Reading is a great activity all year round, but especially in the summer! With school out, the sun setting later in the evening, and the days lasting longer, summer is a great time to head to the library or online bookstore to stock up on summer reads. Whether you set a specific summer reading goal or want to start reading together as a family, there’s always a great new book for you to dive into.

Rest can be promised to one another, yet those promises are not always kept.  My children promise me rest when they assure me they will get their chores done. The time they spend doing chores would open time for me to rest on my back deck with a book—if they did them.

When I first became a follower of Christ, I was not very biblically literate. I had a very basic understanding of the Bible as a whole. I knew the bullet points of how we historically got to Jesus and beyond to His Church, but I’d never really read Scripture and definitely hadn’t studied it.

The epic saga of Joseph and his brothers spans thirteen chapters of the Book of Genesis, and most Christians are familiar with it. Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery, where he suffers and then rises to power in Egypt. A famine forces his brothers to come to him in search of grain; and after an extensive back-and-forth to assess if his brothers have changed, Joseph reveals his identity and forgives them. It’s a glorious picture of how God can work through even the worst betrayal and suffering to bring about salvation (in this case, literal, physical salvation from starvation) and healed relationships.

Many people adopt spiritual disciplines during the season of Lent instead of, or in addition to, giving up something. Whether you are reading an extra devotion or incorporating prayer into your daily routine, adding spiritual disciplines to your life during Lent can be a great way to grow closer to God and deepen your faith in and dependence on Him.

The following is a brief guide to the traditional seasons of the Church and the liturgical calendar. This introduction is a perfect starting point for learning about the Divine Service throughout the year and an easy hub for reviewing what you’ve learned!

We were not created to live alone.

This truth should have been one I knew well before the pandemic, but “post” pandemic, I know this need for one another acutely. Going without gatherings, coffee dates, and in-person church created an appreciation for being with one another. 

A lot of us start our day by playing Wordle, but do you know what WORD-will change your life? It is fun to awkwardly joke about how to connect our culture to the story of Jesus. But in reality, it’s not that hard. Christ’s life is often emulated in the stories we share and in our own lives.

I’ve been thinking about tone of voice in the Bible. Anyone who texts, emails, or engages on social media is familiar with the challenge of conveying tone through words alone. We often add emojis to make sure our readers understand.

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year? Did any of them concern relationships in your life?