Happy, happy, happy weekend!
Some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you 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 right here: 

From our family’s week together in Israel:

love seeing the world through our Levi’s eyes

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From our IG this week: #VoskampsInIsrael #TheWayWhereThereIsNoWay

You too were praying for those precious Thai boys trapped in the cave? No. kidding.

Check out this excursion through the largest cave on planet earth

when hospital employees pray for their patients

… so what does it look like to just live a life away from the noise of it all — making an island of your own?

if you every thought about finding your own island?

need to cool down right about now? you too?

 calm long at the wonder & wonder of His creation

love grafts us all in and we all – every single one of us, no matter what —  get to belong

.. one of my very dearest friend, Joy Prouty with the tenderest story:MARTIN’S FAMILY ADOPTION

“Abide in me, and I in you.” ~ John 15

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Spiritual Growth is Not an Accident

“I’m doing my best to accept things as they come, to trust in God’s plan.”

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She’s a cherished, wise friend: Ginny thinking about ‘working’ at relaxing

the week that my Dad makes the news & I could just hug him the absolute tightest for his brave


I just love my Dad something fierce for the brave of trying to love our farm hometown back to life

You really need to get to stand in awe of God and His glory at Yosemite this summer

This is kinda what it means to become like little children — and isn’t it the best?

Let’s just go out and love each other like this today!

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In writing my books, The Broken Way, and Be The Gift, I wrote of how my father, a seventh-generation farmer, spoke of seeds and how the process of growth looks like devastation:  ‘For a seed to come fully into its own, it must become wholly undone. The shell must break open, its insides must come out, and everything must change. If you didn’t understand what life looks like, you might mistake it for complete destruction.’  What I attributed to my father appears to have originated with author Cynthia Occelli, was used without correct attribution or permission, and I humbly apologize for any confusion, and am profoundly grateful to make the correct attribution to Cynthia Occelli. 

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You only get one life to love well.

Break free with the tender beauty of  Be The Gift 

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great reason to hug all your beautiful people today: The More You Hug Your kids, The Smarter They Get

The greatest thing we can do is to help somebody know they’re loved,” Rogers says in an interview in the movie. To dramatize this conviction, he ended every show by looking right into the camera and saying with a smile “You always make each day such a special day—by just your being you.

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Mr. Rogers: Won’t you be my neighbor?

Five Star. What the Farmer and I have been listening to. This is profoundly worth every moment of your time

What can Christianity offer our society in the 21st century?

Supposedly the brain excretes endorphins when a person’s mind is stimulated, when a person is thinking imaginatively and creatively. Endorphins are opioids, as you may have heard; they have a similar chemical structure to morphine.

Reading good books is like bliss for your brain.

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A reason to go to the library this weekend: Let us now praise libraries, librarians

“You can live your life wishing you are something else, but you still have got to enjoy what you have.”

Have you heard the pretty incredible wonder of this girl? Little Nora (The Banjo Prodigy)

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” – George A. Moore

a needed soul stirring walk this weekend At home | A Journey Back to Greece.

the beauty of the Imago Dei, the image of God, is everywhere:

this is kinda remarkably wonderful: Giving Artists with Disability a Space to Thrive

“Look everywhere. Go look next door. You don’t know what you’ll find.”

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This adopted woman scoured the country for the sister she never met — only to discover she literally lived next door

… loving each other is kinda the best

okay, let’s all pile in to do more of this!

<grin> need to power up this weekend?

oh yeah: now is the time to cheer each other on, folks!

…watching this our daughter and we both choked up over the realest good news.

Absolutely undone: This is the Gospel

yep, the world’s hurting — and this is a lot of the joy for the world right now

you were singing with them too, aren’t you?

… so a girl of ours cranked this week in Israel

…and we’ve been playing it on repeat all week

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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.