Though his day has become synonymous with chocolate hearts, flowers, and romantic gestures, Valentine’s life was anything but a bed of roses. An Italian clergyman who found himself in the crosshairs of the Roman Empire, Valentine preached love in a time when hate was powerful. His impact, and his legend, has only grown. In this segment of The Holy Behind the Holiday, a series of articles looking at the Christian roots of some of our most popular holidays, author Caleb Mathis unveils the life of Saint Valentine—and how his story can impact how we live today. 

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2,800 miles in 40 days? Author Tamara Brooks signed up for the RELENTLESS 2800 team challenge alongside some good friends, but it didn’t take long for the excitement to wear off and the muscle cramps to begin. What had she gotten herself into? Doubt tried to convince her that she wasn’t fit enough, committed enough, or tough enough to finish. Then one morning, while clocking in some miles, God spoke, reminding her that because He is always moving, she can too. With her eyes on the finish line, she kept going, one mile at a time. 

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Life is supposed to be easy, right? Not so fast. Author and pastor, Andy Reider, offers a wake-up call for the cultural narrative that everything in our life should always be up-and-to-the-right. The reality is that life is hard, and it takes twists and turns. A better goal than an easy life, is learning to develop resilience. And that, as it turns out, is only learned the hard way. 

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Suffering, difficulty, and hardship is, unfortunately, a regular part of the human experience. When things go bad, does it mean something spiritually? Author Rachel Reider gives an eye-opening deep-dive into what the Bible says (and also doesn’t say) about what hardship means in our lives. She maps out a hopeful path forward, pointing our focus off our difficulty and back onto a God that has an uncanny ability to turn bad things around. If things are going sideways in your life, and you’re asking “why,” this is the article for you. 

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Sabbath—an intentional day, each week, set aside for rest, worship and fun—sounds like a great idea on paper. Actually making it happen, though, can feel dang-near-impossible. In this article, author Caleb Mathis conducts short interviews with three people, in completely different stages of life, about how (and why) they practice the Biblical concept of Sabbath. Your mission? Borrow an idea from one of them and try it on for size. You might be surprised to find the seeds of Sabbath starting to grow in your own life as well. 

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If you want this year to be better than the last, you’re going to have to deal with your calendar. After finding her margins thin, her creativity zapped, and her joy for life diminished, author Rachel Reider made a desperate move—she started saying no. The freedom of intentionally reclaiming space on her calendar was the gateway to rediscovering the kind of life she wanted. In this article, Rachel shares the life-changing wisdom for anyone feeling crushed by their calendar.

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