Ann Voskamp

Wow!

Yes!

A Public Prayer Closet

Incredible

On the bookshelf this week at the farm

What does it look like to suffer well—to grieve life’s losses, big and small? How does God grieve? Looking to the example of Jesus, our Suffering Savior, readers grow in empathy, truth, and grace for themselves and others. God is with you in your pain. When you’re suffering, He invites you to draw near and rest in Him. Join Brittany in discovering the beauty of God’s heart in Free to Weep.

Join Us! I’d Love To Meet You!

If you long to live Easter, live RESURRECTION POWER, live out Eastertide and truly live a meaningful life — that is genuinely beautiful… start here with this book that has been touching hearts and changing lives all over the world. Meant for any time of year, but an especially meaningful way to journey through Eastertide, embark on this 40-day spiritual pilgrimage following the resurrected Jesus through the Gospel of John — a 40-day journey to move you from barely getting through — to passionately living the fullest life.

Come be Loved to Life!

Calling Folks in Virginia! I’d love to connect with you at Refresh!

Join us for our annual Refresh Conference as we focus on living in God’s goodness—even through seasons of pain and uncertainty.

Let’s get it on our calendars!

Who is ready for The Gospel Coalition Women’s event this year?

Almost Seems too Good to be True!

Loved to Life — a great read for Eastertide — is under $20 when you clip the digital coupon!

$19.14 when you clip the coupon!

Gifts and Gratitudes & sacred prayer: both half off!

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Sticky Notes for your Soul:

This week we kept going back to this song!

“God of creation, you spoke to the dark and fleshed out the wonder of light”

Wishing you moments this week to look up, to feel small in the best way, and to be filled with wonder—held by the One who flung the stars into place and still knows your name.

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.

What If “Suffering Well” Doesn’t Mean Staying Strong?

Brittany Lee Allen — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:18:41 +0000

You know that feeling of having your heart cast down? Brittany Lee Allen knows this feeling all too well as she journeyed through grief in an environment that left little room for tears. Through that broken, wounded place, the Lord opened her eyes to many lies she’d believed about suffering, giving her freedom to cry out to Him in her pain. Her book, Free to Weep, is the fruit of those years in the refining fire. It’s my joy to welcome Brittany to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Brittany Lee Allen

My husband and I were speechless as we began to drive home. The shock of what we’d just experienced fell around us like a thick fog. “They’re wrong,” he said, breaking the silence. My husband doesn’t get angry often, but I could hear the righteous anger in his voice. I don’t remember what I said that cold February evening in the car—that part of the story is a blur now—but I remember the pain that struck my heart as the arrows of harsh words burrowed in. I remember feeling like an ant looking up at a boot that hovered overhead. I felt so small.

That boot would come down in the coming weeks. I would be stomped into the ground with every hurtful sentence, manipulating question, and false assumption.

You see, according to certain people I knew, there was an idea of what it looked like to “suffer well” as a Christian, and I was not living up to their standard. I grieved too much and for far too long over the three babies I lost. I was too honest when others asked how I was doing and cried too much at church.

I was deemed too melancholy, and therefore, immature. Because of my sorrow, my faith was questioned.

Bad theology about suffering crushes image-bearers of God.

In many churches we talk a lot about what it means to “suffer well.”

Some may define it as being an overcomer—having certain faith that God will come through and answer every prayer according to our desires. Others may believe it looks like enduring suffering with a smile on your face rather than tears on your cheeks, never lamenting your lot.

Either way, there is little room for those pesky emotions like sadness, fear, or disappointment. Faithful Christians are stronger than that, right? But when we search the pages of Scripture, do these views align with what we find there?

The view of “suffering well” some hold to looks more like modern-day stoicism than what we see in the Bible. The stoics of the past were resolved to never attach themselves to anything enough that they would be deeply impacted by the loss of that person or thing. While we today may not be so extreme, there are ways in which we model similar behavior toward suffering.

When we act like stoics, we rob ourselves of joy.

When I became pregnant with our second baby a few months after losing our first, I sought to wring out any excitement in my heart like a wet kitchen rag.

I desperately longed to escape the sorrows of miscarriage, so I didn’t allow myself to ponder due dates or what it would be like to watch my belly grow. I thought it would spare me the pain of losing our baby, but it didn’t. Instead, my grief over losing our second baby was compounded by the sadness of my refusal to rejoice over that baby as he or she deserved.

When we act like stoics, we rob ourselves of joy.

We might even discourage ourselves and others from grieving life’s heartbreaking realities. “Don’t be sad. Trust God. It will all work out.” Often at funerals you’ll hear someone say, “They wouldn’t want us to be sad.”

If there is ever a time or place to weep, surely it would be at a funeral. The most harmful part of locking up our grief in a coffin is that it keeps us from communing with God in suffering.

If we ignore our pain, pretending it doesn’t matter, we won’t go to God for comfort. What a tragedy. He stands ready to receive us in His arms like a Father and we just say, “No, I’m okay.”

The psalms are packed with people crying out in their pain. David, Asaph, and other saints pour out their hearts to God asking things like, “Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1), “Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1), or “Why have you rejected me?” (Psalm 43:2).

Have you ever felt abandoned by God in your trials? I know I have.

I’ve cried out “why” and “where are you” as my tears fell to the pages of the Bible in my lap. In long bouts of suffering, isolation can sink in causing us to feel utterly alone. Many people view these questions toward God as impatience or immaturity, but they are evidence of faith. Faith runs to God with its questions. Faith brings its wrestling, laying it all down at the feet of the Father, and then humbly submits to His will. The mature believer is willing to pour out their heart to God.

Suffering well is not the absence or denial of downcast or depressive feelings, but instead, a willingness to admit our sorrow and cry out to God.

The psalmists felt as we often do in a season of sorrow: Downcast.

This is not to say that it is a happy place, or somewhere anyone would like to stay, but it is undeniably human. It is human because we are not home yet. We are still here, trudging our way through thorny bushes, looking to the sky for a sign of Jesus’ return.

Until He ushers in perfection and the end of all heartbreak, we will have times of grief. The godly response to tragedy is deep sadness. Godly grief is grieving anything that God grieves. God grieves the suffering of His people.

Suffering well is not the absence or denial of downcast or depressive feelings, but instead, a willingness to admit our sorrow and cry out to God. It doesn’t look like walking in self-sufficiency but rather asking for help from our church family. It means we can weep over our losses and still rejoice in our salvation and the ultimate hope that one day Jesus will wipe away every tear.

Suffering well looks like remembering that our suffering Savior walks beside us.

Brittany Allen is a wife to James and a mom to two boys, as well as three babies lost to miscarriage. She’s an author, speaker, and Bible teacher, and serves in the women’s ministry at her church. You can find more of her writing at brittleeallen.com or subscribe to Treasuring Christ Newsletter on Substack.

Brittany’s latest book is Free to Weep: Finding the Courage to Grieve and Embracing the God Who Heals, where she answers difficult questions about suffering as a Christian by looking at them through the lens of Jesus’ life. Free to Weep is a biblically grounded invitation to grieve honestly and rest in the presence of Christ. Because faith was never meant to silence your grief.

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

How Do You Practice New Life & Easter When the World’s On Edge? How Easter Is Just Beginning & is the Real New Year

Ann Voskamp — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:07:13 +0000

I water the Easter lilies on Day 3 of Eastertide.

I confess:

Have I sometimes been far too quick to put away all the celebration decorations, because maybe somewhere, somehow, there’s been a part of me that considers what we’ve been celebrating is more of an optional decoration in our life – instead of a reality to be sustained and actually lived? But the whole world feels a bit on edge, and now, maybe more than ever, how do we practice new life — as the center of the practice of our fatih?

“Resurrection Sunday is more than a day to celebrate, resurrection power is away of life to be sustained on all the days after.”

Resurrection Sunday is more than a day to celebrate; resurrection power is away of life to be sustained on all the days after.

And as I make Resurrection buns on Monday morning, and again on Tuesday morning — because isn’t the tomb still empty? — as I leave the Easter Tree up, as I commit to sustaining the season of Eastertide, that 50-day season from Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost Sunday, I keep thinking of what Mary, and the disciples, said on Resurrection Sunday: “I have seen the Lord.”

The angel may have announced what has become the traditional Easter greeting, “He was risen,” but this year, instead of only offering the traditional greeting as my response, “He is risen indeed,” I kept adding what the women too said: “I have seen the Lord.” Is that what the real disciples of Jesus always say: “We have seen the Lord” — because a whole new Life is rising up in them.

An angel may notify: He is risen.

But it’s only the true disciples who can testify: I have seen the Lord!

Notifications can get turned off and ignored— but it’s only what we have actually seen –that we can never unsee.

And when we have truly seen the Lord in the world, the world is more likely to truly see the Lord in us — and does the world need anything more right about now?

““He is risen” is more like a press release from a divine, angelic herald. “I have seen the Lord” is an actual personal release from the hopeless dark. “

That’s what I keep returning to on Day 3 of Eastertide, that season that marks those sacred days when Jesus looks straight into the faces of His disciples, so they see the Way, the Truth, and the Life Himself and live now a whole new way.

And isn’t the reality that:

Easter makes us the eye-witness people, the encounter people, the endlessly rising people!

As I wash dishes, change laundry, haul hay, feed sheep, that echo of Mary’s words (Jn 18:25), of the disciples’ words (Jn 20:25): “I have seen the Lord… I have seen the Lord… I have seen the Lord.”

Eyes that have genuinely seen the Lord … genuinely see everything different in the world.

“And when we have truly seen the Lord in the world, the world is more likely to truly see the Lord in us — and does the world need anything more right about now? .”

Greeting each other with news that He is risen… is not the same as literally living the news – that we have personally seen Him, and He’s living and alive in us, so that our hope’s rising, so that our love’s rising, our grace is rising, our commitment is rising, our faithfulness is rising, so others can now genuinely see how the life of Jesus is rising in us.

“He is risen” is more like a press release from a divine, angelic herald. “I have seen the Lord” is an actual personal release from the hopeless dark.

“He is risen indeed” is indeed, more like just a news account.

“I have seen the Lord” is an intimate encounter that makes you literally new within.

“There’s no rising to a new you, until you come face to face with the resurrection power of the risen Lord. “

A woman had turned to me on the Saturday eve before Resurrection Sunday and she says this, wide-eyed and smiling:

“It just struck me right now – for the rest of my life, the Saturday before Easter is always going to be my New Year’s Eve …. and Resurrection Sunday, from now on for me, is always going to be my New Year’s Day.”

There’s no new you unless you stand before the empty tomb, and there’s no new you unless you too can say, like the women at the empty tomb, I have seen the Lord.

Every day that we can say:“I have seen the Lord, I have seen the Lord” – is when we will see real change in us.

Wherever you encounter an empty tomb to old ways of being is where you can finally experience the resurrection power and hope of a completely new and fulfilling life.

There’s no rising to a new you, until you come face to face with the resurrection power of the risen Lord.

And the reality is: When Jesus walked out of that tomb for you, He came to bring you more than just a new way of life – He came to give you actual life.

Apart from the risen Jesus living in you, there is no real life.

Unless we have seen the Lord today, we haven’t seen The Way for this day. The wise are the see-ers. Where there are no daily see-ers of the Lord, there is no wisdom.

It’s not that we were living before we met the resurrected Lord, and now we experience new life – it’s actually that before we met the risen Jesus we were the walking dead, and now we are actually alive, now we finally living, now we are fully living – because the One who is Life is living within and rising in us.

“Looking comes first,” is what C.S. Lewis said, which is to say: seeing comes first, seeing comes first in our change, in our transformation, in our new life, it is seeing that comes first in our rebirth. Which is precisely why the first words that Mary and the disciples speak after the resurrection was not merely a statement of the fact of His rising, but ultimately a testament of the first act of rebirth: “We have seen the Lord.”

“We need a baptism of clear seeing. We desperately need seers who can see through the mist,” the singular, prophetic voice and pastor, A.W. Tozer urged. Which is to say: The wise are the see-ers. Where there are no daily see-ers of the Lord, there is no wisdom.

Unless we are daily see-ers of the Lord, we have no wisdom for the day.

Unless we have seen the Lord today, we haven’t seen The Way — His Way— for this day.

Outside my workroom window, a robin’s weaving a curl of a nest out of dry things, new life resurrecting out of dead things.

As I wash all the windows along that side of the house, begin another layer of spring cleaning, I keep thinking of the real New Year beginning in me, with this commitment to daily seeing the Lord — in His Word, in worship, in the world — and I keep returning to this question that frames Eastertide, that fuels this living out Easter:

Because Jesus took a step out of that tomb toward you, to see you: Where is He calling you to take one step of faith toward Him, to more fully see Him?

“God held nothing back for you – why would you withhold anything now from Him? “

Because Jesus walked out of that tomb toward you: Where is He moving into you, so you can walk now in obedience toward Him, straight out of death and into real life — so others might see Him more fully in you?

If you have really seen the Lord — how do you now see people, how do you now see new ways to love the unlovely, how do you now see new ways to serve the hurting, new ways to welcome the stranger, new ways to care for those on the margins, new ways to live given, new ways to lay your life down — so Jesus can continue to rise in you?

Because the tomb is empty, where is resurrection power now filling me, to empty me of lesser loves, so I can rise to real life in Christ, so the upside down ways of Christ might be seen in me?

Because Jesus took a step out of that tomb toward you, to see you: Where is He calling you to take one step of faith toward Him, to more fully see Him?

Cut to the quick, I write these questions down in my journal, undone and remade… and this is the beginning of my new year… new me.

When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem, those disciples thought that Jesus came to finally take over the empire — but when Jesus walked out of that Garden Tomb, it’s the real disciples who finally understand that Jesus came to take over our hearts.… and give us new hearts.

God held nothing back for you – why would you withhold anything now from Him?

Easter is now only just beginning. The living of resurrection life is only now just beginning.

The work rooms windows washed, I can see clearly now, see this nest of new life opening up now.

Are you ready to say: “I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!”

Meant for any time of year, but an especially meaningful way to journey through Eastertide, embark on this 40-day spiritual pilgrimage following the resurrected Jesus through the Gospel of John — a 40-day journey to move you from barely getting through — to passionately living the fullest life.

Come see the Lord — come be Loved to Life.

How Holy Thursday Heals Hurting Hearts: The Secret that Changes Everything

Ann Voskamp — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 21:53:55 +0000

It’s okay to say you’ve felt deeply betrayed.

It’s okay to honestly confess: Betrayal doesn’t just leave your heart broken; it leaves your soul jaded.

It changes your heart when you know Christ died for those who’ve hurt your heart.

It’s okay to quietly say it: It’s harder to give forgiveness to a close friend than to someone who never was a friend. Because when trust was deep, the feeling of betrayal cuts deeper.

Your Jesus knows what it’s like to have your own Judas. Jesus wasn’t betrayed by some Tom, Dick, or Harry down the street; Jesus was betrayed by one of His very closest friends—one who kissed Him warm on the cheek and then turn coated on Him, leaving Him out in the cold to be crucified alone.

It was on Thursday of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, when Jesus sat at the Last Supper. On each side of Jesus sat one of His disciples. One of them was the one “whom Jesus loved”— the way John refers to himself four times in his Gospel, because John was hidden in the love of Jesus.

There is no way to really fully live, apart from being hidden in the passionate love of God.

While on the one side of Jesus sat “John the divine, [on] the other was Judas the devil. One of them was the seer of the Apocalypse, the other was the son of perdition,” writes Charles Spurgeon.

While we were yet struggling to live with the difficult, Christ died even yet for them.

Jesus was flanked by John, who was leaning against the heartbeat of Jesus, and Judas, who was just against Him.

But Jesus’ love presses against those who are against Him: While we were yet sinners, while we hated Him, Jesus loved us to death, so we could really live (Romans 5:8), and He loves to death exactly those we struggle to live with.

While we were yet struggling to live with the difficult, Christ died even yet for them.

It changes your heart when you know Christ died for those who’ve hurt your heart.

The love of God doesn’t become lesser, but grows greater, in the face of great heartbreak.

As God-with-skin-on bent low with a basin of slopping water to wash dirty feet to show us the way of passionate love, He would now hand the dipped sop of bread to Judas. Like Jesus sopped the bread and passed it to Judas, so we drown all evil in an ocean of grace.

If Jesus could dip from the same bowl as Judas and then pass along the bowl with grace, how can we who have been washed in the grace of Christ not find ways to pass on all the grace we’ve known?

If Jesus could dip from the same bowl as Judas and then pass along the bowl with grace, how can we who have been washed in the grace of Christ not find ways to pass on all the grace we’ve known?

How can we not pass on the goodness of the grace we’ve tasted?

Jesus finds your eyes in this moment and whispers the mandate “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Turns out: You only get to be known as a disciple if you’re known for your cruciform love.

It’s possible, with cruciform love: Where there is a relational break, instead of breaking fellowship, you can break open your heart in prayer and ask the Lord if there is maybe, perhaps, a genuinely safe way to somehow still break bread together.

It’s possible, with surrendered, cruciform love:

You can live by just eight words: Love one another just as Christ has loved you.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He gave thanks. If Jesus can give thanks in that kind of heartbreak, how can we not find ways to give thanks even in ours?

This is what happened on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week: On the night Jesus was betrayed, Jesus found ways to still be Love.

Your life, too, has known all kinds of betrayals: the night when the prodigal cut your heart, the night when your boss betrayed your trust and you lost your job, the night when your person said words that can’t be unsaid and stomped out the front door, the night when the toilet stopped flushing and the dog puked all over the back mat, the night when all your hopes and your everyday life seemed to betray you, the night when it looked like dawn would never come again.

Even on those nights, the people of Jesus can still give thanks for the closeness of Jesus, the comfort of Jesus, the compassion of Jesus, the kindness of Jesus, the kinship of Jesus.

When Jesus had to fight through the dark, staring right into the most impossible situation of the Cross, abandoned by His circle of friends, what did Jesus do?

Out of a universe of supernatural options at the tip of His fingers, what did Jesus determine was the most revolutionary way forward?

On the night when Jesus was betrayed, He gave thanks.

If Jesus can give thanks in that, might it be possible to give brave thanks in anything? If Jesus can give thanks in that kind of heartbreak, how can we not find ways to give thanks even in ours?

Because of the night Jesus was betrayed, we can give thanks too. We give thanks that He gives grace to Judases like us too. When we know how much grace we’ve been given to cover our own betrayals of Jesus, how can we not give others grace for theirs?

And when it’s brutally, impossibly hard?

Jesus comes and sits down beside you. He breaks this bit of soft bread, and we can feel it—how our broken hearts soften too.

He reached out with one hand to hand the bread to Judas, and with the other hand — He hands the bread to us.

We are all the Judases who have betrayed Jesus too.

And what can we do but take the bread and murmur our heartfelt thanks, too, and reach out and sacrificially love too?

And this… this is no less true: Because of the night Jesus was betrayed, we can give thanks too. We give thanks that He gives grace to Judases like us too.

When we reflect on how great our own sins are, how can we not have great gratefulness and great grace for every other broken sinner?

When we know how much grace we’ve been given to cover our own betrayals of Jesus, how can we not give others grace for theirs?

After Jesus was marked with scars and left this world, love would be the mark of His people, to leave a mark on the world.

Because of love, life can come.

And Jesus showed us that loving forgiveness is always the most life-giving.

As Judas walked out of the upper room, Jesus turned toward the Cross. He knew what lay ahead—arrest and trial and torture, humiliation and condemnation and crucifixion— and Jesus called this kind of sacrificial love nothing less than glory.

After Jesus was marked with scars and left this world, love would be the mark of His people, to leave a mark on the world.

Heartbreak and hardship are not hindrances to our love for God, but are often the catalysts that make us fall into the arms of His love.

While the world might look and say, “How terribly crucified,” those living in the love of Jesus can trust that miraculous good can come out of even this, and say, “Still beautifully glorified.”

And… The mandate of those who follow Christ is to live the passion of Christ—to love every day we’re on earth, like Jesus loved us to death on His last day on earth.

This is the secret mandate that changes everything, this is the way to rise to new life every day, this is the cadence of our days, just this refrain: “As Jesus has loved me . . .”

As Jesus has loved me, let me take care of that for you.

As Jesus has loved me, let me give you not just the benefit of the doubt but amazing grace. As Jesus has loved me, let me forgive you.

As Jesus has loved me to life, let me love you with my life.

Give thanks for God’s grace, even in your hard places, and you see you actually have more than enough of God’s grace to pass on to others in theirs.

As we love each other as Christ loves us—even those who have broken our hearts—we end up loving others far more than we ever thought possible, because we feel how we are loved by Christ far more than we could ever imagine.

The forgiving love of Jesus gives us a way to keep miraculously giving love, especially when it seems impossible.

Maundy Thursday is a pause, even now in holy week, in the midst of our hard stories… and there it is:

Give thanks for God’s grace, even in your hard places, and you see you actually have more than enough of God’s grace to pass on to others in theirs.

~excerpt from Loved to Life: a 40-Day Pilgrimage with Love Himself to Change Your Life

Life & Relationships Hurt? This Pilgrimage With Jesus Will Change Your Life, Love You to Life & Life to the FULL

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Why It’s Actually Scent Wednesday of Holy Week

Ann Voskamp — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:53 +0000

I light a candle early on Wednesday of Holy Week.

And maybe it’s not so much Spy Wednesday, or Silent Wednesday, because what happens on the Wednesday of Holy Week isn’t so much about the spy Judas, nor about any supposed silence about what really happened on Wednesday of Holy Week.

Because Jesus actually speaks quite loudly, clearly, and unequivocally about what should be remembered on Wednesday of Holy Week:

The gospel story isn’t complete without this Woman’s story.

Jesus says that, wherever in the whole world, that the real good news is ever remembered, then what this one Woman did on Holy Week Wednesday must be remembered too. (Matt 26:13)

It’s the only time in any of the four gospels that Jesus says anyone’s act will be told wherever the gospel is told. Not the surreal walking on water. Not the supernatural raising of Lazarus. Not the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. Not any act of Peter, John, or James. This is the only time Jesus ever speaks of a memorial to anyone – and it’s of a woman. As Calvin says, this woman’s act is “inextricably woven into the gospel” — the gospel story isn’t complete without this Woman’s story.

Spurgeon actually says, “So long as this gospel lives, shall this story of the woman be told – and when this story of the woman ceaseth to exist, then the gospel must cease to exist also, for they are co-eternal.”

Co-eternal. That’s the word Spurgeon chooses.

Her intimate, costly offering is the only way to really answer His ultimate, priceless offering.

This one Woman’s act and the gospel are not merely associated; this one Woman’s act and the gospel are divinely bound together – you cannot have the gospel without remembering what this one Woman did on Holy Wednesday.

Because it’s this one Woman who comes into the house of Simon the Leper, on the Wednesday of Holy Week, takes an alabaster jar, of extravagantly expensive nard, breaks it and pours it on Jesus’ head – and the room fills with the scent of love. In Hebrew, such a pleasing aroma is known as “reyach” – and it is the scent that rises from a sacrifice, the korban – which literally means to make a way for drawing near, coming close.

In the Old Testament, when one brings a sacrifice, “a korban to the Lord… he shall offer it… and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma — reyach — to the Lord.” (Leviticus 1:2-3, 9)

The scent of reyach, noted more than 40 times in the Old Testament, is almost always about a sacrifice, a korban.

The whole Old Testament system of sacrifice is this system of korban. And this sacrifice, which is always about making a way to come closer, results in a rising fragrance, a reyach – and the reyach scent signals complete acceptance.

That’s always been the way of God’s people:

Korban sacrificed. Reyach aroma rises. Sacrifice accepted. Atonement accomplished.

At-one-ment with God.

My candle burns lower on the table, and my own heart kindles, lit.

Beside the burning candles, lies a crown of thorns that a kind neighbor made from foraged vines, and dropped off later on the afternoon of Holy Wednesday. And beside the candle and the crown of thorns, I have Bible open on the coffee table all this Holy Week, and it lies open, ablaze, with this story:

Jesus is the ultimate korban, and this woman is the first reflected korban.

How there, in Simon the Leper’s house on Holy Wednesday, one Woman’s heart burned with the recognition who Jesus actually is:

Jesus is the ultimate korban. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice – the complete, once-and-for-all-time korban who covers all sins, who covers and closes all of the distance, so all can draw near to God.

And that is what one Woman’s heart sees; she sees Jesus for who He really is and she can do nothing less than respond to Jesus’ ultimate korban-sacrifice with her own sacrifice.

Holding perfume worth almost a year’s wages, she brings it like a sacrificial korban, and draws near to the One who is the ultimate korban, the One who ultimately draws near.

Her korban answers His korban.

And the Woman breaks her alabaster jar.

She breaks over the One who will go to the Cross to be broken. Her korban of sacrificed nard runs down over Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice. She pours out all that she has and is – over the head of the One poured out for all, the sacrificed Lamb of God, whose head will soon wear the crown of thorns, as He’s raised as the conquering King of the universe.

Her intimate, costly offering is the only way to really answer His ultimate, priceless offering.

And the Reyach-aroma rises from the offerings – of her broken jar and His very being.

Reyach-aroma fills the room…. her reyach co-mingles with His reyach… and both their fragrant reyach rises to the heavenly throne room of God.

Her intimate, expensive sacrifice accepted by Jesus – and the ultimate, perfect, incalcuable sacrifice of Jesus accepted by God.

Atonement accomplished.

At-one-ment. Between her heart – and His.

This is why Jesus bound the very heart of the gospel to the heart of this vulnerable woman. This is why the gospel cannot be told without the Woman of Holy Week Wednesday.

Jesus is the ultimate korban, and this woman is the first reflected korban.

Her broken jar mirrors His broken body. Her poured-out perfume is an image of His poured-out blood. Her reyach-fragrace mixes with His forever reyach scent. Her heart-felt korban reflects His holy korban.

Jesus says this one Woman will be remembered wherever the gospel is remembered, not because her love was a singular kind of love — but because her sacrifical love is to be the way of all of Christ’s true followers.

Jesus says this one Woman will be remembered wherever the gospel is remembered, not because her love was a singular kind of love — but because her sacrifical love is to be the way of all of Christ’s true followers.

Jesus says that this Woman must be remembered wherever the gospel is told — because the only way to tell the gospel must be through this language of loving sacrifice. The language of korban. The language of costly giving, and cruciform surrendering, and humble life pouring out.

Our sacrifice drawing near to the Sacrificed One… our korban lovingly coming close to The Korban….our broken jar mirroring His Broken body, our poured-out lives answering His poured-out blood.

If we have truly experienced the love of the gospel, the story of Jesus’ultimate korban — how can we answer it with anything short of our whole lives? Our own korbans. The true followers of Christ are called to be reflected korbans.

And we can only be the reyach-fragrance of Christ, if we too make our lives a living korban-sacrifice.

Our living room fills with the rising fragrance of the candle growing lesser, lower, brighter.

How is my life the scent of God?

The Woman isn’t the only one in Simon’s room on Holy Wednesday.

Instead of costly sacrificing, to draw near to Jesus, all the Judases are the ones drawn by the smell of economic protection.

Judas, and all us, are in the same room with Jesus when the woman’s jar breaks. All of us and Judas smell the reyach-fragrance of real sacrifice too. It is undeniable, palpable, present.

The woman draws near, comes close.

But all the Judases distance.

Because instead of costly sacrificing, to draw near to Jesus, all the Judases are drawn by the smell of economic protection. The Judases are always the ones who try to extract value for themselves in every situation, instead of sacrificing what is of value, so their lives express how Jesus is infinitely worthy.

All the Judases distance themselves from Jesus’ presence when they care less about being a costly living sacrifice, and more about how much is lining their own pockets.

Same room. Same reyach.

But who are the ones sacrificing their lives as a korban and fragrant-reyach to Jesus – and who are the Judases bowing down at the altar of self and becoming a stench to God?

We can only be the reyach-fragrance of Christ, if we too make our lives a living korban-sacrifice.

I sit long — linger – with my candle on Holy Week Wednesday. Does my heart burn – or hurt? Or both?

This is not really Spy Wednesday. Nor is it supposed to be Silent Wednesday.

This is Scent Wednesday.

Holy Wednesday was never meant to be silent – Jesus said wherever the gospel was spoken, one Woman would be spoken of too.

Because she co-joined Him in the costly aroma of the Gospel, the expensive scent of real sacrifice, the true fragrance of Christ.

Who is that woman? Who is that man, who will answer with their one life

This is Scent Wednesday.

Scent Wednesday is the day the reyach-fragrance of the korban fills the room — and uncovers what fills every heart present. How do I fill the nostrils of God?

This is Scent Wednesday.

The fragrance of how many candles burn on, on Holy Wednesday…

But how many hearts ignite?

But who is the scent of Christ?

And who, especially today, while there still is time, is the extravagant fragrance of sacrifice?

Embark on a 40-day spiritual pilgrimage following the entire life of Jesus through the Gospel of John —

a 40-day journey to move you from barely getting through — to passionately living the fullest life.

Come be Loved to Life.

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING HOW TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL, MEMORABLE EASTER, CONSIDER OUR FREE LIBRARY OF PRINTABLES & TOOLS TO Come Close and Draw Nearer TO THE BEAUTY OF HIS PRESENCE

FREE RESOURCES HERE FOR YOUR HOLY WEEK:

A Holy Week PSA You Can’t Miss: Did You Know The Cross Is Really About This? (PT 1)

Ann Voskamp — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:08:12 +0000

Christ on the Cross is our korban. I’ve heard a myriad of reasons why Jesus had to go to the cross, but I stopped dead in my tracks, right there in the sheepfold, right there in the midst of feeding my wee flock of sheep. Why had I never realized the connection before? Or ever really heard this before?

I’m struck stock still with the epiphany of it all, because isn’t this what the Hebrew, Old Testament notion of korban, and the sacrifice of countless sheep — the sacrifice of everything — was always really about?

Sacrifice, the korban, has always been about more than only punishment or payment; sacrifice has always ultimately been about presence.

All Lent, as I kept failing and falling, as I washed pots and pans, chop vegetables, folded clothes, kept getting up and beginning again, what kept striking me, was just this:

How I’d once stood at Shiloh, where all sacrifices for sins happened for 369 years, the burnt offering, the flour offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering. Sheep, goat, grain, bull, dove— all the Old Testament sacrifices of God’s people for all their heart wanderings, all their sins—happened right where I was standing there at Shiloh.

And our Messianic Jewish guide, Arie Bar David, he had turned to me, and strikingly said this about sacrifice for our sins:

“Sacrifice in Hebrew is korban.” Arie flips the pages of his worn Bible to show me.

“See? Sacrifice is the Hebrew korban, which comes from the Hebrew root, K- R- V, which literally means to come near, an approach, a moving closer, to move into a closer relationship.”

That’s when tectonic plates, and the neural membranes under my own cranial plates, my whole interior world, had shifted for me —- and this Lent, that is what I kept returning to, what I kept telling myself, as I fast and sacrifice and fail and stumble on:

Your korban is for closeness. Your sacrifice is never giving up something, but getting to move closer to Someone.

Your korban is for closeness. Your korban isn’t forgoing anything; your korban is for going closer to Someone.

Your korban isn’t forgoing anything; your korban is for going closer to Someone.

You only struggle with sacrifice, if you see it as missing out on something — instead of seeing sacrifice as your korban, to not miss out on Someone.

In the economy of God, you’re never sacrificially giving up anything, as much as you’re intimately gaining Someone.

There’s nothing you could ever give up, that could ever compare to getting to come closer to the embrace of the greatest Someone.

What could possibly be worth holding on to, instead of letting go — so you get to draw closer to the One who deemed you worthy of His life, because of the depths of His love for you?

I try to tell myself that, as I wipe off counters, stack dirty dishes, scrap off the stove, as I struggled with my Lent sacrifices. And I’d turn, stand at the kitchen sink, look out across fields, as the Spirit would do a bit of interior cleaning within me:

Your korban isn’t really relinquishing anything you love – it’s receiving what you’ve wanted more, the love of Someone.

Your korban is for closeness.

Jesus is the ultimate korban. Christ is the ultimate korban — to ultimately draw us close.

That’s been the refrain of my Lent. Your korban is for closeness. Lent is about letting go of something, to make room for more Love, who is Someone. Sacrifice is about detaching from one thing— so you get to attach to a greater thing. Sacrifice isn’t about losing anything — sacrifice is about loving Someone.

After cleaning the kitchen, every day, I go out to feed sheep.

I haul hay. I haul buckets – of water, of grain. Every day through Lent.

And as I move through my flock of sheep, as I feed my sheep every day, as we kept moving closer toward Holy Week, that one line keeps running through my neural membranes too: “Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed.”

Jesus is the sacrifice, our sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus is the ultimate korban.

By Jesus’ sacrifice – by Jesus’ korban – there is a way now to draw near.

‘Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus – [by the korban of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus our sacrificial lamb] – let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19-23)

And that’s when I stopped dead in my tracks, right there, surrounded by a flock of sheep:

Christ on the Cross is for more than a penal-law story – Christ on the Cross is ultimately a relational love story.

Christ is the ultimate korban — to ultimately draw us close.

Every sacrificial korban has always been about more than paying some penal cost – korban has always been about paving the way to relational closeness.

Sacrifice, the korban, has always been about more than punishment or payment; sacrifice has always been about presence.

Which then means, as fullfillment of Old Testament prophecy: Christ on the Cross is our korban: Christ on the Cross is for more than paying the real penal cost of wrongs -– Christ on the Cross is ultimately about paving the way for the relational closeness of God.

Christ on the Cross is for more than a penal-law story – Christ on the Cross is ultimately a relational love story.

Christ on the Cross – is more than just about punishment — it’s about Christ being our ultimate korban – so we might ultimately draw near to God’s presence.

The Cross is Korban: Christ comes as a sacrifice, so that we get to come close.

And I slowly kneel down, stroke the vulnerable neck of one of my lambs.

The Cross is more than only Penal Substitutionary Atonement — it is ultimately about Korban Relational At-one-ment.

And I can feel my lamb’s pulse, right there under my hand — its lifeblood coursing.

And I can feel it too, how Jesus is the fulfillment of all the countless Old Testament sacrifices, how Jesus was the sacrificial lamb who went to the Cross, to take the punishment for our sins, so the holiness of God was satisfied and the experience of freeing forgiveness could be ours. That’s the true story that penal substitutionary atonement tells about the Cross — but penal substitutionary atonement is but one chapter in the fuller, greater, richer story of the Cross.

The Cross is more than only Penal Substitutionary Atonement — it is ultimately about Korban Relational At-one-ment.

Is that the public service announcement about penal substitutionary atonement? The PSA about PSA — is that PSA, penal substitutionary atonement, is but part of what the cross is all about — the larger, fuller, complete story of the Cross is KRA: Korban Relational At-one-ment.

The Cross is more than penal payment — the Cross is korban for relational attachment. Korban Relational At-one-ment doesn’t replace the truth of penal substitutionary atonement — but it places it as only one chapter in a wider, Old Testament sacrifice story, that is completed in the New Testament sacrifice of Jesus. Because the Cross is more than justice satisfied, and the book of wrongs closed — the Cross is about Christ not satisfied until our names are written in the Book of Life, and all distance between us is closed.

The Cross is Korban where we are given more than forgiveness; we are ultimately given nearness.

The Cross is Korban where we are given more than forgiveness; we are ultimately given nearness.

“But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13)

The gospel good news is more than getting forgiveness, and getting a ticket to heaven – the gospel good news is that Jesus is the korban who ultimately gives us close intimacy with God, to experience a bit of heaven now. Korban Relational At-one-ment.

And there, kneeled before a lamb, the ground of the Holy Week, the ground at the foot of Cross begins to shift… begins to move me closer.

Whatever picture anyone draws of Jesus on the Cross – the reality is that the Cross is Jesus doing whatever it takes for us to draw nearer.

And one of my wee lambs moves nearer, unexpectedly lays its head there on my shoulder, all distance covered, and closed… and we just remain there in the moment…. close.

Come Holy Week, Walk with Jesus to the Cross & be Loved to Life

If you long to be closer to Jesus, close enough to actually feel loved— this is your personal invitation, to just 40 Days with Jesus — to be Loved to Life .

A deeply transforming 40-Day Pilgrimage with Jesus, through the book of John — right to the Cross and the empty tomb and new life — this is your invitation to come close right now, & touch the hem of Jesus — & to let Him touch your wounds, touch your tender places, touch your tears with His own gentle love that weeps with you — & touch you with His own healing and hope.

Come, your soul, & your year, will thank you: 40-Days with Jesus to be Loved to Life, & experience healing that only He can bring. Come be Loved to Life.

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {03.28.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 01:49:43 +0000

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 of an ancient tomb in Jerusalem by Pisit Heng

Photo from the Garden of Gethsemane by Stacey Franco

Photo of an ancient, empty tomb by Jonny Gios

This is the week where everything slows… where we step gently into the story that changes everything. Holy Week is here.

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” — John 13:1

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

watch the sun rise, and exhale: His mercies are new every morning, and darkness never gets the final word

Breathtaking beauty… good for the soul to be in awe!

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

Just Incredible!

View this post on Instagram

linger with three sonnets during these sacred days

Exhale…and read these slowly

a guide to holy week from the bible project

Readings, reflections, and videos to walk you through the week

So good!

Beautiful

a new tradition?

Read Narnia This Week

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

A Fabulous Series on Jesus’ Final Week

https://www.youtube.com/live/GoOP2x1YGOY?si=I5aet800F1UGoWMg

Creative Bits for you this week

Love These!

So Helpful!

Must Try!

Perfect for Spring

for your table

for new parents & grandparents & world leaders & all of us

right from your pantry!

Can’t wait to try!

What we’re listening to on the Farm

Sunday is Coming — Phil Wickham

Post of the week from these parts:

Really, go hold a baby:

When you hold in your hands an only hours-old human being… undone!

This wrecked me in the best way: maybe Don’t Miss This One

Join us for the final week of Living Loved?

If you’ve been thinking that maybe what we all need right now is a just bit more love, you’re in exactly the right place! This is your invitation into more… into LIVING LOVED: A 40-Day Practice in Loving like Jesus

“Yes! I’d love to LIVE LOVED and walk through the final days of Lent with you all“

We got to sit down and chat with Derwin Gray this week and had the best talk about what it looks like when Love is a Verb.

Such a deeply encouraging conversation

And all these free gifts are still available to you:

It’s never too late, friends! Join today and you’ll have access to our entire 40-day journey, which you can explore at your own pace.

—> A daily audio clip where I’ll quietly read Scripture with you, as we journey through the Gospel of John together, walking every step with Jesus: listening to the testimony of “the one whom Jesus loved” – as we lean into Jesus, and feel how deeply loved we are – beyond imagining!

—> As you listen, consider hanging your corresponding Easter Tree Ornament as you listen (more about that below!). A beautifully designed reflection from Loved to Life — an invitation to meditate, perhaps save it to your phone and return to it throughout the day. Allow Love Himself to meet you as begin to let the tender places in you feel the depth of His unconditional love for you…

—> Our weekly Real Love Memory Verse. Throughout the next 40 days, we’ll memorize what Love truly is, from one of the most powerful, needful Scriptures in the whole of the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13. During the next 40 days, we are going to truly feel love and truly be love.

—> Your own Visual Love Pilgrimage — an immersive experience of masterful art, Scripture, journaling, and prayer, where you can gaze at a classic work of art while considering the Love of Christ. Spend a few times looking at the art, undistracted, and use the journaling prompts to help you see and experience Love more deeply and clearly.

—> And a daily Identity in Christ affirmation, with a whole set of 24 cards you can print, to begin to feel how loved and cherished you and who you really are in Christ – nothing has changed me like knowing who I am in Christ … beloved!

—> And each Sunday evening of our 40-Day Pilgrimage? Lord willing, we’ll gather together, you and I, face-to-face! Yes, Weekly Livestream Community gatherings are back! Let’s let go of all kinds of lonely feelings, and our sense of isolation, and together connect, in face-to-face moments of encouragement, prayer, and wisdom, with very special guests every week!

Would you love to feel really loved – and really be love? I will personally ensure you’ll get all of this beauty each day, tucked with all my love, right into your hands… just click here…

Would you join me for the final days of REALLY LIVING LOVED?

you can’t help but smile:

known by name

Beautiful

holy holy holy!

love them!

Pure Joy!

the farmers choir!

On the bookshelf this week at the farm

A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, Crickett Keeth is the author of several women’s Bible studies, including her newly released study on 2 Timothy, Living Out a Life That Matters, that focuses on eight virtues of the Christian life embodied by Paul that are also meant for us. She takes us on a journey into the life-changing attributes of: Encouragement, Faithfulness, Strength, Diligence, Vigilance, Equipping, Commitment, and Steadfastness. Focusing on one virtue each week, participants become centered in God’s heart and equipped to live a life that impacts others for eternity. Living Out a Life That Matters goes beyond fill-in-the-blank questions or one-word answers, and challenges women to live deep, purpose-filled lives. As you grow into these beautiful virtues, you—and the people around you—will be changed.

People generally do okay with naming Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the Trinity? That’s where things start to feel intimidating. Maybe it’s a puzzle, some folks assume, for pastors, professors, and the occasional brave soul with a diagram. But what if this portrait of God is not ultimately confusing, but life-changing? Could it become a conviction that doesn’t complicate our experience of God but rather warms it? Timothy believes knowing God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit vividly answers the secret ache beneath our daily aches. That vibrant truth offers an extravagant invitation. His latest book, Fully Beloved: Meeting God in Our Heartaches and Our Hopes, explores God’s triune love set amid our human woundedness.

Calling Folks in Virginia! I’d love to connect with you at Refresh!

Join us for our annual Refresh Conference as we focus on living in God’s goodness—even through seasons of pain and uncertainty.

Let’s get it on our calendars!

Who is ready for The Gospel Coalition Women’s event this year?

You won’t believe these sales today!

Loved to Life — a great read as we prepare for Holy Week — is 35% off!

35% Off — Under $20

Gifts and Gratitudes & sacred prayer: both half off!

Nearly 50% Off! Order a few to give as PERFECT GIFTS!

Are you counting your gifts this month?

Download your very own for free or get one shipped right to your front door!

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

And this one will be on repeat all week. Thank you, Jesus!

Wishing you a Holy Week with room to slow, to remember, and to be held—by the only One who has ever loved us to death and back to the realest life.

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.

Do You Feel Loved? How Our 3 Word Question—Am I loved? — Finds God’s Three-Named Answer

Timothy Jones — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:06:02 +0000

How we can know deep down that we are not just tolerated, but beloved by God? Timothy Jones is a pastor and author known for helping people encounter greater warmth and closeness in their relationship with God, and in his new book, Fully Beloved, he’s not afraid to name our brokenness and explore how it can be healed— Timothy believes knowing God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit vividly answers the secret ache beneath our daily aches — that the vibrant truth of the trinity offers an extravagant invitation. It’s a joy to welcome Timothy to the farm table.

Guest post by Timothy Jones

Am I loved? Just three words, but perhaps no question aches more deeply within us. Maybe no question matters as much.

We need connection with others, now more than ever, when loneliness is epic, when, as a public health official said, it’s epidemic, when the world seems fractured. When relationships feel fragile or even brittle.

“The single desire that dominated my search for delight,” St. Augustine wrote centuries ago, “was simply to love and to be loved.”

I can identify.

Sometimes, answering “Are we loved?” gets complicated.

Some of us grew up hearing voices that said, “You don’t measure up.” A remembered cruel comment leaves us achy for assurance. Maybe someone you love rejects you—ghosts you—even writes you out of their life, as happened to me. No one escapes heartache.

Moments like these can make us question our worth. Or forget that healing happens, that broken things mend. What a gift it would be to truly recover a renewed conviction here!

We can easily move into the territory of cliché, of course. Or overdone sentiment. I don’t mean by love just a cozy emotional feeling, as Frederick Buechner once put it.

Human tenderness alone will not—cannot—satisfy our deepest longings.

And while the affection others give matters profoundly, it will only meet us partway. Human tenderness alone will not—cannot—satisfy our deepest longings.

I’ve been discovering a surprising source that helps me, grounds me. I mean an ancient, poignant portrait of God: The God known to us as Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

We may not realize that our deep need to know we are loved is answered in this vision of a God who has always existed in relationship and love. But here I find depth and grit and richness—and, above all, tenderness.

And I can’t help noticing: my three-word question — Am I loved? — has a three-named answer.

We might, I know, find the Trinity confusing, even intimidating. There are mysteries here. But I’ve long suspected that this picturing of God in Scripture and Christian tradition could lead to more joy. Lend more vitality to our praying. Plant within us a settled conviction that we are beloved.

Even when—especially when—that good news navigates a challenge.

I can’t recall where I was when I opened my mother’s letter—my grad school dorm on Alexander Street, maybe—but I’m sure that by the second paragraph I’d sat down.

“Send us back your house key,” her neat handwriting read.

So, I thought, she’s speaking for both her and my dad. The return address on the envelope was my childhood home in coastal California.

“You are not,” she went on, “welcome in our house.”

Telling them my plans to marry had prompted a stream of letters, all in my mom’s unhesitating script, letters that told of their vision of me finishing at Princeton and then, and only then, thinking about a serious relationship. Their letters came to me, their youngest son—an overprotected young person who lived at home while at college—convinced that surely I couldn’t be ready for a lifelong commitment. And yes, I was young. I understood they might have a question or two.

But to have my parents write me out of the family? Refuse even to meet Jill, the person I cherished and wanted to marry? The request for my key was for effect, I realize; they didn’t need my little slab of door-lock-shaped metal, and they knew where I lived—the Princeton street where they’d sent the letter. But the words hit their mark.

Another letter followed, hinting they’d write me out of their will. The message: Maybe you aren’t one of us after all.

Was I not loved—by them?

Life-changing letters like those force tough choices. Whatever path I went down, life would be forever different.

I never sent the key. I could feel the loss I was facing, to be sure, but my heart was racing ahead to the gleaming chance to spend a lifetime of companionship with my best friend. I could brave their rejection. (There was, as people often ask me, eventual reconciliation.) But once again I had to ask what love meant, where we find it.

And in such hard moments, I now see how I was being readied for a deeper connection, for a closer relationship with the One who made the world—and us. We long for a love more lasting than any human version—one that comes from our Maker and Keeper, a God we yearn to know overflows in kindness.

I am more beloved than I thought. I’m less lonesome than I feared.

Seeing others experience that kind of life-giving love—and feeling it grow in me—has triggered a seismic shift: from feeling underloved to discovering new joy. “The glory of God is a person fully alive,” as the ancient sage Irenaeus put it. It’s clearer to me than ever that such aliveness comes from knowing I am more beloved than I thought. I’m less lonesome than I feared.

This means that grace will meet me in the lacks and gaps. A God of boundless love shows up right where I live.

All three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—come close. Through decades of pastoring and praying, grieving and wrestling, I realize that love is the startling invitation of the Trinity.

For this venerable belief points to a God whose very nature has to do with loving relationship.

There’s a surprising intimacy when you look closely. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit radiate and overflow with splendor and kindness to each other. They converse and commune with one another.

Such a picture, I’m convinced, will warm our times with God, not complicate them.

In our brokenness and loneliness, God—whose nature is love—knows and cares for us. T

he love of God, the self-sacrificial mercy of Christ, an assurance from the Spirit: Such glimpses awaken in our human, broken hearts a new delight, a staggering conviction that we, too, are invited close, and held.

Which leads to our answer to my opening three-word question: You are loved—

God’s beloved.

People generally do okay with naming Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But the Trinity? That’s where things start to feel intimidating. Maybe it’s a puzzle, some folks assume, for pastors, professors, and the occasional brave soul with a diagram.

But what if this portrait of God is not ultimately confusing, but life-changing? Could it become a conviction that doesn’t complicate our experience of God but rather warms it?

Timothy believes knowing God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit vividly answers the secret ache beneath our daily aches. That vibrant truth offers an extravagant invitation. His latest book, Fully Beloved: Meeting God in Our Heartaches and Our Hopes, explores God’s triune love set amid our human woundedness.

Tim is pastor, retreat leader, and author. He blogs at www.revtimothyjones.com and has written regularly for the Rabbit Room, Inkwell, Mockingbird, Fathom and other publications. Tim has appeared at Inkwell, Hutchmoot, and, this spring, the Mockingbird conference in NYC. His books include Awake My Soul and The Art of Prayer: A Simple Guide to Conversation with God. You can track with him on Instagram, Threads, Substack, and Facebook.

And immersing yourself in his latest book, Fully Beloved: Meeting God in Our Heartaches and Our Hopes — might heal you in ways you’ve deeply longed for… in your yearning to feel how you’re fully loved.

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

What Kind of Life Leaves a Mark That Never Fades?

Crickett Keeth — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:36:27 +0000

How do you live your life on purpose, living out your purpose? That’s kinda the big question. In Crickett Keeth‘s new eight-week Bible study, Living Out a Life That Matters, Crickett shares a beautiful pathway to a life that goes deeper in Christ—a life that has meaning and leaves a legacy of eternal significance. It’s an honour to welcome Crickett to the farm table today…

Guest Post by Crickett Keeth

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, a life that matters?

Perhaps you think of financial wealth, material possessions, or great achievements. But a life that matters is so much more than that. The best investment we can make during our time on earth, in addition to our own spiritual health, is investing in the lives of others.

But what does that look like? How do we spur others on to become all God created them to be? How do we live a life worth emulating and one that continues to have an impact long after we’re gone?

Recently, I attended a memorial service that lasted over three hours! There was testimony after testimony from people of all ages and places who had been spiritually impacted by this woman’s life. She demonstrated steadfastness in her walk with God and how to finish well.

No, she didn’t leave behind a large sum of money or property, but she left a legacy of eternal significance.

She changed many lives (including mine), drawing people into a deeper relationship with God.

She lived a life that mattered—a life that made a difference for eternity.

The apostle Paul modeled how to live a life that matters and leave a legacy of eternal significance in 2 Timothy, his final letter. Paul encouraged his young friend Timothy to fulfill his God-given purpose and make a difference for God’s kingdom. He recognized the importance of investing in the lives of others, helping them grow in their faith and preparing them to carry out God’s purpose.

Are we committed to carrying out our God-given purpose?

There will be times when opposition arises, and we’ll be tempted to quit. Or we’ll face tough times and challenges and say, “I’m done. I’m going to choose an easier path.” Sometimes, our fears overshadow our faith, and we lose heart.

Paul faced many hardships and obstacles in his ministry, but he never gave up and walked away. He knew his purpose, and He was committed to carrying out that mission until the end of his earthly journey.

How are you encouraging the younger generations to be committed to their God-given purpose and live out a life that matters?

And Paul encouraged Timothy to stay committed to fulfilling his calling and ministry from the Lord. He continually reminded Timothy of his purpose and how important it was not to get lazy or sidetracked. We all need friends like Paul who will keep us on course. But we also need to be that type of friend to others and encourage them to be all God intended them to be.

How are you encouraging the younger generations to be committed to their God-given purpose and live out a life that matters? Are you helping them discover their calling and gifts, and encouraging them to persevere when times get tough?

None of us wants to get to the end of our lives and stand before God to hear Him say, “I gave you gifts and opportunities, but you didn’t use them. I had so much more for you, and you missed it.”

I was with my mom when she took her last breath on this earth, and I pictured Jesus welcoming her home with open arms, saying, “Well done, Marjorie! Well done, good and faithful servant!” Mom lived a life that mattered and left a legacy of eternal significance.

Are we living our lives today in such a way that when we see Him face to face, we’ll hear Him say, “Well done, faithful servant”?

Let’s live a life that matters—for Him.

When I reach the end of my life, I want to be able to say as Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7 (NASB2020): “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” May this be true for each one of us.

What kind of legacy will you leave behind—a legacy of eternal significance or one that will have a negative impression or be quickly forgotten? A

re you investing in things that are only temporary—material possessions, wealth, success? Or are you making a difference for God’s kingdom by investing in others and helping them grow and develop in their walk with God?

Are you finishing the course God has given you to run?

There’s a way to live — today — so we do not waste our lives focused on accumulating temporal things that won’t last or building a name for ourselves, but actually invest in building His kingdom and honoring the Master.

Today holds an invitation to live a life that matters — for Him.

Father, help me live my life for You, pleasing You in all I do and say.
Keep me from becoming complacent about the mission You’ve given me to carry out.
Help me stay focused on You, not the world. I desire to honor You
every day of my life.

Focusing on one virtue each week, participants become centered in God’s heart and equipped to live a life that impacts others for eternity. Living Out a Life That Matters goes beyond fill-in-the-blank questions or one-word answers, and challenges women to live deep, purpose-filled lives. As you grow into these beautiful virtues, you—and the people around you—will be changed.

What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

Living Out a Life That Matters is for:

Women longing to live with purpose and eternal perspective
Believers who want to finish their race faithfully
Small groups, women’s ministries, and church Bible studies
Leaders seeking to disciple others and pass on the faith

Pick up your copy here today.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {03.21.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 19:33:18 +0000

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 Anton Darius

Photo by Eric Muhr

Photo by Zach Taiji

Can you actually believe it? We made it, friends — because He never fails to make the miracle of it happen, year after year! It’s Spring!

“See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come” — Song of Songs 2: 11-12

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

Watch a Garden Come to Life — and breathe deep: the same God who clothes the fields in beauty is still faithfully at work in us!

Breathtaking beauty… good for the soul to be in awe!

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

From The Telegraph: a dramatic rise in Bible sales? What it May Mean?

So encouraging…

Why You Get to Actually Slow Down This Weekend… like, no, really

Exhale and Read this one… slowly

An incredible conversation about Beauty, Art, and Walking with God

If you feel like you’re failing at praying The Way You want

Read this for the relief of knowing what is more important than our prayers

Speaking of Prayer, I found this a powerful Listen this week

So good!

Wise & Inspiring

Deeply Moving…

A Beautiful Reminder

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

The Scientific Case for Forgiveness

What happens in your brain when you forgive — and why it matters

A Fabulous Series on Jesus’ Final Week

A deep dive into the passion week

Creative Bits for you this week

Love These!

Botanical Easter Eggs!

Must Try!

Look what’s inside!

Resurrection Rolls

Meaningful & Delicious

What a gift!

Have you seen loaded Bibles?

What we’re listening to on the Farm

Sing With All Your Heart — Mission House

Post of the week from these parts:

Really, go hold a baby:

for new parents & grandparents & world leaders & all of us

When you hold in your hands an only hours-old human being… undone!

This wrecked me in the best way: maybe Don’t Miss This One

Join us for the final weeks of Living Loved?

If you’ve been thinking that maybe what we all need right now is a just bit more love, you’re in exactly the right place! This is your invitation into more… into LIVING LOVED: A 40-Day Practice in Loving like Jesus

“Yes! I’d love to LIVE LOVED and walk through the final days of Lent with you all“

We got to sit down and chat with Jennifer Rothschild and David Platt this week

Such a deeply encouraging conversation

And all these free gifts are still available to you:

It’s never too late, friends! Join today and you’ll have access to our entire 40-day journey, which you can explore at your own pace.

Would you love to feel really loved – and really be love? I will personally ensure you’ll get all of this beauty each day, tucked with all my love, right into your hands… just click here…

Would you join me for the final days of REALLY LIVING LOVED?

you can’t help but smile:

The Best!

Too Funny!

Such Worship!

Just…WOW!

Incredible!

Sooo Adorable!

On the bookshelf this week at the farm

Collide: Running Into Healing When Life Hands You Hurt invites women to stop running from the hurt we avoid and instead run into a God who can handle and heal it. Rooted in raw and real storytelling alongside Scripture, this book explores how healing begins not by avoiding hurt but by allowing Jesus to enter it. Collide is an invitation to consider: What if healing your hurt is possible? And what if your healing could even help heal the hurting people you love?

As a former journalist and women’s ministry director, Laurie Davies knows the burdens that weigh women down. In the pages of Emotional Hoarding, she finds that hoarded hearts are an awful lot like hoarded homes. At first, it’s just clutter, but left unaddressed, emotional stuff spills everywhere. Soon, entire “rooms” of our heart stop working right. Scripture offers freedom from all that.

Calling Folks in Virginia! I’d love to connect with you at Refresh!

Join us for our annual Refresh Conference as we focus on living in God’s goodness—even through seasons of pain and uncertainty.

Let’s get it on our calenendars!

Who is ready for The Gospel Coalition Women’s event this year?

You won’t believe these sales today!

Loved to Life — a great read as we prepare for Holy Week — is 35% off!

35% Off — Under $20

Gifts and Gratitudes: A Year of One Thousand Gifts

THIS GRATITUDE JOURNAL IS LIFE-CHANGING: Gifts & Gratitudes gently helps grow trust in a God who doesn’t always explain our suffering but who always enters into it with us.

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.

Nearly 50% Off! Order a few to give as PERFECT GIFTS!

Are you counting your gifts this month?

Download your very own for free or get one shipped right to your front door!

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

We watched this again and again!

Cain the Band with 2 minutes of worship!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CAIN (@caintheband)

…and we loved watching Hannah Harper preach!

Wishing you a week with room for fresh air, deeper hope, and the gentle reminder that the same God who brings spring also brings new life to us.

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.

When You Feel Regret, You Get This Miracle

Laurie Davies — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:49:04 +0000

You know, life can get heavy when we’re not even looking. Worries pile up. Regrets loom. Bitterness builds. I’m grateful to introduce you today to Laurie Davies and her warm-hearted wisdom and wit. Page by page and emotion by emotion Laurie’s book Emotional Hoarding leads us into courageous confrontation with the inner emotions we’ve crammed into our hearts’ crevices for too long now. Today’s words especially slather a salve over regret, leading us into a long, sweet exhale as we encounter grace as fresh as a white tablecloth. A grace as Laurie joins us at the farm’s table today.

Guest post by Laurie Davies

When I was a rookie magazine editor, I made an error that literally required stopping the presses. The next morning, I took an empty box and the want-ads with me to work. I knew I’d be fired.

Sure enough, in the late morning, a shadow loomed at the entrance to my cubicle. I wheeled slowly, expecting to find my supervisor holding a pink slip. Instead, there stood Preston V. McMurry, the owner of the publishing company and my fate. Trying to keep my voice low, I muttered things about being unable to repay him and how I knew he needed to fire me. “FIRE YOU?” he boomed.

His voice softened. “I didn’t come to fire you. I just put thousands of dollars of training into you.”

I will never recover from what happened next.

“May I?” he asked, pointing to my phone. I pushed back from my desk so he could reach.

“Cancel my one o’clock appointment,” he told his executive assistant. “I’m taking a VIP to lunch.”

He offered his arm, walked me through campus, tossed my empty box in the dumpster, and took me to lunch. It was the nicest restaurant I’d ever dined in. It had white tablecloths.

Grace.

I’m much more apt to nurture others into the lavish grace of God than myself. I think that might be true for you too. This is because grace is not our first language.

A few years ago, I interviewed a woman named Emma Torres. Emma was born into a Spanish speaking migrant family and dropped out of school at age thirteen. Braving taunts of “you’re dumb,” she kept her head down and worked the fields.

Years later, Emma learned English, got her GED, and earned a bachelor’s degree at Arizona State University. She returned to ASU to earn her master’s and then started a nonprofit that serves the farm worker community through healthcare and violence prevention. Many border towns have replicated her model.

“Not bad for someone who’s dumb,” she said.

We live in a new kingdom. And we need GSL lessons. Grace as a Second Language.

Emma never was dumb. She simply lived in a new country where people speak a different language. We’re like that. We live in a new kingdom. And we need GSL lessons. Grace as a Second Language.

How do we become fluent in grace? Jesus gives us a clue with these familiar words:

I cling to this promise when I limp to Jesus, exhausted. But I used to skip right over that yoke part. A yoke doesn’t sound like something I want to wear, especially when I’m burdened. It sounds heavy. However, this is not the case at all, as Jesus’ friend Peter explains in his words to early Jewish believers:

“Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.” (Acts 15:10–11 CSB)

Do you see it? The yoke Jesus places on us is grace. Yet we lug boxes and want-ads around.

God takes our free will and wills us to be free.

Like you, I beat myself up sometimes for missing opportunities or turning left instead of right. Scripture is also packed with women whose stories weren’t regret-free. Leah was fertile and unloved. Rachel was loved and infertile. Hannah didn’t get to help her son pull his first tooth. Sarah spent ninety years waiting. Lot’s daughters? Nature and nurture really messed them up.

We think we’re supposed to live life like it’s Hasbro’s classic The Game of Life, where players get a college degree, a cool job, a car full of pink and blue pegs, and retirement at Millionaire Estates.

But this is actual life and sometimes we can’t have kids. Or the blue peg in the front seat leaves us for a younger pink peg. And Millionaire Estates? Yeah, that’s not happening.

In the mysterious place where God’s sovereignty meets our free will, God is working a big picture story for our lives. He always sees the higher view. He’s a good Author who doesn’t waste a drop of ink. We might feel like we have, but He does not.

God takes our free will and wills us to be free.

How does grace fit into all of this? It’s everywhere.

Grace meets us at all the wrong turns and missed chances. Grace spreads a white tablecloth at lunch when our actions deserve a pink slip. We can’t earn it. It simply flows from the heart of a God who loves His pink and blue pegs.

God understands the realities that held us back from our dreams. He hates the wounding that led us to rush into relationships. He saw the strongholds that kept us from moving forward. He knows the anxiety that told us to be cautious—so cautious that we could choke on our missed opportunities.

And, ready or not, grace is how He deals with us. It’s just how He set it up.

We can push back, resist Him, and add elevation to our mountain of regret, or we can give in to the grace God has freely given us.

It’s a little like sailing. We can set our sails to allow God’s grace to push and whoosh us from behind. Or we can set sail against it—and as a result, zigzag in Christian action without full propulsion. This begins to describe a Christian who is just going through the motions. It’s religious activity without wholehearted surrender.

It’s trying to stay in God’s graces without, of all things, grace.

As a former journalist and women’s ministry director, Laurie Davies knows the burdens that weigh women down.

Today, as author, speaker, and lay counselor, she helps women find freedom from emotional accumulation.

In the pages of Emotional Hoarding, Laurie finds that hoarded hearts are an awful lot like hoarded homes.

At first, it’s just clutter, but left unaddressed, emotional stuff spills everywhere. Soon, entire “rooms” of our heart stop working right.

Scripture offers freedom from all that.

Laurie lives in the Phoenix area with her husband Greg and their two schnockerpoo pups who run the show. She drinks hot coffee on 110-degree days, has no idea what all the remotes in her family room do, and is an extra extrovert who hopes to meet you one day. Connect with Laurie at lauriedavies.com and pick up Emotional Hoarding here!

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

Really, Go Hold A Baby: For New Parents & Grandparents, & World Leaders, & all of Us

Ann Voskamp — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 18:27:49 +0000

When you hold in your hands an only hours-old human being, your youngest son’s youngest son, you’re hushed before a miraculous little face that’s like looking into the past, into the face of your own long-ago baby boy, and of your husband, and your father, and all your people and your past, and a long line of generations of brave people who did the hard work of daily trying and and sacrificing and making and getting up and starting over again…

When you gaze into a newborn’s face — you’re gazing into a mirror — and who do you need to rise up to be — that you’d want to someday see them be?

And, as his baby eyelashes quiver, one eye about to maybe open, you realize you’re looking straight into the future too, and we are all the people who are creating a future that we ourselves might not live to face – but when you look into the faces of our children and grandchildren, you’re looking into the faces who will have to face the world we are all making – or failing – right now.

And if we aren’t the ones who take a stand now for things right and good — how will they someday have a good place to stand at all?

And if we don’t now take the time to do the bold work of beating the technology of human destruction into tools of human flourishing and creativity, then will it be our children, and our children’s children who are the ones beaten down?

We never just inherit the world from any older generations – we always are actually renting it from younger generations who are living under our roofs of hope now.

What if all of us chose to begin every day holding in our arms the weight of a newborn – would it change the way we feel the weight of our responsibility to make a world for our children, and our children’s children, that they’d be happy to make their home?

What if all of us chose to begin every day holding in our arms the weight of a newborn – would it change the way we feel the weight of our responsibility to make a world for our children, and our children’s children, that they’d be happy to make their home?

When you look directly into the face of the next generation, the future stops being an abstraction– and you realize we’re the adults who have to do whatever it takes to stop more destruction…

It’s up to all of us to do whatever it takes to stop all kinds of terrible things from going down.

Volunteer.

Sign up, show up, stand up, lift up, look up.

Dig your hands down into some dirt. Feel where you came from and where you’ll return and go grow something with all the days in between. Grow risk and courage and possibility and sacrifice and go grow a vision, a voice, a virtuous life.

Grow gardens and plant acorns and sow unexpected seeds that reap an eternal harvest that outlasts you and all of time.

When you look directly into the face of a newborn babe, you’re looking straight into the image of God.

Root out fear, slash down whatever you need to, to make room for love and more outrageous love, and you change culture when you change your plans, because you love as well as you’re inconvenienced.

Live so your great-great grandchildren know you loved them, and you loved, which is sacrifice, all the wildly different people of the world, and you loved, without divided heart, God Almighty, and you loved the wonder of filling your lungs with fresh air and freedom and faith-stretching things, and this is not some hypothetical exercise, this is the hypercritical exercise you get to work out every day, along with your salvation, so your children and their children get to taste hope and abundant life.

When you gaze into the face of a child there in your arms, you wonder why would we ever bear arms or animosity against any and all human beings, who all definitely bear the image of God?

When you hold in your hands an only hours-old human being, gaze into their face, you’re cut to the quick:

When you look directly into the face of a newborn babe, you’re looking straight into the image of God.

When you gaze into the face of a child there in your arms, you wonder why would we ever bear arms or animosity against any and all human beings, who all definitely bear the image of God?

When you gaze into a newborn’s face — you’re gazing into a mirror — and who do you need to rise up to be — that you’d want to someday see them be?

I count those tiny new fingers, and pray to be one of the ones who can be counted on.

And I kiss each little fingertip.

Promises sealed.

How do you find a way to be the person you want to be — the kind of person you someday want your children & grandchildren to be?

What if there was more than a way through — but a different way to be?

What if you could discover a new way of being — that kept you in the Way Himself… and pointed all who come behind you to the Way too?

What does it powerfully look like to have a new way of life, a new way of being, a new way of being HOPE in the world, that rests fully in the hesed lovingkind ways of God — especially now?

If you’re longing for a practical tool to be the kind of person you want to see in the world and begin true life-transformation for a different way of life start here:

WayMaker

What If You’re shaped more by absence than presence?

Willow Weston — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:45:10 +0000

Honestly, I just really deeply love the women who sit across from hurting people with open hands and honest hearts, the ones who refuse to rush past pain and instead make space for Jesus to meet us right there. That’s Willow Weston, author of Collide: Running Into Healing When Life Hands You Hurt. Willow tells stories the way I love best: with beauty and truth braided together, with laughter and tears never far apart. She’s the kind of woman who uses china on Wednesdays, throws unforgettable parties, and still shows up raw and real about insecurity, old wounds, and the long work of healing. She collided with Jesus in her own brokenness years ago and has spent the last couple decades inviting thousands of women to do the same. Storyteller, coffee-shop confidant, and author, Willow doesn’t offer tidy answers—she offers presence. And I’m so grateful she’s here, sharing from the tender, holy ground where Jesus meets our pain and makes all things new. It’s a joy to welcome Willow to the farm’s front porch…

Guest post by Willow Weston

I have an old Polaroid of little kid me holding a picture of my dad. The photo I’m holding is worn from use, and I carried it everywhere, right alongside Cookie Monster and my blankie. I had heard that I had a dad and would meet him one day. This was him—he looked black-and-white, with stringy hair and a scraggly beard. Until he came for me, I clung to an image of him.

When I was eight years old, Mom took me to the Greyhound station, plopped me on the bus, said, “It’s time to go visit your dad,” and waved goodbye. A few hours later, I stepped off the bus, and there he was—a practical stranger greeting me with cheer, humor, and a groovy little arm dance.

Our visits were awkward.

We didn’t have the father-daughter connection, and we were helplessly unsure how to get it. He had no idea how to be a dad, and I had no idea how to be a daughter. We were teaching each other, and our lessons were difficult.

My dad told fabulous stories and silly jokes. I found him clever, hilarious, and interesting. I got to buy fancy outfits, and he would take me to posh places and order exorbitant amounts of food and use really big words and ask, “Do you know what that means?”

“Have you seen pachyderms?”

“What’s a pack E derm, Dad?”

“Elephants, girl. Elephants.”

And then, as though the big words didn’t make me feel dumb enough, he’d throw out a small one.

“Boon. Know what a boon is?”

“Noooo, Dad,” I’d say, rolling my eyes.

“A boon is a gift. From the powers that be, kid.”

“Do you know what braggadocio means, Dot?”

“No, Dad.”

“It means boastful, arrogant.”

“Funny. Aren’t you being braggadocio right now, Dad?”

I never knew what those words meant. What I did know was that I wanted this dad to love me, to want me, to stay with me.

I have spent years trying to put words to how I have been shaped by daily life without a dad, trying to understand the power of this absence. Maybe you have come up speechless about an abyss in your life too. The only way to articulate what my dad and I missed out on is that it looks like chapters and chapters and chapters we cannot get back, and their pages are blank. The story that could have been, that was supposed to be, was not.

Those of us who have experienced the blank pages left by neglect, death, separation, estrangement, infertility, debilitation, or crushed dreams share this ache.

“Absence makes the heart long prodigiously.”

Absence makes the heart long prodigiously.

Do you know what that means?

Prodigious means remarkably vast in size, extent, power.

You and I, we have a remarkably enormous longing that threatens to overpower us. We might not even know that we live out of it, trying to satiate the haunting emptiness.

In Mark 5, a woman wounded by the blank pages of her life collides with Jesus in one of the most beautiful, life-changing moments I have ever seen. Bleeding for twelve years, she was outcast and soul weary, having spent everything to get better only to grow worse—with every reason to believe God wouldn’t show up. She had probably told herself what I told myself every day in my blankie-draggin’, Cookie Monster–totin’, where’s-my-dad era: He probably won’t come.

That way, we don’t get disappointed.

We are hope temperers. This is how we self-protect.

This woman did what we’re often too afraid to do. She fought the crowd to get what she wanted. She came up behind Jesus and reached for healing. In the middle of a crowd, He stopped for her. And then we witness one of the most healing moments one can ever experience.

Jesus called her “Daughter.”

There is not a more personal name a father can use than one that says, “You are mine. And I am yours.” The psalmist says God “determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (Psalm 147:4, NIV).

Our Father might call the stars by name, but He calls you “Daughter.”

One Sunday, I sat in church as the voices sang,

You’re a good, good Father
It’s who You are . . .
And I am loved by You
It’s who I am

The more they sang it, the more I wept. Forty-something, and I’m still the girl carting around this hope that maybe, just maybe, I will be worthy of showing up for. And maybe you are carting this hope around too.

Lord, teach me how to be a daughter. Help me believe I am loved by You . . . That it’s who I am. Because it’s who You are.

Right there in like row twelve, I ached. I just don’t know how to do this.

I dug down deep, and in what can be a vulnerable move for all of us, I reached for Jesus like I saw the hemorrhaging woman do. Lord, teach me how to be a daughter. Help me believe I am loved by You . . . That it’s who I am. Because it’s who You are.

Absence makes the heart go prowling round, doin’ everything it can to fill itself. But the Father’s presence fills you so full that you need not long prodigiously because you know who you are. You’re His kid.

So if you’re like me and you don’t know how to do this, start by telling Him. Do the soul work of allowing your entire being to be loved by your Dad—your heavenly, perfect, present, good Father.

I don’t know what gaping hole absence has left in your life or what blank pages you wish were filled.

But I do know that you and I have a Father who lets us interrupt Him at any hour, pull on the hem of His robe, and heal in His presence.

Whether it’s the three-thousandth time or the very first, He invites us closer, and the first thing He whispers is, “You are mine.”

Willow Weston is an author, a speaker, a podcast host, and the founder of a ministry impacting women nationwide through conferences that empower, heal, and transform. She is a mom and a wife and is as real as you get, obsessed with hosting friends and family, coffee, the beach, and a good, good story.

Collide: Running Into Healing When Life Hands You Hurt invites women to stop running from the hurt we avoid and instead run into a God who can handle and heal it. Rooted in raw and real storytelling alongside Scripture, this book explores how healing begins not by avoiding hurt but by allowing Jesus to enter it. Collide is an invitation to consider: What if healing your hurt is possible? And what if your healing could even help heal the hurting people you love?

Say yes to God’s invitation to heal your ache and hurt today. Make one move to reach for the healing you long for and be sure Jesus will stop right there just for you.

Connect with Willow: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {03.14.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 19:46:37 +0000

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 Patrick Petzdorf

Photo by Marian Brandt

Photo by Sean Kuriyan

how we are dreaming of Ireland… as St. Patrick’s Day approaches!

“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who
thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who
speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.” ~ St. Patrick’s Prayer

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

Settle in all this Beauty and Exhale!

Breathtaking beauty… good for the soul to be in awe!

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

3 Reasons to Be Hopeful About the Future

Come read this one…

Don’t miss this conversation with these wise women

So good!

Redemptive & Powerful

Beautiful…

An invitation

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

When Every Symptom Feels Like a Threat

How to Reclaim Your Soul from Health Anxiety and “Cyberchondria”

The Gospel of Matthew from The Secret Church

What a Series!

Creative Bits for you this week

Love These Ideas!

Antiques as Wall Art…

Deeply encouraging

Yes! A Learning Log!

Celebrating!

a little bit of lovely,,,

We’re Trying These!

Festive!

What we’re listening to on the Farm

The More I Seek You (Chapel Sessions)

Canticle (the prayer of St. Patrick)

Post of the week from these parts:

“When You Don’t Know What the Future Holds”

Slow the pace. Live awake. Live at the speed of grace. Give grace, live grace. Savor, savor, savor. Joy is the savoring of even the crumbs. Discern whether or not to pay attention to certain things, and how to pay attention to the things that enlarges the light, that shares all His light. Pass on grace, pass on gifts, be a gift.

Pay attention to gifts everywhere and you spend your only life on joy. And you become more of the joy the world desperately needs.

The only settled assumption worth fully settling into is that everything’s a holy given, gifted by a good and redeeming God.

The day holds gifts of glorious halos of light.

Hands open.

Receptive.

Don’t Miss This One

Ready for Living Loved?

If you’ve been thinking that maybe what we all need right now is a just bit more love, you’re in exactly the right place! This is your invitation into more… into LIVING LOVED: A 40-Day Practice in Loving like Jesus

“Yes! I’d love to LIVE LOVED and walk through the next 40 days & this Lent with you all“

We got to sit down and chat with Bob Goff this week — because who better to talk about Living Loved than the author of Love Does, a man who has spent his life showing us what love looks like in action.

Join Bob Goff & I talk about how to love when it’s hard…

And don’t miss all these free gifts when you join!

Might I offer a glimpse of what our deeply meaningful 40 days ahead together might look like?

Would you love to feel really loved – and really be love? I will personally ensure you’ll get all of this beauty each day, tucked with all my love, right into your hands… just click here…

Would you join me for the next 40 days of REALLY LIVING LOVED?

you can’t help but smile:

The Best!

Inspiring!

beautiful…

Comforting

These Two!

The best thing ever!

On the bookshelf this week at the farm:

Kathie Lee Gifford and scholar Bryan Litfin bring the stories of Nero and Paul to life in a creative nonfiction tale by identifying how moral questions can be applied to modern Christian life. Combining historical accuracy with narrative imagination, Nero and Paul drops you into the drama of human pride and divine destiny that unfolded on the stage of imperial Rome. Don’t miss this ancient story with a timeless message that reverberates across the centuries and will light the fire of your faith today.

This book is for anyone who learned the language of faith early but is still learning how to live free inside it. Through personal stories, theology, and compassionate reflection, Kristen invites readers to release shame, reconnect with their bodies and desires, and rediscover a faith rooted not in fear, but in belovedness. In these pages, you’ll find authenticity, empathy, and compassionate theology. This book isn’t a call to give up on faith. It’s an invitation to hold it differently.

Grab you favorite cup and come join us here

Did you see this? I sat down with Kathie Lee Gifford for a fascinating conversation

Calling Folks in Virginia! I’d love to connect with you at Refresh!

Join us for our annual Refresh Conference as we focus on living in God’s goodness—even through seasons of pain and uncertainty.

Let’s get it on our calenendars!

Who is ready for The Gospel Coalition Women’s event this year?

You won’t believe these sales today!

One Thousand Gifts is Half off!

Perfect for gifts — Easter! Mother’s Day! Under $14 now!

Gifts and Gratitudes: A Year of One Thousand Gifts

THIS GRATITUDE JOURNAL IS LIFE-CHANGING: Gifts & Gratitudes gently helps grow trust in a God who doesn’t always explain our suffering but who always enters into it with us.

Nearly 50% Off! Order a few to give as PERFECT GIFTS!

Are you counting your gifts this month?

Download your very own for free or get one shipped right to your front door!

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

Listening to this on the 4th Sunday of Lent…

Andrew Peterson and the Dark before the Dawn…

…and Lent as Following the Shepherd: Psalm 23

Hope this week brings a few quiet moments of reflection… revival… and again, in all kinds of ways, living into the the joy of His resurrection…

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.

What Extraordinary Promise For Heartbreak: Mother’s Pain, A Savior’s Promise (& Video Convo)

Kathie Lee Gifford — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:01:49 +0000

I’ve lingered over a long lunch with Kathie Lee Gifford and we’ve talked about it through all kinds of brimming: Every one of us will face moments that redefine everything we thought we knew—moments of profound loss that leave us searching for meaning in the midst of heartbreak. These moments carve deep lines in our lives, dividing time into “before” and “after,” and leaving us to wrestle with questions that seem too heavy to bear. And that’s where Nero and Paul by my friend Kathie Lee Gifford, and her co-writer Dr. Bryan Litfin, opens — with a powerful scene experienced through the eyes of Mary, the mother of Yeshua, as she endures the unthinkable: watching her beloved son suffer and die on a Roman cross. Through her eyes, we witness the depths of grief, the weight of unanswered questions, and the glimmers of hope that emerge in the midst of despair. At this point in Lent, I can’t encourage you more to come linger here, with these words that invite us to journey with Mary as she moves from heartbreak to revelation, discovering the extraordinary promise that Yeshua’s sacrifice holds—not just for her, but for all of humanity.

Guest post by Kathie Lee Gifford

“It is finished,” declared the man whose broken body had been nailed to wooden beams. His gut- wrenching words tumbled from his lips along with his final gasps, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” At that moment, his spirit left him.

The dead man’s friends called him Yeshua.

Today, most people know him as Jesus.

Was Yeshua alone when he finally perished on the Roman cross?

Certainly, in the extremity of his sufferings, he had felt abandoned. Hanging suspended by the nails, he had cried in his native tongue of Aramaic, Eli, Eli, lema sabach-thani? “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27: 46). As Yeshua took upon himself the sins of the world, the Lamb of God felt the separation from his Father.

As Yeshua took upon himself the sins of the world, the Lamb of God felt the separation from his Father.

Yet some faithful companions had remained nearby. Glancing in their direction as his life ebbed away, Yeshua could discern through blood- drenched eyes the comforters who had stayed with him.

Among them was his mother, Miriam of Nazareth, known to us as Mary.

Two other women stood there as well, each also named Mary, along with a lone man, the apostle John. He later recorded in his gospel, “There stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25). Yeshua called out to John, commanding his beloved disciple to take his mother into his care.

Then, after drinking sour wine in fulfillment of a Hebrew psalm, Yeshua gave up his spirit.

Because his suffering had been extreme, death came as a relief to the Savior’s battered body. Like any mother watching her child suffer, Mary wept at the agonizing death of her son, grieving from the depths of her soul.

She had pondered the meaning of Yeshua’s life even before he was born. She had suckled her infant with her breasts. She had seen the crimson blood of his circumcision, the sign of Moses’ covenant. Now her precious son had been brutally killed by a trio of enemies: the nation’s corrupt leaders, the cruel and domineering Romans, and the devilish serpent himself. Perhaps Mary struggled with deep despair at what she had just witnessed. If so, she can be forgiven. The other disciples suffered their own crises of faith.

Yet God was up to something big, something far greater than the forlorn disciples could have imagined.

He had a purpose behind the pain.

Yeshua was no helpless victim of Rome. “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily,” the King of kings had declared. “For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.” That was why Yeshua exclaimed “It is finished!”— not a pitiful whimper of defeat but a victorious shout from a Son who had completed his Father’s task. His meaning was “It is accomplished! I have carried out what needed to be done!”

His meaning was “It is accomplished! I have carried out what needed to be done!”

When Yeshua exhaled his final breath upon the cross, inside the temple God demonstrated the power that had just been unleashed.

Its inner sanctum, the Most Holy Place, was guarded by a magnificent veil that hung from the ceiling to the floor.

As soon as the Savior uttered his final words and exhaled his last breath, the mighty hands of God ripped the temple’s veil in two. Clearly, this was God’s doing, for the veil was torn from top to bottom. Other divine miracles occurred as well.

The Mishnah, the first written collection of rabbinic literature, provides some details about the veil that hung in Herod’s temple. It recorded that the fabric’s thickness was a “handbreadth”—that is, the width of a man’s palm at the thumb, or about four inches— quite a hefty piece of cloth! The veil stood sixty feet high and thirty feet wide. Creating such an enormous curtain required eighty-two young girls to serve as weavers. Their duty was to make two new veils every year. Each one was so heavy that when it needed to be removed for cleaning, its transport required three hundred hardworking priests! But a job mere men found laborious presented no obstacle to the creator of the universe.

With a great rush of wind and a loud ripping sound, God himself tore the veil wide open.

Now the Spirit had come again— but this time his presence was permanent, never to depart.

And then a wonderful thing happened: The Spirit of God took up residence in a new Most Holy Place!

The Spirit’s mysterious and unexpected outpouring fulfilled what the temple’s torn veil had signified—the ripped opening wasn’t an entrance into God’s presence but an exit to let him out. No longer would God dwell in a golden room in Jerusalem.

Now his Holy Spirit had rushed out of the temple to fill the entire world!

Mary knew this feeling of empowerment better than any of the disciples because the Spirit of God had descended on her once before. At that time, God had overshadowed her womb and made her pregnant.

Now the Spirit had come again— but this time his presence was permanent, never to depart.

No longer is the temple the only place of God’s presence on earth. Now he dwells within people of all nations.

Mary could feel her Son’s warm love infusing her. Clearly, the Holy Spirit came from him. She knew Yeshua intimately, so she recognized his inner touch. “I am with you always,” he had promised, “even to the end of the age.” The Spirit of Yeshua was his gift, an abiding presence by which God energized his people.

Then Mary understood.

Many years before, she had brought her new-born infant to the temple for a dedication sacrifice. A prophet named Simeon had predicted her future pain— the sword- piercing agony of watching Yeshua writhe upon the cross. Yet Simeon had also spoken words of praise to God: “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples.” Mary had learned her precious Son would be “a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

That’s it!

No longer is the temple the only place of God’s presence on earth. Now he dwells within people of all nations.

Mary marveled to think God had done such an amazing thing through her Son.

Because of Yeshua, people of every race can become the Most Holy Place of the Lord!

BellTower Stories: with Kathie Lee Gifford

Kathie Lee Gifford joined us in our 1896 bell tower of our old stone church for a moving conversation exploring her ongoing series that speaks to how deep evil meets living hope, as told in this edition, through Nero and Paul— and how their story speaks powerfully to us in this cultural moment now. Come join us in BellTower Stories as “the bells are the voice of the church, with tones that touch and search” -Longfellow

A celebrated television personality and four-time Emmy Award winner, Kathie Lee Gifford is best known for her 15-year run as co-host on the talk show Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee, and more recently, her 11-year run as co-host of the fourth hour of NBC’s TODAY alongside Hoda Kotb.

Since leaving TODAY in 2019, Gifford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her significant contributions to the television industry and has pursued other creative endeavors as an actress, director, and producer.

In her latest book, Nero and Paul, Kathie Lee and scholar Bryan Litfin bring the stories of Nero and Paul to life in a creative nonfiction tale by identifying how moral questions can be applied to modern Christian life. Combining historical accuracy with narrative imagination, Nero and Paul drops you into the drama of human pride and divine destiny that unfolded on the stage of imperial Rome. Don’t miss this ancient story with a timeless message that reverberates across the centuries and will light the fire of your faith today.

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

When God Met Me on the Sidewalk

Kristen LaValley — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:38:10 +0000

Kristen LaValley grew up deeply immersed in Christian spaces, loving God sincerely. And, like so many of us, she also learned ways of viewing herself that were shaped by fear, pressure, and self-erasure. Her writing doesn’t just theorize about healing; she lets us walk inside it and experience it with her. The excerpt you’re about to read comes from her book Growing Up Saved. It’s a story of movement: of running, breathing, remembering … and of discovering that God meets us not when we disappear, but when we finally show up as we are. It’s a joy to welcome Kristen to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Kristen LaValley

My feet are slapping the pavement, one after the other.

I can feel the rhythm of my sneakers on the sidewalk, sending vibrations through my calves and straight to my racing heart. I try to time my pace to the beat of the music in my ears. Griff is singing.

“I miss staring at the ceiling ’cause it felt so tall /
I miss sleeping to the sound of the kids next door, I do /
I miss me, I miss me too.”

Tears are streaming down my face.

This is holy. Sacred space.

“He invites us to himself—to be fully known and fully loved without fear.“

I meet with God on these sidewalks, in this playlist. I miss me too. I miss me too. I wonder if I’ve even met me. I’m a stranger to myself, settling into myself. I feel like I’m on the cusp of something. A metamorphosis, maybe. I miss me. I’m finding me. I’m becoming me.

I don’t know if a runner’s high has anything to do with this, but every step feels like I’m running straight into the arms of God.

I envision him ahead of me with open arms, celebrating the movement of my body and the resilience of my mind. I feel him next to me, running alongside me, whispering things that are true about who I am. I don’t feel broken anymore. I feel strong. I feel like I’m running to myself.

“The work of healing is not just to unlearn all the malformations of faith but to relearn what it means to truly live.“

I think that at the end of this run, I’ll collide into the version of me I’ve always been—one that’s been hidden by my trauma, my self-hatred, the lies I’ve believed about myself. I’m proud of how my body has carried me. I’m grateful for the ways I’m able to move and stretch and run. I’m acutely aware of how my mind has limited my physicality, and I’m drunk on the joy of feeling at home in my body at last. I pick up the pace as Griff sings the last chorus. I missed me too. But I think I’m home now.

For so many of us, faith has never felt like freedom—it has felt like restriction, fear, a means to an end.

We’ve spent years fearing rejection, bracing for loss, trying to earn what was meant as a gift, instead of resting in the love of God and our community. But the invitation God gives to all of us has never been to live anxious, with our shoulders tight, hiding and hating who we are. He invites us to himself—to be fully known and fully loved without fear.

The work of healing is not just to unlearn all the malformations of faith but to relearn what it means to truly live.

When we believe that God is out for our good and not for our harm, our lives begin to mold around these beliefs. Goodness and mercy are following me, chasing after me—every day, for all my life. God isn’t out to get me. God wants good things for me. God wants me to live abundantly. God wants me to have joy. God wants me to have desires (and those desires don’t have to be only for spiritual things). My delight is not a sin. God delights in me. (Zephaniah 3:17, Psalm 149:4, Psalm 18:19, and Isaiah 62:3-5, Ps. 147:11, 2 Samuel 22:20) )

What would happen if you believed that God was both safe and good?

What if you truly believed and embodied the idea that God is conspiring for your good?

“God is joyfully conspiring for your good. Not to get you, not to teach you, not to harm you, not to bargain with you, not to reward you—just because he loves you.“

Like a mother planning a magical Christmas morning, or a long-distance boyfriend turning off his location and secretly texting all his girlfriend’s best friends so he can surprise her for her birthday, God is joyfully conspiring for your good. Not to get you, not to teach you, not to harm you, not to bargain with you, not to reward you—just because he loves you.

This is the antidote to spiritual anxiety and hypervigilance: to embrace the idea that God is both protector and pursuer of our goodness.

When we accept this reality, it transforms how we live and how we embody our faith.

We can face life’s challenges with openness and hope because we know that God is our defender and our comforter.

We can celebrate our abundance with abandon because God is the giver of good things and our hope in the midst of our lack.

The more we seek the true character of God, the more we’ll understand him and the more colorful our picture of God will become.

Kristen LaValley is an author, speaker, and workshop facilitator whose work centers on healing, wholeness, and embodied faith. She is the author of Even If He Doesn’t and the forthcoming book Growing Up Saved, which explores what happens when the faith that forms us also leaves wounds and how God meets us there with gentleness, safety, and love.

Growing Up Sa v ed is for anyone who learned the language of faith early but is still learning how to live free inside it. Through personal stories, theology, and compassionate reflection, Kristen invites readers to release shame, reconnect with their bodies and desires, and rediscover a faith rooted not in fear, but in belovedness.

You can learn more about Kristen and her work at kristenlavalley.com, and follow her on Instagram @kristen.lavalley. Growing Up Saved is available wherever books are sold.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {03.07.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 20:11:54 +0000

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 Roman Kraft

Photo by Anna Blake

Photo by Hanna Balan

Photo by Kylie Paz

Photo by Anna Blake

Is anyone else ready for some warm weather and ALL of the flowers!

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

There was a blue whale spotted off the east coast! For the first time in 3 years!

Breathtaking beauty… good for the soul to be in awe!

Anyone need a vacation?

The best places to see flowers in Europe

Stories like this do the heart good!

So beautiful!

View this post on Instagram

You can watch the migration here!

An afternoon of this… YES PLEASE!

View this post on Instagram

THE MIDNIGHT NURSE

You have to read this!

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

How reading books regulates your nervous system

This one is so good!

A Deep Dish Birthday Party (with Special Guests)!

The Cost—and the Reward—of Following Jesus

So good!

Don’t miss this!

WOW!!

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

Helmet Of Salvation- How To Fight In The Dark

A Liturgy Before Doomscrolling

Five Escapes from Dry Devotions

Wow!

Read here!

I love this!

Creative Bits for you this week

This is amazing!

Starting this!

So pretty!

This is amazing!

Love this!

We all need one of these!

I love this so much!

I love this!

We need to make one!

So fun!

Maybe for Bible study?

Resources for you this week:

This will change your life! Join us for Secret Church this year on April 17!

View this post on Instagram

Join us here!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

All Sufficient Merit – Morning Worship Devotional with Shane & Shane

Beautiful!

This is amazing!

Pick up your copy today!!

Recipes for you this week:

Do you want a book of all the best recipes you could ever have?

Open your kitchen—and your heart—with this warm, inspiring cook book from Vicki Martin. Served with Hospitality is more than just a Mennonite cookbook; it’s an invitation to create meaningful moments around your table. Whether you’re looking for a heartfelt gift for women who love to cook, or memorable housewarming gifts, this beautiful volume is designed to delight and inspire.

Inside, you’ll discover over 100 tried-and-true recipes, thoughtfully crafted in Vicki’s own farmhouse kitchen. From simple soups to elegant entrees and delectable desserts, every dish is approachable and made to be shared. Gorgeous, full-colour photography makes this book as stunning as any coffee table book, while also being practical for everyday use.

Beyond the food, Vicki shares hospitality tips that help you welcome guests with warmth—even when life feels a little messy. Her gentle, faith-filled reflections, rooted in Scripture, encourage you to see every meal as an opportunity to reflect Christ’s love.

This cookbook is ideal for real families and real gatherings, whether you’re preparing a weeknight dinner, hosting friends, or celebrating a special occasion. With Served with Hospitality, you’ll find recipes, inspiration, and encouragement to nurture your loved ones and build lasting connections—making it a perfect choice for gifts for mom or anyone who treasures the joy of gathering.

How fun would it be to try some of these things!

Mini Quiche- YES!

This looks incredible

Melt in your mouth!

The perfect side

Lunch this week?

Something for your spring planning:

Come host a Spring Brunch with me!

Can we?

Maybe don’t leave the internet this weekend without reading this one….
(Really. Your soul will thank you for this one.)

Wanna try?

Post of the week from these parts:

“When You Don’t Know What the Future Holds”

Pay attention to gifts everywhere and you spend your only life on joy. And you become more of the joy the world desperately needs.

The only settled assumption worth fully settling into is that everything’s a holy given, gifted by a good and redeeming God.

The day holds gifts of glorious halos of light.

Hands open.

Receptive.

Ready for Living Loved?

If you’ve been thinking that maybe what we all need right now is a just bit more love, you’re in exactly the right place! This is your invitation into more… into LIVING LOVED: A 40-Day Practice in Loving like Jesus

“Yes! I’d love to LIVE LOVED and walk through the next 40 days & this Lent with you all“

Might I offer a glimpse of what our deeply meaningful 40 days ahead together might look like?

Would you love to feel really loved – and really be love? I will personally ensure you’ll get all of this beauty each day, tucked with all my love, right into your hands… just click here…

Would you join me for the next 40 days of REALLY LIVING LOVED?

you can’t help but smile:

On repeat!

SO SO CUTE!

I love this!

The best!

His reaction?

The best thing ever!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

Should Prayer Be Structured or Spontaneous?

5 Reasons Christians Might Suffer and How to Respond to It

This May Change How We Think About Struggles in Life

Joel 1 Shows Us That It Is Not Too Late to Seek the Lord

It belongs to Jesus!

May we never forget

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

I’ll Fly Away | Josiah Queen ft. Benjamin William Hastings

MercyMe: “Even If”

On the book shelf this week at the farm:

If you’re wrestling with doubt, grief, or disappointment with God, these pages meet you with the honest, compassionate voice you’ve been seeking. Tiffany’s personal experience with loss, combined with her pastoral insights, offers you a safe space to ask tough questions and take your time in finding healing.

When the bottom falls out, when you’re left questioning, disoriented, and wondering if faith even has a place in your pain. Mourning God is for those tired of Christian clichés and quick-fix theology.

In her deeply personal book Mourning God, Tiffany tenderly explores what it means to grieve not only loss, but the God you thought you knew.

Drawing from her own story of losing a child and walking through infertility, she offers a compassionate and theologically grounded invitation to wrestle honestly with doubt, disappointment, and sorrow.

What a book!

If there was a core lie sabotaging your life, wouldn’t you want to know what it is?

And wouldn’t you want to find the way to be free?

Most of us unknowingly live under a core lie that shapes our identity, relationships, and view of God—but freedom is possible. In The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe, Jennie Allen reveals how to dismantle the enemy’s only weapon and replace it with the truth and freedom found in Christ. Freedom starts here. Take hold of it.

This isn’t about behavior modification.

This is about transferring your life out of the enemy’s kingdom of lies and into the kingdom of light—where joy, peace, and strength aren’t fleeting feelings but your everyday reality. Freedom starts here. Take hold of it.

Are you tired of superficial Chri stianity?

Do you desire to know Jesus more fully?

In their new book, The Missing Messiah: The Jesus We Can No Longer Ignore, Kyle and Mark will help you move from a transactional relationship with Jesus to a deep and intimate one, one that will penetrate every depth and breadth of your life.

Courtney’s new book, And She Got Up: Shattered by Loss, Restored by Jesus, is a powerful testament to God’s faithfulness in the midst of life’s deepest valleys. With raw honesty and biblical truth, Courtney comes alongside you, offering a guiding hand from breaking to breakthrough.

God sees you now, right where you are. His heart is for you. It’s time to rise, to heal, to find purpose and joy again.

Pick up your copy!

Anyone want to come to Virginia?

Join us for our annual Refresh Conference as we focus on living in God’s goodness—even through seasons of pain and uncertainty.

Just $14 right now! Run and pick up yours today!

Who is ready for The Gospel Coalition Women’s event this year?

Ladies! Don’t miss this!

You won’t believe these sales! Take advantage of these today!

Pick up your copy of “One Thousand Gifts” for just $14!

Gifts and Gratitudes: A Year of One Thousand Gifts

THIS GRATITUDE JOURNAL IS LIFE-CHANGING: Gifts & Gratitudes gently helps grow trust in a God who doesn’t always explain our suffering but who always enters into it with us.

Pick up your copy for just 12!!

sacred Prayer: 90 Days of Deeper Intimacy with God

Pick up your copy for just $10!

hAve you grabbed yours yet?

Download your very own for free or get one shipped right to your front door!

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

Nothing But the Blood

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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.

When God Doesn’t Show Up The Way You Want Him To

Tiffany Stein — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:46:43 +0000

You and I have both walked those kinds of valleys and we’ve experienced it first hand: Grief has a way of dismantling what we thought we knew about God. Tiffany Stien, author of Mourning God, invites us into what she calls “relationship counseling with God”—a brave, honest reckoning with faith in the aftermath of devastating loss. With vulnerability shaped by years of a deep walk with Christ, she models how to bring our hardest questions into God’s presence without shame. If you’ve ever felt abandoned, disoriented, or unsure whether your faith can survive suffering, this reflection offers both permission and hope. Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is show up and ask, “God, who are you?” It’s a joy to welcome Tiffany to the farm’s table today…

Guest blog post by Tiffany Stien

You’re asking relationship questions. And if you didn’t know it already, you’re in relationship counseling with God.

Let me explain what I mean.

I have lived with chronic depression and generalized anxiety for more than twenty years, and professional therapy continues to be one of the most beneficial tools in my mental health journey. It’s a safe and trusted place to wrestle with the difficult questions of life, share my disappointments, process my suffering, and receive insight and direction from my counselor.

Honestly, I rarely enjoy the process of being in counseling (who delights in being utterly undone in front of someone else?), but I’m grateful for the hard work we do together and for the fruit borne from taking intentional steps toward health and wholeness.

And so when I felt abandoned by God and couldn’t see, feel, or hear him in the wake of our son, David’s death, I did what seemed most natural:

I took God to relationship counseling, metaphorically speaking.

God and I occupied this mental space for about six months.

I imagined us to be in a small counseling room, sitting across from each other in two oversized chairs. This was relationship counseling, and so of course we weren’t sitting side by side on the couch. There was never a counselor present, which I find odd in hindsight, but perhaps that’s because my subconscious understood that I was in counseling with the Counselor himself. He was both the accused and the mediator.

“I was in counseling with the Counselor himself. He was both the accused and the mediator.“

After more than twenty-five years of walking intimately with God, I thought I knew who he was and how he operated. I thought we had a good relationship and enjoyed each other’s company. But this betrayal—this abandoning Jason, David, and me to face death alone—was the breaking of a relationship. And there would be no coming back from it if God didn’t start talking.

Mary and Martha cried to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 32), and my lament was similar. I cried,“God, if you were loving, you wouldn’t have allowed David to die and then abandoned me in my grief.”

So let’s pause right there. You’re in the metaphorical counseling room with God. Go ahead and mentally design a room where you feel as comfortable as possible. Rearrange the furniture to your liking, add plants and pillows, light a candle, install a few windows to let in natural sunlight, and add a therapy dog you can cuddle if that makes your heart sing.

Now if you’re able, state your question, complaint, or concern before God. It might be something like, “God, if you were good, my friend wouldn’t have been killed in a car accident.” Or “God, if you were merciful, my cancer wouldn’t have come back.” Perhaps, “God, if you were my provider, I wouldn’t have lost my job and had my house foreclosed on.”

Please be honest with yourself. In this season of disorientation where everything seems to be sliding and shifting, you owe yourself the stability of truth. There’s no shame in asking hard questions of God or investigating a belief you once held to be true. In fact, it takes great courage and vulnerability to evaluate your framework of beliefs and admit that you may need to refine some of them, or even reject some altogether.

The good news is that if the belief is true, it will hold up to scrutiny.

“There’s no shame in asking hard questions of God or investigating a belief you once held to be true.“

This side of heaven, you and I will likely never know the reason God allowed such traumatic suffering and loss to come into our respective lives. And honestly, no intellectual reason would ever be worth the loss of my son. But in his great love, God did choose to explain why he allowed Lazarus to die.

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” … “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” (John 11:11–15)

Jesus allowed Lazarus to die so that when he later raised Lazarus from the dead, the disciples and onlookers would both believe in Jesus and glorify God. As Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (verse 4).

This explanation may smart a little, because you and I have received no such promise. Prior to Jesus’ return, we aren’t promised that what is dead and gone in our respective lives will once again rise to new life. You aren’t given a promise that a new and better job will come along, that your estranged child will desire reconciliation, that the heart bypass surgery will be successful, or that your womb will be opened.

What you are promised is the same promise that God gave to Israel: “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!” (Jer. 31:3, MSG). Somehow, love endures even when you feel like you can’t.

After the second failed attempt to take our son, David, off his ventilator, I realized my son would likely never be free of medical cords and that short of God’s divine intervention, he wasn’t coming home from the hospital.

Sitting in a rocking chair, half hidden by shadows, I was consumed by this new reality.

I looked up at my husband, Jason, across the sterile room and stated, “If David dies, I don’t know if our marriage or my faith can survive.”

And without missing a beat, Jason turned from David toward me and replied, “Tiffany, my faith in God is strong, and my love for you is strong.”

The agony of watching my son suffer and fearing his impending loss was so great that my hope had been crushed.

But here was someone who loved me and truly knew me, who promised to walk with me through it all. And in that moment, I let my husband, Jason, carry our hope because the weight of hope was too much for me to bear.

If you are despairing, if your confidence in God is shaken, if belief in his love and in his promises feels like a cruel trick, may I invite you to ask God who he is?

To ask, “God, who are you?” and then sit in silence—and sometimes darkness—waiting for the great I Am to speak is the most important question you will ever ask.

You’ve already taken the first step.

You’ve showed up to relationship counseling with God, and that is enough.

hen the bottom falls out, when you’re left questioning, disoriented, and wondering if faith even has a place in your pain. Mourning God is for those tired of Christian clichés and quick-fix theology.

A native Texan and graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Oklahoma Baptist University, Tiffany Stein serves in women’s ministry and pastoral care, most recently at Irving Bible Church in Dallas, Texas, where she is passionate about helping others grow in the fullness and joy of Christ. Tiffany lives in the Austin area with her husband, Jason, and their daughter, Emma Ruth, while cherishing the memory of their son David, who is with the Lord.

In her deeply personal book Mourning God, Tiffany tenderly explores what it means to grieve not only loss, but the God you thought you knew.

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

When You Don’t Know What the Future Holds

Ann Voskamp — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 15:14:18 +0000

As I’m balancing my bag down through the plane aisle, I overhear a spectacled woman, with her own glorious halo of white hair, seated in 5D, turn to tell the bearded guy in a baseball cap beside her,

“Honestly, it’s just good to be vertical — because, at my age, you never know. You just don’t know what a day or the future holds.”

Nothing’s a given —- and everything’s a gift.

And don’t we know it, with all this old world whirling and all that the headlines keep barking, and as I’m passing them both, looking for 25A & empty overhead bin space, I hear him mutter to her,

“Yeah, that’s for sure — nothing’s a given.”

And something fills some of the empty space in me & I stop in my tracks, mid-aisle, because isn’t that the reality:

Nothing’s a given —- and everything’s a gift.

That the sun rose and this morning we opened our eyes one more time when that might not have been our story at all. Air and hope miraculously expanded our lungs with real possibility. This very breath filling your lungs in this moment, this next heartbeat pulsing life-blood through your veins, this singular moment of being fully alive in your own skin … Getting to even exist, it is not a given, it’s gifted.

Nothing’s as wildly dangerous as entitlement, when everything’s a gift to be wildly thankful for.

When the world’s a bit on fire, the smell of smoke can wake you straight up: Nothing’s a guaranteed certainty — but everything’s certainly a gift.

Health’s not a given, freedom’s not a given, home’s not a given, family’s not a given, this day’s not a given, this next breath’s not a given — every iota of our being is not an expected given — but everything is an unexpected gift.

Nothing’s as wildly dangerous as entitlement, when everything’s a gift to be wildly thankful for.

When nothing’s a given and everything’s a gift, how can we live anything but brazenly grateful?

It’s a cosmic, striking paradox, that I can’t afford to miss or I’ll miss out on the awe of every day… of this day:

Absolutely nothing is automatically handed to us as an earned or deserved given — and absolutely everything is divinely handed to us, as grace upon grace. Nothing’s wasted, nothing’s a foregone conclusion, nothing’s impossible, and nothing’s a given, handed to us as already settled — and everything’s a gift, handed to us because we are already loved.

And when you live like the world’s not a given, but a gift, you move from being largely reactive — to being receptive to love…. enlarged by love.

After I slip my bag into the overhead bin above 25A, after I tuck my passport and ticket away in my wallet, after I get buckled in and pull up the window shade to see the light, I can hear this small voice of a little girl directly behind me, singing it over and over again, to her little brother, like she’s heard the phrase somewhere and she can’t stop saying it again and again ….and again, smitten with the wonder of saying those two words over and over to the world:

“Pay attention! Pay attention! Pay attention!”

Pay attention to the light all around you, pay attention to faces and laughter and the sounds of the symphony of this whole, old world, pay attention to the way being alive feels in your body, the way cold water feels to swallow straight down, the way ground feels under your feet, step after step, the way the air of this singular day feels right there on your face — it’s all gift, gift, gift …. for you, you, you!

There are countless people today who would give just about anything to get to live this day that you’re taking as a given.

I wrote it once, when I wrote about writing down thanks for One Thousand Gifts:

“I know there is poor and hideous suffering, and I’ve seen the hungry and the guns that go to war. But I have lived pain, and my life can tell: I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on summer humid nights and the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives. Why would the world need more anger, more outrage? How does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy — in the Giver — who saves us?

The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world. When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows. How can this not be the best thing for the world? For us?“

There are countless people today who would give just about anything to get to live this day that you’re taking as a given.

People fighting to just get out of bed, people fighting for a bit more time with their beloveds, for one more day, for a way forward, people fighting for their very lives, and they now don’t dare take the ordinary for granted, but receive every moment as the extraordinary gift that it literally is.

Pay attention, pay attention, pay attention! What you attend to, tends to become your life.

And when you pay attention to how everything today is an unexpected gift — you’ll actually do something today to be an actual gift t back to an undone world.

Those who are the contemplativists, truly contemplating the grace of all the gifts, become activists to truly live grace and share the gifts with all the hurting.

All through that flight, over one little corner of the world, that little voice behind me sings it like a song she can’t stop singing, that she won’t stop singing, and I can’t get over how surreal and divine it seems, to hear her right there at my ear, and now it’s the song I can’t get it out of my head every day—

Pay attention, pay attention, pay attention!

What you attend to, tends to become your life.

Pay attention to God, pay attention to what is true and noble and right and good (Phil 4:8), pay attention to His Word, for it is your life and your only real lamp, pay attention to the Spirit and surrender to His breath that gives you real life, and pay attention to grace —to become grace.

It’s true and it’s painful and it’s complicated and it’s a daily choice: There are a thousand things demanding your attention, but what you pay attention to is how you spend your only life.

Pay attention to gifts everywhere and you spend your only life on joy. And you become more of the joy the world desperately needs.

The only settled assumption worth fully settling into is that everything’s a holy given, gifted by a good and redeeming God.

The day holds gifts of glorious halos of light.

Hands open.

Receptive.

How to Look for Joy when Everything’s Uncertain & Nothing’s a Given

When you have no idea what the future holds and you don’t know how to fight for joy?

When the ache feels like more than the heart can carry, and you’re longing for a truly healthy live, body, mind and soul in the midst of crazy times? My story of just that: One Thousand Gifts.

It’s only in the expression of gratitude for the tender, complicated life we already have, we discover miracles of grace in this same life . . . a life we can take, give thanks for, and break to give grace and hope for others.

Are you ready to begin—or maybe begin again—a life-changing habit of daily gratitude as your way to resist the dark and fight for you? Want DEEP HEALTH, to reset, refresh, reboot your life and literally rewire your brain? Be one of the more than 2 million people who have stepped into the life-change of this experience.

Life is a miraculous gift and far too short to do anything but awaken to the miracles of grace in the midst of the brutally hard.

And then, as you count gifts and gratitudes, all from a good and relentlessly loving God who draws near with grace upon grace in our heartache, try gently picking up a pen and the Best Little Gratitude Journal — which has spacious lines to name three miraculous gifts of grace each day, and is uniquely formatted to daily see how God has shown up with gifts on this day of the month, on all the previous months.

THIS GRATITUDE JOURNAL IS LIFE-CHANGING: Gifts & Gratitudes gently helps grow trust in a God who doesn’t always explain our suffering but who always enters into it with us.

How I’ve Learned to stop Living for Approval, And Live For Heaven Instead

Jennie Allen — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:01:24 +0000

As one of most vulnerable friends that I’ve been walking with over the last decade, I’ve watched Jennie Allen model living a life on mission for Jesus for years. Jennie never gives up, she stays the course, and even in the hardest moments she’s the first person to remember that the cost of loving Jesus is worth it. I’ve been keenly waiting Jennie’s newest book, The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe: How to Find It, Fight It, and Live, this guidebook to becoming a warrior. In it she unmasks the enemy’s oldest trick: the core lie he is constantly whispering to you. Jennie is our biggest cheerleader as we move from a life rooted in shame to a life thriving in freedom. It’s a an honour to welcome Jennie to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Jennie Allen

The moment sin entered the world, shame followed.

Not as a fleeting feeling but as a force.

A distortion.

A gap.

Adam and Eve sinned, and what did they do? They hid. They covered. They ran from the voice of God.

We’ve been doing the same ever since.

The enemy works to widen the gap between us and God, us and others, us and our own hearts, our own souls.

We breathe in lies until shame becomes the air we live in – thick, heavy, and suffocating. We build our lives around the ache. We memorize its script. Often we don’t recognize this pattern until a real challenge hits.

And when we come face-to-face with the gap, we don’t sit still. We scramble to close it. We try to build bridges. We carry planks of performance and glue them together with self-help strategies and Christian platitudes and hustle and willpower and “just get over it” mantras.

All the things we do in reaction to that shame gap tend to fall into one of three strategies:

“We breathe in lies until shame becomes the air we live in – thick, heavy, and suffocating. We build our lives around the ache. We memorize its script.Often we don’t recognize this pattern until a real challenge hits.“

Try Harder

Give Up

Pause and Reflect

I was talking with my friend and counselor Curt not long ago, explaining how I keep up with doing the things I think I should be doing.

“It’s this voice I keep hearing, a voice that seems like the voice of wisdom, because it helps me take stock of what I’m doing and be more intentional about working hard and getting things right.”

Curt didn’t flinch. He looked at me and said, “I think that voice sounds like it’s straight from the pit of hell.”

“Jennie,” he said, “it’s like you’re living for some kind of cosmic report card.”

“Yeah, well, isn’t there one?” I said.

Deep down, I feared I was a disappointment to God. That fear kept me on track. Or so I thought. You couldn’t convince me otherwise. And what terrified me was that if I turned off the voice of shame, I would run off the rails and destroy my whole life. But maybe that voice wasn’t protecting me. Maybe it was imprisoning me.

Imagine living your entire life as if God is constantly grading your performance – keeping meticulous records of your failures, comparing you to everyone else, and always finding you slightly disappointing. That’s the cosmic report card.

It tells you God’s love depends on your performance, your worth is tied to your productivity, and every struggle is punishment for failure.

The cosmic report card is discouraging and ridiculously exhausting. And it fundamentally misrepresents who God is and how he relates to you.

I realized I was still grading myself. Still assuming my good had to outweigh my bad.

But God doesn’t deal in shame. He deals in grace.

That was Curt’s message to me. I knew he was right. Romans 8 says it plainly: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

God replaces our shame with joy! Scandalous.

Then Curt said something that resonated deeply.

“Jennie, the best students don’t study for grades. They study because they love the subject. You’re not being tested for heaven. You’re practicing how to live there.”

We’re learning to live in God’s freedom, his peace – like we’re already with him…

already home.

BellTower Stories: With jennie allen

What lie are you believing about yourself & how can change the narrative of your life? Ann Voskamp and Jennie Allen’s discuss her new book, “The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe”

What a book!

Jennie Allen is a Bible teacher, author, podcast host, and visionary leader. As the founder of IF:Gathering and Gather25, a vision to mobilize the global Church, Jennie has devoted her life to disciple a generation to see revival across the globe. She has written three NYTimes bestsellers, Untangle Your Emotions, Find Your People, and Get Out of Your Head, inspiring millions to experience freedom in Christ and connection with others. Jennie holds a master’s degree in biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary and lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Zac, and their four children.

Connect with Jennie at www.jennieallen.com, on Instagram @jennieallen, or listen at The Jennie Allen Podcast.

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

How Do You Really Follow Jesus In Days Like these?

Kyle Idleman and Mark E Moore — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:39:16 +0000

Ever feel like something is missing? In our lives? In our relationships? In our prayers? What if what we’re missing is the real Jesus? As we move through our days, we are tempted to embrace a Jesus of our own making—a life coach Jesus dedicated to our success, a therapist Jesus for our anxiety, an ally Jesus for our causes, a genie Jesus for our desires—and we end up overlooking the true Messiah, the only one who can rescue us from ourselves. Pastors Kyle Idleman and Mark E. Moore are on a search to rediscover the real Jesus that we’ve been missing. I hope you will feel encouraged to seek after the real Jesus, too, and find yourself changed in the process. It’s a joy to welcome Kyle and Mark to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Kyle Idleman and Mark E. Moore

I walked into a class called “The Life of Christ” in my second year of seminary feeling pretty confident.

“He wasn’t primarily interested in filling our heads with more information about Jesus. He was determined to transform how we approached Jesus altogether.“

After all, I’d grown up in church, attended Christian schools, and won countless “sword drills” in youth group. I could discuss theological concepts like hypostatic union and debate the nuances of Christology.

If there was a pop quiz on Jesus trivia, I could crush it.

After the first day of class, I went back to my dorm room and spread the syllabus across my desk. I calculated the reading load: roughly a hundred pages per week. I was approaching the class as a student trying to get my mind around all the content I needed to learn and process.

By the second week, I was beginning to think that my professor had a different agenda entirely. He wasn’t primarily interested in filling our heads with more information about Jesus. He was determined to transform how we approached Jesus altogether.

I found myself walking out of class thinking less about what I was learning and more about how I was living.

When we studied Jesus touching the leper, he didn’t just ask us about the theological significance of ritual purity laws. He asked us, “Who are the ‘lepers’ in your community? The people society considers untouchable? When was the last time you had a meaningful conversation with someone most people avoid?”

“It’s entirely possible to become an expert on Jesus while remaining a practical stranger to His way of life.“

When we learned about Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well, he challenged us to think about our own prejudices: “What groups of people do you instinctively look down on? How do your social circles reflect or contradict Jesus’ radical inclusion?”

When we read about Jesus’ teachings on money, he didn’t let us rationalize them as merely metaphorical. He asked pointed questions: “What does your bank statement say about your priorities? If someone examined your spending patterns, would they conclude that you follow Jesus or the American dream?”

When we studied the rich young ruler, he challenged us to consider what we might be unwilling to give up for the sake of following Jesus.

When he taught us what Jesus said about prayer and fasting, he didn’t just explain the historical and theological context—he also invited us to his house for an all-night prayer meeting. Suddenly, Jesus’ teachings about prayer weren’t just academic concepts to analyze but spiritual disciplines to practice.

When we read about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, he asked us to examine our dinner invitation lists.

When we studied Jesus’ response to criticism from religious leaders, he challenged us to consider how we handle criticism of our own faith.

When we encountered Jesus’ teachings about forgiveness, he didn’t just expound on the theology, he asked us to identify the people in our lives we needed to forgive.

“The class was called “The Life of Christ,” but what I really learned was how to make Christ my life.“

He had a way of making every Gospel story personal.

Over the course of that semester, I began to understand that there’s a massive difference between studying Jesus and following Jesus.

That class put me on a journey of confronting an uncomfortable truth: It’s entirely possible to become an expert on Jesus while remaining a practical stranger to his way of life.

We can master Christian doctrine, excel in biblical exegesis, and even enter professional ministry without truly following him. The class was called “The Life of Christ,” but what I really learned was how to make Christ my life.

True discipleship operates more like a trade apprenticeship than a university education.

I think of my friend Jake, who decided he wanted to become an electrician. He spent two years studying electrical theory in community college, memorizing formulas and passing tests. But when he graduated and tried to find work, he quickly discovered that knowing about electricity isn’t the same as being an electrician. He needed an apprenticeship.

For the next four years, Jake worked alongside Master Electrician Rodriguez, watching how he diagnosed problems, learning his techniques for running wire, observing how he interacted with customers, and gradually developing the instincts that only come from walking alongside a mentor. By the time Jake earned his electrician’s license, people said he worked just like Rodriguez.

“True discipleship operates more like a trade apprenticeship than a university education“

If we switched from Jake and Rodriguez to you and Jesus, would your friends and family say that about you? Would they say you work just like Jesus? That you treat people like he does? That you diagnose problems and come up with solutions in a way that reminds them of Jesus?

This is how rabbi-disciple relationships functioned in Jesus’ day. The relationship was intensely personal.

Disciples didn’t just study their rabbi’s teachings; they observed how he ate, how he prayed, how he treated his family, how he handled money, how he responded to criticism, and how he interacted with both the powerful and the powerless. Nothing about the rabbi’s life was considered irrelevant to the disciple’s formation.

This understanding makes Jesus’ invitation more radical than we recognize. When he said, “Follow me,” he wasn’t recruiting students for a religious studies program. He was calling apprentices into Kingdom living. He was inviting them to pattern their entire existence after his.

“Making Jesus our Rabbi isn’t about adding religious activities; it’s about dying to ourselves.“

Jesus was honest about the cost of this discipleship: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23, NIV).

Making Jesus our Rabbi isn’t about adding religious activities; it’s about dying to ourselves. This death is more literal than you might think. It involves dying to our need to be right, our desire for comfort, our pursuit of status, and our illusion of control. It means allowing Jesus’ priorities to override our preferences, his mission to redirect our ambitions, and his way of life to transform our habits.

But here’s the irony: This kind of death leads to resurrection.

Jesus promised, “Whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25, NIV). In dying to our false selves, we discover our true selves—the people God created us to be.

In submitting to Jesus’ authority, we find genuine freedom.

In embracing his mission, we finally discover deep and fulfilling purpose.

Kyle Idleman is a bestselling author and the senior pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the largest churches in America. Kyle is the author of Not a Fan, One at a Time, The End of Me, Gods at War, Grace Is Greater, and Don’t Give Up.

Mark E. Moore is the bestselling author of Core 52 and the teaching pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona, one of the fastest growing and most dynamic churches in America. He previously spent two decades as a New Testament professor at Ozark Christian College.

Are you tired of superficial Chri stianity?

Do you desire to know Jesus more fully?

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

What to Do When You Have Nothing Left: The God Who Makes Much of Little

Courtney Pray Duke — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:53:55 +0000

Sometimes, you meet someone whose story feels like sacred ground. That’s how I felt when I first heard Courtney Pray Duke‘s story. She’s walked through the kind of heartbreak that takes your breath away, the kind that makes you wonder if you’ll ever breathe again. And yet, here she is, showing us how God meets us in the ashes, how He takes our nothing and turns it into His everything. Courtney’s words are a gift, a lifeline for anyone who’s ever felt like they’re running on empty. She’s lived this truth: that even when we feel like we have nothing left, God is always enough. Lean in close, friend—this is a story you don’t want to miss. It’s a joy to welcome Courtney to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Courtney Pray Duke

On a Friday afternoon, I summoned the courage to tackle an item on my to-do list that I’d been avoiding.

I scrounged through my messy files to find my husband Andrew’s death certificate.

I hated even looking at it, but the utility companies required me to show up in person with the death certificate to switch the accounts to my name.

“Kids, hop in the car,” I said. “We have an errand to run.”

After they buckled in, off we went to the water company. The only person in the room was a bespectacled lady sitting behind a desk. I approached, introduced myself, and handed her the document. She glanced down at it through her bifocals, and I watched as she took it all in—how recent Andrew’s death was, how young I was, and the fact that my three kids were making their presence known in the waiting area.

After entering my information into her computer, she handed back the documents with tears in her eyes.

The kids’ noise level escalated on the drive back home, rattling my fragile nerves and further testing my limits. What do I do with all this?

Step by step, meal by meal, and mess by mess, our little family was doing its best to keep going.

“My fears didn’t scare him, and my disappointments didn’t disappoint him. I needed him to show up—to speak to my questions, doubts, fears, and disappointments. “

Every day had heartbreaks, setbacks, and unknowns, and I needed a tangible action step to forge my way through them.

I adopted a new mantra: “God, I trust you.” It was a war cry in the heat of a bloody battle, even though it mostly came out as a whisper. It was my go-to response when life insisted on taking me out—a prayer I could say out loud, anywhere, anytime, on repeat, even when I didn’t feel like saying it.

When I drove in the garage and saw that Andrew’s bike hook was still empty: “God, I trust you.”

When a rush of panic about my future came over me in the middle of the night: “God, I trust you.”

When the silence felt deafening, the loneliness stifling, and the weight of being a single mom overwhelming: “God, I trust you.”

I didn’t always say it nicely. Sometimes I said it with a “Show me what you’re made of” tone. I needed him to be everything he promised he would be. My fears didn’t scare him, and my disappointments didn’t disappoint him. I needed him to show up—to speak to my questions, doubts, fears, and disappointments.

I knew his promises were true, and I was holding on to them with a white-knuckle grip, even though some days it felt like his promises were a foreign language to my situation. Yet I believed he was working even when I couldn’t see it or feel it. So I decided to speak trust until I could see it and feel it.

It felt like both a blink and an eternity since Andrew had been gone. One night I was having a hard time sleeping, so I googled “widow in the Bible.”

The search results led me to the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17. There was a drought in the land, and she was gathering sticks to cook one last meal for herself and her son because they had run out of both food and hope. And it was at this precise moment that God sent the prophet Elijah to the widow to ask for food.

She replied: “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

“What if my deficiency was merely the prelude to God’s sufficiency?“

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’ ”

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. (1 Kings 17:10–16)

Don’t be afraid.It was the first thing Elijah said to the widow after she acknowledged her desperate situation—because fear is what you feel when you have nothing left.

She had taken inventory of her deficiencies, and she knew what little she had. And yet, a handful of flour and a little oil in the jug, which didn’t seem like much, was more than enough for God.It was the widow’s obedience, her willingness to offer up the only thing she had, that God multiplied into a miraculous, lifesaving blessing. God fulfilled his promise, and they had all they needed. Her little became much when she placed it in God’s hands.

I had been living with a scarcity mindset, focused only on what little I had left.

But what if that was precisely what God wanted from me—to surrender what little I had in trust and obedience? What if my deficiency was merely the prelude to God’s sufficiency?

Without Andrew, my house was emptier, my heart was full of pain, and my dreams were nothing but dust.

“Nothing surrendered to the hands of a loving God is ever wasted.“

Were these things God could use? Could my devastation become the very thing God might use to save me—to bless my life and bring about my destiny? Could my nothing be the key that unlocks his everything?

With each passing day, God was reminding me, Do not despise these small things, these small beginnings. I delight in them. My little was his much. Slowly, I was beginning to understand that the small things were actually the big things. The kingdom of God is upside down, even in my messy middle.

A tear, a seed, a war cry, a step, flour and oil. Nothing is too small.

Nothing surrendered to the hands of a loving God is ever wasted.

Courtney Pray Duke is an author and speaker who tragically lost her husband in a cycling accident in 2012. Left with three young children and a broken heart, Courtney now lives to tell about the goodness and faithfulness of God to the brokenhearted, and is passionate about helping women encounter the hope and victory of Jesus. She is married to Jon and is a mother to her four children, elementary to college aged. They are planted in Passion City Church and reside in Atlanta, Georgia.

God sees you now, right where you are. His heart is for you. It’s time to rise, to heal, to find purpose and joy again.

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

How to Get Your Sight Back When Your Soul Has Lost Its Way

Allison Byxbe — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:44:44 +0000

You know, sometimes we feel misplaced. Tender. Threadbare. And in those hollow spaces, we can wonder, Where is God? For over a decade, Allison Byxbe experienced sorrow upon sorrow. As the grief buried her, Allison was desperate for a way to reconnect to God’s presence. And, journaling through Scripture became her lifeline to God — and her deep wisdom has been impactful in my own life. Today, she invites us to trace the lines of grace through every season of our lives through the spiritual practice of journaling. It’s a joy to welcome Allison to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Allison Byxbe

When our baby was diagnosed with a life-altering genetic disorder, I thought God had gotten our story wrong.

If He was omnipotent like I’d believed my whole life, then He was choosing not to intervene.

The ways in which I’d seen the goodness and kindness of God reflected in my life were now broken and cracked by pain and confusion.

“Pain seems to obscure our holy imagination for what God is doing right in the midst of our most difficult moments.“

Pain seems to obscure our holy imagination for what God is doing right in the midst of our most difficult moments.

If God wouldn’t change our circumstances, I would do it myself.

My scraped-raw soul tried to latch onto any shard of earthly hope I could to make my life normal again. Therapy and appointments and evaluations and late-night Google searches and alternative medicine became my work and my distraction, my way to numb the pain eating away at me. My self-sufficiency became the way I tried to prove to God and everyone that I could do this.

Honestly, as much as I was motivated to help our son, I was trying to find my way out of a life I didn’t ask for.

The lie of self- sufficiency became the glue I tried to use to hold myself together. Instead of I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me, I believed I can work my own way out of any pain I experience. I believed the lie that I had no worth, my son was broken, and I was unloved by God.

“When we look into the mirror of God’s love, we see patience, kindness, humility, deference, delight in truth, protection, trust, hope, and perseverance. This is the kind of love that wipes away the grit and grime of self-sufficiency.“

Instead of allowing the truth that God would grant me sufficiency for the joy of raising our son, I believed that achieving a good life for our family depended solely on me.

We think doing it ourselves is the formula for getting the life we want. It’s the old Edenic lie that when we’re in control, when we make the decisions, when we get what we want, then all will be right in our lives. The obsession with self-sufficiency, individualism, and success clashes head-on with Scripture, which exposes this destructive soul posture. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 3:5: “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.”

I needed to remember that amid our sideways story I was still beloved of God, whole in Christ, and worthy of all of God’s good gifts. I needed the truth of love reflected in 1 Corinthians 13: “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” In this passage Paul makes love the priority, the ultimate good, the highest value. The make-it-or-break-it necessity. The starkness of his language is intentional because the importance of love cannot be overstated.

When we look into the mirror of God’s love, we see patience, kindness, humility, deference, delight in truth, protection, trust, hope, and perseverance. This is the kind of love that wipes away the grit and grime of self-sufficiency.

“Truthfully, the mirrors we choose will either deceive us with their lies or transform us with Word-made-flesh love. “

Truthfully, the mirrors we choose will either deceive us with their lies or transform us with Word-made-flesh love.

Is your mirror distorted? Are you gazing through the smoke and mirrors of the enemy’s lies? What would happen if you turned your gaze to God’s clear mirror of love and all-sufficiency instead?

Journaling can be a way to hold up the mirror of God’s love, a mirror that helps us trace the lines of God’s good grace in our lives. Without reflection, we become “like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (James 1:23-24). We can too easily lose sight of God’s transforming love when we fail to reflect.

As I began to journal about our experience with our son, I noticed that the heaviness was lifting, even if just a bit, and I could take a breath. I began to see new ways of thinking and being that I never would have seen apart from them staring back at me from the pages of my journal.

“We can too easily lose sight of God’s transforming love when we fail to reflect.“

My journal became a mirror, reflecting to me God’s truth, wisdom, and love. Because writing it all down helped, I continued, page after page, as honestly as I could. At the time I only knew that journaling was balm for my soul. Writing through my pain was healing me, and I needed as much of it as I could get. I was at the beginning of the long, often painful, but ultimately beautiful journey of replacing self-sufficiency with lament, depth, long-suffering, love, openness, and vulnerability word by word in the pages of my journal.

But there is a reason why writing through our pain is healing. Adam Young says it most simply and profoundly: “It turns out that the practice of reflecting on the story of your life actually promotes healing in your brain . . . [because] brain health is a function of the degree to which all parts of your brain are connected with one another.” Through this reflective writing, God can write healing into the lines of our broken stories.

Journaling was helping me heal from the destructive nature of self-sufficiency.

“I began to see that what I really needed wasn’t control but the ability to create meaning and insight from my story based in the over-abundant love of God.“

I began to see that what I really needed wasn’t control but the ability to create meaning and insight from my story based in the over-abundant love of God. It turned out that what our family really needed, even more than the therapies and interventions, was radical acceptance born from love.

God was already looking at my son, at our family, and the life He’d given us and saying it was good. I didn’t have to fight for the good life; I already had it.

Journaling helps us honestly examine the ways we’re navigating our stories. Journaling functions as this mirror where we put in plain view for ourselves the patterns of our thoughts. And then, when we journal God’s honest truth back to ourselves, we make visible the often invisible, intangible work of the Spirit in us.

What could happen in your story if today you chose to pick up a pen and write your heart straight back to the love of God?

I’ve been keenly waiting for this book!

Allison lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children, where she is a college writing professor and a certified journaling instructor through the Therapeutic Writing Institute. Allison is the founder and host of Saturday Pages and The Inky Collective—two thriving journaling communities.

In Journaling as a Spiritual Practice, Allison shares her transformative journey from grief and depression to healing and wholeness. The Bible is filled with rich language and pictures that reveal our triune God—living water, bread, a door, a gentle whisper. Journaling through Scripture’s metaphors became her lifeline—a way to process the grief, to make sense of the impossible, and to encounter and then fully live in the presence of God once again. This book guides readers through the spiritual practice of journaling. Each chapter weaves in Allison’s journey, includes journaling examples and prompts, and shows you how to journal.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {02.21.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 17:01:59 +0000

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 Anita Austvika

Is anyone else ready for some warm weather and seeing new life grow?

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

16 astonishing images from the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards

Breathtaking beauty… good for the soul to be in awe!

This is so so good! I’m deeply Moved

ANSWERING THE PHONE AT 2AM

Stories like this do the heart good!

This is really Beautiful!

View this post on Instagram

Flamingos form near-perfect heart shape in drone photo – and it now receives an Honorable Mention

Image credit: Muzaffer Murat İlhan

You have to listen to this!

We need more days like this

View this post on Instagram

“Worship at the Crossroads“

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

“Generations Together for the Glory of Christ”

This one is so good!

Kickstart Your Prayer Life

Ben Sasse on Life, Cancer, and the Gospel

Are we willing?

Don’t miss this!

So powerful!

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

Real Christian Maturity and How to Have Lasting Fruit

Practice Paul’s 6 Marks of Discipleship

When Waiting Feels Wasted

Creative Bits for you this week

So so good! You don’t want to miss them!

The cutest girls night

I love this

the is the cutest!

So pretty!

We need to try!

I love this so much!

Resources for you this week:

“The New Movie You have To see To change Your Lent — & Your Life: I can Only Imagine 2”

This Lent, This Resurrection Season, Go See: I Can Only Imagine 2

IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE NOW: TYPE IN YOUR TOWN & GET TICKETS HERE!

Playing Everywhere Now! Gather your people &
Do Not Miss This One

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

Beautiful

I love this!

The name of Jesus

This is amazing!

Pick up your copy today!!

Recipes for you this week:

Do you want a book of all the best recipes you could ever have?

Buffalo Cauliflower Soup

This looks incredible

The best wrap!

The best dinner!

You will want to try this!

A few sweet things for your week:

Triple Blueberry cupcakes

Maybe don’t leave the internet this weekend without reading this one….
(Really. Your soul will thank you for this one.)

Biscoff? Yes please!

Wanna try?

Post of the week from these parts:

“How To Feel Really Loved, Which Is The Way through every Wildernesses (& your Lent)”

And a conversation with my dear friend Ruth Chou Simons that you don’t want to miss!

All wildernesses, and all of us, are all just made of dust. But if God can take mere dust & make whole constellations of stars, can He not take our crises of sorrow, and miraculously make even us brilliant and whole?

I’ve been thinking about this for days, after we had dinner with my dearest friend, Ruth Chou Simons, in these days when all kinds of hopes seem to be eroding, when plans and expectations keep crumbling away:

Life is all wilderness paths of dust, from all the fragility of living – yet all these paths of dust are literal ways to *deeper trust*—

*to enter into the miracle of what God can shape from dust.*

It does something in you – to relax into being dust – and trust that surrendered dust is the stuff God’s dreams are made of.

Ready for Living Loved?

If you’ve been thinking that maybe what we all need right now is a just bit more love, you’re in exactly the right place! This is your invitation into more… into LIVING LOVED: A 40-Day Practice in Loving like Jesus

“Yes! I’d love to LIVE LOVED and walk through the next 40 days & this Lent with you all“

Might I offer a glimpse of what our deeply meaningful 40 days ahead together might look like?

Would you love to feel really loved – and really be love? I will personally ensure you’ll get all of this beauty each day, tucked with all my love, right into your hands… just click here…

Would you join me for the next 40 days of REALLY LIVING LOVED?

you can’t help but smile:

This is amazing!

The progression!

Love the routine!

The cuteness!

I can’t wait

Change

So funny

INSANE!

This is the best!

AMAZING!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

Discipling Is Inherently Countercultural

The Most Dangerous Kind of Christian

“YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF CALLING IS ABOUT TO CHANGE RADICALLY”

So good!

On repeat!

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

The Glory of God – ECCOS & TAYA

Phil Wickham, CAIN – God Is Good

On the book shelf this week at the farm:

Her debut book, This Little Fire of Mine, explores what she calls “soul friction” — the holy discomfort that surfaces when love, justice, grief, doubt, or lived experience collide with easy answers. Through vulnerable storytelling, Kendall invites readers into the hard conversations many carry quietly: questions about shame, identity, belonging, church hurt, and what it means to keep following Jesus when the path feels unclear.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to dim your light to stay safe, swallow your questions to belong, or pretend everything was fine to be seen as faithful, this book offers a different kind of invitation — one where your fire isn’t something to hide or extinguish, but something God can use to refine, guide, and draw you closer to Him.

Friendship doesn’t happen by accident. If you’re longing for deeper, healthier relationships, Friend-Wise by Becky Harling is a gracious place to begin. Rooted in Scripture and rich with practical wisdom, this book offers a gentle guide for loving others well. `

Becky teaches friendship skills, sharing wisdom on: Loyalty and guarding your heart. Contentment. Vulnerability. Forgiveness. Generosity. Advice. Encouragement. Criticism. Envy. Telling and speaking the truth. Apologizing. Trying to impress. Defensiveness. Strength. Dignity. And much more.

Southern Cali! Details here!

Ventura California! Let’s Be SHAPED BY GOD!

Anyone want to come to Virginia?

Join us for our annual Refresh Conference as we focus on living in God’s goodness—even through seasons of pain and uncertainty.

Just $18 right now! Run and pick up yours today!

You won’t believe these sales! Take advantage of these today!

Grab your copy of Loved to Life today

WayMaker: Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of

Are you facing repeated roadblocks or feeling life shift in ways you never expected? God always makes a path through the impossible—no matter the obstacle. Encounter the WayMaker in surprising places and watch him pen poetry out of pain.

Pick up your copy for over 50% off today!

We have the best duo of little journals to focus your year on abba father

Gifts and Gratitudes: A Year of One Thousand Gifts

Pick up your copy for just $12!

sacred Prayer: 90 Days of Deeper Intimacy with God

Pick up your copy for just $12!

hAve you grabbed yours yet?

Download your very own for free or get one shipped right to your front door!

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

Always On Time

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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.

If You’ve Ever Been Told You’re Too Much

Kendall Mariah — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 16:35:59 +0000

I’m deeply grateful for Kendall Mariah and her courageous, compassionate voice, as she writes with both honesty and hope, reminding us that the fire within us was never meant to be extinguished, but refined. In her debut book, This Little Fire of Mine, she names what so many of us have experienced but struggled to articulate: the holy friction that arises when our lived experience collides with easy answers. If you’ve ever felt like you were “too much,” or wondered whether your questions made you less faithful instead of more human, —- I hope you’ll read & discover that the very discomfort you’ve been trying to quiet is actually guiding you toward something truer, deeper, and more alive. It’s a joy to welcome Kendall to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Kendall Mariah

I was one of those little girls with fire in my spirit— the kind of fire that made my Sunday school teachers sigh and exchange knowing glances, the kind that had my mama saying, “Lord, help us,” every time I opened my mouth.

I was bold, unapologetic, and completely unfiltered, asking questions that made grown-ups shift in their seats and offering up my opinions like they were just as good as the preacher’s sermon.

“That song wasn’t a metaphor to me; it was a marching order. “

When I first learned “This Little Light of Mine,” I didn’t just sing it— I believed it, deep down in my bones.

That song wasn’t a metaphor to me; it was a marching order.

Singing it made me feel bold and confident. I was not about to let anyone snuff out my light, and I was sure as heck never going to hide it under a bushel— no, sir.

My little light was meant to shine, and I figured the brighter, the better.

But somewhere along the way, that fire started to feel like too much for the world around me.

I was a high-achieving, gold-star-chasing, rule-following kind of kid, and I learned pretty quickly that people liked me best when I kept my fire controlled— like a decorative scented candle instead of a roaring bonfire, better to be seen than to be felt.

They praised my passion when it was used for the right things— leading Bible studies, making straight A’s, a reliable Sunday school student, you know, being a good little church girl— but if I ever spoke up in a way that made people uncomfortable, well, that was a different story.

I was encouraged— subtly, then not-so- subtly— to soften my edges, to shrink myself just enough so I didn’t upset the delicate balance of things. In a strange way, I realized it was okay to lead the boat, but don’t dare rock it.

That’s when I started to feel it— the internal tingle, the pressure building, manifesting in heat that would crawl up the back of my neck, the tension between what I should say and what I needed to say.

I felt it when I heard things in church that didn’t sit right with me but knew I wasn’t supposed to question. I felt it when I saw people hurting and wanted to speak up but worried about the consequences. I felt it when I saw “good Christian people” say and do things that didn’t line up with the fruit of the Spirit I had learned as a child. I felt it every time I swallowed my words instead of letting them spill out in all their fiery, inconvenient truth.

I started calling it soul friction.

Soul friction is that holy discomfort— the uneasiness that settles in your spirit when you know something isn’t right but aren’t sure what to do about it.

” I’ve come to believe soul friction is one of the most important parts of spiritual growth. Because if we never let ourselves wrestle, never let ourselves question, never let ourselves feel the heat of that friction, how do we ever expect to be refined? Renewed? Redeemed?“

It’s that season of wrestling, where you have more questions than answers, where the things you thought were set in stone start to shift beneath your feet. It’s the moment when your tidy, black-and-white understanding of the world is suddenly splashed with color, and you realize that maybe things aren’t as simple as you once believed. You realize that the world can no longer be simply categorized, and you begin to uncover nuance and discover shifts of perspectives.

And let me tell you— when soul friction sets in, you feel it.

It can feel like your stomach has flipped upside down, because what do you mean, I could be wrong? I didn’t see the whole picture or know the whole truth?

But I’ve come to believe soul friction is one of the most important parts of spiritual growth. Because if we never let ourselves wrestle, never let ourselves question, never let ourselves feel the heat of that friction, how do we ever expect to be refined? Renewed? Redeemed?

We all experience soul friction. It’s a sign that we’re growing, that we’re engaging with the world in a way that forces us to wrestle and reckon with what we thought we knew. We live in a time when information is everywhere, where stories collide, and perspectives challenge us. Staying in an echo chamber is impossible unless we choose to put our heads in the sand.

And when that friction comes knocking? It’s a choice. You can ignore it. Pretend you didn’t hear it. Push it down and keep quiet.

Or, you can let it guide you.

It’s not always earth-shattering moments; sometimes it’s little moments and questions that add up like sparks turning into a flame and starting a fire.

You have to make a choice: Are you going to let that fire burn it all down?

Or do you want to let that flame help refine your faith and cultivate a bolder and brighter faith?

I want you to learn how to trust your soul friction— that little tingle in your spirit, that slow burn in your chest, that unsettled feeling that whispers, Something about this isn’t sitting right. I want you to stop brushing it off, stop second-guessing yourself, and stop shrinking back just because it would be easier and make others more comfortable to stay quiet.

See, I spent too many years trying to ignore that friction. I’d feel it stir inside me when someone said something that didn’t line up with the Jesus I knew— the one who sat with the outcasts, who defended the broken, who flipped tables when the religious folks put power over people. I’d feel it when I saw good- hearted people getting pushed to the margins, when I heard truth twisted into something cold and condemning, when I knew deep down that love was being used as a weapon instead of a refuge.

But instead of trusting that friction, I swallowed it.

I pushed it down, told myself I was imagining things, convinced myself that rocking the boat would only make things worse. I believed the lie of “who would listen to me anyway?” I thought maybe if I just prayed more, stayed in my lane, and focused on my own little corner of the world, the tension in my spirit would go away.

“That holy discomfort? That’s the Spirit nudging you toward something deeper— toward a richer faith that isn’t afraid of hard questions, toward a love that is wider and wilder than you ever imagined, toward a courage that doesn’t just sit still but moves in the direction of truth.“

But that’s not how it works; soul friction doesn’t just disappear. No, friend, it lingers. It simmers. It refuses to be ignored. And eventually, if you let it, it does something miraculous.

It leads you.

Because that friction? That holy discomfort? That’s the Spirit nudging you toward something deeper— toward a richer faith that isn’t afraid of hard questions, toward a love that is wider and wilder than you ever imagined, toward a courage that doesn’t just sit still but moves in the direction of truth.

I want you to trust that friction, not fear it.

I want you to lean in when something stirs in your soul, to listen when your spirit is unsettled, to ask the hard questions even when you don’t know where they’ll lead.

Because I believe with everything in me that when you do, you won’t lose your faith— you’ll find a deeper, truer version of it.

One that isn’t built on fear but on fire.

One that doesn’t just settle for comfort but seeks out truth.

Kendall Mariah is a writer, speaker, and lifestyle creator who is passionate about creating space for honest conversations about faith, family, and the tension between what we’ve been taught and what our hearts know to be true. As a military spouse and mother, she writes with deep compassion for women navigating seasons where belief feels complicated, questions feel risky, and hope can feel fragile.

You can learn more, connect with Kendall, and find additional resources at www.kendallmariah.com or follow along on Instagram at @kendallmariah.

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

The New Movie You have To see To change Your Lent — & Your Life: I can Only Imagine 2

Ann Voskamp — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 02:03:38 +0000

When Tim Timmons showed me his wrist more than 10 years ago, I knew I was in the presence of a man living fully alive.

“Life is always a divine gift we can keep fighting to hold on to – and life can be a deep grief that we can always keep struggling to find our way through.”

Which was not what you’d expect from a man who tells you that he has a form of incurable cancer. That doctors only gave him 5 years to keep opening up his eyes to see a new day, only 1826 days left to keep filling his lungs with glorious oxygen & the wonder of his one miraculous existence on this side.

When you look down at Tim’s wrist, what you see is this scrawled X that he marks every single morning with a black sharpie – like the way you’d mark another day on a calendar….

“Because I woke up again today,” says Tim. “It becomes kind of a gift every morning. I go, ‘Yes! I get to join Jesus another day!’”

I didn’t show Tim my own wrists that day, etched with scars from more than a year or two of cutting as a teen who just didn’t know how to live with the trauma of living.

Life is always a divine gift we can keep fighting to hold on to – and life can be a deep grief that we can always keep struggling to find our way through.

With a finger resting there on that X on his wrist, what Tim says next is about where we all are living our lives:

“Your days aren’t about all the things you have to complete – but about you being soul-well through anything, because you’re living your days in the One who already fully completes you“

“There are 10,080 minutes in a week. 80 of those minutes are generally spent in a church gathering somewhere…. How do we join Jesus in the other 10,000 minutes?”

What if the meaning of our existence was more than accomplishing something with our time – but rather abiding with Someone who rules over time, and has already accomplished all that matters?

What if the reality is:

Your days aren’t about all the things you have to complete – but about you being soul-well through anything, because you’re living your days in the One who already fully completes you?

What if:

You don’t have to feel pulled in a million directions –
You get to be joined, and live fully in union with the One who is the Way Himself.

When I cross paths with Tim over a decade later, on the night of this movie premier, “I Can Only Imagine 2”, that gives a glimpse into Tim’s life-transforming story, he still has that daily X marked on his wrist.

“Only the cross lives at the intersection of both our deepest griefs, and our deepest gratitudes, to show us the Way toward the full life.“

And hadn’t I, for more than a decade now too, picked up a black pen, and kind of ridiculously desperate to remember the union, the communion—written it on my wrist and let the ink bleed a bit like a vow right there over scarred skin:

One little black cross.

Only the God who takes all of our loss and grief to the cross can give us the gift of solidarity in suffering.

Only the cross lives at the intersection of both our deepest griefs, and our deepest gratitudes — to show us the Way toward the full life.

Only when we see everyday how our griefs are wholly answered at the cross, can we boldly live our days with unquestionable gratitude.

Even before I walk in to watch “I Can Only Imagine 2,” I’m in awe — God’s given Tim Timmons 5 times the number of years the doctors had predicted — just shy of 25 years since his diagnosis — and just over 9000 days. More than 9000 days of marking his wrist, of claiming the amazing grace of this day — unmerited gift.

“When you mark your days and time — you start to wake to the fact that you don’t ultimately need more time — what you need is to experience more joy in the time you’re gifted.“

And as I watch the movie — watch Tim cough blood up over a sink as he fights through cancer, as I watch his best friend, Bart Millard, navigate the daily life-and-death battle of Type 1 diabetes with his son — a story we know painfully too well with our own son — it strikes me like a blazing bolt of amazing grace:

What if God doesn’t have to take away our situation, for us to still take joy, because our greatest joy is that He still takes us?

Though nothing may seem well in our situation, when Jesus is our well within that quenches & satisfies — then it’s always well with our souls.

In a brave, deeply moving scene on the screen, Tim marks his wrist for another miraculous, unmerited day, and there in my theater seat, I trace the cross marked on my own wrist, a call to a cruciform life, to live at the intersection of grateful communion — and I blink it back:

Though nothing may seem well in our situation, when Jesus is our well within that quenches & satisfies — then it’s always well with our souls.

When you mark your days and time — you start to wake to the fact that you don’t ultimately need more time — what you need is to experience more joy in the time you’re gifted.

Even if all we long for never happens — the joy in every moment is that we get to belong to Him.

And by the last scene, when Tim’s smiling as Bart Millard of MercyMe starts to sing “Even If…. It is well with my soul…” everything brims & blurs a bit happy and profoundly clear to me:

Our soul is always well, because in all our moments, it’s home to the One who is the Well of Life.

This Lent, This Resurrection Season, Go See: I Can Only Imagine 2

IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE NOW: TYPE IN YOUR TOWN & GET TICKETS HERE!

Playing Everywhere Now! Gather your people &

Do Not Miss This One

How To Feel Really Loved, Which Is The Way through every Wildernesses (& your Lent)

Ann Voskamp — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 01:09:25 +0000

All wildernesses, and all of us, are all just made of dust.

But if God can take mere dust and make whole constellations of stars, can He not take our crises of sorrow, and miraculously make even us brilliant and whole?

I’ve been thinking about this for days, after we had dinner with my dearest friend, Ruth, in these days when all kinds of hopes seem to be eroding, when plans and expectations keep crumbling away:

Life is all wilderness paths of dust, from all the fragility of living – yet all these paths of dust are literal ways to deeper trust — to enter into the miracle of what God can shape from dust.

It does something in you – to relax into being dust – and trust that surrendered dust is the stuff God’s dreams are made of.

All wildernesses, and all of us – are all just made of dust. But if if God can take mere dust and make whole constellations of stars, can He not take our crises of sorrow, and miraculously make even us brilliant and whole?

I linger with Ruth long after our family dinner together– and we talk about being mamas to a lot of kids, being wives, being daugthers of our Abba Father, and we talk about our journey’s through wildernesses.

And yet, this too, keeps reorienting me through every wildernesses:

Maybe the way Jesus could bear going into the barren wilderness for 40 days was only because God had just bathed him in baptismal waters, and marked Him with that name: BELOVED.

In a loud world, you can only know the way through your wildernesses if your name echoes within: Beloved.

The only way to move through your wildernesses is to not resist any of the unexpected turns, for this is God, moving closer, to woo you.

And I believe this, feel this, in my wildernesses:

If your heart is cracked and hard as the dry wilderness floor, and you can’t quite yet soak in your very name, your sure identity, your actual belovedness – then just one small step forward, after another very small step toward Him, will soften you, open you, flourish you into all you truly already are.

Maybe our greatest crises aren’t the wilderness we find ourselves in – but that we don’t believe we are wildly loved in the midst of them?

Maybe our greatest crisis – is always a love-crisis?

In a loud world, you can only know the way through your wildernesses if your name echoes within: Beloved.

had asked Ruth that, and we had discussed: If you had to name the biggest love-crisis in our moment—what’s breaking down: our attention, our empathy, our patience, our courage, our truthfulness? What does it mean to love — not with sentiment, but with cruciform, Kingdom love — in a world that’s training us toward self-protection, outrage, and hurry?

What’s your most honest answer to: ‘I want to love like Jesus, but I’m exhausted’? If love is patient and kind, what do you do with your own impatience—especially with your family? If our love is sustained by abiding, what does it mean to abide in Jesus’ love in a world designed to hijack attention?

And then as the calendar turns to these early days of this season before Resurrection Sunday, this season of Lent, and I think about what Jesus might be asking me to fast from, to become more like Him… and all I can think is:

Maybe what Lent most asks us to give up — is to give up all of ourself to Love Himself. To give up whatever is in the way of giving ourselves fully to Jesus. To be a giver — and give ourselves wholly to Jesus, Love Himself, and then live given, because Love always lives given, reaching out with love to those around us.

And ….

Maybe the secret way out of every single wilderness – is to actually feel really, deeply, loved. All barrenness blooms when it experiences belovedness.

This far into the year, this far into life’s journey, and at this point in Lent, and our pilgrimage, through all kinds of wildernesses, this may be all I know:

Though yesterday is history, and tomorrow is a wilderness of mystery, this present moment always holds the gift of the knowing: His name is always Love, and my name is always Beloved.

Though yesterday is history, and tomorrow is a wilderness of mystery, this present moment always holds the gift of the knowing: His name is always Love, and my name is always Beloved.

All that always survives fire – is love.

I leave Ruth a long voice message for her dusty paths, and Ruth loans me words and courage for my own wildnernesses… and come Ash Wednesday, I’m deeply anticipating all that is to come down these dusty roads….

So mark us with ashes, mark us with the soot of all the world that’s burning down, mark us with that smudge of ashes and know, that though we’ve been seared by flames and fears, though we’ve been scorched by shame and heartache and scars — our souls survive fire, because we are marked by Love, for Love… and the One who came through the fire, names us Beloved, and we are His, and He is ours forever, and so with Him, we can do nothing less than rise.

All else may burn up – but His love survives fire, and it’s His love that marks us.

So on every ash heap — see our hearts ignite.

Want to come up to our Church BellTower. & join our convo about How To Really Feel Loved, with Ruth Cho Simons?

COME JOIN our 40 Day Lenten Journey to LIVING LOVED — and being Love…

“Yes! I’d love to LIVE LOVED and walk through the next 40 days & this Lent with you all“

Might I offer a glimpse of what our deeply meaningful 40 days ahead together might look like?

—> A daily audio clip where I’ll quietly read Scripture with you, as we journey through the Gospel of John together, walking every step with Jesus: listening to the testimony of “the one whom Jesus loved” – as we lean into Jesus, and feel how deeply loved we are – beyond imagining!

—> As you listen, consider hanging your corresponding Easter Tree Ornament as you listen (more about that below!). A beautifully designed reflection from Loved to Life — an invitation to meditate, perhaps save it to your phone and return to it throughout the day. Allow Love Himself to meet you as begin to let the tender places in you feel the depth of His unconditional love for you…

—> Our weekly Real Love Memory Verse. Throughout the next 40 days, we’ll memorize what Love truly is, from one of the most powerful, needful Scriptures in the whole of the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13. During the next 40 days, we are going to truly feel love and truly be love.

—> Your own Visual Love Pilgrimage — an immersive experience of masterful art, Scripture, journaling, and prayer, where you can gaze at a classic work of art while considering the Love of Christ. Spend a few times looking at the art, undistracted, and use the journaling prompts to help you see and experience Love more deeply and clearly.

—> And a daily Identity in Christ affirmation, with a whole set of 24 cards you can print, to begin to feel how loved and cherished you and who you really are in Christ – nothing has changed me like knowing who I am in Christ … beloved!

—> And each Sunday evening of our 40-Day Pilgrimage? Lord willing, we’ll gather together, you and I, face-to-face! Yes, Weekly Livestream Community gatherings are back! Let’s let go of all kinds of lonely feelings, and our sense of isolation, and together connect, in face-to-face moments of encouragement, prayer, and wisdom, with very special guests every week!

Would you love to feel really loved – and really be love? I will personally ensure you’ll get all of this beauty each day, tucked with all my love, right into your hands… just click here…

Would you join me for the next 40 days of REALLY LIVING LOVED?

How God’s secure love impacts your friendships

Becky Harling — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 16:13:39 +0000

You know, I’ve come to feel it in my bones: Friendship is one of God’s greatest treasures. We were made for deep attachment—to Him and to one another. In her latest book, Becky Harling asks a timely and tender question: How are you doing, friend wise? Drawing from the well of wisdom found in Proverbs, she gently guides us toward cultivating stronger, healthier relationships with our friends and families. What a joy to welcome Beaky to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Becky Harding

I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence. Proverbs 8:30

“Becky, you should have deep attachment issues.”

My counselor’s words reverberated in my head long after I left her office. She was right; my mother suffered from dark depression after I was born.

When I was only a few weeks old, she left for a month on a ministry trip with my dad. My father, though in ministry, was abusive, so I could never quite trust him.

Therapists and counselors alike tell us that to form healthy attachments with others, we must bond with a trustworthy caregiver in infancy. However, what happens if you don’t?

Are you unable to attach for the rest of your life?

I don’t believe so. I believe that God offers us the most secure and healthy attachment. Out of that secure bonded attachment we are able to love and bond with friends. We love our friends out of the overflow of a secure heart. This is why it is essential to learn to enjoy and feel secure in God’s presence.

For many, enjoying God’s presence feels ethereal. Yet, it is the key to lasting joy and security. It doesn’t have to be some weird ethereal experience. As I have grown in learning to enjoy God’s presence, I have found some tools that help.

Gary Thomas wrote a book called Sacred Pathways, which helps readers understand that each of us is wired differently as far as experiencing the presence of God. We can strengthen our friendships by learning to enjoy God’s presence together.

“We can strengthen our friendships by learning to enjoy God’s presence together.“

For example, my friend Judy and I both love the outdoors. We have met together for times of prayer in the Garden of the Gods park. Another friend loves worship music like I do. She and I often get on our knees together to worship.

I experience the love and security of God’s presence when I am on my knees early in the morning listening to worship music and allowing it to prompt my praise. As I spend time worshiping and praising God, I feel His presence come close, and I experience His love in ways I can’t even describe. I then ask God to pour His love through me to my friends.

When I released the book Cultivating Deeper Connections in a Lonely World, I realized that many women needed a physical reminder of God’s presence in their lives. I had a bracelet designed that is engraved with the words, “Never Alone.”

As women have purchased these bracelets, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that the bracelet is a tangible reminder that God is with them, no matter their circumstances. As they have felt more secure with God, they have formed deeper attachments with others.

In our quest for deeper attachment, it can be helpful to seek God together as friends.

This does two things: First, it can deepen your experience of God’s presence. Second, it deepens your attachment with your friends.

Here are a few suggestions for doing this:

Set aside a day to spend together seeking God.

You might spend time outside or you could go to a retreat center. The key is to schedule the time and agree you’re going to try to spend a day in prayer together.

Spend time worshiping together.

Choose worship music that you both like to prompt your praise. As you listen, go back and forth praising God for all He has done.

Read Scripture out loud to each other.

A friend and I recently did this. As we sat outside looking toward the mountains, we took turns reading Psalm 84. It’s wonderful to hear Scripture from the voice of a dear friend.

Take turns sharing prayer requests, and spend time praying blessing over each other.

I have loved doing this with friends. As you pray for each other and ask God to pour out His blessing on you both, your experience of God’s love will grow deeper, and your bond will grow stronger.

Friend, I know that God wants you to experience deep attachment to both Him and others. He wants you to experience the fullness of His love and presence as well as the joy and love of close friendships.

If it’s been a while since you’ve truly felt God’s love and enjoyed His presence, try spending a day in prayer with a friend with the above suggestions. See if it doesn’t increase your experience of God’s presence and deepen your bond with your friend.

Pause and Reflect

How might feeling completely secure in God’s love impact your friendships? As you think about the suggestions for how to experience God’s presence in this chapter, which one resonates the most?

“Teach me to enjoy Your presence daily, I pray. Show me what it looks like to live with a moment-by-moment awareness that You are with me. “

Prayer

Lord God, I long to experience Your presence in more tangible ways.

I want to not just know in my head that You love me, I want to feel it to the depths of my soul.

So often, Lord, I am distracted by all of the noise of our culture. I get wrapped up in busyness and forget that You are with me constantly.

Teach me to enjoy Your presence daily, I pray. Show me what it looks like to live with a moment-by-moment awareness that You are with me.

May I rest today in the fact that I am deeply loved by You.

May I love my friends out of the overflow of a fully secure heart.

Loaded with stories, each short chapter includes relational truths from Proverbs, a reflective question, and a prayer to carry you through the day. The reader’s heart will be encouraged and uplifted as she discovers the richness of wisdom found in Proverbs and becomes Friend-Wise.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {02.14.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:34:44 +0000

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

Photo by Anita Austvika

Photo by Annie Spratt

Let’s take some time today to celebrate someone who has nourished your soul this week and help them feel seen

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

Rare heart-shaped ‘Valentine’s’ Aurora Borealis magically lights up the sky in Norway

Breathtaking beauty… good for the soul to be in awe!

Teacher Had Each Student Draw Her a Heart. On Valentine’s Day, She Gave Them the Best Surprise

Stories like this does the heart good!

Terrifying but absolutely Beautiful!

View this post on Instagram

February’s full Snow Moon glows behind snowdrops in ethereal winter photo

Image credit: Josh Dury

The most comforting read!

We all need a day like this

View this post on Instagram

Resting in God’s Love – Genesis 29:28–35

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

You Want A Better Love Story? Better Valentine’s Day (& Marriages) Do this

Don’t leave the internet before you read this!

“A REDEEMING LOVE”

What a soul-comforting listen!

Marriage on Mission

A Word for the One Dreading Valentine’s Day

This! Just this!

Don’t miss this!

Wow! This community!

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

Broken Arrows Will Soar Again

The Courage in Encouragement

We all need this reminder!

How Our Hardest Season Made Us Stronger

God never looses sight

Don’t miss this! YES!!

He is patient

Creative Bits for you this week

The Plan of Salvation

This is crazy!

WOW! I could watch all day

WOW! So good!

On repeat!

Let God take care of it

Resources for you this week:

Some nights are worth setting apart

Join us for Secret Church on April 17, 2026!

View this post on Instagram

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

So beautiful

On repeat!

The best Valentine’s Day treats!

The prettiest Valentine’s day treats for the whole family!

The Perfect treat!

The cutest idea!

Red Velvet Cookies! So fun!

The best Brownies!

These look delicious!

And maybe some Valentine’s Day Crafty things?

The cutest Envelopes!

So talented!

I love this!

This looks adorable!

The cutest!

Maybe don’t leave the internet this weekend without reading this one….
(Really. Your soul will thank you for this one.)

Post of the week from these parts:

“Need a Better Mental Soundtrack? How To Feel & Know You’re so Loved”

ISo you know that playlist in your head? The one that plays over & over on all our digital screens, that somehow got stuck on repeat? Truth is, social media streams can beat you down with a refrain of inferiority — that becomes the beat of the song that pounds around in your heart, beating up parts of you & shattering your sense of security.

You are your mental playlists. Social streams shape your only soul.

Maybe it’s time for a new song! A BRAVE SONG! That tells you who you *really* are…are you ready to start a new mental playlist?

Ready for Living Loved?

Do you want to join us on a journey Through the book of John this Lent Season?

You too been thinking that maybe what we all need more than anything right now, is maybe a bit more real love… that we are all living through a bit of a love-crisis? How do we genuinely live loved – really feeling how loved we really are — and then, from that place of belovedness, how can we be love in the world – practicing the genuine love of Jesus, in our families, in our world? What if, over the next 40 or so days, together, you and I went on a life-changing journey of Living Loved … and a 40 day practice in loving like Jesus?

This is your invitation into genuinely more… into LIVING LOVED: A 40-Day Practice in Loving like Jesus.

And this experience? This could change our hearts, our homes, our whole year – our whole lives. Can I give you a bit of a glimpse of this deeply meaningful journey we could share? (All a free gift!)

– Daily audio emails with me quietly reading Scripture with you

– Daily, transformative reflections from Loved to Life

– 24 Identity in Christ cards so you begin to live out your identity as truly Beloved! You and I together will sit with the reality of our God-given identity every day – until we feel our belovedness down in the marrow of our bones.

– Real Love Memory Cards, as we together memorize one of the most powerful, needful Scriptures in the whole of the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13! Together, we will encourage each other in memorizing these 13 verses from 1 Corinthians 13, often referred to as the “love chapter” — which will not only let true love take root in us, but let us love our families, our communities, our world, in truly supernatural, transformational ways!

– A Visual Experience —a 40-day immersive experience of masterful art, Scripture, journaling, and prayer that helps us see and experience Lovemore deeply and clearly…

– Weekly Livestream Community gatherings are back! Let’s together let go of all kinds of lonely feelings, and our sense of isolation, and together connect, in face-to-face live moments of encouragement, prayer, and wisdom, with very special, surprise, sage guests every week! 30 minute live, interactive conversations – you don’t have to feel alone – I’d love to save you a (free) seat!

And so many more free downloads and resources to support you in this practice of loving like Jesus in real, daily life!

you can’t help but smile:

Can you get any cuter?

All of the talking!

Beautiful!

Oh my goodness!

The sweetest!

I love this!

WOW! Not for me!

INSANE!

The tears are flowing!

AMAZING!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

“Disciplines Don’t Save. Christ Does.”

Fighting Materialism in a Materialistic World

Let Down Your Nets (Luke 5:1-11)

“The Born-Again You Is Wonderfully New”

Her heart stayed

This is so good!

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

Oh The Cross – Aubree Archibeck

He Arose – Tommee Profitt x Phil Wickham

On the book shelf this week at the farm:

Using the biblical symbolism of the olive tree in Psalm 52:8, Christine unpacks how you can develop deep spiritual roots that anchor you to withstand life’s storms; identify spiritual stagnation and experience renewed vitality and purpose; behold the beauty of God and cultivate a heart of wonder; nourish inner peace and joy through intentional shifts in perspective; foster reconciliation and build stronger, more fulling relationships; and embrace God’s plans and purpose for your life, while bearing fruit that impacts others.

No matter the challenges you face, God’s design for your life has not changed—to have the faith to flourish and be fruitful!

There are over 400 ready-to-color illustrations, over 300 devotional readings and trivia questions, over 140 journaling prompts, over 75 Scripture memory-verse prompts, fun facts, and more!

If you love a kid or two? I cannot recommend enough: Take a peek inside the Inspire Bible for Kids and preorder today!

PORTLAND, OREGON! FEBRUARY 20th! DETAILS HERE!

OREGON! PACIFIC NORTHWEST! Come Collide with the Heart of God!

Come join women from across the Pacific Northwest for an unforgettable evening of inspiration! Women of all generations, backgrounds, and churches will come together to encounter Jesus in a powerful way. Prepare for an incredible night filled with worship, teaching, artistry, storytelling, dessert, and more!

Bring a bestie, coworker, or loved one and come experience the impact of colliding with Jesus. Because when women collide with Jesus, they are never the same!

Ventura California! Let’s Be SHAPED BY GOD!

Southern Cali! Details here!

You won’t believe these sales! Take advantage of these today!

“WayMaker”

For every person who is looking for a way through to real love, WayMaker is your sign.

Buy 1 and Get 1 50% Off!

“The broken way” is on a crazy sale!

Pick up your copy for nearly 60% off today!

“Loved to Life: A 40-Day Pilgrimage with Love Himself That Will Change Your Life”

A Deeply Moving Read for Lent: Pick up yours for just $16 — and get a second copy for just $8!

This Valentine’s Day you won’t want to miss this!

maybe Pick one up for someone you love?

Download your very own for free or get one shipped right to your front door!

“Sacred Prayer: 90 Days of Deeper Intimacy with God”

Feeling discouraged—or longing for better perspective?

In this guided prayer journal, Ann Voskamp leads you on a sacred 90-day journey. Deepen your prayer life as you discover the importance of still n ess, surrender, attentiveness to God, self-examination, and joyful praise!

My Days begin with this Journal. Nearly 50% off!

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

Firm Foundation + Gratitude

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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 Going For a Walk Outside Can Transform Your Life

Christine Caine — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 13:38:25 +0000

I’ve hiked more than a trail or two with my dearest, brilliant friend, Christine Caine, and together we have stood in awe at the beauty of creation time and time again. With every view we have marvelled at our awesome God, who is the ultimate artist and creator. In her latest book, The Faith to Flourish, God’s design for a rooted, resilient and fruitful life, Chris shares how God captivated her attention after hiking to the top of the Acropolis in Greece where she found a lone olive tree flourishing despite dry and rocky soil in which it grew. That encounter sparked a year-long adventure through Scripture, researching more than 200 references to olives and olive trees. It led her from one olive grove to another in countries around the world where she learned everything to do with olive trees and their fruitfulness. And out of her journey came this book filled with lessons from God and the olive tree. It’s an absolute honour to welcome Chris to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Christine Caine

Seeing and experiencing God’s beauty has the power to give us life in so many ways.

“God’s beauty on display in nature is a sign that points beyond itself, because it captivates our attention and directs our gaze from the creation to the Creator.“

Whether we’re taking in a field of wildflowers, sunlight glistening on a lake, or the greenspace of a park, all of these environments can affect us—mentally, emotionally and physically. They even have the power to reduce our stress, to lower our blood pressure and our heart rate, all by bringing us a sense of calm.

Study after study shows that spending time outdoors can help us focus on more positive emotions, improve our memory and our ability to multitask.⁴Such experiences can even improve our sleep and increase our Vitamin D levels, an essential nutrient for our health and well-being.⁵

Knowing all this, it’s no wonder people are so captivated by God’s beauty on display in creation.

It has so many benefits! But while such physiological benefits are good, they are not the primary purpose.

God’s beauty on display in nature is a sign that points beyond itself, because it captivates our attention and directs our gaze from the creation to the Creator.

In Psalm 19, we read, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.”⁶ And we are told in the book of Romans,“For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.”⁷

If you’ve ever stood on the beach and watched the waves crash powerfully onto the shore, or marveled at the vastness of a mountain range, and wondered about the one who is infinitely greater—the one who created all that you’re seeing—then you know the captivating nature of the beauty of God. It draws our attention so that we will look to God.

And when we do, we find one who is like no other. One who captivates our attention to capture our hearts.

Turn Your Gaze Toward God

As much as I love gazing at the beauty of God’s creation, I have to admit that there is nothing more beautiful than gazing at the beauty of the actual creator himself.

“Therefore, gazing is not glancing. It’s not casually looking. It’s not stealing a glimpse. It’s being fully focused on beholding the transcendent beauty of God. It’s steadily and intently admiring God.“

David expressed this sentiment in Psalm 27:4-6 when he wrote, “I have asked one thing from the Lord, it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lordall the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lordand seeking him in his temple.”⁸

When David penned these words, he was fleeing from his son Absalom, who was conspiring to take his throne, and in the midst of the chaos, he took time to gaze upon the beauty of God.

The word gaze comes from the Hebrew word chazah, which means “to see, perceive, to contemplate with pleasure; to look, to behold.”⁹Therefore, gazing is not glancing. It’s not casually looking. It’s not stealing a glimpse. It’s being fully focused on beholding the transcendent beauty of God. It’s steadily and intently admiring God.¹⁰ That’s what David did.

Have you ever caught yourself gazing at something beautiful? Perhaps you love gazing at the stars, or at a beautiful painting or an eagle soaring. I know it’s no surprise, but for me, it is likely to be the waves on an ocean, the view from a mountaintop, or a sunset.

Gazing at the beauty of creation or art is something we can readily understand because we can physically see those things with our natural eyes, but gazing upon the beauty of an invisible God can seem impossible to comprehend—precisely because we cannot see him.

“True beauty really is below the surface, not observed with physical eyes, but perceived with spiritual eyes or the eyes of the heart. The beauty of the Lord is seen in his attributes. In his holiness, majesty and glory. In his sovereignty, power and might. “

Of course, when Jesus walked on the earth, he was the image of the invisible God, (Col 1:15) but even when he did, the Scriptures make clear that, physically speaking, he looked like a typical, ordinary person: “he did not have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him.”¹¹

We live in a world where we tend equate beauty with whatever we consider to be attractive physical features. We have been conditioned by culture and the media alike to look at people’s external attributes to determine whether or not they are beautiful. There are entire industries that foster this perspective, and in the process, inadvertently skew ours. When we scroll through social media or peruse a fashion magazine, we can see the world has clearly established who is deemed to be one of the “beautiful people” and who is not.

But when David gazed upon the beauty of God, he wasn’t looking at any physical features because the Hebrew word used for beauty means the “kindness, pleasantness or delightfulness” of God.¹²

True beauty really is below the surface, not observed with physical eyes, but perceived with spiritual eyes or the eyes of the heart. The beauty of the Lord is seen in his attributes. In his holiness, majesty and glory. In his sovereignty, power and might.

When we take the time to turn our gaze toward God, to linger in our gazing, we see his beauty.

“When we comprehend clearly how all the good that God has done for us—every single thing—has been an act of mercy and grace that is undue and undeserved—it changes us.“

And when we see his beauty, we are transformed.¹³

When we remember how he has faithfully acted out of who he is in our lives—loving us, forgiving us, redeeming us, transforming us, and tending to our broken hearts. When we reflect on the times when he graciously has pulled us out of situations that we got ourselves into; when he has mercifully forgiven us for the same sin we committed yesterday and the day before and the day before that; when he has lovingly accepted us in the midst of others rejecting us.

When we comprehend clearly how all the good that God has done for us—every single thing—has been an act of mercy and grace that is undue and undeserved—it changes us.

And when we are transformed then we can reflect God’s beauty—His kindness, pleasantness and delightfulness to our world.

I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this book! Whatever Christine Caine writes, I want to read every word, learn fresh, powerful insights, and be deeply changed! This book goes to the top of my stack!

Christine Caine is a speaker, activist, and bestselling author who awakens people globally to discover their God-given purpose and live transformed lives for Jesus. Christine and her husband, Nick, have two daughters, Catherine and Sophia. Together, they founded A21, a global anti-human trafficking organization that prevents exploitation, recovers victims, and empowers survivors to rebuild their lives. She also founded Propel Women, an initiative that activates women to follow Jesus wholeheartedly and live confidently in their God-given purpose. You can tune into Christine’s Equip & Empower podcast for practical insights and encouragement, drawing hope from Jesus wherever you are. To learn more about Christine and her resources, visit www.christinecaine.com.

In her latest book, The Faith to Flourish, God’s design for a rooted, resilient and fruitful life, Christine shows you that it’s possible to thrive in every season of life—including the hardest ones—by grounding yourself in God’s truth and activating the peace, resilience, and purpose he gives you. Using the biblical symbolism of the olive tree in Psalm 52:8, Christine unpacks how you can develop deep spiritual roots that anchor you to withstand life’s storms; identify spiritual stagnation and experience renewed vitality and purpose; behold the beauty of God and cultivate a heart of wonder; nourish inner peace and joy through intentional shifts in perspective; foster reconciliation and build stronger, more fulling relationships; and embrace God’s plans and purpose for your life, while bearing fruit that impacts others. No matter the challenges you face, God’s design for your life has not changed—to have the faith to flourish and be fruitful!

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

You Want A Better Love Story? Better VAlentine’s Day (& Marriages) Do this

Ann Voskamp — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 13:20:21 +0000

God is love, but, honestly, the way our story has gone, I’ve realized that if you get it turned around, and make being loved into our god – we can get lost in an unexpected ocean of disappointment.

Marriages are extremely fragile things, not an accomplishment to be proud of, but a miracle to be extremely thankful for.

The way our story kinda unfolded, back on that day when we pledged forever love to each other, standing there at the altar, while I faced that Farm Boy with a ring in his pocket, I could also glimpse my Grandma right there, out of the corner of my eye, sitting there in her sage-green dress on the other side of my Dad, gently patting the arm of his gray suit, comforting her son, nodding at me, like she’s nudging me to go on now, go on.

I looked up into Farm Boy’s eyes.

How much did my heart realize in that moment that to give your life to someone—Someone—is the work of a lifetime?

There is no easy way to give your life to someone.

Every wedding aisle is a narrow way.

Love is always the narrow way that limits one’s options — but expands and fulfills one’s soul. And to give your life to someone every day for the rest of your life means giving intentionally every day.

And then, when Farm Boy began to nervously recite vows that he’d written, that he memorized by heart, he inadvertently stumbled on right at the beginning:“I give you this Ann, ring.”

Making your spouse your person is what can make your marriage happy.

Guests chuckled. Farm Boy closed his eyes and laughed with this endearing embarrassment. And all I wanted was to reach out and caress that cheek of his and say, “Come here.”

Every forever is made up of all the everydays.

In a humble chapel, the pews full of Dutch farmers with worn hands, sitting beside wives wrangling toddlers in laps, Pastor Dixon, with Albert Einstein hair and a handlebar mustache, was preaching a wedding sermon, but something sacred echoed, and it’s true: “Marriage is a sign of all things in heaven and on earth coming together in Christ,” wrote N. T. Wright. All the married are signposts.

This is what every marriage is: We are signposts pointing the way to the union that is forever and as real as feeling His fingers slip through yours and the palm that birthed the stars pressing warm against yours.

It was like he read my eyes.

He stepped closer. And began again, like we always get to breathe deep, and always just begin again.

And he vowed love that he’s promised to me again countless times over the last two and a half decades: “I promise to dig deep channels of communication the rest of my life between my soul and yours.”

All marriage vows are made by broken people who break promises, and this can break a heart, but this is always the mysterious way of marriage. Marriage breaks us and remakes us, and out of wreckage can come resurrection.

Promises made, and then we’d have to breathe life into them with our days. Two fresh-faced kids, but still we vowed, in essence, promises as holy-wind-wild as this — and we keep promising each other this, day after day:

There will certainly be an ocean of impossible that lies between us, and I promise to dig deep channels of communication between us, knowing the only way to dig deep channels of communication is with shards of a broken open heart.

There will certainly be life-ambushes that will press us up between a rock and a hard place, and I promise courage to break open my heart in vulnerability—so we can walk out into a deeper intimacy.

There will certainly be anxiety and stress, and in the midst, I promise to be careful, and care-full, and full of care with your heart—because giving your hand in marriage means handling another soul with the deepest care.

There will certainly be letdowns, and fallouts, and I promise to destroy shame and never you—because shame says things can never change.

Shame beats down and grace lifts up, and shame is a bully and grace is a shield, and cruciform love makes a way through.

Shame beats down and grace lifts up, and shame is a bully and grace is a shield, and cruciform love makes a way through

There will certainly be wrong turns, yet I promise to live forgiveness because nothing else is life-giving.

Because forgiveness gives oxygen to the soul.

And no matter the days we feel like we’re lost in a wilderness, I promise to keep stumbling back to wear a habit of gratitude for you —because thanksgiving gives us a way out of entitlement, and judgment, and control management, and gratefulness makes for a greater life.

We don’t have any inkling of the shattering reality when we say those love vows.

All marriage vows are made by broken people who break promises, and this can break a heart, but this is always the mysterious way of marriage. Marriage breaks us and remakes us, and out of wreckage can come resurrection.

And there it was — at the beginning, the first vow was “I do.”

There always has to be a dying for there to be loving. Look at Love Himself.

Where two hearts repair a heartbreak by grafting together, they can be the strongest right there at the break.

And now — after all these years — the vow is simple and as profound and steadying as: “I’m here, right here.” After all these years, our scars now bear tender witness: Marriages are extremely fragile things, not an accomplishment to be proud of, but a miracle to be extremely thankful for.

And we know this grace-miracle now too: Where two hearts repair a heartbreak by grafting together, they can be the strongest right there at the break.

He; the one who knows all the edges of my story that bruise when touched, the places that are fractured and fraught, the spaces within me that ache tender with emptiness. He knows what shames me. He has seen all of me. And I don’t mean the sagging and the cellulite—I mean ugliness and spewed words that can’t be stuffed back into any bottle, sins that have marred and scarred long stretches of my soul—and his.

These days, our old eyes hold each other. There’s an old love that sees with a kind of holy double vision—that remembers a young lover in all their seeming infallibility, and sees your aged lover in all their beautiful humanity. This must be what it is to be naked and unashamed.

Passionate love is far more than falling in love. Passion literally means to suffer—which means: Lovers are the longsufferers. Which is to say its the old lovers who’ve suffered through much who are the most passionate of all.

We tell all the young kids, all our kids: Passionate love is far more than falling in love. Passion literally means to suffer—which means: Lovers are the longsufferers.

Which is to say its the old lovers who’ve suffered through much who are the most passionate of all.

It’s the old lovers who have suffered tenderly through crises and kids and the countless blur of days and untold heartaches, who live the most genuine nonstop passion. It’s the old lovers whose willingness to suffer for each other has made all their other suffering bearable.It’s the old lovers who have passionately suffered long for each other, with each other, who have grown the most passionate, companionate love of all.

It’s the suffering, passionate, companionate love—the easy laughter and sure reliability and steadiness of companionship and friendship and withness—that makes for the happiest love of all.

And it’s the old love that is the most suggestive love of all because it suggests that the whole of us is actually seen and known, and we are still wholly loved. It is only in being really known, in ways that we wish nobody ever knew, that we ever really know what it means to be loved.

What could be more risqué than risking aging with someone and being worn down to your bare souls?

The real romantics are the boring ones—they simply let another heart bore down deep into their own, until the two become one.

So I’ll take the boring love of decades of him helping with the dress zipper there at the nape of the neck, the sharing of the same table, and passing down the pitcher of water night after night, and then washing up the white everyday dishes and turning out the light because the truth is:

The real romantics are the boring ones—they simply let another heart bore down deep into their own, until the two become one.

I could weep over the depth and beauty of old boring love like this.

Wholeness is falling in love with the same old sacred rhythms, the same old places, the same old miraculous people every day all over again. This is the way of Love Himself. The One who is Love can’t stop loving the same sun dancing across these same skies, day after day, can’t stop wooing this same world around in the same spinning choreography of moon and stars and space and infinite grace. It never grows old for Love Himself to keep falling in love with His same old loves.

Wholeness is falling in love with the same old sacred rhythms, the same old places, the same old miraculous people every day all over again.

Marriage is achingly hard and complicated and not all marriages last and there can be deeply good and holy reasons for this, and regardless of one’s marriage story, it’s always true: Marriage isn’t about always being happy—marriage is about always growing in the good direction. Life isn’t about avoiding trauma and suffering; life is about growing through it. And even the oldest love, the hardest days, can know slow growth, in our own singular ways, for those who have eyes to see.

Any ecosystem that remains always the same—never changes—is stagnant and dying. If a relationship isn’t changing, growing, even slowly—it’s dying. Pursuing an unchangeable state of happiness will lead you to a stagnant state of despair. Happiness-centered marriages implode—because that shifting center won’t hold. And honestly, there’s no such thing as unchanging happiness; happiness comes and goes like waves—and the only thing that is unchanging is change itself. And healthy relationships have a healthy relationship with waves, with the rising and falling, and trusting that there will still maybe be someway, another way, to rise.

The two become one to become stronger, to persevere and suffer and change and be sanctified and grow, rising to a new life together.

It is not the absence of infatuation that makes any marriage unhappy — but the absence of deep attachment.

This is the unspoken miracle of marriage: You vow to keep loving the same old person who keeps growing in their own way into a stranger. God knows, this is the deeper vow: “I’m here, right here.”

It is not the absence of infatuation that makes any marriage unhappy — but the absence of deep attachment.

After all these years, he and I are still settling into it: What turns a marriage, a life, around is choosing in a million small moments, instead of turning toward some distraction, some screen, some addiction, to turn toward the face of the other.

Making your spouse your person is what can make your marriage happy.

Falling in love is only the wild rush before the soft landing into a far deeper canyon of companionship through any pain and suffering that leads the actual way into real bliss.

The passion of the Christ is the ultimate passionate love; so stay in Christ… so there’s hope to stay in love.

All the young kids may not know it like the old ones do: Honeymoon love is an exhilarating part of it all, but it’s the staying loving that makes a love story.

I could weep and be wholly healed, for the reality of it:

The passion of the Christ is the ultimate passionate love; so stay in Christ… so there’s hope to stay in love.

My eyes don’t leave his. His don’t leave mine.

And all the old lovers keep sharing this kind of holy double vision… old hearts still lighting.

~Adapted excerpt from WayMaker, Find the Way to the Life You Always Dreamed Of

If you’re looking for the deep and realest love? Looking for a way to change all kinds of things? A new way for all kinds of stories? Looking for more than just a way through, but a new way of being?

For every person who is looking for a way through to real love, WayMaker is your sign.

Your sign that there is hope for real love, that there are miracles, and that everything you are trying to find a way to, is actually coming to meet you in ways far more fulfilling than you ever imagined.

Grab Your Copy of WayMaker — and begin the journey your heart’s longing for …

Need a Better Mental Soundtrack? How To Feel & Know You’re So Loved

Ann Voskamp — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 17:06:29 +0000

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

You know.

You are your mental playlists.

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

Why can I not get all the things done? Why am I the odd guy out in a world of insiders? Why do I have all these wrinkles throughout my life, where everyone else has all these filters? Why is my life a veritable circus when everyone else’s life is more like the red velvet balcony booth at the symphony?

And all our digital screens keep scrolling, like a player piano with its roll of programmed notes.

And maybe… just maybe… that song of deficiency keeps cranking — till its kinda screaming on repeat in far too many weary heads.

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

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

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

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

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

You are your mental playlists.

Social media streams shape your one and only soul.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is not cliche poetry. This is cosmic reality.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The voice of God serenades your soul and the stars.

You are the catalyst of the love canticles of Christ.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You need your own brave song — telling you how loved you really are.

Because we all need a Brave Love Song:

The simplest of truths, told through the sweetest of songs, can change the world.

Which is exactly the refrain of our very first children’s book Your Brave Song!

We all need a hope song,
a courage song,
a song that assures that our our bravery doesn’t come from inside of us,
it comes from knowing you’re loved by the One who created love and is Love Himself.

Your Brave Song includes:

A page to attach your child’s picture that makes this a uniquely personalized kids’ book

Exquisite hand painted, acrylic artwork by illustrator Amy Grimes

Inspirational prose about finding your security and identity in Christ

A rhyming song that kids can memorize easily so that they can return to its truth every day

All that You get free withYour Brave Song now

We’ve put together one glorious bundle of FREE gifts for you, so we can put some joy into your hands now,especially for you and the brave hearts in your life…

All Free for your Valentine’s Week!

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

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

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

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

Click here to fill out this form to have all of your FREE gifts land right in your inbox!

Grab your copy of Your Brave Song today– & Have God’s Song ABOUT YOU on Repeat in your heart.

Order Your Brave Song!

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Kids in Your life? This is Amazing! For the Spiritual Development of the Digital Generation

Amber Bolton — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:00:09 +0000

Honestly, tenderly, at age 45, Amber Bolton had given up on being a mom. She was (and still is) the cool aunt — but she has now found herself parenting a pre-teen son. This new God-given blessing comes with its challenges as she navigates how to help him grow his faith through creativity while balancing the culture of the digital age. And I couldn’t be more excited about her direction here! Amber, a former youth pastor of 20 years, and a Bible journaling expert, comes to the farm table today with a vision to write God’s Word on our hearts and the hearts of the kiddos He puts in our lives. It’s a joy to welcome Amber to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Amber Bolton

“My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart.”

Proverbs 3:1, NLT

I was surprised to see Nathan sitting on the floor in front of the cabinet filled with board games and video games.

He wasn’t on his phone. He wasn’t playing with a game or deep in online levels. He was playing with paper.

I watched him fold, cut, color and create a fun board game of his own. You might think, was he grounded from electronics? Told to take a break from screens?

No. He chose to do this.

The digital world begged for his attention, but he chose scissors and markers to dream and be creative.

Nathan’s generation is growing up in a world of instant entertainment and AI enhanced videos, with a phone stuck to their hand that has an answer to literally everything. He doesn’t need to remember anything; his phone will do that for him. He doesn’t need to sit on the floor with paper; he can swipe through 10-second videos.

Creativity is outsourced to apps and AI.

“When God’s Word is tucked deep inside us, it becomes a part of our instinct, our reflex, our inner compass.“

And while these things aren’t inherently bad, I wonder what it does to our spiritual development. Will Nathan write God’s Word on his heart the way that Proverbs commands? Is God’s Word meant to be in the cloud or in our hearts?

How are we investing in our kids to help them use their own sense of creativity to write God’s Word on their hearts? Do we help them see the Bible as a map to follow? Do we encourage them to “ask God” more than they “ask Siri”?

My own childhood looked so different.

I still remember my family’s phone number, my childhood address, my social security number—facts that anchored me long before smartphones became the keepers of everything. I can close my eyes and trace every turn, curve, and hill from my college dorm to my parents’ home five hours away. Back then, our knowledge lived inside us, not inside a glowing rectangle.

“Memorized verses become the whispered truth when fear creeps in, the steady reminder of God’s presence when loneliness speaks too loudly, the anchor that holds when culture tries to pull them away“

What a wild time it was: reaching under the car seat to pull out a giant, accordion-fold map that highlighted the path from our house to the movie theater. Those maps never talked to us. They never “recalculated.” They simply waited for us to learn them, study them, and carry their paths in our minds.

Today, though, nothing seems to be kept inside our brains. It’s all stored in the cloud.

It was easier to memorize Scripture then, right?

So how do we help this generation get back to the basics?

When God’s Word is tucked deep inside us, it becomes a part of our instinct, our reflex, our inner compass. Kids who memorize Scripture carry with them a spiritual “map” even when they don’t have a Bible or a phone nearby. Memorized verses become the whispered truth when fear creeps in, the steady reminder of God’s presence when loneliness speaks too loudly, the anchor that holds when culture tries to pull them away. Scripture memory trains their hearts to know God, not just to know about Him.

It gives them something no app can ever provide: living truth stored in their hearts.

“Scripture memory trains their hearts to know God, not just to know about Him.“

The other day, I got into my car and plugged in my phone. The map app instantly pulled up a suggested route to a local coffee shop I visit every week. Part of me marveled at the technology. But another part of me wondered: If I go there every week, why do I need directions?

When did I stop remembering how to get to the places I know by heart?

This reminds me that while we teach our kids to memorize Scripture, we need to keep pulling out our “map”—the Bible. God gave us the Bible to shape our daily rhythms, our weekly patterns, the familiar paths we walk again and again. He wants His Word to become so woven into us that it guides us even when we’re not thinking about it.

I never imagined becoming a mom at 45.

“I want the Bible to be a familiar book—a treasure more than an app—and for him to know that Jesus isn’t just someone who answers his questions but is his anchor of hope in this world.“

Nathan, a pre-teen creative kiddo, is now someone I get to help guide in this life.

I have the chance, and the responsibility, to pass on a desire for Scripture and a deep love for Christ while cultivating his creativity. I want the Bible to be a familiar book—a treasure more than an app—and for him to know that Jesus isn’t just someone who answers his questions but is his anchor of hope in this world.

My hope is that kids like Nathan will grow up not only creating new worlds from paper but also discovering the deep, rich, life-changing world God unfolds through Scripture. Because when creativity, memorized truth, and God’s Word meet, a child’s heart is shaped for a lifetime.

For those of us from the 1900s, let’s take a step back and remember what it was like to be a kid full of creativity. Take a moment to think back to when you went to Sunday school and did “sword fights” looking for verses in the Bible, sat on the floor coloring Bible pages, and memorized Scripture to recite at church camp. Those things are written deep in our hearts.

Let’s do the same for our kids, all the kids we really love.

Let us spark inspiration in our kids to get on the floor together with crayons and a Bible and start writing the Word on our hearts with paint strokes and images.

I wish you could have heard me gasp when I held this Bible in my hands the first time! I wanted to get the new Inspire Bible for Kids into the hands of all the kids I love! It’s truly absolutely INCREDIBLE!

Amber Bolton inspires people to dig into God’s Word and express their faith in the margins of their Inspire Bibles. She has partnered with the Inspire Bible team at Tyndale House Publishers since the original edition first released in 2016. You’ll find Amber @biblejournaling on Instagram or now being that football mom on the sidelines.

If you’re looking to inspire kids’ creativity, Bible reading, and love for God, the new Inspire Bible for Kids is packed with activities to help boys and girls ages 7–12 engage with God’s Word! There are over 400 ready-to-color illustrations, over 300 devotional readings and trivia questions, over 140 journaling prompts, over 75 Scripture memory-verse prompts, fun facts, and more!

If you love a kid or two? I cannot recommend enough: Take a peek inside the Inspire Bible for Kids and preorder today!

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {02.07.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 13:44:07 +0000

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 Anita Austvika

Ahhhh — to exhale & step outside into all of God’s glory! Go for what I call a glory soak: a walk out into the glory of God and soak in the wonder of creation. So good for the soul!

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

Have you seen the wonder of the Firefall?

The Yosemite Firefall in Northern California

Breathtaking beauty… good for the soul to be in awe!

“THE BUS DRIVER WHO WAITED“

Stories like this does the heart good!

stunning!

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Iceland’s Eruption and the Northern Lights Captured in One Photo

The most comforting meal!

come sit with our daughter-in-love, Aurora? so cozy & relaxing!

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Something Goodness to savor: “Chicken pot pie” — our FAVORITE!

So lovely!

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Heart Vitamins for you this week:

“You’re Not Late: Trusting God’s Timing in an Unhurried Life”

“If You’re Overwhelmed, You’re in Good Company”

This is such a good read!

“The God Who Comes Near”

Compassion is never lost

Jesus thought of you

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

“Questions From This Generation”

This is a conversation you do not want to leave the internet without listening to!

“Why Women Need to Study Joshua”

“Remembering Death Teaches Us to Live”

Our words have power

Don’t miss this! YES!!

Life- changing!

Don’t miss this loveliness today!

Creative Bits for you this week

Our Daughter-in-Love, Aurora, Is Offering this LOVELINESS That’s Perfect for a winter Weekend!

This darling printable garland makes a cozy craft for a winter weekend, so slow down with a cup of tea, some friends, your people, or just a good old audiobook to keep you company as you craft your heart away. As Aurora shares, “I hope this garland brings a little more joy to this season, whether its strung across mantle, a bookshelf, a window, above your craft corner (as mine is), or as a bunting for a birthday celebration. You could also use the images in your scrapbook, or tucked inside a snail mail letter.” And I think Shiloh and I are going to make one and send it to my Mama for some joy!

I want to make one!

…love this!

we need to share the sweet!

So sweet!

Crazy unique!

WOW! I could watch all day

Resources for you this week:

want to Rewatch Passion 2026?!

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Click here to watch!

Some nights are worth setting apart

Join us for Secret Church on April 17, 2026!

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Such a good read!

“How’d I Miss That” by Cynthia Yanof

Grab your copy today for just $16!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

This is beautiful!

He is worthy!

I love this!

So life-giving!

So so good!

Has anyone ever tried this?

Recipes to try this season:

“Slow-Cooker Garlic Parmesan Chicken”

Perfect start to the day!

Strawberry Coffee cake

I need to make this!

YES! Love these!

This bowl looks amazing!

Is it too early for Valentine’s Day Inspo?

So many fun recipes and decor to try this year!

The cutest!

I would cry!

Looks so good!

This looks incredible!

Such a fun twist!

Maybe don’t leave the internet this weekend without reading this one….

What You Can Do in the Midst of Everything: READ THIS!

Post of the week from these parts:

“In the Midst of Heartbreak: Where is God?”

In the midst of all things, when it’s easy to wonder where is God — I will never, ever, ever get over the tender, real deep comfort of this:

Friends!! You Asked! And It’s Our New Favorite Thing!

Have you picked up the new Joy Dare Calendar? Or the Be the Gift Calendar?

Looking for a simple, researched-backed way guaranteed to expand your joy & help you do what you are really made for — glorify God with a grateful heart? Studies show that writing down just three things you’re grateful for each day can increase your happiness by 25%! Who doesn’t really want that?!

Our sought-after, annual Joy Dare Calendar dares you to look for just 3 gifts of grace each day through the year with a fresh, fun daily prompt that helps you wake and notice gifts hiding in your every day! (Think of it as your daily scavenger hunt for GOODNESS and JOY right where you are!)

There’s space to record the gifts you discover every day, turning each month into a yearlong record of gratitude and amazing grace! Hang it where your whole family can see it, and take the dare to live with open eyes, full hearts, and everyday wonder — right in your ordinary days! Counting just three gifts a day — adds up to more than 1,000 gifts by year’s end — and incalculably more JOY!

Order one shipped right to your door…. or download yours for FREE right here!

you can’t help but smile:

I love this!

Ok, this is wild!

Oh my goodness!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

“THIS WINTER, BE BORED”

A Tool for Spiritual Formation in a Secular Age

“Prayer That Amazes Jesus”

“Can I Start a Morning Prayer Routine?”

a deeply important read …

This… Just… this:

really thinking about this

So needful

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

God I’m Just Grateful | Acoustic | Elevation Worship & Chandler Moore

We The Kingdom – Let It Be Jesus

On the book shelf this week at the farm:

In Sacred & Still, Kendra, Kristin, and Julie gently guide us through the season of Lent and unpack what Christ’s sacrifice ultimately means for us. Through this beautiful Christian devotional, explore the deep significance of Jesus’ crucifixion and delight in the celebration of His resurrection. As we make space for Jesus in our lives, we’ll rediscover the true meaning of Easter, empowering us to share Him with others.

More than a call to a deeper understanding of Christ’s grace, Sacred & Still is an invitation to carry the peace and love of Jesus into our everyday lives. As we journey through the still and sacred beauty of the Lenten season, we find healing, freedom, renewal, and purpose in His presence.

Gifts and Gratitudes is a daily companion that urges you to savor every moment by recognizing and listing only three things you are grateful for each day. This life-altering practice will allow you to record and reflect upon more than one thousand gifts of blessing throughout the year.

Through the daily and healing practice of gratitude, you can discover a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of living that is fully alive, and a way of becoming present to God that brings deep and lasting joy.

It’s only in the expression of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we’ve always wanted…a life we can take, give thanks for, and offer others. Come to feel and know the impossible right down in your bones: you are wildly loved by God and showered with His gifts.

Just $12!

Dr. Warren’s new book, The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery, introduces self–brain surgery to anyone who wants to feel better and find happiness, regardless of life circumstances. It might be for you if

• you’ve endured hard things that made you doubt God’s love and care, and you want to find hope and faith again

• you’re struggling with emotional health—anxiety, depression, loneliness, or grief—and you want to feel happier

• you or a loved one is facing chronic pain or an irreversible situation, and you need better ways to handle it

Franklin, TN! Details here! Come be a Woman of Hope with us!

I look forward to every word from Christie Purifoy and keep her books here in their own stack here on my coffee table… deeply life-giving.

Christie’s latest book, A House to Call Home, is a stunning heartfelt collection of lyrical essays offering readers philosophical and practical insights into creating a deeper sense of belonging in the place they call home.

With creativity and care, you can cultivate comfort in the house where you live.

Pick up yours today!

Tennessee! Nashville! Franklin! Can we Meet & BE WOMEN OF HOPE TOGETHER Next Weekend?

Be a Woman of Hope! Meet us on site in Franklin, next Friday, Feb. 13th, at 4 pm, and we will get you registered — I’m so saving you a seat for the weekend!

Location: Cool Springs Conference Center
700 Cool Springs Blvd, Franklin, TN 37067 …. I cannot wait to see you!

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Sticky Notes for your Soul:

1 Hour of Live Worship Music

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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 Do You make Your home Into A Haven?

Christie Purifoy — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:34:44 +0000

A kind, wise friend, Christie Purifoy is one incredibly eloquent writer and an avid gardener but she will be the first to tell you that her most distinguished title would be “placemaker.” From her Victorian farmhouse in southeastern Pennsylvania, where I’ve had the joy of several times experiencing her welcoming hospitality, Christie digs in the dirt, putters around on her porch, savors sips of tea, and witnesses God’s everyday miracles—both big and small. It’s this sacred work that makes her home special. I’m delighted to welcome Christie to the farm table today as she shares reflections on how to make a house a home.

Guest Post by Christie Purifoy

You are welcome in this place.

Those were the words I seemed to hear whispered between two rows of sentinel maple trees when Jonathan and I first drove down the long driveway toward the comforting redbrick face of the house called Maplehurst.

Of course, I did not speak the language of trees then, and I am only a novice now, but I was aware from the beginning that here was a house we could call home.

Despite the summer heat wave and the heaviness of my unborn daughter, the dim, un-air-conditioned rooms beckoned like a spacious place. As I climbed one flight of stairs and another and another, as I stepped in and out of small attic bedrooms, I knew that if there was a life too large for this house, it would be a life I did not want.

Here was a house that could hold all of our dreams and desires, our love and our living. Even our grief would be welcome here.

We were not grieving then; we were simply desperate.

Our fourth baby was about to be born, but we did not want our life with her to begin in Florida, a place that sometimes felt like a wilderness and sometimes felt like an oasis of rest but never felt like home.

Here, then, was where our life as a family of six would begin and where it would grow. Here in this quiet green corner of Pennsylvania, in the redbrick house that Quaker farmers built, we would make a place together for ourselves and for others.

Florida had given too much of too few things: too much sunshine, too much heat, and row after row of unchangeable longleaf pine trees. I would have loved it for a vacation, but I did not know how to love it as a home.

In Pennsylvania, I found a place of constant, subtle alteration. Here, the seasons are always shifting, the clouds coming and going, the trees budding, greening, coloring, falling. And at the center of it all is the abiding stillness of the house.

Many years after our move to Maplehurst, my friend Amy—a friend I had known in Texas as a child and found again as a near neighbor in Pennsylvania—passed on to me something she had once heard a teacher say: seen from a certain angle, the Bible has only three chapters. The first is “Home.” The second is “Lost.” The third is “Home Again.”

“A faithful life is a journeying life.“

This is a universal story, and it has been for me a very personal story. A search for home first led us to a farmhouse at the top of a gentle hill, but this place has become the foundation for a life of continual homecoming and perpetual arrival, as if home is a house always able to welcome us into deeper versions of itself.

A faithful life is a journeying life.

It is, as an itinerant rabbi with no place to lay his own head once said, a Way, and as long as we are traveling, it is possible to become a little lost. You can stay in one place and still days will come when you do not know where you are. On those days when I feel lost again, the very same house that I have tended and repaired and tried to make beautiful has wrapped its arms around me. The same house I have given as comfort to others has offered its comfort to me.

And when I use the word comfort, I do not mean anything sentimental or self-indulgent. I am excavating the ancient origins of this word: fort means “strength.” Centuries before this word spoke to us of material ease, before we ever imagined comfort foods or getting out of our comfort zone, the earliest English-language Bibles used the name Comforter for God’s Spirit in our midst.

To give and receive comfort is to give and receive the deepest kind of strength, the kind necessary if we are to live our lives well. And a life well lived is a powerful force in a world desperate for meaning, direction, and hope. I try not to retreat into my home to hide—either from the world or from myself. I retreat into my home to rest, to heal, and to be replenished for another day of whole-hearted living. I like to think others have also found this kind of retreat here at Maplehurst. We are not all called to be placemakers, but we are all in need of the comfort good places can give.

When we first came to this Victorian farmhouse with three small children and one more on the way, I had an insistent question: does making a place matter?

Is it worth the sacrifice of time and energy and resources?

I know now that it does matter, that it matters very much, but I also know that life brings seasons of making, of unmaking, and of making anew.

Places are not static. They are more like people, more like trees, and they have a life of their own that must be tended so that they in turn can take care of us.

My latest book is about the life of one particular old house, the house I know best, the one that has been the making of me. Its life began before I ever came here, and its life will continue long after I am gone. The life of this house is utterly unique, and yet I am more and more convinced that all well-loved places can be havens for rest and welcome, healing and comfort.

With care and creativity, all houses can be called home.

I look forward to every word from Christie Purifoy and keep her books here in their own stack here on my coffee table… deeply life-giving.

Christie Purifoy is a writer, an avid gardener, and a self-proclaimed placemaker. She holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Chicago and has taught literature and composition at the undergraduate level. Her books include A Home in Bloom, Garden Maker, and Seedtime and Harvest. Christie explores her love of gardening and all things beautiful at her Victorian farmhouse in southeastern Pennsylvania.

With creativity and care, you can cultivate comfort in the house where you live.

Learn more about Christie and her new book here.

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

How Self–Brain Surgery Can Save Your Life

Dr. Lee Warren — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 16:46:53 +0000

Dr. Lee Warren, our friend, is a practicing neurosurgeon of 25 years, an Iraq War veteran, and a trauma survivor. In 2013, Lee found himself desperately lost and in despair after experiencing a parade of traumatic events: serving in the Iraq War (conducting 200+ brain surgeries in 125 days) and returning home with his mental health and his first marriage blown up, developing PTSD, and losing his teenage son, Mitch, in a horrific way. At that point, Lee’s faith and future felt painfully fragile. Hopelessness shadowed his daily routine, and he wasn’t sure if life could ever feel okay again. Then, Self-Brain Surgery^® saved his life. It reignited his hope, rebuilt his faith, and restored happiness he never expected to feel again. Today, when he’s not performing life-changing surgeries, Dr. Warren helps people connect neuroscience to faith for radical life transformation. It is a crazy joy to welcome Dr. Lee Warren to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Dr. Lee Warren

My wife, Lisa, and I were having coffee and checking our emails together one morning a few years ago, and I received a devotional that I read every day.

The devotional message was a lesson from Psalm 126: “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy” (verse 5, NIV). The steam from my coffee warmed my face, but inside I felt something warmer that’s hard to explain in words.

An idea was dawning inside me, something that felt like new life being created as the overwhelming truth of that promise filled my mind. I said to Lisa, “It’s really true!”

Lisa looked up from her iPad and said, “What’s true, honey?”

“Like the psalmist said, when you plant seeds even when you’re suffering, you’ll later see the harvest and rejoice.”

“Explain that,” she said.

I almost couldn’t believe it, how so much truth was dawning on me at once.

“We couldn’t imagine having the strength to go back to work after Mitch, our son, died, remember? The pastor gave a message on this same psalm, but its promise felt out of reach.”

“It is worth it to choose a thought that leads to flourishing over the one that triggers a well-worn but sick synapse…”

She nodded, “Of course. We cried all the time, even between patients during those first few weeks back.”

“Yes. But today we’re harvesting with joy. Look what’s happened!”

I started to cry then, the tears that come when you’re remembering something hard that has a different flavor now.

“We were so broken we didn’t think we could even make it through the first day, but somehow, we did. God kept giving us the strength. We never failed to make payroll. Our business, our other kids, and our marriage made it through. We’re helping people all over the world by telling our story. And, somehow, even though it doesn’t make sense because we’re still so sad about losing Mitch, we’re happy again. It’s a different happy, but it’s just as real.”

Lisa thought for a moment, then took my hand. “You’re right. It is a different happy, but it’s deeper too. We’ve been through something impossible together, and we made it. It’s amazing!”

Lisa and I have fought the good fight of survival, recovery, rekindling of faith, and restoration of hope, but we had to change our minds first. We had broken thoughts, and we believed for a time that life would always feel heavy and impossible.

This is the art of self–brain surgery—rewiring your brain with the power of your mind to find mental and emotional healing.

But we learned the truth that thoughts become things and that we had the power, by God’s good grace, to create different things in our lives by creating them in our minds first. And that’s how we made it through, despite sowing with tears.

So my message to you is this: It is worth it to change your mind, my friend.

It is worth it to choose a thought that leads to flourishing over the one that triggers a well-worn but sick synapse that produces anxiety, numbing behaviors, and the repetition of troubles that begin as thoughts and end up as unwanted feelings or actions.

This is the art of self–brain surgery—rewiring your brain with the power of your mind to find mental and emotional healing.

You are already practicing self–brain surgery with every thought you think, whether or not you are aware of or consciously directing it, and you can make the system work for you. I pray that you will practice this lifelong discipline to heal, help, and make whole the parts of you that are looking for answers.

“You can’t change your life until you change your mind. And the good news is, you can start today.“

I hope this practice will lead to a higher level of satisfaction and flourishing in every area of your life, as well as in the lives of the other patient-surgeons around you and those who come behind you.

It’s not always easy, but you do not have to be afraid. You overcome fear by training and practice, and you have an incredible gift: God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7, nkjv).

Self–brain surgery saved my life… and it can save or deeply improve yours.

You can’t change your life until you change your mind.

And the good news is, you can start today.

W. Lee Warren, MD, is a practicing neurosurgeon, an award-winning author, an Iraq War veteran, and the host of The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast. He teaches the art of connecting neuroscience, faith, and daily practices for leading a healthier and happier life.

• you’ve endured hard things that made you doubt God’s love and care, and you want to find hope and faith again

• you’re struggling with emotional health—anxiety, depression, loneliness, or grief—and you want to feel happier

• you or a loved one is facing chronic pain or an irreversible situation, and you need better ways to handle it

• you want to foster resilience in your children and teach them how to change their minds and brains

• you feel stuck and need tools to help you get moving again

Check out more from Dr. Lee Warren over on his blog, www.drleewarren.com, or on Substack, @drleewarren.

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

The Pursuit of a Savior Who Knows Our Sorrows

Kristin Demery, Kendra Roehl, and Julie Fisk — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:18:21 +0000

More than two decades ago, Kristin Demery, Kendra Roehl, and Julie Fisk were among those who gathered for a living-room Bible study started by Kendra and Kristin’s sister, Katrina. When Katrina died at 28, grief cracked their world wide open. Even as their hearts broke and the questions piled up, Jesus drew near—not distantly but intimately, as one who knows sorrow from the inside. It was his nearness, quiet companionship, and unexpected comfort in that season that deepened their faith and eventually drew them to write devotionals together. Through countless honest conversations and shared prayers, they learned that Jesus still walks with us in the places we’re afraid to name. He is still the one who comes close, who steps into our pain, who does not leave. Today, the trio continues to write out of that same place of honesty, inviting others into a life shaped by kindness, friendship, and a faith lived in community. Consider this book an invitation to meet Jesus in the very places you need him most. It’s my joy to welcome these three beautiful women to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Kristin Demery, Kendra Roehl, and Julie Fisk

The Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John 1:14

Sometimes, we struggle to see Jesus as having been fully human. Fully God, yes.

But human?

Did he feel that irrational flash of anger that swells in us when we accidentally stub our toe? Did he belly laugh at his brother’s corny jokes? Was he annoyed—even momentarily—when his friends woke him up from a well-deserved nap to calm the storm?

Did he ever long to be home with his family after spending so many nights on the road during his ministry?

In truth, it’s easier for me to see him as God despite his human form.

I think that’s why I love the story of Lazarus so much.

It’s not because Lazarus died and Jesus brought him back to life, although that is an amazing miracle. No, what I love most is Jesus’ response to Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha.

“Jesus lamented with his friends, and he laments with us when we experience the fullness of life’s sorrows. Fully God, fully man.“

Jesus had been delayed in returning to Bethany, and by the time he returned, Lazarus was dead. Even though Jesus already knew this and intended to raise Lazarus back to life, when Martha and then Mary confronted him, he was deeply moved.

Some translations say he was troubled, while others say he was angry. The Amplified Bible explains it in perhaps the most comprehensive way: “When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who had come with her also sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit [to the point of anger at the sorrow caused by death] and was troubled” (John 11:33, AMP).

He was so moved, in fact, that he responded by weeping.

As someone who has often felt the vulnerability of crying in front of others—even when I’d rather not—I appreciate this visible demonstration of Jesus’ humanity.

“Lent is a time of preparation... It’s not merely a season of self-denial; it’s a softening of our hearts that turns us back to God“

Nothing can convince me of his humanity more readily than the fact that when he saw someone in great pain, he responded with tears of his own. Even though Jesus knew how the situation would end, he met his friends in the moment. He responded to their grief with compassion. Another version of John 11:33 says that Jesus “groaned in the spirit” (NKJV). Jesus lamented with his friends, and he laments with us when we experience the fullness of life’s sorrows. Fully God, fully man.

While the passion and Easter demonstrate the fullness of Jesus as God and Savior, Lent reminds us of his humanity. As with Jesus’ encounter with Mary and Martha, even though we know how the story ends—that Jesus rose again—he meets us in our moment of sorrow over his suffering and death for us. And in doing so, he draws us back to himself.

Lent is a time of preparation.

It’s a period in which we practice giving up or sacrificing one thing in pursuit of something even better. It’s not merely a season of self-denial; it’s a softening of our hearts that turns us back to God. It’s only because of Lent that we’re ready for the celebration of Easter.

“God has no such limitations, and through Jesus, he brings that limitlessness to us—not, as people thought, as an earthly ruler but as a champion of grace, an endless expanse of mercy, a fathomless well of love.“

Only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus can we begin to comprehend the nature of God’s pursuit of us.

All of this began when the Word—that is, Jesus—became flesh and “made his home among us” (John 1:14). A home is a permanent dwelling place, not a waypoint or a rest area on the side of the road. It suggests comfort, ease, and security. Though he was God, Jesus took his place among us seriously. But, of course, he was meant for more than simply dwelling alongside humanity. The prophet Isaiah, in talking about the Messiah to come, framed it this way:

For a child has been born—for us!

the gift of a son—for us!

He’ll take over

the running of the world.

His names will be: Amazing Counselor,

Strong God,

Eternal Father,

Prince of Wholeness.

His ruling authority will grow,

and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.

Isaiah 9:6-7, MSG

By definition, our human nature has limitations. Our bodies need air to survive, water to drink, and food to sustain us. We cannot survive subzero or sweltering temperatures without taking shelter.

But God has no such limitations, and through Jesus, he brings that limitlessness to us—not, as people thought, as an earthly ruler but as a champion of grace, an endless expanse of mercy, a fathomless well of love.

As Isaiah says, there are no limits to the wholeness he brings. Only Jesus can bind our wounded hearts, soothe our fears, and inspire hope for the future.

There are no limits to his mercy, grace, love, compassion, forgiveness, and power—he was and is and is to come.

Though our pursuit of God benefits us, the relentlessness of his love, grace, and mercy means that he meets us in the moment, whenever and wherever that may be. And he does so with the full knowledge of what it is to be human, just as we are.

Lord Jesus, thank you for meeting us in the moment—today and every day.

During this Lenten season, may we be reminded not only of the reality of who you are as a divine God but also of the truth that you were fully human.

Thank you for loving us.

May we use the next few weeks to soften our hearts and be drawn to you as Savior, Lord, and friend.

Amen.

For Reflection: How does Jesus’ status as both fully God and fully man impact your understanding of Lent, the passion, and Easter? In what ways can you see both the limitations of humanity and the limitlessness of his divine nature?

Sacred Rhythms: As you walk through the next several weeks, notice your humanity—including your flaws, imperfections, and mistakes—but give yourself grace in all you observe.

Let Jesus meet you in those moments, knowing he understands and wants to face each instance by your side.

Kristin Demery, Kendra Roehl, and Julie Fisk are Central Minnesota authors, speakers, and friends whose lives are intertwined as writers, wives, moms, and world changers. Together, they are the creators of One Story Well Collective, where they share stories that celebrate kindness, faith, and authentic community. Collectively, they are moms to ten children, ranging in age from elementary school to adult, and are passionate about living their faith out loud through intentional acts of generosity, friendship, and gratitude.

Over the past decade, they have coauthored several books, including The One Year Daily Acts of Kindness Devotional, The One Year Daily Acts of Friendship, and their newest release, Sacred and Still: Embrace the Holy Rhythms of the Lenten Season.

Embrace the journey of grace, peace, and hope this Easter.

Jesus invites us to come to Him just as we are―open, unafraid, and ready to receive His boundless love.

In Sacred & Still, Kendra, Kristin, and Julie gently guide us through the season of Lent and unpack what Christ’s sacrifice ultimately means for us. Through this beautiful Christian devotional, explore the deep significance of Jesus’ crucifixion and delight in the celebration of His resurrection. As we make space for Jesus in our lives, we’ll rediscover the true meaning of Easter, empowering us to share Him with others.

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

In the Midst of Heartbreak: Where is God?

Ann Voskamp — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000

YOU NEVER CRY ALONE — no one ever, ever cries alone. Jesus weeps with you over every loss, every grief, every tragedy.

Maybe those are two of the most powerful words in all of Scripture, in all our suffering: “Jesus wept.”

In the midst of all kinds of excruciating heartache and devastating headlines — the real lifeline for all our heartbreak is:

Jesus comes, and Jesus sees, and Jesus weeps, and the reality is that Jesus didn’t just enter into the world; Jesus intimately enters into your hurting world, the world of your broken heart.

The wounds of your heart makes the God of heaven weep; and your heart has always wholly captivated His, because this is who He is, and has always been:

“When Jesus saw (Mary) weeping (after the death of her brother Lazarus), and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’

They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’

Jesus wept.” (John 11)

The moment invites you to feel His arms around you: Your tears move Jesus to tears.

No one in the history of the world has ever been more tender with the lines of your story, of heartbreaking stories, than the Word Himself.

No one in the history of the world has ever been more tender with the lines of your story, of heartbreaking stories, than the Word Himself.

Jesus, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3, ESV), physically knows what it’s like for a soul to groan, for a heart to howl. And there is incomparable comfort in it: Jesus comes to be with you and weep with you, because the gentle love of Jesus wants nothing more than to hold you through this.

The comfort we seek is always found in the arms of the co-suffering God.

And that’s what holds us: Jesus’ sovereignty over everything may cover us, but it’s Jesus’ solidarity with us in everything that comforts us.

And before He ever begins to work all things together for good, God weeps over with us what is altogether wrong.

Jesus weeps —- and, also, Jesus does more than just weep, and He feels more than just empathy with us in our grief. He is “deeply moved in spirit” not once but twice, both as He weeps with Mary – and as He moves toward Lazarus’ tomb. Mary’s grieving tears leave Jesus “greatly troubled,” the Greek verb for “greatly troubled” expressing a deeply felt passion, like a groaning within Himself.

And before He ever begins to work all things together for good, God weeps over with us what is altogether wrong.

Some translators even render it as “a deep anger” that “welled up within him” (NLT).

What is this anger, this passionate feeling, this raw mixture of grief and groaning and fury that roiled within Him?

Jesus wasn’t only weeping over Lazarus, because He knew He was about to miraculously raise Lazarus from the dead….

Jesus wasn’t just weeping for Martha and Mary, because He knew their devastated grief tears were about to turn to tears of delirious joy as He rose their brother, Lazarus, from the dead…

What was happening was staggering:

When Jesus was weeping, Jesus was seeing into the future, into every grave, every loss that would ever be, and Jesus was weeping with you.

When Jesus stood by a grave on this planet, Jesus saw you, Jesus thought of you, and He wept, furious over how losing your people, your beloveds, would hurt you.

With tears blurring His whole world, Jesus stands with each of us who will ever sit with deep loss, weeping hard, hating death as much as we do, and Jesus is ferociously angry, to hell and back, with the horror and havoc of death for each of us.

In your darkest valleys, feel how Jesus’ furious love hates all kinds of death too.

Standing there with heart- shattered Mary and Martha, Jesus knew the surreal miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection that was about to happen.

He knew their brother’s funeral procession was about to become a thrilling resurrection celebration; He knew who He is: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” He knew how those are the words that quake the darkest chambers of every heart awake. He knew that only one kernel of trust that He is the cosmic, great I Am, who lays down His life to kiss the universe back to life, is all the belief that is ever needed to rescue us, and revive us back to life.

But instead of telling Mary the miraculous breakthrough that was about to happen, Jesus, the weeping God, broke down with Mary.

True, Jesus points to the truth of the resurrection and eternal life — and yet: Jesus passionately weeps for all the griefs of life here and now.

Because God knows: Shared tears are always multiplied healing.

God knows: Shared tears are always multiplied healing.

And because Jesus knows you need one arm stretched out, pointing to the hope of forever Life beyond — and Jesus knows you need another arm wrapping ’round you right now, weeping with you right now, lovingly holding you with comfort right now.

And there is deep comfort in knowing that we are not alone: Whatever suffering you’re furious over, Jesus is furious too. However you’re mad at the heartbreak in this broken world, Jesus is mad too. And because Jesus is mad at heartbreak, and because Jesus is madly in love with you, Jesus’ love for you drives Him to war against all the suffering in the world—for you.

To love is to suffer, which means that the only seeming way to end the problem of a world that suffers would be to have a world devoid of love, and devoid of all the lovers.

But your God, who is Love Himself, puts on skin and enters the story of the world and the tender places of your story, and ultimately goes to the Cross to absorb all the dark, and begin the revolution to end all suffering we have ever known.

Jesus, who is Love and who loved the very most, suffered the very most, to love you into the fullest life.

Love Himself not only catches every single one of your tears; He also weeps with you, His tears watering a new way of being, a new way of life.

A resurrection.

~ an excerpt from Day 20 of “Loved to Life: a 40-Day Pilgrimage with Love Himself that Will Change Your Life”

In the Midst of Loss, There’s a Way to be Loved to Life

In the midst of hurting days, in the midst of 365 days in a year — there is this invitation, to just 40 Days with Jesus — to be Loved to Life .

This 40-Day Pilgrimage with Jesus through the book of John, is your invitation to come right now & touch the hem of Jesus — & to let Him touch your wounds, touch your tender places, touch your tears with His own gentle love that weeps with you — & touch you with His own healing and hope.

Come, your year will thank you:
40-Days with Jesus to be Loved to Life, & experience healing in your one & only life, that only He can bring. Come be Loved to Life.

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {01.24.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 15:54:03 +0000

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 Zac Cain

Ahhhh — to exhale with a brunch with all of your people this weekend may be just the reset you need for this upcoming week!

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

Spectacular aurora captured from space

WOW! The heavens declare the glory of God!

THE BARBER WHO LISTENS

This is incredible!

For your brunch this week

“Homemade Honey Butter Cheddar Biscuits”

These look so good!!

These Shots are crazy!!

Don’t miss this loveliness this weekend!

A little bit of this today?

View this post on Instagram

5 Habits for Better Prayer in 2026

Don’t we all need this?

Our Daughter-in-Love, Aurora, Is Offering this LOVELINESS That’s Perfect for a winter Weekend!

I love this!

View this post on Instagram

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

The Light Has Come — Don’t Let the Darkness Win

“THE PAPER ROUTE“

Grasping The Limitless Love Of God

So good!

YES!

God is so good!

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

Faith that Endures | Francis Chan & Joni Eareckson Tada

Today’s Thoughts Become Tomorrow’s Habits

We need to proclaim it

YES!! THIS!!

Rise and Shine

Write a letter this week!

Creative Bits for you this week

So fun!

I love this!

This is amazing!

We need more of this!

Just lovely…

So fun!

I Need to make this!

The cutest!

The perfect gift!

Join thousands of us in reading through the Bible this year!

Resources for you this week:

do you want to Rewatch Passion 2026!!!

View this post on Instagram

Click here to watch!

Do you want to embark on something that will truly change your life this year? Read through God’s word with thousands of us!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

Phil Wickham, Crowder – It Really Is Amazing Grace

Beautiful

WOW! This!

Such a soul exhale

So life-giving!

So talented!

This will be on repeat in your house!

Recipes to try this new year:

“Honey Garlic Chicken“

So yummy!

Let’s try something new!

I need to make this!

YES! I love this!

This year!

A Blueberry Latte?

Is it too early for Valentine’s Day Inspo?

So many fun recipes and decor to try this year!

These look so good!

So fun!

You need to make these!

The cutest!

How to Thaw (& Why Your Heart Can’t Afford to Grow Cold)”

Post of the week from these parts:

“Coming Storms in a Cold World?

You too been hearing the forecasts in all kinds of ways? The weather forecast… and the world’s forecast?

You too been wondering what to do — how to survive all kinds of storms, local and global?

Then this will kindle and deeply warm your heart…

Maybe don’t leave the internet this weekend without reading this one….

What You Can Do in the Midst of Everything: READ THIS!

Friends!! You Asked! And They are Finally Here!

Order one shipped right to your door…. or download yours for FREE right here!

you can’t help but smile:

Laughing so hard!

Nope, not today!

On repeat!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

“My Generation’s Digital Boredom Makes Us Spiritually Hungry”

Change

THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS BEFORE IT’S GOOD ADVICE

He just questioned

Daily Transformation

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

SO BE IT | Elevation Worship (feat. Tiffany Hudson & Chris Brown)

O Praise the Name

On the book shelf this week at the farm:

What If Times of Spiritual Dryness Are Actually Part of God’s Plan? In When God Seems Distant: Surprising Ways God Deepens Our Faith and Draws Us Near:
· Discover how to reframe times when God feels distant
· Go beyond willpower and habit modification to true spiritual growth
· Learn to live in, not just through, fallow times

If you have found yourself in the desert, desperately longing for the living waters Jesus promises, When God Seems Distant: Surprising Ways God Deepens Our Faith and Draws Us Near will assure you that God is not absent–and you may be on the cusp of experiencing a deeper faith.

I Choose Love shows readers that love is not just an idea or an intention—it’s a daily choice. Drawing from Scripture, Chip Ingram explains how real love means giving others what they need most, even when it’s difficult or costly. With practical teaching and biblical clarity, the book helps readers learn how to choose agape love in real-life relationships.

If you’re weary of living at the mercy of your emotions and longing for a love that remains steady, faithful, and true—formed by the heart of God— I Choose Love is for you.

Just $15!

You won’t want to miss this conference!

Do you want to join us this year!!

Friends! Maybe some of you want a road trip this summer? Come join me!

The Gosple Coalition Women 2026

Check out the course here! So many options!

These sales are crazy! Grab Yours today!

“the S.A.C.R.E.D HABIT: the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of”

In the WayMaker Online Bible Study you’ll journey with Ann Voskamp to discover a S.A.C.R.E.D daily habit that will reorient your soul to God through Scripture, prayer, and study.

Find a way – the Way – to deeper intimacy with God… do we need anything more than this?

A six-session video Bible study

Get lifetime access to the streaming videos, plus bonus free resources

WayMaker Study Guide + Book Bundle

This bundle is just $30! CRAZY!

These are the best little journals for the new year!

You’ve got to have a way to keep your heart from growing Cold:

SACRED Prayer: 90 days of deeper intimacy with God

In days like these, we’ve got to daily keep our hearts from growing cold.

Grab yours for just $9!

The Best Litte Gratitude Journal Your Year Really Needs This one

Grab yours for only $12 : And you have a year of 1000 Gifts!

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

This has been on repeat this week in our house

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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 Rest in God When You Can’t Seem to Find Him

Kyle Strobel John Coe — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 15:46:18 +0000

You know, there are seasons when God feels so near — and others when His presence feels quiet, even distant. Kyle Strobel is one of my professors in my doctoral program at Talbot School of Theology and is shaping how I understand living my life in the life of God and has helped me see those dry places in life not as abandonment but as invitation. Today, he offers a gracious re-framing of what’s happening when consolation fades and the desert appears. It’s a joy to welcome Kyle to the farm table today.

Guest Post by Kyle Strobel

In my life with the Lord I have known seasons that were immensely full of life, joy, and a peace beyond words. But I have also known seasons where God seems entirely absent.

I have walked through times where everything I did devotionally felt dry as dust.

Unfortunately, rather than asking, “What is the Lord doing in this?” I tended to assume He wasn’t doing anything at all in these dark places.

What I missed was that this was an invitation into something more.

The Lord was calling me to Himself in love.

Imagine yourself afloat on a lake, sailing across the water on a beautiful summer day.

The wind of the Spirit fills your sails and carries you along across the tranquil and serene water with the waves gently lapping against the side of your boat. You don’t feel inhibited by everything else going on in your life because you are taken in by the beauty and freedom of the day. You are at peace. Whatever worries normally crowd your consciousness have faded, and you are captivated and at rest in the glory of God’s creation.

Now imagine that the water quickly drains out of the lake, and hidden things begin to emerge. An old, rusted-out car is slowly revealed. You see an old bike, a broken fishing rod, and other less interesting things that were sent to the bottom of the lake to be forgotten. Your boat strikes a rock, and it appears that your perfect day is ruined. Stuck in mud, what was once an experience of life and freedom now feels like being trapped and going nowhere.

These two experiences mirror what Christians have called “consolation” and “desolation.”

What we don’t realize about consolation—as we are in the midst of it—is that the pleasure and excitement of the Lord lifts us from experiencing the brokenness and sinfulness of our souls. Like the day on the lake, the consolation of the Lord releases us to be driven along freely by the Spirit. This is an incredible gift!

“Our failure is not a place to despair but an opportunity to seek the Lord and know his faithfulness.“

We hear a sermon, and even if it is a really hard word to hear, naming the very things we struggle with, there is a deep and abiding “Yes!” in our souls. This allows us to freely embrace the call of obedience. If the sermon exposes our failures, we don’t despair because in this moment of consolation, we are carried along by the wind and the waves of God’s pleasure.

Our failure is not a place to despair but an opportunity to seek the Lord and know his faithfulness. We may know what lies beneath the surface of our lives, or we might not, but that is far from our mind as we are swept up in the Spirit’s consolation.

When consolation fades—like the water draining out of the lake—and the Lord gives us the gift of desolation (and yes, it really is a gift), things change. Like a good parent disciplining their child, the Lord allows for pleasure and excitement to wane. Just as Israel walked through the consolation of the plagues against their captors, coming to know the freedom and exhilaration of deliverance, we are told that he then leads them into the desert to show them what is in their hearts (Deut. 8:2).

In the desert, when things are dry and life isn’t going to plan, what was hidden in the depths emerges. The truth of our character, and the pains and sinfulness we have internalized, come forth as we are being called into a deeper kind of formation. We imagine that the Spirit’s work will always feel like sailing on the lake. When the water drains and we no longer feel the pleasure of his presence, we assume we’ve been abandoned until we clean up the swamp. This is the problem so many Christians find debilitating.

There is, however, a different way to understand what happens when the water level decreases.

We could look at things from a different angle.

“When the water drains, you are called into something deeper, and the Lord is revealing something more to your soul than you currently know. “

You are gaining insight into the terrain of the lake, and you are discovering truths hidden beneath the surface—clues to all that has happened before and how the past has given shape to the lake in ways you haven’t attended to. If your focus is solely on having a nice day sailing, it will feel like your day is ruined. You wanted sun, waves, light, and the feeling of the wind on your face, and so the mud, junk, and rocks emerging from the bottom feel like the day is lost. But if you attend to the sunken car, the cave hidden beneath the surface, and the other oddities you discover, there are stories and wonders hidden all around you. If your heart is set on discovery, it could be that your day is really just beginning. If you are concerned with the truth, having it uncovered does not ruin the day but is an invitation into something more.

When the water drains, you are called into something deeper, and the Lord is revealing something more to your soul than you currently know.

The Lord is illuminating what you avoid when left to your own devices, and he is showing you that these are not things to ignore but the path to growth in him.The Lord is calling you to Himself in the truth of your pain, brokenness, and sin. He is calling you to a life of abiding in the vine and bearing the fruit of God’s life in and through yours.

This is your invitation into love—a love that calls you out of hiding to be known and embraced.

When consolation fades the Lord is showing us what is in our hearts, and this can be difficult to navigate. Most of us think we have just done something wrong or think that the Lord is calling us to get our acts together and fix our lives. But that is the flesh.

Instead, the Lord is calling us to himself in the truth, so that we can learn the lesson he sets out so clearly: “the one who is forgiven much can love much” (Luke 7:47).

“The only way to walk with the Lord is to increasingly see the truth of our sin and brokenness and to lay these down as we embrace Christ.“

Seeing the bottom of the lake – the bottom of our hearts – is to discover the places of pain, sin, and rebellion that the Lord met us in when we gave our lives to Jesus. But now he is calling these things forth because he does not leave us in our sin and brokenness.

The Lord is too loving for that.

He knows that the path of love is the path of knowing how much we need forgiveness, and so this struggle is the place we discover his power in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

The only way to walk with the Lord is to increasingly see the truth of our sin and brokenness and to lay these down as we embrace Christ.

This is a difficult path to walk, but the Lord reveals that this is the path of love, a love deeper and more profound than many dare to know.

What might it look like for you, right now, to embrace this journey into love, especially in seasons when God seems distant?

Embrace the Lord’s invitation to know his forgiveness and love where you actually need it.

Kyle Strobel is the director of the Institute for Spiritual Formation at Talbot School of Theology.

Most Christians experience zeal early in their Christian life, but when that fades to a season of dryness, it’s tempting to assume one of two things: We have failed or God is absent.

This article was adapted from When God Seems Distant: Surprising Ways God Deepens Our Faith and Draws Us Near, co-authored by Kyle and John Coe. Kyle can be found at kylestrobel.substack.com.

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

Coming Storms in a Cold World? How to Thaw (& Why Your Heart Can’t Afford to Grow Cold)

Ann Voskamp — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 18:48:47 +0000

The water froze for my flock of sheep yesterday. My fingertips burn with January cold as I pick away at the ice. Strangely, the world can feel deeply heated and icy all at the same time.

Storms blowing in can make us turn inward—to build, through a million little decisions, our own little ice castles of self-protection – where we think we’re safe and secure, but no water still runs, and we end up dying of thirst inside our own defenses.

At the far end of the sheep fold, I try cracking the water well’s ice with my feed pail, with the heel of my boot. But the silver circle of ice, frozen in the standing water well at end of the sheep fold, refuses to budge. And somehow, my sheep need water, the mama ewes, Jewel and Krown, and their lambs, all the lambs, standing there by the hay rack, slowly chewing their cud, they need the water to somehow still run, even in these temperatures. Somehow, even when the world grows cold, the flock still has to drink.

” Forecasts can predict, but there’s a Good Shepherd who always protects all of His sheep. “

I haul back to the house through more than 2 feet of snow. Some forecasts are calling for another 10 to 20 cm of snow to fall tomorrow, more than another half foot. Other forecasts are calling for all kinds of things to fall, to keep falling, collapse, implode, for things as we’ve known, for all the ways we’ve always known, to begin to crumble and fall away. Forecasts can predict, but there’s a Good Shepherd who always protects all of His sheep.

I need a pitcher or two of steaming hot water to thaw out the frozen standing well. The mama ewes and their lambs are out there in the wee barn standing against the biting winds of a January clipper, counting on a shepherd to remember, to care, to come.

I stuff one glove in a pocket, keep the other glove on, keep my snowsuit on, my touque on, only slip my winter boots off in the mudroom, before I stumble into the kitchen, the sharp cold of my glasses fogging up in this meeting with warmth and hearth. Coldness has a tendency to always leave you blind.

“Coldness has a tendency to always leave you blind.“

After the water boils, I balance two full steaming pitchers of hot water in each hand, as I try to stand and slide back into my boots, try to manage the back door, the back steps, back out into the snow coming down.

Bending down at the fence at the edge of the sheepfold, I leave one pitcher of hot water to make a deep indent deep into a drift of snow, and I juggle the other one as I climb over, straddle the fence, dangle back over the fence to reach for the other pitcher, then kneel down in the snow by the sheep’s water well, and begin to slowly pour. The hope of heat over ice.

That’s what’s needed right now:

A slow and steady thaw.

Fears, and future forecasts of what could be coming, can freeze us, rumors of scarcity can harden us, pursuit of self-interest alone can make us grow cold.

When our love for each other grows cold, we trade the protection of the living God, for our own self-protective ice castles — and the world becomes a winter where no living water runs.

When there’s all kinds of lawlessness – when respect for human dignity erodes, when “the least of these” are treated as disposable, when justice for the vulnerable falls by the wayside, when the world is predominantly about might and not mercy – then the love of many will grow cold.

And when our love for each other grows cold, human respect collapses, common civility falls, cruelty becomes bureaucratized—and a society learns too late that personal indifference is how the cold dark wins.

When our love for each other grows cold, self becomes the center, relations with others become transactions with agendas, and our common life together ices over with fear.

When our love for each other grows cold, we trade the protection of the living God, for our own self-protective ice castles — and the world becomes a winter where no living water runs.

What will warm our hearts again, what will ignite our hearts again?

When our love for each other grows cold, self becomes the center, relations with others become transactions with agendas, and our common life together ices over with fear.

“By Your fire, You consume every trace of self-love in the soul. You are a Fire which drives away all coldness…” is what Catherine of Siena writes.

By the pure flame of God’s love, our impure motives and self-love that curves us inward is burned away, and the fire of His love thaws what’s frozen—until our love runs warm and free.

My yearling ram, the one with that curly shag hanging too low over his eyes, Meschach, he nuzzles my cheek, as I’m kneeled down in the snow, slowly pouring the steaming water down the well spout, all frozen rock solid with ice.

And I can see it, the thermal transfer. Conduction. The direct contact of hot water with ice. Then, just at the edges at first, the impossible: a ragged, gentle melting of the rock of ice.

Pour a bit more.

I try to work my fingers around the icy edge, try to gently pry. Little Jemmie, a yearling ewe, is standing on her hind legs, front hooves hanging over the top rail of the fence, pawing at my back, trying to get my attention.

“Just a … Jemmie… just a minute here, Jemmie… I’ve almost got this…. ice… out… “

And the disc of ice slips… and pops!

Cold hearts rationalize and demonize; warm hearts humanize and recognize and magnify… the face of God in every face.

Water runs. Water Fills. Jemmie, Meschach, and the lambs come in close to drink, drink, drink.

But by 8 am today, the water’s frozen again and by 8:30 am, I’m boiling water again, and, in temperatures like these, these days, you have to have a way to thaw your heart wide open again every single day.

Unless you daily have a way to keep your heart thawed, to keep the living waters running, you won’t make it, you can’t make it.

We’ve got to daily keep our hearts thawed if we’re to keep being human and humane. Warmth isn’t weakness; warmth is absolutely vital—because what is the reality of true human vitality, if not a heart warm with love?

You’ve got to have a way to daily keep your heart thawed, in this kind of climate, because a cold heart is how love collapses – how life, as we all know it, falls.

Coldness isn’t merely some lack of feeling; it’s the self becoming the center of gravity, instead of the ways of Christ, the true gravity of the Kingdom that will never fall.

We’ve got to daily keep our hearts thawed, because any power without genuine warmth is dangerous, because hasn’t it been proven time and again: “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Cold hearts rationalize and demonize; warm hearts humanize and recognize and magnify… the face of God in every face.

You’ve got to daily keep your heart thawed, because coldness is how a life becomes dangerously curved inward. Coldness isn’t merely some lack of feeling; it’s the self becoming the center of gravity, instead of the ways of Christ, the true gravity of the Kingdom that will never fall.

Isn’t stoking our love of Christ the only thing that can make a heart burn?

Doesn’t the heart burn only when Christ is its flame? When has self-love ever made living water run?

As the ice melts and the water in the standing well runs again, as the lambs drink, I pet the necks of Jemmie and Meshach, sheep pressing in close and grateful to their shepherd. I linger, looking into their eyes, loving this petting them, loving them loving this, and me, and fearing nothing in this world because there is the heat of His perfect love.

And when I come into the warmth of the house, slide out of my snowsuit, when I sit down at my old blacksmith table that’s now my desk, I open up the journal, SACRED Prayer… and I still… simply slow and still….

And I pick up my pen, and begin this daily journaling of SACRED prayer, feel my heart thaw again, feel it ignite again, in the presence of my own Good Shepherd who leads me daily beside these still waters.

And even in days like these, still hearts can feel the sacred joy of getting to drink, drink, drink.

You’ve got to have a way to keep your heart from growing Cold:

SACRED Prayer: 90 days of deeper intimacy with God

In days like these, we’ve got to daily keep our hearts from growing cold.

In days like these we cannot afford to not be growing deeper intimacy, communion, and connection with God. SACRED Prayer will warm and ignite your heart by:

Reducing stress and worry and increasing your peace
Aligning your thoughts and actions with His Word
Growing your relationship with and faith in God
Transforming you to be more like Jesus

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

Pick up SACRED Prayer& pick up a beautifully different kind of new year — full of much hope, no fear, and endless living waters!

Love That Lasts: Choosing Agape in a Divided World

Chip Ingram — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:21:23 +0000

C.S. Lewis once said, “To love at all is to be vulnerable.” Yet too often, love in our lives is fleeting, conditional, or misunderstood. Scripture shows us that early Christians chose love even in the hardest circumstances, demonstrating grace, humility, and unity with one another. How do we cultivate that kind of steadfast, intentional love today? A love that strengthens relationships and unites believers in purpose? In this excerpt from I Choose Love, pastor and author Chip Ingram takes us to God’s Word, offering practical guidance to love others as God first loved us.

Guest Post by Chip Ingram

One of God’s greatest joys is when His children love each other.

If you’re a parent, you can probably understand why.

Theresa and I have four children, and our oldest are fraternal twins, Eric and Jason. When they were young, they slept in the same room, wore matching clothes, had the same haircuts, and shared many of the same friends. As they grew older, they shared a lot of the same experiences.

They also fought.

A lot.

They teased and provoked each other. Jason was bigger than Eric, so he tried to make his brother do all kinds of things he didn’t want to do himself.

They lived in a constant state of tension.

Once when Theresa and I went away for a weekend, the boys especially got under each other’s skin, and not surprisingly, they ended up in a fight. At some point in all the wrestling and pushing, one of them put a fist or an elbow through the wall, and they did a pretty good job of patching it up.

When we returned, they acted as if nothing had happened, although we did wonder why they were standing against a wall in an awkward position. It wasn’t until they were grown that they finally confessed. They were kind of shocked that we never even noticed the damage.

“…since God is the ultimate Father who even defines Himself by His love, we can be certain that He gets a lot of joy when His people love each other too.“

Theresa grew up with two sisters. So did I. We weren’t quite sure what to make of all the fighting. I remember Theresa asking me once if I thought they would ever love each other, and I tried to reassure her.

“Of course, honey,” I said, trying to sound convinced. “This is normal at their age.” “Normal?” she said. “They’re in the next room arguing and wrestling on the floor!”

They eventually grew out of it, but the thought of them having a loving relationship with each other still seemed like a stretch.

But when Jason was a young adult and was preparing to move to Nashville to pursue a career in music, he performed a concert at our church. One of the songs he sang that night was a song he had written to Eric about how much he loved him.

Theresa and I sat in the front row, bawling. To this day, they are best friends, and all those years of wondering if they would ever stop trying to hurt each other are a distant memory.

Few things stress parents out more than their children fighting each other, and few things bring greater joy to parents than their children loving each other. And since God is the ultimate Father who even defines Himself by His love, we can be certain that He gets a lot of joy when His people love each other too.

We live in a world that seems more divided than ever, and in many ways, the church is nearly as divided as the world. We may strive for unity, and we may even hold it as one of our highest ideals (though some don’t seem to care about it very much), but no one has been very successful at resolving divisions in the world or the church. And for the church, a people who are called to represent the nature of God and live on earth as the body of Christ, that’s a problem.

In fact, it’s more than a problem. It’s a crisis.

“One of God’s greatest joys is to see His children love each other. “

Few things rob us of our joy like disunity; and few things discredit our testimony to the world like disunity. Unless Christians are able to live in love and unity, the world has every right to say, “I don’t believe in your Jesus.”

There’s a lot at stake.

One of God’s greatest joys is to see His children love each other.

The night before Jesus was crucified, He prayed a sweeping, profound prayer that expressed His greatest desires for His followers.

We get to eavesdrop on that prayer in John’s gospel, and Jesus begins with a summary of His ministry and how He has fulfilled it. He then asks the Father to protect and preserve the faith of His followers in this hostile world. But the climax of the prayer is His request for the three-way relationship between His followers, Himself, and the Father: “That they may be one, just as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me” ( John 17:22–23).

In other words, that believers would be united with Jesus and each other in the same way that Jesus and the Father are united.

Unity. Loving each other. Demonstrating the love of God as evidence to the world that Jesus is real. That’s a prayer only we can answer.

It’s an amazing prayer, and if we look just at the surface, we might wonder if it will ever be answered.

Across the board, believers do not appear to be united on much of anything, even within the same denominations and churches. The spiritual reality in Jesus’ prayer is that Christians around the world already are united with Jesus and each other. True believers are family, born of the same Spirit. But demonstrating that unity is another matter.

You play a part in answering that prayer—in your family, at work, in your community, at church, everywhere.

Every one of us is called to embody the love and unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our relationships with Him and other believers. And even though we are commanded to be separate from the world, we are called to express the love of God that flows from our union with Him.

Chip Ingram is the teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry. A pastor for more than thirty years, Chip is the author of many books, including Holy Ambition and I Choose Joy. Chip and his wife, Theresa, have four grown children and twelve grandchildren and live in California.

If you’re weary of living at the mercy of your emotions and longing for a love that remains steady, faithful, and true—formed by the heart of God— I Choose Love is for you.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {01.17.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 18:42:50 +0000

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 Ian Schneider

Photo by Colby Thomas

Photo by Donnie Rosie

Photo by Joel & Jasmin Førestbird

Photo by simon

Ahhhh — to exhale with the beauty of winter… us made whiter than snow by Him.

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

THE MAN WHO WEARS THOSE SHIRTS

5 Must-Do Hikes in Europe in 2025: The Best Trails for Nature Lovers

Anyone up for a trip?

Change

View this post on Instagram

Baby Penguin Tries To Make Friends

Do you want to embark on something that will truly change your life this year? Read through God’s word with thousands of us!

This is incredible!

This classic beef stew will be a lifesaver this cold January

Such great ideas- LOVE THIS!

How To Stop All Procrastination: Dear You Trying to Do that Hard Thing in the New Year

This is YOUR MUST READ OF THIS WEEK!

Look How Beautiful Humans Being Can Be!

View this post on Instagram

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

Growing In Spiritual Disciplines

You won’t want to miss this read!

Tara-Leigh Cobble: Why Jesus’ Birth Changes Everything

Friends? Join me?

YES!

We can trust

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

The Sin Everyone Tolerates

The Book of Psalms Is the Bible’s ‘Little Bible’

Don’t Plan Your Year—Plan Your ‘Season’

What a read!

Can we do this more?

Creative Bits for you this week

A darling Hat

The cutest little House

This is amazing!

So talented!

A nursery idea?

Check out the course here!

Resources for you this week:

Have you been thinking about the new year at all? Here are some resources to help you Walk into this new year!

“the S.A.C.R.E.D HABIT: the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of”

In the WayMaker Online Bible Study you’ll journey with Ann Voskamp to discover a S.A.C.R.E.D daily habit that will reorient your soul to God through Scripture, prayer, and study. In this six-week study you will learn:

S – Stillness to Know God

A – Attentiveness to Hear God

C – Cruciformity to Surrender to God

R – Revelation to See God

E – Examine to Return to God

D – Doxology to Thank God

This powerful spiritual practice will become a directing compass through the hard seasons when it feels like there is no way – only to find you have a WayMaker making an unexpected way into the life you’ve only dreamed of.

WayMaker Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video

Life-changing bestseller for $14!!

WayMaker Study Guide + Book Bundle

This bundle is just $30! CRAZY!!

Or Grab the premium bundle which includes, WayMaker, the Study Guide, and Sacred Prayer

Just $45 right now! This sale is wild!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

Tenth Avenue North – “Control”

Beautiful!

This is adorable

So moving!

This will be on repeat in your house!

Recipes to try this new year:

Creamy Wild Rice Chicken Soup with Roasted Mushrooms

This is comfort

A must make!

Wanna try something new?

LOVE THIS!

this looks so good!

Something to try this new year:

Soft and gentle ways to maybe help you this year- AND some really fun things too!

So meaningful!

Love this so much!

Birthday Tradition!

Elevate your notebooks!

What You Can Do in the Midst of Everything: READ THIS!

Post of the week from these parts:

“How To Find Joy On Hard Days: Your Free Joy Calendars 2026″

I can’t stop thinking about what a woman tells me over dinner last week:

“I can’t explain how it’s changed my life, Ann: Only when I keep counting gifts, do I learn how to keep counting it all joy.”

I set my glass of water down on the table like she’s just dropped her mic.

This is God-Math: Unless you’re counting your gifts and gratitudes, you don’t know how to count it all joy in your trials.

Friends!! You Asked! And They are Finally Here!

Order one shipped right to you or download for FREE here!

you can’t help but smile:

The sweetest thing ever!

His reaction!

Tear jerking!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

Join me in prayer for our brothers and sisters in christ

Don’t Settle for Bare Minimum Spirituality

Francis Chan Opens Up About the Lord’s Supper

WOW! On repeat!

We need this reminder!

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

Crushing Snakes FT. Crowder and Taya

“Always” feat. Jessie Harris, Gateway Worship

You won’t want to miss this conference!

Do you want to join us this year!!

Friends! Maybe some of you want a road trip this summer? Come join me!

The Gosple Coalition Women 2026

Grab yours for only $12 : And you have a year of 1000 Gifts!

These sales are crazy! Grab Yours today!

Come and be Loved to Life: A 40-Day Pilgrimage with Love Himself That Will Change Your Life

Just $16 right now!

These are the best little journals for the new year!

“Sacred Prayer”

Grab yours for less than $9

The Best Litte Gratitude Journal Your Year Really Needs This one

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

Cozy winter homemaking

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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 Joy On Hard Days: Free Joy Calendar 2026

Ann Voskamp — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 20:24:01 +0000

I can’t stop thinking about what a woman tells me over dinner last week:

“I can’t explain how it’s changed my life, Ann: Only when I keep counting gifts, do I learn how to keep counting it all joy.”

I set my glass of water down on the table like she’s just dropped her mic.

This is God-Math: Unless you’re counting your gifts and gratitudes, you don’t know how to count it all joy in your trials.

This is God Math:

Unless you’re counting your gifts and gratitudes, you don’t know how to count it all joy in your trials.

Headlines talk of attacks and wars and AI domination, you can feel it, like we are all on some edge of shifting, tectonic change, and who knows how things will unfold? Someone I love painfully struggles to recover from a devastating stroke. Someone I love doesn’t call anymore and silence can slice the deepest. Someone I love is in the midst of a crisis and their whole world just detonated and how do you love well when things seem anything but well?

I just confess: Trials have this way of making your mental math all wrong, because trials twist how, and what, your mind all counts.

When you’re under stress, your brain starts doing only Stress-Arithmetic. Stress-Math says this painful season equals a permanent sentence; says what is hard now equals what will always be.

I nod slowly and that’s what I want to tell my friend across the table who’s quietly pouring dressing in this neat circle over her caesar salad:

Stress-Math has this tendency to make your hardships greater than your worship.

“Yeah, I mean, all the trials, all the time — and instead of doing God-Math and counting gifts, so that I can count it all joy…. I can actually end up doing this: Stress-Math that subtracts the strengths, supports, and solace you still have, so you count the crisis more than all kinds of capacities.”

Because sure: Survival focus can be helpful, but it also can create this Stress-Math that tends to subtract your world down to feeling like it’s only what’s hard.

Stress-Math has this tendency to make your hardships greater than your worship.

I’ve been there and, honestly, it’s really hard not to stay there:

Trials can turn out the light — so you feel like life is just all dark rooms.

And yet, isn’t greater reality that:

Doing the God Math of counting gifts doesn’t once deny that dark rooms are real; doxology just dares to open the doors, to more good possibility that’s beyond the doors.

When in the dark, doxology dares to open the door to the light of more.

“When in the dark, doxology dares to open the door to the light of more. “

Maybe, when I look back and look around, this is the math that always keeps mathing: Trials often equal despair. And counting gifts and gratitude defiantly multiples hope.

So, I’m this fool in upending days who leans into the Upside-Down Kingdom of God (because what is believing other than really leaning in and leaning the whole of your life on the counter-culture ways of God?) — and I dare to still keep looking for the light of the Kingdom of God, and then write down the glimmers of light and grace there in each square of the Joy Dare Calendar, and that’s what ended up running like a refrain through my days all last week:

Unless you’re counting your gifts and gratitudes, you don’t know how to count it all joy in your trials.

Can I find 3 lovely gift today that I overheard? A gift old, new, blue? A gift from something I’m reading, seeing, making? Dare to look for gifts that bring joy and you dare the dark to confess that there is still defiant, resilient light.

A toddler’s crinkled nose and giddy giggle… our daughter quietly playing Ode to Joy on the piano… the sheep baaaaaing for me as I open the back door…

“When we give thanks for goodness in the world —we’re likely to literally become more of the goodness in the world. “

And even in the swirl of things, as I dare to trying to keep opening the doors of the dark rooms of my life and looking for the light, I can testify: Everything changes when we look for one good thing — because that good thing is always a God thing.

And that’s how the equation of everything starts to change in the most unexpected ways, and I can’t get over how strange God Math works in the world:

When we give thanks for goodness in the world — we’re likely to literally become more of the goodness in the world.

It’s no small things to realize: Research indicates that giving thanks can increase real giving, helping behavior—even when that giving kindness isn’t easy — and studies show that expressing gratefulness makes people more likely to give great kindnesses again.

In other words, giving thanks doesn’t only change how we feel; it can change how we act.

“If we really want a society that’s a joy to live in, now is the time for every single one of us to radically practice intentional acts of kindness to bring joy to just one other person every single day — which changes society. “

It’s brought me up short and I can’t shake it these days as I dare to keep this daily practice of gratitude: Daring to look for good to give thanks for isn’t some merely optional nicety, it’s an absolutely critical necessity.

Because:

Thankfulness doesn’t just make you feel good — it actually moves you to do good.

Giving thanks doesn’t just make us feel more joy, it literally makes us more giving and kind, which imparts more joy to the world….

Daring to count gifts … moves you to actually become more of a kind gift, which is to say: a daily practice of gratitude grows to become a practice of daily kindness — and isn’t that exactly what the world direly needs more of right now?

The emotion of thankfulness for good and grace and gifts in the world, is precisely what puts us in motion to actually be a gift of more good and grace in the world. Isn’t that the invitation we all need to say yes to right about now?

And in the midst of a cold January spell of snow and wind and storm after storm, I find myself making these little treat boxes that hold a candle, a tea bag, several wrapped cookies, and a typed out prayer to slip in a pocket… and surprising others with this intentional act of kindness.

And it doesn’t seem like much, and it doesn’t at all seem like enough, but THIS IS THE THING:

If we really want a society that’s a joy to live in, now is the time for every single one of us to radically practice intentional acts of kindness to bring joy to just one other person every single day — which changes society.

If we want a society that brings joy — how is every single one of us being a gift of kindness who brings joy to someone today?

When we daily dare to live into this long sleuth and hunt for the good — we actually become more of the good this whole world’s longing for.

Counting the gifts of grace.. and actually becoming a gift of grace… it’s our small and simple daily work — but isn’t it culture-making and ushering in more of the Kingdom of God?

Hum an old hymn.

Smile and tell a cashier I loved her glasses.

Make a phone call and slay loneliness for both of us.

“The way you count it all joy in your trials, is to keep counting your gifts and gratitudes everyday.“

Bring a friend a tea.. .the gift of a warm winter pause.

Paused and paid attention with thanks to the way snowflakes falling soundlessly out on the spruce.

It’s in the first days of a new year and I find it anchoring, steadying, enlarging, to keep working the God-Math:

The way you count it all joy in your trials, is to keep counting your gifts and gratitudes everyday.

Because counting gifts and gratitudes is how we learn the miracle of God-Math— how joy can multiply even in the minus signs of tender, hard days.

And then that grateful joy moves us to become the gift, to give kindness forward daily —- which begins to change the calculus of everything… love and hope raised to the power of God.

How To Stop All Procrastination: Dear You Trying to Do that Hard Thing in the New Year

Ann Voskamp — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:48:34 +0000

Dear Lovely You,

who doesn’t want to do that hard thing in the New Year,
who doesn’t want to move your body or walk on the treadmill
or go for a gentle jog,
or sort through the closets,
or tackle the garage, or the piles of paperwork,
or the project that’s hanging over you like a ton of bricks,
or do that big thing that feels like an impossible thing—

okay, yeah, boy, do I hear you.

The only way to a life of real possibility — is to keep taking on real responsibility.

It doesn’t matter a hill of sprouting beans if you’re 9 and stomping your feet, or 16 and slamming doors, or 45 and distracting on your phone —hard things just keep calling us because we’re meant to answer to higher and better things.

As I cleaned out the fridge this week and decluttered a closet and hauled out a bag of kids’ clothes for the thrift store, I smiled that I get to do these things:

The only way to a life of real possibility — is to keep taking on real responsibility.

Opt out of the weight of real responsibility — and you forfeit a life that holds a lot of real possibility.

And honestly: You’re meant to do hard and holy things because they are the next thing —- to get to the best thing.

You’re made to do hard and holy things —because there’s no other way to get to the happy and holy things. I keep gently comforting myself with the refrain: The easy life can never get you to a good life…

I wrote it up there on the chalkboard in the kitchen years ago, and the kids and I all memorized it, and it’s still true, and it’s hard, but there’s a brave hope in it:

Life is Pain — and you get to choose: the pain of missing out on what you want to do right now… or the pain of missing out on what you want most. The pain of discipline — or the pain of disappointment. You either choose the Pain of Hard Things or the Pain of Heartbreak over Missed Things.

Life is Pain — and you get to choose: the pain of missing out on what you want to do right now… or the pain of missing out on what you want most.

Nothing good happens without doing hard things. No music gets played without discipline. No games get won. No finish lines get crossed. No freedom gets tasted. And you want that more.

When I used to ask our half dozen kids to do something, how many times would I hear: “Yeah, Mom, I know.”

And it became my refrain of response: “Knowing isn’t the same as doing.” Knowing why it’s important to do some thing isn’t the same as actually doing the important thing.

Knowing what’s best, isn’t the same as actually doing what’s best.

Brilliant doesn’t matter, if you don’t get up out of bed.

Talent doesn’t mean a thing, if you let Fear of Failure be some terrorist that imprisons you.

Possibility doesn’t add up to anything, if you get addicted to perfectionism because perfectionism is slow death by SELF-PARALYSIS.

Procrastination is trying to protect you from potential failure, intervening with all kinds of distractions, temptations, and interruptions — until it just pushes you to pull out all your potential and give up.

But walking with you into this new year is also Perfect Love Himself, who kicks all your fear of failure to the curb.

There is His Perfect Love who accepts you 100% before you perform even 1%, and there is His Perfect Love who speaks Protection and Peace and promises the Power of the Holy Spirit —so you can fire perfectionism, so your procrastination will quit too.

When I look back at the last decade and a half? We didn’t move anywhere.

Things can change. People can change, stories can change.

We bought 1 used mini van that’s now just turned over 330,000 km.
My babies started leaving home.
They started coming back home holding someone else’s hand, putting rings on other hands, walked down aisles and started having babies of their own and holding those little hands.

In the last decade and a half: We brought home and settled a refugee family from Syria — their oldest is in law at university now.
We brought home a family from the Congo and brought home one baby from China — who is now entering double digits and is the most loving little Aunt to little nephews and a niece now.
One child has lived with Type 1 diabetes and daily insulin for over a decade, another child has braved 2 open heart surgeries and wears her scars like medals of hope hard won.

In the last decade and a half, I wrecked things I couldn’t repair. I scarred people irrevocably, I fought self-harming went through a season where I nearly died by self-loathing repeatedly.

I survived literal heart failure.

I stopped living without boundaries.
I stopped living like I had no agency.
I stopped every day to count my gifts and gratitudes.
I started therapy. I processed complicated, ambiguous grief, and deep, chronic loss. I started spiritual direction. I started showing up vulnerably in a Confessional Community with 6 other committed women, and we’re still showing up daily, monthly, annually — 5 years later.
I started practicing daily SACRED prayer.
I started long listens of the Word.

I started new interests: shepherding a flock of 25 sheep, learning to shear sheep, learning to weave.

I started serving community, and our vulnerable neighbors, with our family, through a 1896 little stone church on the main street of our town.

I started grad school at Wheaton, graduated with my masters, started again, and am now in the middle of my doctorate in ministry at Talbot Seminary.

I started walking with a goal of 25,000 steps a day. I’ve come back to daily rowing.
I started practicing a Glory Soak outside every day.

Nothing good happens without doing hard things.

I started forgiving myself – because Jesus already has.

Turn the pages of His Word & your life can turn around.
Put one step in front of the other & you can have another life.

Things can change. People can change, stories can change.

When you rest in Perfect Love — discipline supernaturally emerges in you, because you’re being a disciple of Perfect Love —- you’re following supernatural Perfect Love.

And Perfect Love says you don’t to have show anyone up —you just have to show up.

Perfect Love says you don’t have to impress anyone —you just have to press on.

Perfect Love says when you mess up — He’ll pick you up… and when you can’t carry on, He’ll carry you.

Turn the pages of His Word & your life can turn around. Put one step in front of the other & you can have another life.

The woman staring back at me from the mirror at the beginning of this new year, she’s moving forward to do hard things by the holy grace of the One who can miraculously turn around all kinds of things.

So, dear Lovely Kid, Trying Friend, Tired You, who doesn’t want to practice that thing,  clean up that thing,
study for that thing,
sweat on that thing,
or do that big thing that feels like an impossible thing —
You can bravely do the next thing, because God’s got this thing.

There’s snow down in the woods, all down the road this morning, the ice clinging at the edge of things —- and you can feel it if you turn your face toward the sun —-

all those hard things melting in the heat of a greater and perfect warmth.

When You want to change things, start with the two small things — that literally change everything: Thankfulness & Prayerfulness SACRED Prayer: 90 Days into Deeper Intimacy with God and Gifts and Gifts and Gratitudes: A Gratitude Journal for a Year of One Thousand Gifts

Gifts and Gratitudes

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 THANKFULNESS, with the best little gratitude journal, Gifts & Gratitudes, helps you see the way forward.

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 trace God’s goodness and grow JOY!

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

Sacred Prayer

Real prayer isn’t so much about changing God’s mind, but about finding God’s heart, and letting His heart change our minds —which changes our whole life!

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

Growing your relationship with and faith in God
Transforming 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 us 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.

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {01.10.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:04:55 +0000

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 on Unsplash

Ahhhh — to exhale with a little vase and the open Word & an open journal and settle our hearts in Him for the week and year ahead!

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

Nursing Home Revival

Such great ideas- LOVE THIS!

so what happens when you Leave a Camera on a Squirrel’s Cone Stash

the warmth of real cozy!

View this post on Instagram

NASA telescope combines 100 maps of the universe into one

Breathtaking! Read here!

You’re going to want to try these recipes this year!

My Favorite Bible in a Year Reading Plan

This is a must read this week!

This is deeply comforting! This is the Epiphany That doesn’t end…

View this post on Instagram

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

Did God Really Say…?

Christine Caine takes us back to the Garden of Eden to expose how shame entered the world, how the enemy still weaponizes lies today, and how the truth of God’s Word sets us free so we can live healed, confident, and unhidden.

Why I’m Choosing to Give Thanks in 2026

Looking Back, Looking Forward

This is what it means to love like Jesus Loves us

Tears are flowing!

Prepare for five but trust for just one

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

The Great Omission

With busy schedules, chatty small groups, and personalized quiet times, we’ve neglected the rigor of learning the Bible.

Want a Calm and Quiet Soul? Psalm 131 Can Help.

This is it! (emperor)

Just behold him

And Some Coffee Inspo for your Week!

Do we need a section just for coffee… yes!!

Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso

Cookie butter iced Latte with cold foam!

Banana in a coffee?

Need to try!

Caramel Latte! Yes please!

A classic!

Creative Bits for you this week

love this!

More of this!

This is amazing!

So fun!

Vintage cards!!

Check out the course here!

Resources for you this week:

Have you been thinking about the new year at all? Here are some resources to help you plan your new year.

God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

“Weemeemaker”

This is adorable

What a beautiful name!

Recipes to try this new year:

OH MY!

It can’t get better!

Crunchy Quina salad… YES!

LOVE THIS!

Yes please!

So fun!

Something to try this new year:

Soft and gentle ways to maybe help you this year- AND some really fun things too!

More real letters!

I love this idea!

This would be so fun!

What You Can Do in the Midst of Everything: READ THIS!

I want to do this!

Post of the week from these parts:

When You Want a Different New Year & It All Feels Like too much

So how are we all feeling about the first 7-Day Free-Trial of the New Year? Uh… yeah… It’s been alot! So what can you do? READ THIS ONE!

you can’t help but smile:

baby 4 months old

This is the best – chpoati

Mornings like this!

Love this!!

Here for the slow days

So cozy!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

By Way of Questions

How to Pray With Confidence

How to Recognize the Holy Spirit’s Presence in Your Life

I told them what God said!

So good!

Books on the Blog this week:

Wendy Speake is author of The 40-Day Sugar Fast as well as The 40-Day Social Media Fast and The 40-Day Feast. She hosts an annual online sugar fast every January—find out more at 40daysugarfast.com.

The question Wendy dares you to ask is: Would you give up sugar to experience the sweet presence of God in y o ur life? Many of us think that if our bodies become healthier, then we’ll be healthier. But a healthy body doesn’t do us a lot of good if we are spiritually malnourished.

If you run to sugar for comfort or reward, eat mindlessly or out of boredom, feel physically and spiritually lethargic, or struggle with self-control, The 40-Day Sugar Fastwill help you discover not only freedom from your cravings but an entirely new appetite for the good things God has for you. It’s a process that begins with us giving Jesus our sugar and ends with Jesus giving us more of Himself—the only thing that can ever truly satisfy our soul’s deep hunger.

Many people struggle to make time for God in their busy schedules or just aren’t morning people–this book addresses those issues by helping Christians establish (and stick with) a spiritual morning routine.

The practice of waking early to seek God’s presence is woven into the fabric of God’s word. From the Gospels to the Psalms, from the wisdom literature to the historical narratives, the Bible resounds with the call to seek God early, to set the tone of our day with prayer, and to surrender the unfolding hours to his presence.

In The GREAT Morning Revolution, Tara Beth Leach shares how she adopted the ritual of rising early and discovered the transformative power of mornings with God–and she invites you to do the same. With practical guidance, spiritual encouragement, and a structured-yet-flexible approach, she shows you how to find sacred serenity in the early hours that will reshape your perspective and deepen your relationship with God.

For those who desire a deeper relationship with God but have trouble setting aside time for Him, The GREAT Morning Revolution holds a promise of renewal.

Pick up yours today!

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

Lay It All Down

Abide With Me – Audrey Assad

You won’t want to miss this conference!

Do you want to join us this year!!

Friends! Maybe some of you want a trip this February? Come join me!

Mended & Restored: A Collide Conference for Women

ANDDD I have an exclusive discount code to share with YOU! Ann10, gives you $10 off any ticket!

45% off! Run while it lasts!

These sales are crazy! Grab Yours today!

Start your year with The Way… who gives a whole new way of being

“WayMaker”

30% off right now!

Grab the study guide that walks you through the book in such a thought provoking way!

These are the best little journal for the new year!

“Sacred Prayer”

Grab yours for less than $9

The Best Litte Gratitude Journal Your Year Really Needs This one

Grab yours for only $12 : And you have a year of 1000 Gifts!

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

Saturday Morning Baking with Love

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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.

When You Want a Different New Year & It All Feels Like Too Much

Ann Voskamp — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 20:09:01 +0000

I honestly don’t know. And who actually really does?

Certainty may sell — but as I marked out certain dates on the calendar this week, trying to map out this coming year, I kept thinking that I really don’t know what will happen by March, where we will all be by mid-June, what could all have unfolded by next September. Everywhere you turn, as this old hurting world keeps on turning, headlines are made to make your head spin fast & your brave heart break.

How’s everyone feeling about their initial 7-day free-trial for 2026?

In the midst of all kinds of uncertainty, strikingly, the disciples didn’t turn and ask Jesus:

“Lord, teach us to strategize for the days ahead.” Nor did they ask, “Lord, teach us how to prep, manage, reduce risk, contingency plan, or build habits, so we keep our heads above water & the days ahead are better than these.”

When feeling pressed up against all kinds of uncertainty, what Jesus’ disciples then, and Jesus’ disciples now, see as their most pressing need is: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

When you’re standing in the unknown, what you really need to know is how to pray.

You have to cultivate a rich inner life with God, for God grow any goodness in the outer world through you.

“When you’re standing in the unknown, what you really need to know is how to pray. “

Everyone wants the world to change, but who’s willing to commit to daily praying, which changes our own hearts — and isn’t it all of our changed hearts that would change the whole world?

When you feel small & powerless in the face of big things, small prayers of love, before the face of Love, this is what begins a little but literal ripple that can touch everything.

In a world with all kinds of warriors, what the world needs is committed, daily prayer warriors.

And here now in my third year of my doctorate in ministry at seminary, that’s what my professor, Dr. Coe has been teaching us over the last year, every day when we wake, how to pray, exactly as Jesus taught, and it’s what’s changing me and the new year:

“When you feel small & powerless in the face of big things, small prayers of love, before the face of Love, this is what begins a little but literal ripple that can touch everything. “

“Our father, who is in heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

It’s not mere recitation, it’s critical soul formation.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, and you purposely tend the world’s pain.

Every prayer is a brave pebble in an ocean of pain, that wildly has the power to encircle us all in ever-enlarging rings of His peace, and marry us to Love Himself.

It’s been changing my life over this past year, pausing throughout the day, to simply pray, exactly as Jesus taught us to pray.

Our Father, who is in heaven & here, right here,

make my whole day honor Your holy ways,

may Your kingdom come with me wherever I go,

may Your upside-down Kingdom come and upend us all aright, and may Your will be all that we want.

Keep us completely dependent on You for what’s fulfilling,

Keep us forgiving others so we are forgiven by You,

Keep us from being deluded by ourselves or any dark powers.

In it all, we lean all of who we are, up against You, and trust:

“To pray is to do nothing less than pledge your allegiance to a different kind of Kingdom, the one where peace, justice and cruciform love ultimately overthrows the darkness of fear, oppression and angry aggression.“

You’re over all, working through all, making all gloriously good and right, so all is grace, and all is well.

The world can feel like it’s on fire, and when you pray the Lord’s Prayer, your heart burns with the reality of what will survive fire.

To pray is to do nothing less than pledge your allegiance to a different kind of Kingdom, the one where peace, justice and cruciform love ultimately overthrows the darkness of fear, oppression and angry aggression.

So, praying it slow, attentively, before I even put feet to the floor every morning, and then lacing hands with our little daughter each night, and praying it quietly with her after turning out the lights, this is what frames our days when everything can feel like it’s imploding:

Pray “Our Father” — and there’s a genuine

re-parenting of your own soul—-

Pray “your will be done” and there’s a re-ordering of your soul’s focus to doing His good will and living His very real kingdom—

Pray “give us…” and there’s a re-training of your complete dependence on Him for daily provision, daily forgiveness, daily shielding from temptation,

and a re-orienting toward us all belonging to the same family of humanity.

Every prayer turns you to the loving face of your ABBA Father who’s the King of the universe, holding all the world and you close enough to whisper: “Isn’t My love for you far greater than anything you fear?”

Headlines ache with chaos. Hearts can burn with a love that heals.

You may not be able to argue all the ache into peace… but the way you fight fire is with the fire of a greater love.

Small prayers can ignite your heart into a flame in the dark so others can still see the goodness of God.

Because the reality is:

Prayer isn’t all you can do, and prayer isn’t just the least you can do, but prayer is certainly the most you can do.

Who knows what the days ahead for all us hold — but praying the Lord’s Prayer settles us into the arms of the One who holds us.

Every prayer turns you to the loving face of your ABBA Father who’s the King of the universe, holding all the world and you close enough to whisper: “Isn’t My love for you far greater than anything you fear?”

The Most You Can Do Right Now: SACRED Prayer

True, whole prayer — is nothing but love,” writes St. Augustine.

It’s a tender question: Is the only reason we don’t truly pray more, because we don’t truly love God and His people more? If one’s not praying regularly, is it only because something else is regularly loved more than God? Our prayer life reflects our real theology — or does it reveal our idolatry?

In SACRED Prayer, Ann shares her own personal prayer practice to journey with you to discover the power and beauty of prayer and intimacy with God.

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. SACRED Prayer will strengthen your heart by:

Growing your relationship with and faith in God
Transforming you to be more like Jesus
Aligning your thoughts and actions with His Word
Reducing stress and worry and increasing your peace

Take this sacred journey of prayer with Ann over the course of the next 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.

Pick up SACRED Prayer & pick up a beautifully different kind of new year

When What You Turn to Can’t Satisfy What Your Soul Truly Needs

Wendy Speake — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:31:08 +0000

Wendy Speake is a dear longtime friend who knows the ache of the hungry heart, knows what it’s like to reach for everything but the One Thing. And she’s learned that letting go of what doesn’t satisfy makes room for the One who does. Today, I’m honored to make space here for my friend Wendy to share what she’s learned about the way from fasting to feasting, from striving to satisfied. It’s a joy to welcome Wendy to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Wendy Speake

“When we run to anything other than Christ to meet our deepest needs, that thing we grab hold of can take hold of us. Before too long, that thing can become a stronghold in our lives, holding us back from experiencing the Lord’s strong hold.“

It’s the start of another year and I’m considering where it all started—this perpetual pursuit of something to fill me up and make me feel happy and whole.

My need to manually trip that pleasure sensor when I’m not pleased began years ago.

Back when I was a child, I turned to sugar.

When life felt bitter, I reached for something sweet; when life felt empty, I longed for something to fill my belly as well as my after school hours. With a key dangling from a rainbow shoestring around my neck, coming home to an empty house, I thought candy might do the trick, fill that void, still the hunger. And it did, until it didn’t.

But how was I to know then what it’s taken me half a century to learn? When we run to anything other than Christ to meet our deepest needs, that thing we grab hold of can take hold of us. Before too long, that thing can become a stronghold in our lives, holding us back from experiencing the Lord’s strong hold.

As a latchkey kid with a lonely heart and sweet tooth, I lived for Friday afternoons when I’d receive my weekly allowance of two dollars. Immediately, I’d hop on my little pink bike with the white wicker basket and pedal my way to the corner store. Two dollars could fill that basket with Cherry Bombs, Lemon Drops, sour apple Jolly Ranchers, and Red Vines.

Walking into the corner store each week, with the bell over the door announcing my arrival, was a happy ritual for me. Just thinking about it now brings the scents and sounds to life again. I can even feel the thin, soft crinkle of the brown paper bag that the elderly Japanese man who owned the store put my candy into. Stepping out into the bright afternoon sunlight, I’d pop the first sweet treat in my mouth and navigate the cracked sidewalk back home again.

“He doesn’t convict us in order to condemn us, but in His kindness He invites us to consider what else we might be turning to instead of turning our hearts to Him. “

On the afternoons when I didn’t have a nickel to my name, I’d come home from school and scour the back of the refrigerator where my mom often hid the half-emptied tub of Betty Crocker’s vanilla frosting. As I sat watching Little House on the Prairie, one spoonful from the tub would turn to two, then three, then four, until the tub was empty.

My parents weren’t home because they were working. I’m not blaming them for my sugar addiction. There are plenty of kids who learned to stash candy in the bottom drawer of their desks, under lined paper and a collection of heart-shaped erasers, with Mom and Dad just down the hall. I’m just sharing these details as an invitation for you to consider the details of your story. We all have a story with a hundred chapters and counting.

Sometimes, when I sense God gently convicting me of a bad habit that I’ve gotten myself into (and He often does that at the start of a new year), I flip the pages of my memory back to those growing up years and consider how I got where I am today.

Perhaps you’re willing to do the same with me?

This isn’t just for those of us who took our hurts and holes to sweet treats during our growing up years.

Maybe you started to turn to the sugar of social media during a lonely season with young children; or online shopping and movie streaming to fill your empty evenings in an empty house; or maybe you numb your stress and sadness with a nightly glass of wine.

It all seems harmless at first, but I’ve noticed over the years how the food I eat and the online orders I place can take first place in my life if I’m not careful. What started as something harmless can harm me in the end.

“Nothing that we cram into the hurts and holes of our lives will ever work to make us whole or holy. “

A.W. Tozer once wrote, “Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be.” That quote once seemed a little over-the-top to me, but not anymore. With half a century of loving Jesus under my belt, I am getting more comfortable with God’s gentle conviction. I know that it is only His kindness that invites me to consider anything and everything I am turning to in lieu of turning to Him. I think of His gracious invitation, “Come to Me, when you are weary and carrying a heavy load, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

He doesn’t convict us in order to condemn us, but in His kindness He invites us to consider what else we might be turning to instead of turning our hearts to Him.

How many days have I been too busy to seek the Lord in His Word, to taste and see how sweet and satisfying He is?

When I was a child I didn’t think about sugar causing any spiritual problems in my life. Physical issues like a rounder body and fuller face and maybe an extra cavity or two, maybe, but I didn’t see that I could end up spiritually malnourished. All I knew, subconsciously, was that I could fill the hours and lonely void with something sweet. But I’m not a child anymore. And neither are you.

Nothing that we cram into the hurts and holes of our lives will ever work to make us whole or holy.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Perhaps, like me, you have loved your coping mechanisms—but you’re finally ready to love God more. While sugar has felt like a faithful friend, and the nightly glass of wine seems harmless enough, and your online friends seem fine and faithful too, it’s time to forge a deeper friendship with our most-faithful God.

We’ve been running to the wrong things for far too long. Hopping on our figurative bicycles and pedaling our way to pleasure. But all the alcohol drinking, social media scrolling, TV watching, online shopping, coffee consuming, sugar snacking attempts to numb can’t nourish us.

“Only Christ has the power to save and to sanctify, to bring rest and restoration to our lives.“

Only Christ has the power to save and to sanctify, to bring rest and restoration to our lives.

Here at the start of another year, will you consider where it started and how it’s going? What is it that you turned to in the past, and what are you turning to now, instead of turning to God?

Then ask yourself this simple question: Would you be willing to lay it down for 40 days that you might turn to the Lord with an increased appetite for Him?

He alone can take your hurts and holes and make you whole—and holy.

If you run to sugar for comfort or reward, eat mindlessly or out of boredom, feel physically and spiritually lethargic, or struggle with self-control, The 40-Day Sugar Fast will help you discover not only freedom from your cravings but an entirely new appetite for the good things God has for you. It’s a process that begins with us giving Jesus our sugar and ends with Jesus giving us more of Himself—the only thing that can ever truly satisfy our soul’s deep hunger.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {01.03.2026}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 21:39:03 +0000

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 Andreas Slotosch

The beauty of a sunset will never get old! God’s glory on display for you and me!

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

Highland Sheep Pastures: Seasonal Shepherd Life

This is such a fun read!

Something delicious to start Your new Year

17 NATURAL WONDERS THAT WILL LEAVE YOU SPEECHLESS

This is going to be INCREDIBLE!

I absolutely Love this!

View this post on Instagram

Beautiful Photos you don’t want to miss

Being awed is so good for our souls — BEAUTIFUL!

Plan This Year’s Bible Reading for Endurance, not Speed

This is a must read this week!

This!! ON repeat!

View this post on Instagram

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

The Wonder of Love

This is a conversation we had together will help your soul breathe deeply this weekend… worth savoring

What If the Unknown Is Not an Obstacle in the New Year?

Renew Your Prayer Life

This is amazing!

WOW!! so moving

I love this so much!

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

History Is His Story

Hospitality in the Midst of Crisis: A Guide for Showing up in Suffering

Ways to Build Strong Families

The Terrifying Delight Of Losing Everything

Love this!

So powerful!

And Some Christmas treats for your Week!

This is so good!

A must make!

So so cozy!

YUM!

A family favourite!

Need to try this year!

Creative Bits for you this week

So so talented!

Incredible!

I cannot believe this!

The perfect homemade gift!

Such a fun idea!

This is so neat!

I want to try this!

SO SO FUN!

CRAZY talented!

Resources for you this week:

Have you been thinking about the new year at all? Here are some resources to help you plan your new year.

FRIENDS!! Don’t miss this FREE workshop!

Check it out here!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

Tate Butts – My Defender

So Beautiful!

So moving!

So so good!

Something to try this new year:

Soft and gentle ways to maybe help you this year- AND some really fun things too!

So so fun!

I’m doing this!

LOVE this one!

Yes, yes, yes!!

PICK UP THE TWO JOURNALS THAT CAN BRING MORE JOY AND CHANGE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE… because they bring you to Jesus in ways you’ve always imagined…

Post of the week from these parts:

Why This is Your Year That Things Turn Around (The Great Turn Around Series: Chapter 1)

When our stories don’t go the way we imagined – we get to go to God, who is the Way, and is writing a more powerful, hopeful, meaningful story than we could ever possibly imagine.

That’s the hope of our New Year: When our stories don’t follow the script – we get the opportunity to more intimately follow God and His revolutionary script.

Because Christmas is about how God came down, everyone who has ever felt overwhelmed or let down, or discouraged, or a bit hopeless, or just really left behind, gets to experience the New Year’s Great Turn Around. God comes down to take hold of us and reverse the direction of everything, and turn all the hopeless things all around.

It’s still Christmas (the 9th day of Christmas!), and it’s Christ’s coming, that starts the actual revolution – that alone can give any hope to our New Year and any of our resolutions.

Because Love came down — everything can now start to turn around.

Click here to join us!

**Keeping Christ at the Center of your year is What Has the Power to Radically Change your year, Your Heart *& Whole Life***

Do your soul a favour this year… & frame your days with beginning in prayerfulness, & ending with thankfulness, with our 2 new journals: Sacred Prayer, a way of life to intimately move with the Way Himself & become prayer, and Gifts and Gratitudes — a fresh new way to give thanks, & see the gifts from this day of the month on all the previousmonths, to grow trust in God providing for you in all the coming months — and grow in deeper, larger joy!

Grab both of these journals today for just $30!!

you can’t help but smile:

I love this! So darling!!

The tears are flowing!

So cool!

Love this!!

WOW!!

So cute!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

We Have Smartphones — Why Memorize Scripture?

WHERE YOUR HEART IS, THERE YOUR HABITS WILL BE ALSO

Why You need God’s Word (Psalm 19)

Pray for These Areas in the NEW YEAR and Watch God Work Miracles

Such a good start!

Such a good read!

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

Speak O Lord

In The Name Of Jesus

Friends! Maybe some of you want a trip this February? Come join me!

Mended & Restored: A Collide Conference for Women

ANDDD I have an exclusive discount code to share with YOU! Ann10, gives you $10 off any ticket!

Join me and thousands of others in Indianapolis, June 11-13, 2026, as we turn our eyes to see Jesus in the Psalms.

You won’t want to miss this conference!

I’ll be at TGCW26, and I want you there too! Tell your mom, sisters, friends, and anyone else who might want to experience a little bit more of Jesus! !

“In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

These sales are crazy! Grab Yours today!

“#1 ECPA BESTSELLER: Loved to Life”

Right now you can grab your copy of Loved to Life for just $17! Such a good read for the beginning of this year!

40% off right now!

More than 100,000 Copies Sold: Grab your copy of wayMaker today!

Don’t miss this sale!

“Your Brave Song” Is the perfect gift this valentines day for the littles in your life! Nominated for Children’s Book of the Year!

Grab yours for only $13

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul:

All Sufficient Merit with Shane & Shane

I think this is the perfect way to start out week- meditating on the sufficiency of God!

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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.

Why This is Your Year That Things Turn Around (The Great Turn Around Series: Chapter 1)

Ann Voskamp — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 17:15:05 +0000

When you’re on the third day of blizzarding that’s got your local main highway closed for, yep, the third day, and now they’re calling for more snow coming, as we ring in the new year, the whole bunch of you can’t help but think: “When is this all finally going to turn around?”

The Christmas tree’s still up and twinkling bravely on here. The house is still chock-full of kids and family come home for Christmas, and the stovetop’s still keeping the big pots of soup simmering on. A rotation of games keeps the invitations for more to come to the table for yet another rowdy round. I’ve still got the candles lit in the middle of the table, in the middle of these 12 days of Christmas. We’re still singing Christmas carols after every meal. The calendar year is freshly turned, and, yeah, honestly, right about now, wherever we are, who doesn’t need all the things to turn around?

For the weather to turn around, for the news to turn around, for all the things to turn around this coming new year. For this habit and those numbers to finally take a turn. For that hard, tender relationship to take a surprising turn for the better, for the story we never wanted to end up miraculously turning around. For that Hard Thing that seems, for all intents and purposes, to be painfully impossible, to actually… supernaturally… take a turn for good …

For all our old ways and all our hearts and all of tender humanity, to all just, somehow, this new year, to finally turn around.

If we’ve already got the wonder of Christmas in our rearview mirror, we run the real risk of thinking any New Year change is only found in that face who looks back at us in our mirror.

Right from the very beginning, especially at the beginning of a New Year– isn’t that what we’ve all been looking for: The Great Turn Around.

Because when we look back at this past year – haven’t all of our stories been just a tad bit messy and complicated and kinda heartbreaking in all kinds of unexpected ways? All of our stories have ended up turning some unbelievably painful and unwanted pages.

I mean, right from the very beginning of time, it’s always been this way: The whole story of God is a story of fractured families and struggling sojourners and people getting it wrong who really wanted to get it all right. Turn the pages of God’s story and what you see are all these stories of people whose story didn’t turn out the way they’d hoped or planned.

Like Joseph, who imagined a gloriously radiant life in full-color, yet ends up bruised, at the bottom of some pit, pawned off and trafficked to a foreign land and tossed into prison, forgotten for years. Moses gives up everything to lead God’s people, only to end up rebuked and dying alone, staring out at the Promised Land that he never got to enter. Rebekah lived with a locked womb for too long. Elizabeth wore the word “disgrace” like a scar. Job’s heart explodes in grief when he loses all 10 of his cherished children in a single day. David turns to God and beg-prays himself right hoarse, only to end up burying his beloved baby boy. Hannah wept aching tears, year after year, and Leah and Rachel, two sisters, turned their longing for family into a feuding, nasty rivalry, and Tamar was violated and dismissed.

Honestly, God could have begun the story of humanity with:

Once upon a time beyond time….. and then, Our Good God, He could have only told the good side of humanity’s stories.

If we’re struggling to sustain the celebration of Christ coming for the 12 days of Christmas, by the time New Year’s rung in, we risk thinking that it’s actually our own willpower that has to sustain the change of the new year.

But our God’s never turned away from any of the pages in our stories that are messier than we imagined – but He turns toward us all, and all our New Years can hold a Great Turn Around for each of us, because Christmas has already come first, because the Creator of the Cosmos, He pulled on skin, and entered into time as a babe laid down in a feeding trough, and The Great Turn Around of everything, everywhere, begins.

The calendar page’s freshly turned, and I haven’t yet turned off the Christmas lights, and that’s just where my thoughts keep turning:

If we’ve already got the wonder of Christmas in our rearview mirror, we run the real risk of thinking any New Year change is only found in that face who looks back at us in our mirror.

If we’ve already packed up the revolutionary meaning of Christmas, to rush on to ring in the New Year and all our new resolutions — we risk thinking our New Year, and all our new habits, can turn around, because of our own grit, our own strength, our own will.

How many years has that been my story?

If we’re struggling to sustain the celebration of Christ coming for the 12 days of Christmas, by the time New Year’s rung in, we risk thinking that it’s actually our own willpower that has to sustain the change of the new year.

But at the end of this year, I found myself quietly lingering in a different way, and purposing to celebrate all 12 days of Christmas, all of Christmastide – and that is what is powerfully turning some interior tide.

There’s only hope of a new us, when we keep opening to Christ in us.

Because what I’m deeply entering into and discovering is: If we are still in the midst of Christmastide, still celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas, when we ring in the New Year, we are more aware that Christ is the King who’s come to turn around the cosmos, turn around the New Year, turn all our hearts and all our habits right around, and that it’s Christ who’s the only One with the power and strength to turn around all our wills, our ways, and the whole, old world.

There’s only hope of a new us, when we keep opening to Christ in us.

The downward movement of God into skin, comes to powerfully move us, and all humanity, upward into the life of God.

And when we are still celebrating the 12 days of Christmas when the New Year begins, we’re still situated in the story of Mary and Joseph and the King-Babe who isn’t afraid to enter our muck and our mire to turn everything around. We’re still hearing echoes of Mary’s song, Mary who heard the angel’s miraculous announcement that she would be a womb for God. And as Mary runs to visit her relative, Elizabeth, it’s the pregnant Mary who sings what is really the very first Christmas Carol ever, her praise to God, and it’s that First Christmas Carol that’s really a song of The Great Turn Around:

“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior… He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts… he has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things…. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy…” (Luke 1)

Strikingly, that’s what Mary’s singing in that very first Christmas carol:

Christmas is utterly revolutionary. And only Christ coming to us, and His power, can revolutionize and turn around our New Year.

Those who humbly know how much help they need, are the ones who are lifted up.

That’s the refrain of Mary’s Christmas carol:

Those who proudly think they can do it on their own, find themselves scattered and brought down…

Those who humbly know how much help they need, are the ones who are lifted up.

Those who see themselves as mighty and capable, are upended… and those who feel empty and hungry and are seeking, find themselves fulfilled with good things… a good, fulfilling life.

The Great Turn Around we are all looking for when the calendar page turns to the New Year, it actually begins not on January 1st, but at Christmas: God breaks into time, and His setting-right love breaks into this world, and The Great Turn Around isn’t merely about the down and out trading places with the upper crust and the powerful, but rather, Christmas starts a revolution that turns against old, broken systems and ushers in new ways, and new systems, and wholly new hearts beating out a new way of being, in the new Upside-down Kingdom.

If we’re still bravely celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas, and how utter revolutionary Christmas is, when, on the 8th day of Christmas, we ring in the New Year, then we can celebrate that it is actually the power of Christ alone who can revolutionize our New Year, that it’s the King who has come who turns everything in our tender lives and hearts right around.

We don’t have to strive to climb up anything, but rather God gave up everything and comes down…. to pick us all right up.

What gives our New Year any hope of turning around is the reality that it is Christmas, with the coming of Jesus, that starts this great, radical revolution-– where the downward movement of God into skin, comes to powerfully move us, and all humanity, upward into the life of God.

The only hope for our New Year resolutions, is that Christmas and Christ’s coming is what starts a revolution: God comes down into our messy conditions, so we can be lifted up into redeemed, and restored, and restory-ing conditions.

Our New Year holds great possibility only because The Great Turn Around of Christmas says: We don’t have to strive to climb up anything, but rather God gave up everything and comes down…. to pick us all right up.

What you can give Him is your heart – and He, in turn – He gives you a whole new heart. New heart, new desires, new will, aligned with His.

Though the candles here keep burning lower, I keep the Christmas carols playing. And I sing that, as I watch the snow keep falling across the fields, as I watch the New Year comes up over the horizon:

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone…

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.”

That’s the ultimate gift of Christmas, that completely changes our New Year:

What you can give Him is your heart – and He, in turn – He gives you a whole new heart.

Jesus came not to just be invited into a corner of your heart – but to give you a completely new heart, a new person, and an all encompassing new way of being.

New heart, new desires, new will, aligned with His.

It’s your Christmas that whispers right now to your New Year:

Jesus came not to just be invited into a corner of your heart – but to give you a completely new heart, a new person, and an all encompassing new way of being.

The epiphany is: Jesus didn’t come to just do a quick fixer upper of your heart, nor just to do a mini-renovation of the rooms and lines of your tender story; The Great Turn Around is that Jesus came down for us to come close, and give Him our whole heart – and He, in turn, gives us His own pure, holy Heart… to turn our whole lives right around.

The candles are burning low, but burning even brighter.

The Real Turn Arounds in our lives are never fueled by upward mobility, or keeping up to anyone else’s standard, or finally being impressive.

The Real Turn Arounds, the ones that actually last, are always, always, always formed by downward mobility and going lower, with honest, needy humility, and daily being sacrificial.

It’s Christ’s coming, that starts the actual revolution – that alone can give any hope to our New Year and any of our resolutions.

When our stories don’t go the way we imagined – we get to go to God, who is the Way, and is writing a more powerful, hopeful, meaningful story than we could ever possibly imagine.

That’s the hope of our New Year: When our stories don’t follow the script – we get the opportunity to more intimately follow God and His revolutionary script.

Because Love came down — everything can now start to turn around.

Keeping Christ at the Center of your year is What Has the Power to Radically Change your year, Your Heart & Whole Life

Do your soul a favour this year… & frame your days with beginning in prayerfulness, & ending with thankfulness, with our 2 new journals: Sacred Prayer, a way of life to intimately move with the Way Himself & become prayer, and Gifts and Gratitudes — a fresh new way to give thanks, & see the gifts from this day of the month on all the previous months, to grow trust in God providing for you in all the coming months — and grow in deeper, larger joy!

PICK UP THE TWO JOURNALS THAT CAN BRING MORE JOY AND CHANGE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE… because they bring you to Jesus in ways you’ve always imagined…

If Creation Never Stops Praising, Why Should We?

Ann Voskamp — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 18:22:35 +0000

What an absolute wild delight to welcome Tara Beth Leach today—a profoundly gifted teacher, leader, and writer whose wholehearted love for Jesus radiates through her life and work — I really deeply appreciate this sister. Tara Beth lives a beautifully down-to-earth life as a boy mom, horseback rider, outdoor lover, and and brings that same grounded, grace-filled spirit into her writing, where she speaks honestly about faith, weariness, and hope. And in this powerful excerpt from The GREAT Morning Revolution, she invites us into a simple yet transformative rhythm of beginning each day with God—an invitation that feels as warm, real, and life-giving as Tara Beth herself.

Guest Post by Tara Beth Leach

There’s a moment I’ll never forget—a moment when I felt utterly small yet entirely connected to something far bigger than myself.

A few years ago, I found myself hiking Angels Landing in Zion National Park, one of the most dangerous trails in the country. It starts with a series of difficult switchbacks called Walter’s Wiggles—twenty- one grueling, steep turns that leave a person breathless. But it’s not until you reach the final half mile that things get really terrifying.

This narrow ascent has cliffs on both sides that drop off thousands of feet down. One misstep can send you plummeting.

But the view from the top?

It’s beyond description.

I remember sitting at the edge of the cliff, with nothing but sky above me and rock below.

I was in awe.

“Creation exalts God every day, simply by being what it was made to be.“

I turned on some worship music, and as I looked out at the expanse of creation, it felt like everything around me was singing God’s praises. The mountains, the wind, the sky—it was as if all creation was joining in one great song of worship to the Creator. In that moment, it hit me: Creation exalts God every day, simply by being what it was made to be.

As I sat there, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ words in Luke 19:40: “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” He was speaking to the Pharisees, who were trying to silence the crowd as they praised him during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But Jesus was clear—if humanity stopped exalting God, creation itself would rise up to take our place.

In fact, all creation praises God, day in and day out. The mountains stand tall in reverence, the rivers clap their hands, and the stars sing his glory. Yet we human beings made in the image of God are designed to join in this chorus in a way nothing else can.

The psalmist in Psalm 19:1–2 declared, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known” (NLT). The created world never stops exalting God. And this brings me to an important question: If creation can exalt God by being what it was made to be, how much more are we called to exalt him with our lives, our voices, and our hearts?

Exaltation—lifting God to the highest place in our lives—is not just something we do on Sundays or when we’re singing worship songs. It’s our design, our destiny. As Psalm 150:6 reminds us, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

We were made to worship. And if we don’t, creation will continue to cry out in our place.

“When we start our morning by lifting up the name of God and placing him in his rightful position in our lives, we open ourselves up to receive his strength, wisdom, and peace.“

Incorporate Exaltation into Your Morning Routine

To begin each day with exaltation is to set the course of your entire day with intention, peace, and a profound sense of God’s presence.

When we start our morning by lifting up the name of God and placing him in his rightful position in our lives, we open ourselves up to receive his strength, wisdom, and peace. But for many of us, the idea of creating a morning routine centered on exaltation can feel like an abstract concept. Or perhaps this habit feels difficult to maintain amid the busy realities of life.

Read a psalm of praise

Kickstart your day by engaging with the Psalms, a biblical reservoir of worship and adoration. Reciting these verses aloud helps situate God at the center of your thoughts from the outset of your day.

As you vocalize these ancient hymns of praise, you allow their truths to seep deep into your spirit, anchoring your entire day in worship and reverence for God’s omnipotence.

Sing or listen to worship music

Music moves the soul in ways mere words cannot. By incorporating worship music into your morning routine, you create an auditory backdrop that lifts your spirit and focuses your heart on God.

Musical exaltation can transform ordinary moments into extraordinary encounters with the divine, setting a tone of joy and reverence that carries through the rest of your day.

Journal with a heart of exaltation

Journaling is a powerful exercise in mindfulness and worship. By documenting your praises and meditations on God’s attributes, you engage in a deliberate act of worship that deepens your relationship with the divine.

This practice allows you to articulate your thoughts and feelings, offering a physical space to express your adoration and gratitude. Journaling can significantly enhance your awareness of God’s active presence in your life.

“As you speak your praises and requests to God, you reinforce your faith and remind yourself of the greatness of the God you serve.“

Pray out loud

Praying aloud isn’t just vocalizing words; it is also an active and powerful declaration of God’s sovereignty and your trust in him. This practice helps solidify your thoughts and feelings in a tangible way, making your prayers more intentional and focused. As you speak your praises and requests to God, you reinforce your faith and remind yourself of the greatness of the God you serve.

This verbal expression of faith can be a profound spiritual exercise that aligns your heart with God’s purposes and prepares you to face the day with confidence and peace.

This daily practice of lifting up God in the morning shapes my relationship with him and gives me the strength and peace I need to navigate the challenges of the day.

When we intentionally exalt God at the start of our day—whether through journaling, music, or prayer—we open ourselves up to his presence and power, allowing him to lead us throughout whatever the day may bring.

Tara Beth Leach is an incredible teacher of the Word, speaker, and writer. She is a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University and Northern Theological Seminary, as well as the author of four books, including The GREAT Morning Revolution. A frequent speaker at conferences, retreats, and universities across America, Tara Beth addresses topics such as church leadership, women in ministry, and the spiritual practice of morning prayer.

Tara Beth and Jeff Leach have been married for almost two decades. They live near Chicago, Illinois, where they are raising two rambunctious sons.

For those who desire a deeper relationship with God but have trouble setting aside time for Him, The GREAT Morning Revolution holds a promise of renewal.

[Our humble thanks to Zondervan for their partnership in today’s devotional.}

If Christmas Makes You Question Your Worth, & If You’re Enough, (& About the Rockefeller Christmas Tree)

Ann Voskamp — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:39:27 +0000

As the first snow fell on the tall spruce trees that lined the long highway of a weekend road trip a few weeks ago, my daughter turned to me and asked, “Mama…. what’s your most favorite childhood memory?”

And as we drove along the ribbon of road through the falling snow, I could see it in my mind again, as a child, that road we drove every Christmas, coming up through snow blanketed trees on highway 45, coming down from the little village of Baltimore, and around the bend to Centerton, and there in the dark of Grandma and Grandpa’s front window, was always Grandma’s little glowing ceramic Christmas tree, lit up and welcoming us all home…

And up and down every street this time of year, everywhere you go, you can see all the shimmering trees in all the bay windows, decked out and garlanded trees. Or there’s the stacks of snow-dusted trees outside the grocery store, waiting to be chosen and taken home…. to welcome all home home for the holidays.

And every single one of those Christmas trees come from one unassuming, vulnerable seed.

All of which makes me think, as the snow keeps falling on the all trees, of how, 10 years ago, back in 2016, growing in the backyard of Graig and Angie Eichler’s backyard in Oneonta, New York, was this seed that had grown slowly but surely over 7 decades into a tree. A tree that the Eichlers saw as an eyesore of little worth. That’s what Mr Eichler had said, as he shook his head:

“It was just a tree in our backyard that was kind of a nuisance. It dropped needles in our gutters. We couldn’t grow grass under it. The roots were coming up so you had to go around them if you went in the backyard. We weren’t attached to it at all.”

For the Eichler’s, the seed had grown into a tree that certainly had no worth.

A nuisance in the way.

Not attached to it in any way.

Mr. Eichler would just have been as relieved to get rid of the tree, because, the way he put it, “We were more concerned that if it were ever struck by lightening or snapped or blew over it would destroy our house.”

Now the Eichlers could have turned to local guy who sells chopped firewood and ask him:

“What’s this tree actually worth?”

If we plant our worth in our achievements, or if we turn our worth toward appearance, or if we root our worth in approvals, then our worth is at the mercy of all the winds and people who change.

And the local firewood guy might have shrugged:

“Well, once it’s cut down, split and stacked, I could get a few cords out of it. I don’t know— it’s probably not worth more than a few hundred bucks?

Or the Eichlers could have turned to their local florist, who makes wreaths and garlands for the Christmas season and asked them:

“So what do you think…. What is this tree really worth?”

And the florist may have looked up at the seed, that had turned into a whole tree of branches, and said:

“Well, I don’t see anything real grand, just a bunch of greenery. I guess I could trim the tree down and make wreaths, centerpieces, swags for banisters. I don’t know – it wouldn’t be worth to me even a grand?”

Or maybe the Eichlers could head down to the local lumber store, and asked the guy behind the counter: “So what do you think this tree that’s a bit of a nuisance worth?”

And the guy at the local lumber store might not even come to take a look at the tree, but just said:

“Look, it’s one tree. And the hassle to cut it down when it’s so close to your house, and try to haul it off to get milled, to get who knows how many rough planks? That’s not really our lane or main interest and for us, it would be more bother than it’s worth.”

But it turns out?

Back in the windy spring of 2016, on one random Saturday morning in late April, a guy name Erik Pauze, was driving through the neighborhood, and turned up on the Eichler’s front porch, knocking on their front door.

And Mr. Eichler? He didn’t think it was worth even going to the door, but after no one answered his knocking, Erik Pauze, went and sat in his car, waiting till someone came home, waiting till he saw Mrs Eichler coming up the street.

And after chatting with Erick Pauze, Mrs. Eichler came into the house to tell Mr. Eichler a truly mind-blowing story.

The knock at their door earlier, that Mr. Eichler hadn’t even saw any worth in answering, had been Erik Pauze, who had been driving from the address of one big tree tree that had been submitted for his consideration for a particular grand Christmas tree -– to another potential Christmas tree that had been considered for his consideration…

When, as Mrs. Eichler put it, Erik Pauze “saw a bunch of evergreens over in our neighborhood,” Eichler said.

And Erik Pauze had turned and headed in their direction. And that’s when Mrs. Eichler told Mr. Eichler who Erik Pauze was:

Erik Pauze was the head gardener of the Rockefeller Center. Driving around looking for the most iconic Christmas tree in the world.

And Mrs. Eichler turned to Mr. Eichler and she said ‘You’ll never believe it. The head gardener from the Rockefeller Center thinks our tree — is worthy to be the Rockefeller Christmas tree this year.”

That’s what the news reported that year: “Eichler was surprised that his gawky tree, which had no lower branches, was such a beauty in disguise.“

The same tree that the Eichlers thought to be a nuisance in the way, that they weren’t attached to in anyway — was the very same tree that Erik Pauze, The Finder of every year’s Rockefeller Christmas Tree, thought was worth being the most beautiful Christmas tree in the world!

A tree worthy of being dressed in in more than 50,000 lights, a tree worth being crowned with a 900-pound sparkling crystal star, a singular tree glorious enough to turn that sky-scraper stone canyon of the city of New York, into something more like a bit of a cathedral of light.

A tree worthy of being The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City, whose lighting is a ceremony televised to hundreds of millions around this whole spinning globe, that every day holiday season will be seen by nearly 125 million people, almost 500,000 people every single day that it’s lit, all walking past the plaza to see one of the world’s most famous iconic Christmas tree in all its glowing glory.

The very same tree.

To the firewood man in the woodlot, that same tree might just be cheap fuel.

To the florist, that same tree might be nothing more than disposal decoration.

When you are truly seen by the right people — you move from feeling worthless, to being valued for your infinite worth.

To the lumber yard manager, that one seed that had become a tree, might actually even be a tree more trouble than it’s actual worth.

And to the owners of the tree, the Eichler’s themselves? They saw that seed that had grown into a huge tree? To be more nuisance than any real worth.

But to Eirk Pauze, head gardner of the Rockefeller Center – that seed that become a whole tree that was worthy of being the most beautiful, beloved Christmas tree in the world, worthy of nearly 125 million people to come and be in awe and wonder of it all.

The seed that grew into a tree hadn’t changed to somehow become more worthy, or worked for it, or performed, or turned itself inside out to somehow impress or be acceptable.

The tree hadn’t changed; all that had changed was who the person was who looked on the tree.

When you are truly seen by the right people — you move from feeling worthless, to being valued for your infinite worth.

When you’re with people who see you with a certain, sacred sight, you don’t have to produce enough, create enough, work hard enough, make enough — to be more than worth enough.

When you’re with people who see you with eyes seeking the good and the the glorious, you don’t have strive to find approval, or find acceptance, or find belonging, or find enough back pats or check marks — to somehow earn enough of your worth.

To know your right worth — all you have to do — is turn the right way, toward the right face.

If we plant our worth in our achievements –

Or if we turn our worth toward how we appear or how we make things all the things appear–

Or if we root our worth in approvals –

Then our worth is at the mercy of all the winds and people who change.

But when your worth is found in unchanging, unwavering Love who comes down for you — your worth can never change.

To know your right worth — all you have to do — is turn the right way, toward the right face.

The right place to find your worth is always before Jesus’ face.

The right place, and the right people, always see your real worth in deeply right ways.

When you don’t feel like you’re enough, when you feel worthless, it only means that you just need to turn away from all the wrong places —and turn toward the right place… and the right face.

Toward the face of Love Himself.

The right place to find your worth is always before Jesus’ face.

Only when you turn toward the face of Love Himself, can you rest in your real worth.

And it turns out?

You don’t have to make Christmas, produce Christmas, perform Christmas, or work hard enough to create Christmas. You simply have to stand at your Christmas Tree and turn toward the loving face of the One who came for Calvary’s Tree —- and see how the One who is worthy of it all, loves you unconditionally and defines all your true worth.

You don’t have to make Christmas, produce Christmas, perform Christmas, or work hard enough to create Christmas. You simply have to stand at your Christmas Tree and turn toward the loving face of the One who came for Calvary’s Tree —- and see how the One who is worthy of it all, loves you unconditionally and defines all your true worth.

As Christmas trees dance with lights all around the world tonight, as more than half a million people come just today to gaze on the glow of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, there is space to slow and turn and see….

There is a way to make space for the sacred seed of that One born of a woman, the long awaited seed of Abraham and David, Jesus the Messiah, the small babe who was first laid in the wood of a manger… and then, rooted infinitely deep in Love, that same Jesus, who is Love come down, He went and laid Himself on the word of Calvary’s tree, and that seed who is Jesus, He falls into the ground and dies — to give every vulnerable soul their infinite worth, and true and unending, infinite, abundant life.

Jesus is the only One who has ever seen such worth in you — that He has loved you to death — and then loved you back to life, the realest, abundant life.

Mrs. Eichler had said that about Erik Pauze stumbling across their tree while enroute through their neighborhood, looking for another tree.

“… the head gardener of the Rockefell Center [just] stumbled across it. It’s almost like the tree found him.”

There are lit trees everywhere tonight, us all so close to Christmas now.

And the Babe who came down, He came for a Tree, and He comes to find us, and give us the greatest gift of all our unwavering worth.

And we stand in the dark, next to our twinkling trees, with our face turned toward the face of the One who went to Calvary’s tree — and it’s our hearts that are all aflame and lit with love.

Us all welcomed home for the holidays to Him who is our safe hom, who is our sure Love.

And this, and Him is more, more, more than enough.

This is how to Turn toward His Face This time of year

Read the whole Christmas Love Story, from Creation to the Creche, with all 3 of our Advent Books:

And find all the FREE Biblically inspired Jesse Tree ornaments here.

This year we aren’t missing out on Jesus & the The Greatest Christmas.

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {12.20.2025}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 15:37:06 +0000

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 Anna Peipina

Photo by Svitlana

Photo by Nataliya Melnychuk

Photo by Elin Gann

Photo by Prchi Palwe

Who else is ready for night of baking Christmas cookies and settling down with a warm drink and a good book with people you love?

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

A Winter Wonderland and Rare Double Rainbow

You don’t want to miss the deep, life-giving beauty of this…

It’s Christmas Time In My Kitchen

How to Watch the Spectacular Geminids, One of the Best Meteor Showers of the Year

The Geminids is considered to be one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers, according to NASA

This is going to be INCREDIBLE!

This looks just dreamy

View this post on Instagram

Flamingo invasion turns lake pink

Being awed is so good for our souls — BEAUTIFUL!

This is such a good read!

This is a must read this week!

I love this so much!

View this post on Instagram

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

Our Conversation: The Wonder of Joy

This is a conversation we had together will help your soul breathe deeply this weekend… worth savoring

The Surprising Glory of Christmas

Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6)

This is so good!

WOW!! so moving

You must look!

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

The Fight to Believe You’re Truly Loved

Single This Season? Prove He’s Sufficient

Siblings, Young and Old: how to foster relationships with Adult Children

A life changing Christmas

Click here for the recipe!

And Some Christmas treats for your Week!

These are melt in your mouth amazing!!

You need to make one!

So so good!

Click here to check out their brand new Stone House Studio! LOVE!

We need to make these!

YUM!

Such a fun gift!

Need to try this year!

Creative Bits for you this week: Our Aurora & Levi!

Have you seen our daughter-in-love, Aurora, & son, Levi, their new space for all their art & creativity? Stone House Studio

incredible!

So beautiful!

Wanna try?

This would smell so good!

Click here to watch the whole playlist!

Adorable

This is so neat!

Resources for you this week:

Have you been thinking about the new year at all? Here are some resources to help you plan your new year.

Don’t miss this FREE workshop!

Check it out here!

Women of the Word Podcast with Jen Wilkins

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

Mary Did You Know?

WOW!!

So moving!

So good!

Christmas bits for you this week:

so dreamy!

So beautiful!

Can we all do this?

Love this idea!

Just $10! Grab yours here!

Need something to help guide your heart into this christmas season?

**This Advent, Stay in the Story that the rest of your year, rest of our family, will need– for generations after you**

3 Award-Winning, NYTIMES Bestelling 25 Day Christmas Devotionals for the Whole Family!

The Greatest Gift (Adult Christmas Devotional): NYTimes Bestseller and Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (Family Christmas Devotional): NYTimes Bestseller and Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016

Get yours today for just $15!

The Wonder of the Greatest Gift (pop-up edition, with 14 in tree, 25 days of readings, with advent flap calendar of 25 Biblically inspired ornaments!) Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019

This is one the entire family will LOVE!

you want to join us for a soul care Advent?

Download your printable Christmas Sticky Notes for Your Soul

Print this set of 25 Note Cards, one for each day in December.
For mirrors and sinks and dashboards, for pockets and walls and office cubicles. For this Christmas.
Each card is an affirmation, a prayer, for each day this month, to keep the focus…to celebrate Christ!

Click here to join us!

And too More Exclusive All Free Gifts for you

Click here to join: Free Paper Chain of Freedom & Free Exclusive Gifts & the whole Soul Care Advent

you can’t help but smile:

The best thing ever!

This is to cute!

So sweet!

So funny!

Love this!!

I can’t help it!!

So cute!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

Pray for the Nations Like Jesus Will Win Them

Make Repentance Part of Your Holiday Preparation

IN BETHLEHEM, GOD CHOSE WHAT IS WEAK TO SHAME THE STRONG

WOW! Such a good read!

God’s Grace

Don’t miss this window

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

Noel (Live Acoustic)- Tommee Profitt

We The Kingdom – Light of the World (Sing Hallelujah)

Friends! Do you want to join me this February?

Mended & Restored: A Collide Conference for Women

ANDDD I have an exclusive discount code to share with YOU! Ann10, gives you $10 off any ticket!

Join me and thousands of others in Indianapolis, June 11-13, 2026, as we turn our eyes to see Jesus in the Psalms.

You won’t want to miss this conference!

I’ll be at TGCW26, and I want you there too! Tell your mom, sisters, friends, and anyone else who might want to experience a little bit more of Jesus! !

Only $12! Run while this sale lasts!

Grab all of your christmas gifts! sales are crazy!

“#1 ECPA BESTSELLER: Loved to Life”

Right now you can get two copies of Loved to Life for just $13.11 each — one for you and a friend! The book is 40% off, and when you add a second copy, you unlock a buy one get one deal (!!). The discount applies automatically at checkout! We have no idea how long this price will last — but a perfect reading journey for the new year, for you and a friend, 40 days reading together through the book of John!

Buy two for just $26!

Christian book is having a red tag sale right! insane deals!

Start the New Year Strong with this Journal (and makes a lovely Gift): Sacred Prayer: 90 Days of Deeper Intimacy with God

RUN! Grab yours for less than $9!

Have you too been thinking about the new year already? And maybe how to prepare your heart to see the beauty in the everyday?

40% off the best little Gratitude Journal! Grab yours now and maybe a few more to gift this Christmas Season!

More than 100,000 Copies Sold: Grab your copy of wayMaker today for 50% off!

Less than $15

“Your Brave Song” Is the perfect gift for the littles in your life this Christmas season! Nominated for Children’s Book of the Year!

Grab yours for only $13

*These sales are currently offered on Amazon USA and Christian Book USA*

Sticky Notes for your Soul: Free Gorgeous Gift Tags!

Hour of Non-Stop Christmas Worship Music LIVE from Museum of The Bible

Maybe enjoy the week by making a warm cup of coffee and settling down with a good book by the fire.

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.

When Life Takes an Unexpected Turn

Ruth Chou Simons — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 17:19:26 +0000

Ruth is one of my most cherished friends, and an encourager who inspires me to live with intention every day. She began sharing her artwork on social media while searching for God’s grace laced throughout her days. As an artist, she knows no detail is too small to be overlooked. She applies the same care and attention to her everyday life knowing that God is present in even the most mundane moments. Her new book The Way of the Wildflower, Ruth shows how to live freely and release your burdens with gospel meditations that turn your focus to the God who cares deeply for you. As our attention is pulled this way and that, Ruth’s work continually causes me to pause and set my gaze on what is truly important. The lessons she’s gleaned from navigating the unexpected are a gift ot us all. It’s my true joy to welcome my dear sister, Ruth, to the farm’s table today.

Guest post by Ruth Chou Simons

My third-oldest son was three weeks into his freshman year of college when his life took an unexpected turn.

A Saturday morning mountain bike ride with his older brother ended suddenly when he went over his handlebars and landed on his head.

While his helmet saved his life, he suffered broken ribs and crushed vertebrae throughout his spine. His spinal fusion surgery was successful, but not before we endured an agonizing scare where the neurosurgeon feared the worst due to the complications in surgery. Several hours later, we were relieved to find our son fully capable of wiggling his fingers and toes.

One moment, our son was enjoying a Saturday off campus, and the next moment, he was bravely entering surgery and hoping to still walk afterward.

How quickly life can take an unexpected turn.

I can report as of this writing that God is faithful; our son is on a promising healing journey.

But as I write from my heart here, I can say with fresh insight: Life can change in an instant.

The natural response to an unexpected trial, challenge, or change in plans is often fear. I can certainly confirm this to be true.

What will happen to me?

How will I make it?

“Fear is one of our natural responses because we are finite human beings with limited understanding.“

What if I can’t handle this?

Has God abandoned me?

We ask these questions when change knocks at the door with an unforeseen diagnosis, and we find ourselves reeling from the implications. We struggle with fear when change comes in the form of the deep and painful loss of a child or after years of infertility and the struggle to start a family. Maybe the loss is in a marriage, when we imagine a lifetime of happiness and find that expectation cut short either in time or togetherness. Or perhaps fear sets in when the unexpected turn is the loss of a dream we have worked toward, and the goal we’ve been aiming for is derailed.

Fear is one of our natural responses because we are finite human beings with limited understanding. We’re caught flat-footed and shortsighted when life takes a turn, and grief mingles with shock in a complicated mélange of emotions. These are the unwanted and unexpected detours of life. The Bible is filled with stories of God’s people encountering twists and turns that often made no sense to them:

“God is by nature faithful and unfailing, yet he never asks for our trust without first declaring his trustworthiness.“

The Israelites’ forty years in the desert.
Joseph’s years in the dungeon.
Ruth’s and Naomi’s widowhoods.
The death of Jesus and later many of his disciples.
When Saul was struck blind on the Damascus road.

Just to name a few.

We fear what we don’t understand. We fear what’s not in our control. Is it any wonder that the phrase “Do not be afraid” is one of the most common phrases in the Bible?

Here’s how God offered assurance to Israel. He gave a command and a promise:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

“Do not be frightened” is a command—the verse literally starts with “Have I not commanded you?” This is a clear instruction to God’s people to choose to trust in him.

“The Lord your God is with you wherever you go” is an active promise. He says it to make the point: “I promise to take care of you.”

God clearly knows how prone his children are to fear and how much they need to know his faithfulness in the midst of the unexpected and unwanted turns in life. God is by nature faithful and unfailing, yet he never asks for our trust without first declaring his trustworthiness.

“It may not feel like a mercy in the moment, but God is too kind to grant a life of ease if it means we will miss out on a life of dependence on him.“

So amid circumstances that take us off the path of predictability and self-satisfaction—in the unexpected plot twists that strip away our false senses of accomplishment and security—God invites us to trust him.

He promises to take care of us.

It may not feel like a mercy in the moment, but God is too kind to grant a life of ease if it means we will miss out on a life of dependence on him. After all, God’s desire is for his people to love him, trust him, and worship him as their faithful God.

The running storyline of redemption from the beginning illustrates his pursuit of our trust and reliance on him:

God makes us, in his image, for a relationship with him.
God desires our worship, surrender, and fellowship.
Humanity rejects his provision and trusts themselves instead.
God shows himself faithful and continues to prove his trustworthiness when he sends Jesus to earth.
Jesus gives us access to fellowship and wholehearted worship of God when we trust him for our salvation.

Do you see it?

God delights in proving himself trustworthy.

He calls us to set aside anxious fear in the midst of our plot twists because he promises to be with us everywhere we go—even into the unknowns of our unexpected. Friend, we ultimately need not fear what we face in life (or death!) because Jesus has secured our eternal welcome in the presence of God.

Because of Jesus, we are never outside of his care.

Remember this declaration when life takes an unexpected turn:

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)

Nothing can separate us from God’s trustworthy provision.

We will worship God and fellowship with him freely forever, just as we were made to do from the very beginning. Can any unexpected turn in your life derail you from God’s care and presence? Not a chance!

The God who wants his people to lean into his trustworthiness instead of fear is the same loving Father who made a way for his children never to experience separation from his care.

Whatever you’re facing today, he remains with you.

He remains trustworthy.

Ruth Chou Simons is a bestselling and award-winning author of several books and Bible studies. She is an artist, podcaster, and speaker, and the founder, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer of GraceLaced, an art and lifestyle brand. Simons uses each of these platforms to spiritually sow the Word of God into people’s hearts, making deep truths beautifully accessible with her signature art and relatable communication style. Ruth and her husband, Troy, are parents to six boys—their greatest adventure.

Her latest book, The Way of the Wildflower: Gospel Meditations to Unburden Your Anxious Soul, is an invitation for anyone wrestling with the past, struggling in the present, or fearful for the future, to pause, be still, and find rest. Each meditation is designed to help you “consider the wildflowers,” remembering that the God who cares for them cares for you, too.

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

Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend {12.13.2025}

Ann Voskamp — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 15:41:14 +0000

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 Ric Matkowski

Photo by Hans Ott

Photo by Lauren Kan

Photo by Rye Jessen

Photo by Floris Siegers

The beauty of God’s creation leaves me in awe everyday! Enjoy the cozy weather this week with some of your favourite things!

Little bits of God’s goodness to brighten your day:

“The Beauty of Winter“

You don’t want to miss the deep, life-giving beauty of this…

How to Wage Peace & Not war, because Relationships Are Hard (Advent: Peace: week 2)

This feels like a lifeline in a season that can be hard to navigate

This looks like the perfect Saturday

View this post on Instagram

‘Northern Lights’ at Fondation Beyeler — a stirring show of winter landscapes

Being awed is so good for our souls — BEAUTIFUL!

So Beautiful!

View this post on Instagram

Heart Vitamins for you this week:

Our Conversation: The Wonder of Peace

This is a conversation we had together will help your soul breathe deeply this weekend… worth savoring

He Dawns as Wonderful Counselor

Waking Up Your Soul in a Distracted World

God is so good!

WOW!! so moving

So good!

SOUL LEARNING 101 this week:

Sanctification Is Hard: The Process, the Pain & God’s Purpose

TURN TOWARD EACH OTHER AND AWAY FROM THE SCREEN

You’re Not Late: Trusting God’s Timing in an Unhurried Life

This is amazing!

I love this!

And Some Christmas treats for your Week!

Cozy CHRISTMAS BAKING From Scratch!

peppermint Cookies!

Click here to check out their brand new Stone House Studio! LOVE!

The best cake ever!

Stunning!

So so good!

YUM!

We have to make this!

Need to try this year!

Creative Bits for you this week: Our Aurora & Levi!

SHave you seen our daughter-in-love, Aurora, & son, Levi, their new space for all their art & creativity? Stone House Studio

Such a fun idea!

Click here to watch the whole playlist!

So cute!

A must watch

I love this!

We should try?

This is so neat!

Resources for you this week:

Have you been thinking about the new year at all? Here are some resources to help you plan your new year.

2025 Behold the Lamb of God Livestream

Check it out here!

Women of the Word Podcast with Jen Wilkins

Gentle and Lowly: A 14-Day Devotional

Click here to check it out!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord:

Cozy Christmas Worship

So beautiful!

So moving!

I love this!

Don’t miss this read! The truth of it really healed more of my heart this week

Post of the week from around these parts:

“How to Make Space for Sadness In Your Holidays & Find Real Peace in Your Life”

Emmanuel is coming, and we hold space for the One holding us all together at our centre, through the sadness and lament and disappointment and darkness, beckoning us to say it and believe what it really means:

Merry Christmas!

The One who can gather up every scattered piece of wrongness has now stepped into the story — and this ole hurting word and all our broken hearts can now know a deeper peace.

Need something to help guide your heart into this christmas season?

**This Advent, Stay in the Story that the rest of your year, rest of our family, will need– for generations after you**

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This is one the entire family will LOVE!

you want to join us for a soul care Advent?

Download your printable Christmas Sticky Notes for Your Soul

Click here to join us!

Paper Chain to Freedom

Come experience Christmas like never before — remembering that the Greatest Gift Jesus has ever given…is all that He has taken away.

This Paper Chain to Freedom is your own FREE ADVENT CALENDAR that is both a countdown to Christmas — and a daily invitation to reflect on that day’s Bible verse to fully experience the freedom Jesus brings to have a lighter, freer Christmas!

And too More Exclusive All Free Gifts for you

Click here to join: Free Paper Chain of Freedom & Free Exclusive Gifts & the whole Soul Care Advent

you can’t help but smile:

THE BEST OF TIMES

Such a good read!

Mom Finds Local Angel Tree Overflowing with Unclaimed Tags

This is incredible!

Thoughts to Really Ponder:

When No One Shows Up: Hospitality in the Age of Maybe

TURN TOWARD EACH OTHER AND AWAY FROM THE SCREEN

The Bible Is for You

What we’re Listening to on the Farm this week

O Come, All You Unfaithful

Praise You Through It

Friends! Do you want to join me this February?

Mended & Restored: A Collide Conference for Women

ANDDD I have an exclusive discount code to share with YOU! Ann10, gives you $10 off any ticket!

Join me and thousands of others in Indianapolis, June 11-13, 2026, as we turn our eyes to see Jesus in the Psalms.

You won’t want to miss this conference!

I’ll be at TGCW26, and I want you there too! Tell your mom, sisters, friends, and anyone else who might want to experience a little bit more of Jesus! !