away from Him either.

After a long time of searching, I realized that I’d always assumed my faithfulness would result in God’s blessings. That trouble was a result of my failings. And that by fulfilling my end of the relationship, God would have to fulfill His. If not, what was the point of obeying God?

In his book The Prodigal God, Tim Keller referred to this subtle but dangerous expectation when he wrote, “If, like the elder brother, you seek to control God through your obedience, then all your morality is just a way to use God to make him give you the things in life you really want.”

“God is not after comfortable mediocrity. His artistry is unrivaled. He is creating masterpieces. God brushes unexpected color across the canvas of our lives, says no when we beg for yes, and offers His presence when we want His presents—because He has a much bigger plan for us.“

That was exactly how I viewed things.

My morality was little more than a way to use God to get the things in life I wanted. Prayer was essentially a good luck charm, a way of controlling my environment so I could live a happy, easy life. It had become less about communion and more about control.

As I searched the Bible for answers, I realized that my delight needed to be in God and not His gifts. The best gift He can give me is not health or healing or happiness but more of Himself. And that gift is often clearest in suffering because that’s when my dependence on Him is the greatest and my fellowship the sweetest. He meets me in breathtaking ways when I call out to Him. He has never failed me, and He never will. Even when everything in life fails, I can cling to God who is my portion forever.

It took losing Paul to show me that God’s faithfulness doesn’t always look like rescue.

Sometimes it looks like presence in the middle of pain. Sometimes it looks like peace that passes understanding, not answers that tie everything up in a neat bow. Sometimes it looks like tears on the floor by an empty crib—and the quiet comfort of a God who weeps with me.

I don’t know what’s best for me. I want easy answers, fill-in-the-blanks, pain-free predictability. I want a paint-by-numbers life. But God is not after comfortable mediocrity. His artistry is unrivaled. He is creating masterpieces. God brushes unexpected color across the canvas of our lives, says no when we beg for yes, and offers His presence when we want His presents—because He has a much bigger plan for us. A plan that glorifies Him and brings us everlasting delight.

Looking back, I can see how that conversation over coffee—jarring as it was—opened my eyes to how easily we equate blessings with effort, as if God were running a cosmic vending machine: insert prayer, receive miracle. We like formulas because they make us feel in control. But God’s ways are too deep for formulas and too personal for predictability.

“…God’s ways are too deep for formulas and too personal for predictability.“

I realized that others, like this couple, might not understand the gifts God gave me when my prayers weren’t answered exactly as I’d asked. To them, the outcome reflected my lack of faith or weak prayers. Yet I know God always hears us and wants to give us His very best, sparing nothing that would be good for us. God doesn’t grant our every request even when we pray faithfully—but He is always there, faithfully walking with us through every trial. And His presence is a far greater gift than any outcome we can imagine.

There was a time I didn’t know what to make of unanswered prayer—it felt like absence, like being forgotten. But now I know it can be the very place God draws near. While He didn’t spare Paul’s life as I had asked, I’ve come to see that through Paul’s life, God was doing something deeper—something eternal.

And in my grief, I met Him there.

REFLECT:

How have you been tempted to believe that your faithfulness would result in God’s blessings?

What would it look like to release a “God owes me” ideology, knowing that the true riches of God are found in His presence?

What would it mean to let yourself grieve what you lost, even as you hold onto the One who never leaves?

I try to read every word this woman writes — her words are that good, that rich.

Vaneetha Risner writes and speaks about finding hope in suffering. Her story includes childhood bullying, losing an infant son, developing post-polio syndrome, and experiencing an unwanted divorce. She is the author of Desperate for Hope, Walking Through Fire, and The Scars That Have Shaped Me, and she writes regularly for Desiring God.

Her latest book, Watching for the Morning: 90 Devotionals When Hope Is Hard to Find, is a tender companion for dark seasons. Each day offers biblical truth, honest reflection, and Christ-centered hope for anyone walking through grief, waiting, or weariness.

These 90 devotions are for anyone who is waiting in the dark, wondering when life will get better. Some reflections will encourage you to press on, some will help you process your losses, others will make you laugh, and still others will show you the gift of lament, in both its grittiness and grace.  Ultimately, they’re all intended to draw you closer to the God who is always for you – who is nearer than you know and loves you more than you can imagine.

Weeping may last for the night but joy comes in the morning.  Psalm 30:5

You can find Vaneetha’s writing and podcast at vaneetha.com and follow her on Instagram: @vaneetharisner and Facebook: vaneetharisner

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