come get lost in the wonder of His world? Let’s do it — a glorious change of perspective?
gather the family for the ridiculous happy of this one?
This gentle soul did just this beautiful thing till she was 98 — living to the full!
so what comes out of the mouth of a 9-yr-old boy? changes everything
there’s a tender wonder about all of these that moves deeply. Linger
ah, how about a little, lovely rest?
14 years. 1 photographer. And a quest to document the world’s biggest, oldest, and rarest trees
Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God
Begging you: Don’t leave the internet without reading this.
well, this is hard to top for a New Year’s Eve party
<huge grin>
Sisters. Twins. 90 years old. And then this happens on Christmas day
“Today’s yes is to wonder. Never do I want to take wonder for granted.”Yes to wonder.
Amazing Grace — what happens when we all just really pull together
opening doors — and hearts. A story for everyone
the wonder of this orphaned goat
if she can do this at 77 — really, we can do the hardest, most wondrous things!
Post of the Week from these parts here:
When You Don’t Need Resolutions as Much as You Need Real Solutions. Soul Solutions.
A Real Grace Plan for a New Year
#SOULUTIONS
What’s on the Stack here at the Farm
New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotion: One for every morning, like water for the weary soul: “He never mocks your weaknesses or throws your sin in your face. He never gets tired of you or gives up on His relationship with you. His love isn’t conditional and his grace is never temporary. He doesn’t ask you to earn what you can never deserve, and He never makes you feel guilty for needing His good gifts.”
I need these gentle & wise & true New Morning Mercies.
Mom Enough – The Fearless Mother’s Heart & Hope: Mom (never enough) + God (infinitely enough) = Mom enough.
“Are you mom enough?”The cover of Time Magazine asked this haunting question in bold red letters over the image of a young mother breastfeeding her four-year-old. When the issue hit newsstands it re-ignited a longstanding mommy war in American culture. But it turns out this was the wrong question, pointing in the wrong direction. Here is a higher and more essential question faced by mothers: Is God God enough?
This short book by eight women explores the daily trials and worries of motherhood. In the trenches, they have learned (and continue to learn) how to treasure God and depend on His all-sufficient grace. The aim of Mom Enough is not to boost a mother’s self-sufficiency, but to build her fearlessness as she finds her sufficiency outside of herself — in Him.”
Don’t pass go, don’t go into this new year without this book. An absolute must, soul-fueling read for every mother down in the trenches who needs to hear it again: Mom (never enough) + God (infinitely enough) = Mom Enough.
The Sacred Year: Mapping the Soulscape of Spiritual Practice: Such a read for such a year…
“The problem with doing more and more is that it makes answering your question– where am I most myself? — almost impossible”
“No, you can’t make God love you. You can’t make God like you. But nor do you need to; He already does. Never forget that is why He made you—because he wants you to exist. He wants you to live life in all its fullness.”
I am deeply looking forward to this read… to the quiet joy of this being The Sacred Year
Instagram of the week here: “…. yeah, wanna come over for breakfast?
‘Cause we’re just keeping it real small, just real simple, just First things First: Word in. Work out. Work plan.
Word in: Get into God’s Word & let it get into you. Work out: Even 5 minutes of moving is better than nothing. Work plan: Write out the work plan. And then work the plan
#WordIn#WorkOut#WorkPlan ‘Cause this year, this farm girl just needs some soul solutions more than resolutions– yeah just some #SOULUTIONS#NoFearNewYear ”
and…this? Some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.
Our Humble, Heart-bursting Thank You & Winners of the Heirloom Ornament Giveaway
Just a wildly large thank you to every single one of you beautiful people who joined us in our journey through Advent this year, Unwrapping The Greatest Gift, lingering with The Greatest Gift, to have The Greatest Christmas.
Before we pack away all the Christmas decorations from our Christmas tree, the ones from our Jesse Trees that tell the whole wondrous Gospel story of His coming — can we just thank you for your stories, your pictures, your joy in The Greatest Gift, this year — and surprise FIFTEEN of you who shared how #UnwrappingTheGreatestGift helped this be The Greatest Christmas — with the a full 25 set of the heirloom resin ornaments from DaySpring? We just love you all to bits — and can’t wait for next year to have #TheGreatestChristmas!
why you have to make a real, intentional plan to slow down & see the gifts of this year —
or the stress of it all will kill you
and the seconds are adding into years … from 0 to 100 years …
a year in 40 seconds? Do not disdain the small — the moments are adding up.
and He is making miraculous things around us every moment —
and it all can take our breath away if we let it
let this be the year — you make time to run for the moon, for being awed by His glory
let this be the year we reach out — one simple act of caring creates an endless ripple
the first weekend of the year, can I take you to Europe? Hold the hand of someone you love and you’ve got to see the way God does things all around us. Really.
this year…
Research shows counting just 3 gift-blessings/day increases happiness by 25%…
Why yes, please! Come on a scavenger hunt for God’s gifts every day?
Why bother?
Why bother keeping a gratitude list of His gifts?
Harvard academics had researched & concluded that the number one effective exercise to limit stress — is to exercise gratitude thinking. Their studies had found? Nothing, absolutely nothing interrupts anxiety like gratitude. The research indicates that recording just 3 gifts a day is cognitive training, a way of reorganizing your brain around a focus on goodness, that it increases an individual’s positive outlook by 25%. What soul, community, family, doesn’t need to increase their positive focus by a proven 25%— for free?
Who doesn’t want all that? Just three gifts a day. “… that habit of discontentment, it can only be driven out by hammering in iron that is even sharper —The sleek pin of gratitude.” …. ~ {One Thousand Gifts}
~ Print out the whole year of Joy Dares — put on your fridge, have it at the dinner table, over the kitchen sink. Have a family scavenger hunt for His gifts everyday and enter to win a Nikon D90 camera. Check out the free #1000gifts App … for iPhone or iPad… the (free) #1000gifts app is like your own mobile gratitude journal to snap photos and record notes of your gifts from the Giver. So many so loving it. Blog your 1000 gifts, or tag #1000 gifts on Instagram, or join us on Mondays and link up to the list on your blog, or record a legacy of your 1000 gifts in the One Thousand Gifts 60 Day Devotional
And, if you’d like to be entered into the monthly draw for a JOY BASKET (including a $100 Amazon gift card), share your gifts everyday in the Facebook Gratitude community and come the end of the year (after recording only 3 gifts a day/1000 gifts) … be back here to enter for a Nikon D90 camera! Give thanks to Him in the assembly!
yeah, right about this time of year it’s real easy to feel like not enough:
not organized enough, not pretty/skinny/smart enough, not good enough…
But the deal is?He came & He’s enough & He makes you enough & Nobody,
*Nobody* is all together, all of the time.
Nobody can do it all, all of the time…
So right about now is a very good time to just take a deep, deep breath.
All you can do is Just. The. Next. Thing. Right now, at this time.
That’s all, just what dear Elisabeth Elliot said:
Just. Do. The. Next. Thing.
And He will make the Next Thing & Everything into Enough things, Lovely things, Good Things.#JustDoTheNextThing #NoFearNewYear
[excerpted from our daily devotions in our little Facebook community … come join 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.
