This year, God has been teaching me that joy and surrender are deeply connected.

I have had to surrender my timeline.

I have had to surrender what I thought this season would look like.

I have had to surrender the comfort of having everything figured out.

But in the surrender, I have found Him.

When you hear the word love, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

For many of us, if we are honest, our thoughts immediately drift toward romantic love, relationships, dating, or the hope of one day meeting “the person.” Culture has trained us to associate love primarily with romance, which can make it feel like something we are either experiencing or waiting for.

I know for me personally, there have been moments where I have caught myself thinking, “I know God loves me, but I still feel like I am waiting for love.” As someone who is very much single, it can be easy to believe that love is something that has not fully arrived in my life yet. There can be a quiet assumption that love will come later, when a relationship enters the picture.

However, when we look at Scripture, we quickly realize that this understanding of love is far too narrow.

Our Boldly Seeking team is returning from an amazing weekend at the Called Conference. During a time of worship, one of the hosts shared a passage of Scripture as an encouragement to the women in attendance. In 2 Chronicles 20:21, "Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing and to praise [the Lord] for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army.” As they began to worship and give thanks to the Lord, He sent ambushes against the enemies and they were defeated. What enemy are you fighting this week? Worship the Lord and he will go ahead of you and win the battle.

In just under a week, the Boldly Seeking team will be making our way to the Called Conference in the Twin Cities. This is an all-women, Christ-centered, ministry-driven two-day conference focused on calling. 

WHO is God calling me to be? 

WHERE is God calling me to go? 

WHAT is God calling me to do?

Have you heard Anne Wilson’s song “God Story”? It came out last year (2025) and whether this might be the first time you have heard it or it has been on repeat in your earbuds, come along with me and take a behind the scenes look at the story behind the lyrics!

Have you ever been in a room full of people and encountered the Lord in an individual, personal way?

Grace Rubin joins us on the blog again this week with some very important steps in a practice called Lectio Divina. This phrase is Latin for “divine reading” and is intended to promote communion with God and provide spiritual insight. Taking these 5 steps towards Lectio Divina can really help with making personal connections with Scripture if you fully create space for this practice (and yes, it does take practice!).

How many of us can have something nasty said to us, and we do not say something nasty back? God will give us the power that only God can give us.  It takes strength of character, something of God in us. It’s the weak man or woman who snaps back. Prov 25:28- Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.

This space, between Christmas and what comes next, feels thin. Quiet. Honest.

It reminds me that God does some of His deepest work not in the celebrations, but in the stillness after them.

Jeanne Osgood is the Vice President of Advancement at Bethel University. She writes about her profound insight on a wintry day. As Christians, we know our eternal destination, but sometimes the path getting their feels harder to navigate. The direction hasn’t changed, but the conditions have. Read more on the blog and learn about what makes a difficult path encouraging in the long run.

 Geri VonGrey writes: “The mushroom flourishes only in living soil, a delicate web of unseen relationships; if the ground is poisoned or the balance disturbed, the waxcap dies. In the same way, the life of faith cannot thrive in isolation. Holiness grows not through independence but through interdependence, where believers support and nurture one another, sustained by the quiet, life-giving work of the Spirit.”