Gleaning and Gathering

Kaylynn and I start a wide-ranging conversation that includes an article from Front Porch Republic entitled "A Beautiful Farm." From there we discuss the USDA agricultural policies of the 1970's that have led to our current situation. We discuss the value of "sticking with" a place and a people, and we end up talking about Abraham and faithfulness.

It was fun to record whether you ever listen to it or not, but I hope you'll "glean and gather" with us.

Here are some reflections from I Thess. 4 about Christian ambition and witness. Our ambition should be to:

1. Live a quiet life

2. Mind our own business

3. Work with our hands

So that we will have what we need and not be unnecessarily dependent on others and gain the respect of those who are outside the faith.

Kaylynn's back! It was such a joy to record this episode with my eldest daughter. It was a free flowing conversation about NDP, the need for the church to be engaged in "vocational discipleship," and how we should be developing leaders at every level.

I am sharing from my life over the past few weeks, planning for "Longing for the Light," a muti-site, interdenominational prayer movement that God has impressed on my heart.

Also talking about leading our families towards God and how we do family devotions.

In the middle of your busyness are you taking time for rhythms of renewal? In this episode, I am challenging you to seek the face of God and to live in health as you move forward with you plans.

Headmaster Scott Clemens of Heartland Christian has been a personal friend and huge blessing to our family over the past nine years our children have been connected there. I interviewed him him today about education, discipleship, and Heartland's mission of partnering with parents to develop Christ-like leaders.

Have you had the experience of knowing that God put you together with someone? There was a "spark" of connection, and you knew it was more than just common interests.

In this episode, we explore that idea and its connection to Spiritual friendship, or guardians of the soul.

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent 2023, and this past week I had a conversation with Karissa about this season. "Jesus is coming, and this time is all about getting ready for His return."

Her eyes lit up, and she began to jump up and down. "Jesus is coming!! When, when?! I want to see Him!!"

Living with hope is to live everyday with that child-like wonder, excitement, and expectation that we see in the lives of Simeon and Anna in Luke 2. We aren't "just waiting;" we are living in hope!

In this wide-ranging conversation with co-host Kaylynn, we talk about all manner of things, but the conversation centers on cultivating a sense of wonder in our children's education and experience. "Why does that happen? How does that work?" If you send them out with wonder, they will find their answers.

On this Thanksgiving, I am thinking about the past... and our future. I am thinking about the yearly rhythms that for us have become the "sound track" of our life as a family.

Are we just marching to the drumbeat of culture, or are we cultivating a deeper life as a family through the things we celebrate and the traditions that we repeat year after year?