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When the World Crashes Around You and Surrender is Your Only Option

Mary DeMuth and I have known each other for many years, even prior to the publication of One Thousand Gifts when we were both bloggers. We have spoken on similar stages and have prayed for each other when we’ve had the joyful opportunity. I know Mary to be a woman of prayer, intention, and honesty. It’s a joy to welcome Mary to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Mary DeMuth

I don’t know why freak trials take me by surprise. As a writer, every time a book of mine releases, I am consistently tested in its message.

The Freedom of Surrender is no different, but oh how I wish it were—especially today.

As I’m writing this, my husband is jobless. Happened this morning.

If you know anything about the creative workplace, you’ll know that artsy folks don’t make a normal salary, nor do we have insurance baked into our jobs. So today we lost 75% of our income and our medical coverage. 

It’s a bit terrifying.

In the book, I wrote this about surrendering finances: 

“Like the Israelite people who often forgot about the provision of God, we tend toward forgetfulness too. To remember God’s faithfulness is to retrain our minds toward belief. God is sovereign. He owns it all. He knows how to provide for birds, flowers, and this earth. Surely, he knows how to take care of his children. Thanking him for past provision is a good first step in surrendering your current financial situation to him.”

Funny how it’s easy to write those words, but so hard to live them.

We see the pattern repeated throughout the Scriptures—how prone people are to forget God’s faithfulness and provision.

In my more self-sufficient moments, I inwardly chastise those Israelites for being so forgetful.  How could Israel forget God who constantly delivered, protected, and provided for them?

I forget I am cut from the same cloth. Just call me Israelite.

In Psalm 106, the psalmist recounts God’s powerful deliverance, how he rescued the Israelites from Egyptian might. The result?

“Then his people believed his promises. Then they sang his praise” (verse 12).

All is well. They believed and sang.

But look at the next sentence: “Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done!” (verse 13a). From praise when favorable circumstances reigned to forgetfulness when trials erupted. Have you seen this pattern in your life?

A few hours ago it was easy for me to remember God’s powerful provision. But at a sudden job loss? Panic now settles into my marrow, telling me I’m all alone, fretting me to my core.

“Surrender is a seemingly small act that feels a lot like giving up, but its power lies in letting go of our vice grip on control. “

My stomach erupts. What will happen to us?

My head aches. What will tomorrow look like?

My neck tightens. How can I fix this?

Deep breath. In and out.

Remember.

Soul, has God been faithful in the past?

Yes, he has. 

From job loss, multiple moves, church tumult, broken relationships, missionary struggles, rejections, grief, truth telling fallout, and family anguish to this very moment I’m typing words onto the page, God has been faithful. He has provided. He has wept alongside. He has held us through every bewilderment. 

Friend, it’s normal to feel crushed under the weight of whatever hit you today. It’s normal to be afraid. It’s normal to wonder where God is. It’s normal for your footing to shift. It’s normal for your body to react. It’s normal to let worry win. 

But it’s also normal (and good) to surrender.

Surrender is a seemingly small act that feels a lot like giving up, but its power lies in letting go of our vice grip on control.

It’s a relinquishing of all those unmet expectations, the heartache that ensued, and an embrace of what a new normal will end up becoming.

I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to surrender right here. Perhaps you can pray these words too?

Jesus, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know how to see my way around this obstacle—it feels immovable, dark, foreboding.

I confess that today’s circumstances stole my breath and soured my stomach.

Help me to breathe.

Teach me to be still.

Help me surrender every worry, every fear, and every conundrum my mind races to understand.

Forgive me for choosing rumination over remembering all that you’ve already done. Forgive me for letting the problem loom larger than you.

My future is in your capable hands.

Thank you that you are far more aware of my fretting than even I am, and you know best how to lead, refine, and care for me. I’m reminded of the words of Oswald Chambers: “God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I worry?”

Please teach me to be mature in you, remembering all you’ve done, and surrendering every single fear to you.

Thank you for having big, capable hands to carry everything I fret about. Amen.

“Surrender is a good response to a bad circumstance.“

Surrender is a good response to a bad circumstance.

And a bad circumstance is an invitation to all of us to remember God’s goodness, share our worries with the One who loves to hold us, and rest in the God who cares deeply for his children. 

I didn’t expect to have a day like today. But I’m grateful God’s invitation is always open for me to surrender.

 1 From My Utmost for His Highest

Mary DeMuth is a literary agent, daily podcaster at Pray Every Day show, Scripture artist, speaker, and the author of 50+ books, including The Freedom of Surrender (IVP, 2025). She lives in Texas with her husband and is the mom of three adult children. Find out more at marydemuth.com.  

In The Freedom of Surrender, Mary DeMuth invites readers to journey through forty days of entrusting specific areas of your life to God—your inner struggles, your family, your expectations, your regrets, your ministry, your grief, your relationships, your job, your health, your finances, your future, and more. Every daily devotion includes Scripture, prayer, and Mary’s original art that help you cast each care on the One who cares for you.

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

How I’ve Wildly Failed & How To Discover The Secret To Changing Everything

What I keep telling myself as I flail about in the last quarter of the year: “There is no failure, as long as you don’t fail to keep growing.”

Every failing is just one more step on the way to success. 

There is no failure as long as you don’t fail to keep growing.

And? Success and failure as constructs are not terms found in the Bible, success and failure are not terms of biblical measurement, success and failure are not what God’s world are about. 

And here I am over here learning how to raise my 7th child, and how to champion a third-year university student, and what it means to be a parent to 5 full-grown adults living their own stories, how to be all that many new daughter-in-loves need to flourish, how to be a brand new Amma to our little grandbabies, while being committed to learning new ways to love the same faithful man for decades so that he can be all he is meant to be, tending every day as an amateur-shepherd to a  flock of 20-some sheep here on the farm, investing in our local church community, and studying as a student for my doctorate in ministry.

I’m really bad at all kinds of things. Which is exactly what happens if you’re risking enough to learn all kinds of new things.

Full lives are full of all kinds of seeming failure.

Only succeeding — is actually only proof of lack of growth. 

And in these warm autumns days, I’m still trying to learn how to make sourdough bread and I smile a bit when it comes out of the oven smelling like an invitation to come home — but I overproofed it, and it’s less than ideal, but I’m becoming more than some ideal— I’m becoming more experienced. 

When I slip the kinda flopped loaf onto the rack on the counter, I glimpse out the kitchen window, the porch’s perennial garden right there where the roses were devoured by sawflies that I kept relentlessly fighting all summer, and I overcrowded the lilies back in the spring, and failed to sufficiently contain the all the wild hollyhocks who were romping a bit too riotously all over the flower gardens. Every (gardening) year is an experiment, and actually:

Everywhere there is growth, there is experiment, and every grand life is a grand experiment in trying.

You can have a comfortable sense of success, and a life that is ultimately meaningless —or you can live through the discomfort of some sense of failing and into to a far more meaningful life. 

 As long as I’m still failing, I’m still working on growth. 

Only succeeding — is actually only proof of lack of growth. 

Maybe the real life work is less about succeeding, and more about becoming a curious student of failure. 

May be the every day work is to realize:

You can have a comfortable sense of success, and a life that is ultimately meaningless —or you can live through the discomfort of some sense of failing and move into to a far more meaningful life. 

The learning curve of all growth is found on the curve of failure. 

And after I clean the kitchen counters, feed the sourdough starter, tuck my wee flock of sheep into their little barn, tuck a little girl into her old bed, read the last chapter of the text for the doctorate studies and turn out the last light, that’s what I’m thinking at the very end of the day — that maybe, in some ways, this entire frame of success and failure needs turning all around and upside down.

I just keep coming back to this: Success and failure as constructs are not terms found in the Bible, success and failure are not terms of biblical measurement, success and failure are not what God’s world are about. 

When historians and archaeologists look back at the successful kings of Israel, those who won wars and accolades, those who built monuments and kingdoms and whole catalogues of accomplishments, who they is deem as one of the most successful and powerful kings ever in Israel, the one who they credit with the building of a royal citadel and palace at Samaria, the construction of the massive fortress at Jezreel, and historical records like the Mesha Inscription noting his powerful reign that expanded Israel’s dominion to include northern Moab east of the Jordan River — they point, not to the Israeli King you might expect — but to King Omri. Assyrians were so in awe of King Omri that they actually called the whole of Israel “Omri-land”

But, unlike historians, apart from saying how Omri came to power, the actual Bible makes not one mention of King Omri’s accomplishments. 

Omri may be deemed historically as the greatest King, but the One who is very King of the Universe names David as the greatest king, because David was a man after His own heart and the heart of God is Love.  

Who the annals of history deems a success, is very different than who the God of Love names as His. 

Because for God: Success isn’t about the accomplishments of your hands, but the posture of your heart.

Because for God: Success in this world that doesn’t last — isn’t actually lasting success. 

Success in this world that doesn’t last — isn’t lasting success. 

Because the reality is: This isn’t actually a ladder world. 

This isn’t a world about climbing some rungs and relentlessly trying to avoid slipping some rungs. It isn’t a ladder world. 

This is actually a love world. For God so loved the world — that He gave.  This is a love world and love lives given.

This is a world about the givenness of love, about living given— this is a world of gifts.

This is a gift universe. And everything is about gift, whether we live with a heart posture to receive the free gift of His Son, the gift of His love, of His joy, of His strength, the gifts of His grace upon grace, and gift of the wisdom of His ways — and how we are living in ways that become a gift. 

This isn’t a ladder world, all about climbing rungs. This is a love world, and all about living given.

Everything in the real world that actually lasts has little to do with some culturally determined standard of success and failure, but about getting out of bed every day and asking: 

How can I be a gift today? 

And getting into bed and asking:

How did I live given today? How was I gift? 

Because at the end of your days, it won’t matter much if your obituary boasts of how many rungs you climbed, or what ladders you scaled. Because what carries real weight in the real world that lasts is love, and real love lives given. 

Successes that are about notice and number and scale, can’t compare to the weight of a gift that is for the one, and for an audience of One who left the 99 for the one.

God isn’t interested in the ladders we climb, but the love we give. 

There is no failure, as long as you are living given, as long as you are being a gift.

The sourdough may not rise, and the roses may be all eaten by sawflies, and the laundry may pile, and the bills may pile, and the to-do lists may pile, and this whole chapter of the story right now might be messy and tender and not going the way you hoped or imagined, but in the real world that lasts, in the love world, in the gift universe, all there is to really learn is:

There is no failure, as long as you are living given, as long as you are being a gift.

I’m a slow and happy learner, and when I cut the sourdough loaf in half and turn it around, I’m reframing everything in a love world that doesn’t have ladders.

And I see the day, this season, this year, in a whole other glorious, grateful way.

And I grab some parchment paper and twine, and wrap up this little imperfect loaf.

Because it too looks like a love gift meant to be given away.

Want to Finish Your Year Strong & Change Your Life?

1 Devotional & 2 Journals = CHANGE YOUR MORNINGS & CHANGE YOUR YEAR

Less than 15 minutes every morning — 1 devotional reading every morning in the ECPA #1 BESTSELLER, Loved to Life, that will devotionally & chronologically take you through the entire Book of John, walking with Jesus.

And then just even 5 minutes in SACRED Prayer, and 5 minutes recording your Gifts and Gratitude in the best little gratitude journal — and you finish the year strong, becoming of a person after God’s own heart and that’s all that ultimately matters in the end!

JUST BEGIN HERE TO BECOME WHO YOU WANT TO BE

If You Want to Change Your Life Now, You’ve Got to Know What Heaven & Forever Will Be Like

In the precious time Colleen Chao has been living with a terminal diagnosis, she’s been pondering questions like: What is heaven like? What happens to me the moment I die? Will I be able to see my loved ones from heaven? How can I practically experience the hope of heaven? Colleen invites us into the hope that is sustaining her as she walks through the valley of the shadow of death: the hope of a Home that exceeds our wildest dreams and expectations. It’s a joy to welcome Colleen to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Colleen Chao

No matter where I’ve lived or how briefly I’ve lived there, home has always been where my people are.

As a single woman, I was happiest when my front door swung open to students, colleagues, friends, and family—filling even the smallest spaces with giant joy.

Since becoming a wife and mom, I’ve not only wanted to create a place of love and belonging for my husband and son, but I’ve also looked at every potential new apartment and house with one burning question: Can we host people here? 

I guess that’s why, when Jesus tells His disciples, “I am going away to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2), I can almost hear the warmth in His voice and see the excitement in His eyes. It’s the same excitement I sense in verses like this one:

What no eye has seen, 

no ear has heard,

and no human heart has conceived—

God has prepared these things for those who love him. (1 Cor. 2:9) 

“My journey through decades of hardship—including extended singleness, cyclical depression, chronic illness, and terminal cancer—has proven to me that God is exactly who He says He is.“

Have you ever known someone whose home is a special place of belonging for you?

They seem to have a sixth sense for creating a space where you feel loved in every detail: there’s a spread of your favorite foods and drinks; a cozy blanket waiting for you; a basket of toiletries if you spend the night. They seem to instinctively know whether you need to sit quietly and rest, or pour your heart out, or laugh your head off.

But as humans, our attempts at creating a place of belonging have limitations.

In striking contrast, God knows no limitations nor constraints—He deals in the infinite and exhaustless. No wonder our five senses can’t begin to process what He’s preparing for us.

But if we know Him, we know that He will do it well, for he knows all about us. He knows what will give us the most happiness. . . . He loves us, too, so well that, as the preparing is left to him, I know that he will prepare us nothing second-rate, nothing that could possibly be excelled. We shall have the best of the best, and much of it; we shall have all that even his great heart can give us. Nothing will be stinted.1

“The God who is preparing a place for me and for you and for all His children is the God who created us, rescued us, and continues to pour out His goodness and love on us. “

My journey through decades of hardship—including extended singleness, cyclical depression, chronic illness, and terminal cancer—has proven to me that God is exactly who He says He is.

“He is my faithful love” (Ps. 144:2), and He has never failed me.

He’s never shortchanged me; He’s always outgiven me.

So I can live in the mystery and the unknown, even when it’s painful or scary. I don’t need all the details about Home ahead of time, because what I do know is enough: The God who is preparing a place for me and for you and for all His children is the God who created us, rescued us, and continues to pour out His goodness and love on us. 

The One who spoke galaxies into being, who breathed out stars like Mu Cephei (the size of 2.7 quadrillion Earths) and deep-sea mysteries like the bioluminescent vampire squid—who dreamed up 11,000 bird species, sculpted snowflakes, and crafted subatomic particles—is the One who has saved His best work for last. 

We haven’t seen anything yet . . .  

“Home is where we finally, fully, and forever belong. Where we are perfectly known and loved, safe and satisfied.“

But Jesus gives us glimpses of what He’s preparing. We know that Home will be vast and prosperous (Is. 9:7), safe and peaceful (Is. 32:18), a place of endless joy and pleasure (Ps. 16:11), where people from every tribe and tongue and nation will enjoy and serve and worship God forever (Rev. 7:9–12; Ps. 145:1–2).

There will be no more sin or evil, grief or death, pain or tears (Rev. 21:3–4, 27; 22:3). We will be perfectly loved and will love perfectly in return. We will see God face to face, and we will be like Him (1 John 3:2).

Home is where we finally, fully, and forever belong. Where we are perfectly known and loved, safe and satisfied. 

We foreshadow this future—this ultimate belonging—when we laugh late into the night with our best friend, dance with a child, confide in a trusted roommate, rest quietly with our spouse, share a favorite meal with our people, or sing our hearts out with our church family. 

But these are just hints of Home, sneak peeks into the place of perfect belonging where the presence of Jesus is so excessively good, we’ll need resurrected bodies to handle it all. In the meantime, we can lean all our hope into the promise that God has given us:

For I will create new heavens and a new earth;

the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.

Then be glad and rejoice forever

in what I am creating;

for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy

and its people to be a delight.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people.

The sound of weeping and crying

will no longer be heard in her. (Is. 65:17–19)

Lord my God, you have done many things—

your wondrous works and your plans for us;

none can compare with you.

If I were to report and speak of them,

they are more than can be told. (Ps. 40:5)

1. C. H. Spurgeon, No Tears in Heaven (Glasgow: Christian Focus Publications, 2014), 6–9.

With beautiful prose, soul-sustaining Scriptures, and the testimonies of faithful saints, Colleen Chao shows us in the pages of her newest book, On Our Way Home: Reflections on heaven in the face of death, how our deepest desires—for beauty, wonder, peace, healing, happiness, power, worship, and belonging—are permanently (and increasingly!) fulfilled when we get Home.  

What a beautiful, deeply meaningful book — that makes your every day now deeply meaningful.

You can follow more of Colleen’s journey at www.colleenchao.com or on Instagram @colleen.chao.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {10.11.2025}

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 Priscilla Du Preez

Photo by Ryan Arnst

Photo by Liana Mikah 

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez

Photo by Sokmean Nou

The weekend holds so much beauty to go experience! Gather in all of God’s goodness and taste and see His goodness!

Little bits of fall to brighten your day: Did anyone see the Harvest Moon this week?! Breathtaking!

Photo by Aditya Irawan

Click here to read the full article about the glory of the HARVEST MOONFLAVORS OF FALL | Come & Taste the Goodness of God! Anyone else So glad we live in a world that has Octobers!

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A post shared by Micah Guenther (@brookandbramblefarm)

Tis the Season when Even the Trees are smiling! Pretty amazing — read here for the reason behind the smile! Wanna Come on a Little trip With Me to soak in all the colours?

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A post shared by Renee Jordan • Boston (@heythereney)

Heart Vitamins for you this week:WOW! This Convo I Had on 100 Huntley With Josh Ali — So powerful! And His song “Goodness” — what a thankful heart Through Grief! The God of Restoration You need to watch to thisBeautiful in his sight Don’t miss this listenSOUL LEARNING 101 this week:“Behold the Living Word”Niagara Christian Gleaners- WOW!! Don’t miss thisWhy Gen Z is Leading a Religious ResurgenceRe-watching this! Add Cultural Apologetics to Your Evangelism Tool Kit So so good!! Secret SPIRITUAL HABITS of ROBERT MURRAY M’CHEYNE WOW! Don’t miss this! And Some fall treats for your Weekend!A must make this week A MUST TRY THIS WEEK!! So comforting! Add this to the meal plan?Homemade apple juice! Want to try? The best ideas! SO SO GOOD!! The best subscription box To Give as a Gift!

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Click here TO GET THE BEST FAIR TRADE SUBSCRIPTION BOX EVER! Creative Bits for you this week: So so cute!! Love this! This Thanksgiving? We have to try this! WOW! Restoration! So cool to watch! autumn snow globe Are you this ambitious? Make a joyful noise unto the Lord: Beautiful! So moving!Wow! So Good! Listen hereYes! Let’s Praise Him! don’t miss this! dear anxiety you need to listen Blog post of the week From The Farm: “Honestly, The Year’s Not Over & It’s Not Too Late To Hope Things Can Change” I cannot stop thinking about what happened here last week — it competely UNDID me… and remade me! THIS!Do not leave the internet before reading this! Ready to smile this weekend?!!Pastor prays for pizza driver- viral fundraiser This is the BEST! I absolutely love this! SO so good!! This is amazing! So so cute! ADORABLE!! Welcome October! Stunning!Forgot they were sheep so cute! I adore this I can’t stop watching Thoughts to Really Ponder: Laboring for a God Who Fights for UsDON’T PAY ATTENTION. GIVE IT. You need to read this! Now is the time for us to love Deeply thought-provokingCan our house be Holy Ground A must read Is bible reading a struggle ? so good! the compassion gift guide has been a Tradition and blessing For our family Every Year and we want to invite you to join us this year! MAKE THIS PART OF YOUR GIFT GIVING TRADITION … Click here to check out Compassion’s Gift Guide! What we’re Listening to on the Farm this weekPat Barrett – “Canvas and Clay” (Live) ft. Ben Smithon the book stack at the farm

Jenny’s book, Trust God, Love People opens wide the doors to her life and her family’s home to share stories of how little steps of faith have added up to an unexpected and abundant life. From her move to Bentonville, Arkansas, to the sweet stories of how she met Dave and of their early days of marriage, to the candid pain and hope of their time spent waiting to start a family before joyfully welcoming their twin boys.

Trust God, Love People is an inspiring blueprint for anyone wanting to build a life of spacious love and abundant joy. Opening this book is opening the door to the kind of really beautiful life of large love you’ve always imagined! Trust God, Love People is a guiding principle in Jenny’s life, and serves as an irresistible invitation that steadfast trust in our faithful, loving God allows us to love others well.

Every morning we prepare our bodies for the day—we shower, shave, dress for our appointments. But it’s much more important to prepare the inner person by spending time with God in the Word and in prayer so that we can receive spiritual strength for the day.

Then, whatever comes our way, we will be ready to meet the challenge. That is why Jim Cymbala wrote his new devotional, Jesus Every Day.

As we spend time with the Lord, his Spirit ministers to our spirits and prepares us for the day ahead. Discover hope, encouragement, and fulfilling purpose daily with Jesus Every Day.

Something to Add to your calendar?Embracing You with Ann Voskamp

WHAT IF… life expectations that you’ve been handed, that define success, fulfillment, and meaning in ways that do not correspond with the actual topography and reality of your life, leave you looking for a better way?

Join us for an uplifting evening with four-time NYT Best Selling Author Ann Voskamp.

Grab your ticket here!Hope Story Conference

We’re gathering for our 8th annual Writer’s Conference in beautiful Charlotte, NC on January 29-31, 2026, and we’d love you to join us! Experience three unforgettable days designed to awaken your words, strengthen your voice, and surround you with a community who believes in the power of story.

Across the weekend, you’ll hear best selling authors and keynote voices, learn from workshop presenters who will help refine your craft, and step into quiet writing rooms where inspiration becomes practice. Thursday night we’ll pause for Celebrate Your Story—a joyful evening where we recognize the milestones of our Hope*Books authors and invite everyone in the room to see what’s possible for their own writing journey.

This is more than another event. It’s a gathering designed to move your writing forward.

You don’t want to miss this! Grab your seat here!We had no idea “One Thousands Gifts” would be on sale for half off!! You do not want to miss this sale! PERFECT FOR GIFTS! Words for your Heart to Change Your Life

and then (!!!) You can get 3 copies of Loved to Life for just $13 each! Add three to your cart and get them for the price of two! Have anyone in your life you long to experience being genuinely LOVED TO LIFE? Now is the time to grab a very special gift for them! 

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 LIFENow ON SALE 30% off You can get our JOURNALs for nearly 50% off right now plus buy 2 get 1 free!

Unlike other gratitude journals as it’s uniquely formatted to daily see how God has shown up with gifts on this day of the month, on all the previous months, Gifts & Gratitudes, with spacious lines to name three gifts each day, gently helps grow trust in a God who doesn’t always explain our suffering but who always enters into it with us. Taking pen to paper each day will help trace God’s goodness… which powerfully mends our hearts in tender seasons. And because of Jesus… there is always, always, always something — Someone — to be thankful for.

If you’re seeking deeper peace, in a world of tender pain…. if you’re looking for hope in the midst of all kinds of hurt… I can honestly say  NOTHING HAS CHANGED MY LIFE & STOKED MY HOPE AND JOY LIKE GIVING THANKS LIKE THIS!  

When you don’t know what or who to count on in days like this, when you need a soul reset our reorientation… if you start counting Gifts & Gratitudes — your eyes… and heart… begin to open to Who you can always count on…. especially on the most tender days.

When you check out with 3 copies, the discount will automatically apply, making the journal about $8 each! 

$8 for the Best Little Gratitude Journal & Sacred Prayer!FOR YOUR THANKSGIVING: A NEW PRAYER TO COLLECTIVELY PRAY AROUND THE TABLE PRINTING OUT HERE: Perfect as we enter a season of Thanksgiving!It all Comes Back to This: Lord, We Lift Your Name on High

Maybe enjoy the weekend by making a cozy meal and settling down with a good cup of coffee…

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. 

Honestly, The Year’s Not Over & It’s Not Too Late To Hope Things Can Change

These aren’t normal days.

“And who, in these strange, uncommon days, isn’t stirred to rise, to hear the call, while there’s still time, to turn around, return to the One who is returning, turn our faces to Jesus who is the Life, the only One who can turn in us any new leaves, and give even us, even now, down to less than the last 100 days left in this year, actual new life. “

The last few weeks, I just keep thinking this… 

I happened to note Rosh Hoshanah on my calendar this year… Sept. 22nd. Rosh Hoshanah, the first day of the Jewish New Year — which, this year, also marked the last 100 days of the  year. 

And, strikingly, from sundown on the 22nd, till sundown on the 24th, in Jewish synagogues across the world, a ram’s horn, a shofar, was blown exactly 100 times – to mark the 1st day of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, literally the “head of the year,” which is the Feast of Trumpets, that we read of in Lev. 23:24 ESV:  “you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets.”

100 times, the blast of a ram’s horn split the air and roused all the weary’s attention for the last 100 days of the year. That ram’s horn may not be pretty; but it sure is pretty honest. It’s not seeking applause; it’s seeking an awakening. It’s the call to: Rise. 

And who, in these strange, uncommon days, isn’t stirred to rise, to hear the call, while there’s still time, to turn around, return to the One who is returning, turn our faces to Jesus who is the Life, the only One who can turn in us any new leaves, and give even us, even now, down to less than the last 100 days left in this year, actual new life. 

It might seem like these last few weeks, when our way of counting time with our old Gregorian calendars, are saying that this year is waning thin, limping to some tender end, and  it’d be easy to think the gig’s about up, that we’ve about run out of time on the clock for this year, but this is precisely when, according to the timeline of God, we get a new beginning, a new year, a fresh start, “a head of the year.”  

I marked Rosh Hoshana, on my calendar this year, Sept 22, like my own not-too-late-new-year, and I wrote it down too, because who doesn’t need all this: “repentance… return…. readiness… … renewal… resolutions… revival… RISING!” 

Then, after the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hoshana, there are these 10 days on the calendar that are traditionally known as the 10 Days of Awe, but I only remembered that again after Ty Smith stood up at The Village Table and  read those words aloud in the middle of the community worship night: “Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear.” Mark 10:32 NLT

“Followers of God are fueled by awe; followers of media can be frozen by fear. “

And while Ty is still holding the microphone, before Laura steps in to sing worship again, all I can think is: 

Disciples of God are full of awe, 

while followers of all kinds of media, are full of fear. 

Followers of God are fueled by awe; followers of media can be frozen by fear. 

Which one will I be? 

The Farmer gently puts his hand on my shoulder, and Laura hums quietly, hands clasped, and the sanctuary of the old stone church quietly trembles with all these hushed voices praying and will we live with awe of God, or fear of the future? 

Apparently, during what is known as these 10 Days of Awe, or the 10 Days of Repentance, between Rosh Hoshanah, and Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, the Jewish people traditionally practice Tashlich, recalling and repenting of what they’ve done wrong, and then tossing bits of bread, one for each recalled sin, into a body of water and then watching it float away.

“When you see who you are, and who is God, how can there be anything but awe? “

Are the 10 Days of Awe more than wonder of the glory  of God in sky and sun and dappled light in gnarled maple trees, but awe that all the broken things can be undone and remade by God?

What stirs greater awe than that we can repent and our souls be cleansed and cleaned by the grace of God, so we can experience more than just a new year, but a new way of living? 

Then Laura’s voice leads, sings the melody again, “Holy, holy, holy… holy, holy, holy,” and all our voices gathered under the sanctuary’s old wooden beams lift and rise, rise… God is light; in Him is no darkness at all and how can all our hands not rise –rise, rise – because haven’t the people walking in darkness seen a great light? 

And how can we not feel all this awe that He lifts the chin, awe that His incomparable love comes for even us, that His majesty cleanses our deepest depravity, that His holiness covers our impossible brokenness, that His purity touches all our errancy, that His wholly otherness kisses us to life with His life laid down, with a love that loves us to death and back to renewed life… awe, awe, awe. 

When you see who you are, and who is God, how can there be anything but awe? 

And then Laura’s voice fills the sanctuary with the refrain and we all sing:

“With every breath that I am able, oh, I will sing of the goodness of God, ’cause Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me…” 

And tears run down my face.

Who is this Holy Love that runs after even us with wholly goodness?

Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me. 

You know you’ve really moved into the presence of God when you’re so in awe of His goodness, you’re moved to repent of all the awful brokenness.

Real awe of God’s holy goodness moves a soul to wholly repent. 

“You know you’ve really moved into the presence of God when you’re so in awe of His goodness, you’re moved to repent of all the awful brokenness.“

Laura’s voice rises, and Ty prays, and the community praises, and holy awe and healing repentance unexpectedly bring me right down to my knees. And maybe when tears fall, this too is a kind of Tashlich during the 10 Days of repenting Awe, just undone by all kinds of sins and broken things, personal and painful, collective and contagious, and tears can wash and cleanse what we are desperate to cast away, so we too can begin again anew.  

To repent is to return to the real way through.  

And revival is about first things returning to first place.

And how can the people of God, personally and collectively, look for a season of revival, if we don’t have our own season of holy awe and complete and wholly repentance, our own season of soul reflection? 

How are we missing out on being truly marked by God – if we don’t have a regular rhythm that truly reflects on how we’ve missed the mark? 

When I happen to mark the last 100 days of the year, which coincide this year with marking the New Year on the Jewish Calendar, and the tradition of the ensuing 10 Days of Awe – the 10 days of Repentance –  these unparalleled days turn a new leaf … toward unparalleled hope… hope of revival, personally and collectively. 

Long after Laura sings the last worship song, the Farmer and I linger, still bowed and repenting and not ready to move on from this holy awe. 

Hope always rises on the days when we’ve been on our knees.

The BEST Little Journals Gifts and Gratitudes

When the ache feels like more than the heart can carry — try gently picking up a pen and looking for gifts of grace, even here, to count, all from a good and relentlessly loving God who draws near with grace upon grace in our heartache.

With spacious lines to name three gifts each day, and uniquely formatted to daily see how God has shown up with gifts on this day of the month, on all the previous months, Gifts & Gratitudes gently helps grow trust in a God who doesn’t always explain our suffering but who always enters into it with us. Taking pen to paper each day will help trace God’s goodness and keep a record of gratitude. And because of Jesus… there is always, always, always something —Someone — to be thankful for. 

If you’re seeking deeper peace, in a world of tender pain…. if you’re looking for hope in the midst of all kinds of hurt… beginning this daily practice of looking for Gifts & Gratitudes helps you see the way forward. 

When you don’t know what or who to count on tomorrow… if you start counting Gifts & Gratitudes — your eyes… and heart… begin to open to Who you can always count on…. especially on the hardest days.

Sacred Prayer

When we retreat from the world to pray, to wait, to hope in God—we find true and beautiful perspective for our souls. Real prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind, but about finding God’s heart, and letting His heart change our minds!

Prayer, communion, and connection with God is a life-changing discipline and gift. Prayer will strengthen your heart by:

Growing your relationship with and faith in GodTransforming you to be more like Jesus Aligning your thoughts and actions with the Bible Reducing stress and worry and increasing your peace

Take this sacred journey of prayer with me over the course of 90 days and be in awe of how God moves in your life and in your heart!

When you need hope, the first place to look is by getting down on your knees.

How to Get Through Struggles To Green Pastures On The Other Side

I absolutely love this brilliant woman! Jenny Marrs and I often connect over caring for and learning from our beloved sheep, as we have both spent countless early mornings and cold nights tending to these innocent, defenseless creatures.  And in the midst of our own seasons of uncertainty, or fear, or struggle, how can we, like sheep, figure out how to trust God, who is always our faithful, Good Shepherd? I just cherish this woman and it’s an incredible delight to welcome Jenny to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Jenny Marrs

A typical morning here on the farm finds me on our front porch, steaming mug in hand, welcoming the new day while watching our animals graze contentedly in the pasture.

Yet yesterday morning, I noticed that, because our weather had been unusually hot and dry, our front pasture was no longer a lush and vibrant green, instead it was a barren brown.

As I watched the sheep struggle to find a measly morsel of grass, I knew we needed to move the animals to another field in order to let their normal pasture rest and recover. In the new field, they would have fresh grass, a new pond, and plenty of shade. 

Once the new pasture’s fences were secure, we brought over Sadie (our horse), Daddy Donk, and Alfie (our alpaca). These three are best buds and walked over together, entering their new pasture with ease and confidence.

The sheep were a different story. Teddy and Earl (our rams) were fairly easy to move. However, Earl kept getting distracted by patches of grass or wildflowers.

He tended to wander off the path and wouldn’t listen to my gentle nudging (“Focus, Earl. Focus . . .”). Teddy, meanwhile, followed me diligently. He was born to my first bottle-fed sheep, Trixie, several years ago, and as one of Trixie’s kids, he trusts me and follows my voice faithfully.

Next up, Snowy and Baa Baa and her kids: Mary, Daisy, Ben, and Nate. Baa Baa was adopted from another farm and when she came to us, she was extremely timid and skittish. As a result of her wariness—despite years of trying to win her over with kindness and an ample supply of treats—her lambs have always been skittish as well.

This made moving them to a new pasture extremely difficult. Every time we started to guide the flock toward the new pasture, one would panic and bolt off in the wrong direction and the rest would follow suit.

“Yes, I pray my children find their own faith, not a copycat version of my own. Yet if the foundation of trustworthiness is built now, it will be much easier for them to seek His voice amidst the chaos of the world later.“

It took hours of patiently guiding the herd, allowing them to rest when needed, and calmly assuring them of their safety, to finally get them corralled in the sheep barn.

Once they were safely tucked inside, we used cattle panels in order to direct the sheep along a walled-off path. But after they made it through, they ran off in the wrong direction and became trapped between a thorny bramble bush and the opposite side of the new pasture fence.

Eventually, painstakingly, we guided them to the correct fence and cheered joyfully as they crossed the threshold and we latched the gate behind them.

While moving sheep between pastures is likely a foreign concept to you, dear reader, I have done it enough times to know that, at least for our little hobby farm, this experience is pretty typical.

As I tried desperately to assure these gentle creatures that this move was for their benefit and they had nothing to be afraid of, I was convicted of my own ability to panic and run off course when God is leading me toward something new.

Similar to when I was first approached to film a television show—my natural inclination was to say no and stay doing what I was already doing. The new thing being asked of me was scary and it felt safer to avoid this new path rather than to walk down it into the unknown.

I was also reminded of the importance of recounting the stories of God’s faithfulness in my life to my kids (like Teddy—he trusts me because his mom, Trixie, knew I was trustworthy). Yes, I pray my children find their own faith, not a copycat version of my own. Yet if the foundation of trustworthiness is built now, it will be much easier for them to seek His voice amidst the chaos of the world later.

Working to guide the skittish sheep, I realized it is certainly no coincidence that the Bible refers to “sheep” no less than 220 times.

W. Phillip Keller, a writer and an actual shepherd by trade, writes in his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23:

“There were events which at the time seemed like utter calamities; there were paths down which He led me that appeared like blind alleys; there were days He took me through which were well nigh black as night itself. But all in the end turned out for my benefit and my well-being. With my limited understanding as a finite human being I could not always comprehend His management executed in infinite wisdom. With my natural tendencies to fear, worry, and ask “why,” it was not always simple to assume that He really did know what He was doing with me. There were times I was tempted to panic and to leave His care. Somehow I had the strange, stupid notion I could survive better on my own.”

This morning, on the other side of that move, my sheep are in the west-facing pasture, grazing contentedly on the abundant grass.

They feared the move, they fought against the move, they seemingly had the “strange, stupid notion” that they could survive better on their own. Yet, as their shepherd, I knew better.

“I knew there were green pastures awaiting them just on the other side of the struggle“

I knew there were green pastures awaiting them just on the other side of the struggle. I knew they were headed toward something better than the field with meager offerings where they would’ve stayed simply because it was known and comfortable.

Yes, the path to get there was rocky and scary but I never left them.

I was right there, guiding them, assuring them.

When they veered off course, I didn’t get angry. I knew they were afraid. I gently, lovingly, patiently reminded them that I was right there.

They could trust me.

Now and in the future, I would never let them down.

And this morning, I can understand a little better why God often calls us His sheep.

And why He can be trusted as my Good Shepherd.

Jenny Marrs is co-hosts of the HGTV TV show Fixer to Fabulous with her husband, Dave, and is a designer, author, and passionate advocate for community transformation, family preservation, and orphan care around the globe. She is the author of House + Home = Love, and she and Dave live on a small farm in Bentonville, Arkansas, with their five kids and too many animals to count.

Jenny’s book, Trust God, Love People opens wide the doors to her life and her family’s home to share stories of how little steps of faith have added up to an unexpected and abundant life. From her move to Bentonville, Arkansas, to the sweet stories of how she met Dave and of their early days of marriage, to the candid pain and hope of their time spent waiting to start a family before joyfully welcoming their twin boys. We also get intimate glimpses into their years-long fight to adopt their daughter Sylvie from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as behind-the-scenes details about how their work to restore old homes became Fixer to Fabulous. 

Through it all, Jenny learns that God is trustworthy even in the moments when she feels fearful, worn out, or dejected.

Trust God, Love People is an inspiring blueprint for anyone wanting to build a life of spacious love and abundant joy. Opening this book is opening the door to the kind of really beautiful life of large love you’ve always imagined! Trust God, Love People is a guiding principle in Jenny’s life, and serves as an irresistible invitation that steadfast trust in our faithful, loving God allows us to love others well.

You can see more of Jenny on her Instagram, @jennymarrs, and her blog at  https://www.daveandjennymarrs.com/.

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

How Can you Really Pray When Things Feel Impossible?

When Jim Cymbala started pastoring the Brooklyn Tabernacle years ago, things were tough. The meetings were so depressing that even he, as the pastor, didn’t want to go to church. But when he cried out to God for help, the Lord made it clear: Prayer should be the foundation of the church. The Tuesday prayer meeting became the most important meeting of the week. In his new devotional, Jesus Every Day, he encourages us to do the same with our days. It’s a joy to welcome Jim Cymbala to the farm table today as he reminds us that God hears and answers the prayers of our hearts.

Guest Post by Jim Cymbala

Hannah was praying in her heart.

1 Samuel 1:13, NIV

Hannah badly wanted a child, but she couldn’t have one. It’s a tender story of wanting that we’ve all felt in our own ways…

Every year she went with her husband, Elkanah, and his other wife, Peninnah, to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. The Tabernacle was the Old Testament place of worship before the Temple was built in Jerusalem. But year after year, Peninnah mocked Hannah for being barren. 

What did Hannah do with all her aching want and hope?

One day, while the family was eating at the Tabernacle, Hannah got up and went to pray. She prayed in her heart—her lips moved, but there was no sound. 

The high priest, Eli, saw her and thought she was drunk. “Why do you come into the Tabernacle when you’re drunk?” he said to her. 

“No,” Hannah said. “I’ve been pouring out my heart to God” (1 Samuel 1:1-16). 

Hannah’s prayer of faith came from deep inside, and God answered her.

In doing so, God changed the history of the Old Testament.

Hannah’s son, Samuel, came on the scene during the dark days of the judges, and he brought about a turning back to God in Israel. Some call him the founder of the school of the prophets. 

Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish pastor and theologian, said, “Words are but accidents of prayer.”6

“Real prayer, the prayer that God honors, comes from our innermost hearts, and many times it can’t find utterance in words. It comes with tears or sometimes with Holy Spirit–inspired groans too deep to be spoken.”

Real prayer, the prayer that God honors, comes from our innermost hearts, and many times it can’t find utterance in words. It comes with tears or sometimes with Holy Spirit–inspired groans too deep to be spoken (see Romans 8:26). 

Rather than hearing us say surface prayers, God, through the Spirit, wants to lead us into time with Him when the greatest longings of our hearts can be expressed in prayer. 

I’ve had deep wants and aches and needs in my life, especially as a young pastor, that have caused me to pray with hot tears flowing down my face. When my dad, as an alcoholic, was away from God for twenty-two years, I prayed for him many times. But how many times can you say, “Lord, save my dad who’s an alcoholic. Bring him to you”?

It went deeper than that. Oh, how beautiful it is when the Holy Spirit touches our human spirits deep within and our need for God that is beyond words goes up to the Lord.

Those prayers are powerful and effective.

They certainly were for my dad, who came back to the Lord and was set free from alcoholism after more than two decades. 

James 5:17 says that “Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!” The phrase prayed earnestly could be read as “prayed in his praying.”

We can pray just with our minds, but how much better is a prayer that comes from the deepest part of us and touches the deepest part of God’s heart?

That’s when we see amazing things happen. 

A lot of people think that praying, especially when done in public, has to be elegant in its wording.

But that’s not the kind of prayer God is after.

He delights in a Hannah-like prayer that comes from deep within and looks to Him alone for the answer.

There’s no better way to pray today for the deepest aches in our heart than to live the words of Psalm 62:8 :

“Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” 

“Lord, thank you that you’re a God I can come to with the deepest needs of my heart.
Help me to pour out my heart to you and know that you will hear and answer.“

Jim Cymbala has been the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle for more than fifty years. His ministry is characterized by his emphasis on prayer in the church and dependence on the Holy Spirit for His leading and power. The bestselling author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire and Fan the Flame, he lives in New York City with his wife, Carol, who directs the Grammy Award–winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.

Every morning we prepare our bodies for the day—we shower, shave, dress for our appointments. But it’s much more important to prepare the inner person by spending time with God in the Word and in prayer so that we can receive spiritual strength for the day.

Then, whatever comes our way, we will be ready to meet the challenge. That is why Jim Cymbala wrote his new devotional, Jesus Every Day.

As we spend time with the Lord, his Spirit ministers to our spirits and prepares us for the day ahead. Discover hope, encouragement, and fulfilling purpose daily with Jesus Every Day. Learn more at right here — and be soul-encouraged!

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {10.04.2025}

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 Chad Madden

Photo by Aaron Burden

Photo by Benjamin Voros 

Photo by Ewa Stepkowska

Benjaminrobyn Jespersen on Unsplash " target="_blank" rel=" noreferrer noopener">

Photo by Benjaminrobyn Jespersen 

Savor the glory! “O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.”

Psalm 104:24

Little bits of fall to brighten your day: In Awe of God’s creation and the beautiful World he created! A little fall trip through VermontAnyone else LOVE Pumpkin Pie Looking for Front Porch Fall Inspo?The beauty of Wheat HarvestHeart Vitamins for you this week:Priscilla Shirer’s Most POWERFUL Sermon About Prayer and the Armor of GodAutumn Poetry for You You need to read to thisSurface vs. Root idols Don’t miss this listenSOUL LEARNING 101 this week:Becoming Good Stewards of Our BodiesIT WAS ‘GOOD,’ NOT PERFECT by JOHN SWINTON LIFECHANGING READThe Cathedral that Changed EverythingWOW! Don’t miss this! And Some fall treats for your Weekend!spiced Chi Cupcakes A MUST TRY THIS WEEK!! This looks incredible! Add this to the meal plan?So warm and comforting Baking now! Apple pie cupcakes!! SO SO GOOD!! Creative Bits for you this week: So so cute!! So so cool! Need coffee bar inspo? We have to try this! How fun is this? Maybe this week? I love this! Are you this ambitious? Blog post of the week: How To Read Your Bible So You Really Encounter God (Best Bibles & Resources)

To be raw honest,  I have fallen deeper than I have ever known.

Deeper in love than I have ever known. 

And quite honestly, I didn’t expect it to go quite like this. But it’s been such a season, personally, collectively — a long season of tenderness, unspoken broken, and us all battling the dark, in all kinds of very real ways. 

READ THIS ONE TO REALL ENCOURAGE YOUR HEART Ready to smile this weekend?!!Too funny! This is the BEST! So inspiring! Wow!! Incredible! Oh my goodness! ADORABLE!! This is beautiful! This is precious! Thoughts to Really Ponder: God’s Good Design For HumanityThe Sifted- Portraits of steadfast conviction You need to read this! What Your Kids Need More than a Salvation Prayer Deeply thought-provokingWhat we’re Thinking about on the Farm this weekWhat we’re Listening to on the Farm this weekGreatly To Be Praisedon the book stack at the farm

In Becoming a Person of Welcome, Laura Murray challenges common assumptions about hospitality and invites readers to reframe their understanding, shifting from outward performance to inward transformation.

Through heartfelt stories from her Armenian heritage, contemporary community life, and years in church leadership, Murray offers a new vision of hospitality—one that moves beyond performance and privilege to a life shaped by God’s welcome of us.

In their new book, Deeply Loved, Bill and Kristi Gaultiere show you how to stop settling for shallow relationships by receiving and reflecting God’s great compassion for you.You’ll discover how to release worries, comfort hurts, and resolve conflicts. You’ll learn how to resist judging your emotions and needs by agreeing with God’s grace. You’ll appreciate Bible-based empathy practices to know that you and the people you care for are deeply loved by Jesus.

Get your copy now and invite your friends to join you in experiencing the deep, deep love of our Lord and Savior.

Something to Add to your calendar?Embracing You with Ann Voskamp

WHAT IF… life expectations that you’ve been handed, that define success, fulfillment, and meaning in ways that do not correspond with the actual topography and reality of your life, leave you looking for a better way?

Join us for an uplifting evening with four-time NYT Best Selling Author Ann Voskamp.

Grab your ticket here!Hope Story Conference

We’re gathering for our 8th annual Writer’s Conference in beautiful Charlotte, NC on January 29-31, 2026, and we’d love you to join us! Experience three unforgettable days designed to awaken your words, strengthen your voice, and surround you with a community who believes in the power of story.

Across the weekend, you’ll hear best selling authors and keynote voices, learn from workshop presenters who will help refine your craft, and step into quiet writing rooms where inspiration becomes practice. Thursday night we’ll pause for Celebrate Your Story—a joyful evening where we recognize the milestones of our Hope*Books authors and invite everyone in the room to see what’s possible for their own writing journey.

This is more than another event. It’s a gathering designed to move your writing forward.

You don’t want to miss this! Grab your seat here! Words for your Heart to Change Your Life

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 LIFENow ON SALE 30% off The Broken way is 50% off right now!! You don’t want to miss this sale! Grab this one today! You can get our JOURNALs for nearly 50% off right now!! $13 for the Best Little Gratitude Journal & Sacred Prayer!Want to make your very own Gratitude Board?Perfect for your weekend as we enter a season of Thanksgiving!And back to the cottage for a little Autumn loveliness:

Maybe enjoy the weekend by making a cozy meal and settling down with a good cup of coffee…

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. 

Hospitality: The Warmth and Welcome our World Needs

Many of us have a view of hospitality that includes homes and food. And these are both good things! Yet Christian hospitality is so much more than that. Many of us have experienced the warmth of welcome in the most unlikely places – overseas on a mission trip, from a cashier at the grocery store, or a stranger serving us when they see our hands are full. Our world desperately needs more moments of hospitality and we can be people who carry God’s hospitality into the world. Where do you need God to meet you with his welcome and love? Laura Baghdassarian Murray, author of Becoming a Person of Welcome, joins us on the farm today, sharing her own stories of culture and healing that encourage us to allow God to heal us so that we can be healers in the world. It’s a joy to welcome Laura to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Laura Murray

Growing up as a next-generation immigrant, I was keenly aware of how different our family was from many of the families in our neighborhood.

In addition to this cultural difference, my younger sister has Down syndrome.

In the neighborhood, in school, and the Armenian community, some treated our family differently because of her disability.

I didn’t know that people intentionally did this.

I imagine that they simply didn’t know what to do. Even so, these small rejections, avoidances, and exclusions added up.

We noticed and felt this when we were left out, looked past, and pushed aside. We were often moved to the outskirts of what was happening.

Community wasn’t easy to find in the neighborhood or in our cultural community.

The woman at the well (John 4:1‑26) also had a history of small rejections, avoidances, and exclusions.

The text tells us that she had been married multiple times, and was living with a man who was not her husband.

Commentators have often interpreted this to mean that she was an adulteress, shunned by her community. It may be more likely that she was divorced by her husbands, which would still be a recipe for being outcast.

What is noteworthy is that when she went back to her community to tell them about Jesus, they believed her.

This woman had a history of rejection, but she also had a community that included her, knew her, listened to her, and was influenced by her. I don’t know what it took for this woman to be included in her community. I don’t know what it took for the community to trust, include, and believe her. What we can see is a mixture of pain, vulnerability, dependence, thoughtfulness, and care.

Jesus was a master of seeing and cutting to the heart.

“When our hearts are mutually seen and cared for, love, welcome, and transformation multiply.“

He would pause with his presence and ask questions that would pierce straight and deep. He did so with the woman. Jesus, resting from his journey, begins to banter with this woman around the well. It starts out practical, then goes theological. But then his questions cut to the heart.

The woman’s heart is exposed, but met by the one she longs for—Messiah.

She immediately goes and tells her whole community about Jesus.

We see thoughtfulness in her questions to Jesus and testimony to the community. And we see care that was exchanged between both the woman and the community. She cared enough to tell them about Jesus. They had been caring for her for a while, and they listened to her words. When our hearts are mutually seen and cared for, love, welcome, and transformation multiply. Yet, we often stop ourselves short from honest conversations with Jesus, ourselves, and staying in community. 

In what ways do you resist honest conversations with Jesus, yourself, and others?

Why do you do so?

As a spiritual director and pastor I often see resistance show up in self-protection. What are we protecting? Our hearts. We have parts of us that are hurting and yet to be healed. And these hurting hearts lead to hard hearts to protect ourselves. At the root of a hard heart is a hurting heart. These hurting hearts are disconnected from others, from themselves, and from God. These hearts are suffering alone. 

What do we do with our sufferings? With our hard and hurting hearts?

We remain connected to Jesus and a safe and healthy community.

We bring every tear, big or small, to Jesus. We allow Jesus to see and move into the depths of our hearts, so that we might be healed.

We remain connected to safe and healthy community by allowing ourselves to be seen and found, even if it is only by a few. We stay in our own stories and allow others to hear ours. Being heard is another way towards healing. 

And we repeat.

Hearts do not harden overnight, but over time. If unattended, our hearts will continue to harden rather than heal. 

And then we return and listen to others. Healed hearts are the ones that live out the fullest hospitality. Healed hearts are able to see hurting hearts. Healed hearts are hospitable hearts.

The story in John ends with unexpected multiplication: because of the woman’s testimony, those in her town believed in Jesus.

Because Jesus paused to be present, he met this woman’s deepest longing for Messiah. And as a result, she told her entire town. They listened as she told her story.

They then sought out the one who had met her with presence and salvation and invited him to stay. He saw, welcomed, and cut to her heart as she chose to share it. This vulnerability and healing led to many others knowing Jesus and having their hopes fulfilled.

My family stayed connected with certain people within our community. My mom found a few faithful friends within and my dad found a soccer team that would play every Sunday night. It was up close that they came to be known and to know, to receive and offer care and friendship. 

May we all be courageous to move towards God and be healed, that we might then move towards others in hospitality and healing our world needs. 

*Adapted from Becoming a Person of Welcome by Laura Baghdassarian Murray. ©2025 by Laura Baghdassarian Murray. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.*

Laura Baghdassarian Murray (DMin, Fuller Seminary) is the director of spiritual engagement and innovation at Fuller Seminary’s Center for Spiritual Formation. She is the author of Pray as You Are, serves on the Ministry Collaborative Advisory Board, and previously served at Highland Park Presbyterian Church as the pastor of spiritual formation. Laura is also the founder of the Digital Silent Retreat Ministry, which is rooted in the practice of hospitality to provide brave and courageous spaces for people to connect with God and others (www.digitalsilentretreats.com). She lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two children.

In Becoming a Person of Welcome, Laura challenges common assumptions about hospitality and invites readers to reframe their understanding, shifting from outward performance to inward transformation. Through heartfelt stories from her Armenian heritage, contemporary community life, and years in church leadership, Murray offers a new vision of hospitality—one that moves beyond performance and privilege to a life shaped by God’s welcome of us.

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

When You Feel Lost & Alone, Where is God?

If there’s one thing I know, it’s that we all long for love. Where we can find the real intimacy that we were made for? In “Deeply Loved“, Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are warm-hearted friends who share vulnerably from their lives and people they’ve helped to show us how to experience the compassionate, sympathetic love of Jesus. I’m delighted to welcome Bill and Kristi to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Bill and Kristi Gaultiere

Sometimes we all feel alone.

Maybe we even hide from other people—even though we long to be found.

In those times it’s hard to believe that someone even cares enough to find us. 

Have you ever lost a child or another loved one in a crowd?

If so you’ll remember the panic, ache in your stomach, and thoughts careening down rabbit trails to your worst fears!

That’s how Bill and I, Kristi here, felt the day our happy family day at Disneyland went dark.

We were with our three young children and having so much fun, laughing, playing, exploring. I had to change our baby’s diaper.

Then all of a sudden our precious four-year old girl was gone!

“Bill, have you seen Jennie?”

“No. Last I saw she was with you.”

My heart started pounding out of my chest and my thoughts swirled in fear. What if she’s been kidnapped? 

We began searching for her frantically, describing our beautiful little girl to strangers, running to find an employee, hearing the loud speakers announce, “Code red! Code red!”

Soon a host of people joined our search. Forty-five minutes later we found our precious girl, waiting in line to see Minnie Mouse.

“The Good Shepherd not only searches for the lost sheep but also for the lost child in each of us.“

We all long to be wanted and to have others notice if we are missing, but we’ve talked with many people who got lost emotionally as children, and no one came looking for them.

They received little or no empathy from their parents, went through trauma that caused them to shut down emotionally, or became self-sufficient, trying not to have any personal needs. 

As a feeler in a family of thinkers, I hid my emotions and felt insecure.

I got lost in pleasing others to feel wanted. 

Bill got lost as the oldest of five children with so many responsibilities that he believed it was immature to play, have emotions and needs, or ask for help. 

How about you?

The Good Shepherd not only searches for the lost sheep but also for the lost child in each of us. With deep compassion for our pain, shame, fear, sin, and needs, Christ humbled himself, taking on the very nature a human being (Philippians 2:6). Our High Priest was tempted and tried in every way we are and He is always ready to sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:15). Biblical empathy is seeking to find and understand someone’s emotions, thoughts, and experiences to help them know they are deeply loved by God. 

To be found with Biblical, Christ-like, empathy means you are receiving and appreciating tenderhearted warmth, gentle inquisitiveness, patient listening, validation of your emotions and needs, and grace that loves you as you are. When you receive Christ-like compassion like this, you feel seen, heard, and wanted. 

Without Christ-like compassion, separated from deeply loving relationships, your true self won’t develop well and important parts of you will get lost. Every part of you needs to experience Christ-like compassion, including your emotions, thoughts, needs, values, memories, and dreams. If any parts of you are dismissed by others or denied by you, then they get lost in the dark of your unconscious.

It’s hard to have joy in loving others when you’re emotionally lost from not receiving Christ-like empathy.

“It is God’s relentless, loving pursuit to find you—with your emotions, wounds, sins, needs, beliefs, and strengths—so that you wake up to be fully present, trusting God and loving others as God loves you.“

When Bill was an infant, he was left alone to cry in the basement until he learned that crying brought no response. It took him many years to learn how to trust that anyone—even Jesus—truly wanted to find and care for his lost emotions and needs.

I never lost the ability to feel but I hid in shame and fear. I needed to trust that Jesus accepted me and even delighted in me. 

When you get stressed, hurt, or stuck feeling bad about yourself do you cry out to be found by Jesus?

Jesus never wants you to be lost. When you are alone, hurting, or in danger your Good Shepherd searches for you. He finds you, puts you atop his shoulders, and sings with joy as he carries you home! (Luke 15:3-7).

The process of being found and saved by Jesus includes knowing God more fully and joining God in knowing ourselves more fully. To know more of God but with only a small part of ourselves is not a very intimate relationship.

We all need to be emotionally found by our Savior to help us learn to believe, trust, and apply the truth of his ever-reaching, ever-deepening love.

David, a man after God’s heart, offered vulnerable prayers like, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24). 

The Holy Spirit’s continual searching for you in Psalm 139 is the deep compassion of God. It is God’s relentless, loving pursuit to find you—with your emotions, wounds, sins, needs, beliefs, and strengths—so that you enter into being fully present, trusting God and loving others as God loves you.

“Learning to relate to Jesus’ emotions and receive His compassionate love for you will help you cry out to be found by Him and appreciate that you are deeply loved by God—now and always.“

When I feel alone and like no one would understand me I’ve learned to connect with Jesus’ emotions in the Gospels like a mirror. 

Jesus felt weary after a long journey (John 4:6). 

He felt troubled and anxious about going to the cross (John 12:27).

He felt terrible pain when he was abused (Mark 15:15). 

He felt angry when vulnerable people were mistreated (John 2:17). 

He felt deep sadness when people rejected him and his message of peace (Luke 19:41).

Learning to relate to Jesus’ emotions and receive His compassionate love for you will help you cry out to be found by Him and appreciate that you are deeply loved by God…

Now and always. 

Reading “Deeply Loved” is like talking with close friends who truly understand you.

Dr’s Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are therapists and soul friends to countless people. They are the founders of Soul Shepherding, a nonprofit ministry to help people go deeper with Jesus in emotional health and loving relationships. They invite you to come on retreat with them.

In their new book, Deeply Loved, Bill and Kristi show you how to stop settling for shallow relationships by receiving and reflecting God’s great compassion for you. You’ll discover how to release worries, comfort hurts, and resolve conflicts. You’ll learn how to resist judging your emotions and needs by agreeing with God’s grace. You’ll appreciate Bible-based empathy practices to know that you and the people you care for are deeply loved by Jesus.

Get your copy now and invite your friends to join you in experiencing the deep, deep love of our Lord and Savior.

{Our humble thanks to Baker Publishing Group for their partnership in today’s devotional.}