The Uncommon Normal

Jesus loves busy people. Yes, you read that right. No matter how up-tight or snippy you’ve been today. How not-present you were yesterday. How defeated you feel. Jesus never stops loving you.

We think our behavior comes first. He says come anyway.

We think it’s up to us. The Finisher says, “Dear child, all’s been done.”

Links mentioned:

1. Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

You and I are not passive acceptors of whatever happens. We go to battle with songs of praise and wisdom from tattered Bible pages and ruthless, trusting obedience. We lock arms with our people and hold each other up when we can’t stand on our own.

Links mentioned:

1. Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

I want to be enough. Get it all the way right. Finish it on my own. But hold my not-enough in open hands. Release. Surrender. Dig deeper and discover more to let go. That’s hard.

And it’s holy. Gift dripping with grace. God here in this paper-thin place.

I’d tell you I know God’s good, but then I met Him on my knees and through many tears and with worship music loud and on repeat and I know Him differently now. When praise is easy, you trust what you see. Take prayers answered how you expect as evidence that God hears, cares, redeems. But when you’re in the middle a long time and don’t know how it will end, you’ve got to lean into what you can’t see. Trust that God is good now. Nevertheless.

Even when He’s not done yet—because there is where His more-than-enough collides with your not-enough.

Links mentioned:

1. Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

2. Jennifer Dukes Lee’s study for It’s All Under Control (affiliate link).

3. Read the first chapter (FREE!) of Becky Beresford's writes in her soon-releasing book, She Believed HE Could, So She Did: Trading Culture’s Lies for Christ-Centered Empowerment.

4. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

5. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

I read Song of Solomon 2:1 (“I am a rose of Sharon . . .”) and remember pulling hundreds of Rose of Sharon seedlings in the spring. They look like an army of twigs laughing at the sky. Not innocent, you realize in year two when they’re already two feet tall and rain-softened earth won’t release the roots. So you squeeze your hands through squares of double-layer fence to pull them young because now you know what happens.

Links mentioned:

1. Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

2. Six reflection questions I recommend using as a monthly word-of-the-year check-in. Get the printable HERE.

3. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

4. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

That’s her role—her one aim—to teach us to revere God Eternal. She knows the direction is vital. That we’re always pursuing something, and if it isn’t Him, it’s something that will distance us from Him.

Links mentioned:

1. Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

2. Playlist of Songs I Play of Repeat.

3. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

4. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Fear is familiar. It’s kept you quiet even when you honestly had something to say. Convinced you to not try, not risk, not show up. Trapped you in your head, in a vicious cycle of people-pleasing and self-perfecting. Stolen more than you want to admit: joy, peace, relational depth.

Links mentioned:

1. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

2. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

The aerial view from my seat is a timely reminder to zoom out, look for the through line staking what’s true and more important. Sometimes you need to step back to see what you’re missing.

Links mentioned:

1. Gratitude has a ripple effect. Learn more about Begin Within: A Gratitude Series HERE (which seeks to inspire year-round, ripple-effect gratitude).

2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Kneeling in His presence is an act of reverence. A declaration that He is God and I am not. I need that reminder daily because I’m quick to overstep, as if I can chart my own course better than He can.

Links mentioned:

1. Jennifer Dukes Lee’s guided journal, Stuff I'd Only Tell God (affiliate link).

2. Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

3. Playlist of Songs I Play of Repeat.

4. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

5. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Here’s what I really want you to know about God: He has always desired to be with us. That’s who I find in the pages of Exodus as I rapid read The Voice translation for Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. A God who always makes a way for us to be near Him because He wants to be known. A God indescribably pained when we turn away.

Links mentioned:

1. I’m taking Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

God’s promise-laden answer to the Israelites is the same to us—self-wranglers, self-pitiers, self-justifiers. We who like to control the where, when, and how. We who are quick to complain, compare, criticize.

Links mentioned:

1. I’m taking Mary Demuth’s 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge. Grab the book (affiliate link), and join us here.

2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge  (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Let’s start here. I admit I’m scared of the word I’ve chosen for 2024. It’s a finger on a tender place that I know I need to surrender—and I’m not sure I’m ready. My word of the year will spin me to face the mirror and truths I have a hard time believing about myself. Draw me into the arms of Jesus who listens with compassion etched into every line on His face.

Links mentioned:

1. Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-Hurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl by Jennifer Dukes Lee
2. The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman
3. Small Is Big, Slow Is Fast: Living and Leading Your Family and Community on God’s Mission by Caesar Kalinowski
4. Caesar’s podcast, Everyday Disciple, is also a gold mine, and it’s been the hugest honor to join him for a few of the episodes.
5. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
6. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Let’s start here. I admit I’m scared of the word I’ve chosen for 2024. It’s a finger on a tender place that I know I need to surrender—and I’m not sure I’m ready. My word of the year will spin me to face the mirror and truths I have a hard time believing about myself. Draw me into the arms of Jesus who listens with compassion etched into every line on His face.

Links mentioned:

1.     200 word of the year ideas!

2.     My friend Yohonna Smith, host of the Girls Talking Life podcast, has a Word of the Year – Word Study to help you get more out of your word. It’s a free resource, and you can download it HERE.

3.     Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.

4.     Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Maybe you’re so wrapped up in making Christmas feel right for everyone else, you’ve forgotten you actually don’t have to do anything to make Christmas perfect.

Links mentioned:

1. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
2. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

This is for the one holding her breath, feeling the anxious weight of the best and bustle of December. This is for the one trying to figure out exactly where good becomes too much.

Links mentioned:

1. Grab this FREE phone wallpaper to remind you that God’s face lights up when He sees you.
2. If you love Christmas music but find it makes you a bit anxious, try instrumental. Violin is my favorite for unknotting tension, and I play this album often.
3. I’m big fan of Stuff I’d Only Tell God* (affiliate link). While supplies last you can get Jennifer Dukes Lee’s journal for less than $11 dollars, and that includes free shipping and a 10-pack of card inspired by the journal. 
4. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
5. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

I never knew what would happen if I picked a word of the year until I did. And maybe that’s where you are today. You hear talk at the end and beginning of every year about words of the year. You see lists of ideas popping up on Pinterest. Friends enthusiastically sharing their special word.

But then there’s a whole lot of silence, and it leaves you wondering what actually happens with those words. Are they forgotten? Ineffective? Perhaps they shape lives in ways too personal to share online.

This is for you if you’ve never picked a word of the year and are genuinely curious what it’s all about. It’s also for you if you’ve chosen a word before and didn’t know what to do with it. Or gave up on it, on accident of course.

Let’s address the “what happens” question first. I understand you might have more questions, as well, like “Do you have any word ideas?” and How do I know which word to choose?” We’ll get to those too.

Links mentioned:

1. Get my list of 200 missional living word-of-the-year ideas HERE!
2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Sometimes thanks is silent. Spoken not in words but awe as we inhale God’s overwhelming goodness and weighty glory. The very first line of Psalm 65 stops me: “Oh God in Zion, to you even silence is praise” (TPT).

Silent praise assumes familiarity. Connectedness that can fill in the blanks and simply savor presence. That’s the kind of relationship King David had with his beloved Lord. He goes on to pen this sentiment: “How satisfied we will be just to be near you!” (v. 4).

As the calendar draws us gently toward Advent, I want to hold this wonder that offers wordless praise. Because isn’t that the point of practicing gratitude for 30 days—that it would never end?

Links mentioned:

1. Get the prompts for the Thank Somebody Challenge HERE! I'll send them with directions.
2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Fellow perfectionist, let’s talk about you. That lie running through your head telling you it’s got to be better. The pressure you feel to get it right, down to crossed t’s and dotted i’s. The shame that flushes your face when someone presses on your lack. The way you want to hide your work the moment you notice a flaw.

You don’t want another voice telling you to chill, so I promise that won’t be me. We waste a lot of time trying to better ourselves with resolutions and willpower. But the truth is, you can’t turn off your inner critic by badgering yourself with threats. You’ve tried it, as have I, and it doesn’t work.

So what can we do when perfectionism tries to rule our lives? Here’s a list of seven things I’m learning to do.

Links mentioned:

1. Get the prompts for the Thank Somebody Challenge HERE! I'll send them with directions.
2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

I’m quick to dismiss a thank you. Chalk it up to niceness, and spin it negative. What you really mean to say is I’m stubborn, impulsive, and a perfectionist. Or I’ll downplay it as nothing because it was less than what I’d intended and undeserving of thanks. That, or I’ll redirect the conversation back to you because the attention makes me squirm a little inside.

It took a conversation with a handful of neighbors for me to name it aloud to any other besides my husband. We meet midweek over lunch hour and practice letting each other in. As in, to the down-beneath things that spin us toward or away from God. The lies we’re exchanging for God’s truth. The practices that keep our heads up and our hearts in the right place. Nicole Unice’s The Struggle Is Real study is a perfect launch pad for these honest conversations.

If you’ve joined us for the November Thank Somebody Challenge, you’ve been writing a lot of thank yous. Mailing cards, leaving notes, sending heartfelt texts or voice messages for the people who matter to you. But for some of us, that part feels natural. What’s a whole lot harder is when the thank you comes our way.

Whether you’re completing the challenge or not, let’s talk thank yous and how to get better about accepting them. With grace, grit, and humility, because honestly, it takes all three. Tune in for four practices that are helping me with this.

Links mentioned:

1. Get the prompts for the Thank Somebody Challenge HERE! I'll send them with directions.
2. More on knowing God on our knees HERE.
3. Want to know the songs I play on repeat? Grab my playlist HERE.  
4. Follow @stuffidonlytellgod on Instagram—and grab a copy anywhere books are sold.
5. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
6. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

You’re trying to be thankful for what you have and who’s in your life, but more glaring is what’s missing. Who wasn’t there. Who doesn’t actually know you. Who hurt you on purpose. Whose words told you that you can’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t.

Can we talk about it? Because if that’s you feeling all mixed up inside because isn’t a gratitude challenge supposed to make you feel better, it’s not time to bottle it all up.

We push away the hard memories as if they can collect so much dust in the recesses of our minds that we won’t recognize them. Wear our happy faces and only tell the things that are good and well in our lives.

But it’s exhausting, isn’t it?

I know because I’ve got memories too that take me to bittersweet places. Scars that are still healing. Ones I remember every time I bake sourdough.

Links mentioned:

1. Get the prompts for the Thank Somebody Challenge HERE! I'll send them with directions.
2. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

As we turn the calendar to November, let’s keep Kristin’s question in mind: “How often do you and I compliment someone to the degree that they begin to believe it about themselves?” But let’s do more than think about it. Let’s put it into practice.

Links mentioned:

1. Find The Ruth Experience’s new book, The One Year Daily Acts of Gratitude Devotional HERE!
2. Scroll with me through Begin Within: A Gratitude Series, and you’ll find over 150 testimonies of gratitude leaving a lingering effect.
3. Sign up HERE to get the weekly story in your email inbox.
4. Begin Within: A Gratitude Series turns three on Nov. 1st, and we're celebrating with a GIVEAWAY!  Enter (through 11/3/23) HERE!
5. Also beginning Nov. 1st is the Thank Somebody Challenge! Grab the prompts HERE! I'll send them with directions.
6. Get a sneak peek of my pocket-sized devotional, Cultivating a Missional Life, HERE. If you want the rest it’s $4.99 on Kindle or $6.99 for the paperback. Grab the bonus 30-day missional living challenge (free with a purchase) to get the most out of the devotional.
7. Read the written version of this episode HERE.