Ripple-Effect Faith with Twyla Franz

It sounded like a prank call, but I promise we were serious. Seriously set on seeing the sunrise in a city where we'd spend spring break. This was before the days of smartphones to check the weather app. So we did what made most sense to our college student brains—call local numbers in the phone book to ask when the sun rises. I think of it now as radiant pink entrances us en route to school. Thes...

Lately, it seems we're walking the thin line between breaking and believing. Lighting candles because we need a flicker of hope. Lengthening hugs because we all need the warmth of presence. How do we make Easter meaningful in the middle of spring break–and all sorts of honest aches?   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Read the writt...

You were made to delight the very heart of Christ. Your words are meant to move the heart of God.  Your devotion undoes Him. Your worship declares Him worthy. Your one surrendered life, aligned with His, honors Him.   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Read the written version of this episode  HERE .

Amen isn't an ending, but an acknowledgement that God can be counted on. It's agreement with what already beats in the heart of our Lord. It's coming alongside God's already, willingly-spoken "yes."   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Read the written version of this episode  HERE .

Down in the unseen recesses of our mind, we worry  we aren't seen. That our superhero power is being invisible, although no one asked if that's what we wanted.  We walk around lonely, longing for the assurance that we matter, trying to reconcile the breach between life right now and as it will be, when everything finally makes sense.  We get partial perspective this side of heaven. "Only part of t...

Sometimes all the things in your head get really loud. You're anxious over everything imagined and irrational. Your self-set expectations make you feel small, and in the tangle of untruths toying with your mind, you've got to remind yourself that hearing God's voice isn't for the ultra-spiritual alone. It's for the worn-out worriers, the willful wanderers, the wisdom-deficient, and the opportunity...

This is for you, feeling alone even when you're surrounded by other people. This is for the introvert keen on deep friendships but second-guessing her own merit. This is for those new to town, missing home, starting over. This is for the long-time homeowner who knows fewer than five neighbors by name. This is for lonely Christians longing for something to shift.   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Emai...

I wonder where you're feeling most overwhelmed. What's beneath your tension headache and audible exhales? What stiffens your shoulders and triggers an insatiable, internal stopwatch? "Don't forget to enjoy this season," my literary agent says, and it startles me. Because I'm so busy sorting out the next two years I forget that the season I'm in should feel slow. There should be room to breathe. To...

I lived on Nicollet Ave. in a city that's been ablaze with rage, but I was too tiny to know anything but the security of arms cradling me. Minneapolis, MN was simply home. My birthplace. My nativity. This morning a candle wafts rich vanilla into my chilly basement and my Bible is open to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah's intensity seems fitting for the fractures dividing our country.  "There is no...

I'm typically the one playing it safe. I minimize risk through research and reluctance. Control what I can and avoid the rest. Perhaps it won't surprise you that this is the first time in four days I've left my neighborhood. But the interstate is stunning.  I'm heading into the sun, which accentuates the ice. I would have missed this ethereal wonderland if I didn't brave the roads—just like I can...

To springboard off Christine Hoover's "back-door friend," I've turned items from around my house into archetypes to help us better understand friendship. Which one best describes the type of friend you are?   Links mentioned: Messy Beautiful Friendships by Christine Hoover. Sometimes we keep our friendship shallow– by accident.  Discover if you are making any of these ten common mistakes by grabbi...

Maybe January feels like a hinge month. Like what happens the rest of the year rests on what you do with this one month. You feel all kinds of pressure to pick the right New Year's resolutions, the perfect word of the year, the habits that will stack up to lifestyle change. You write and rewrite your measurable goals, your keep and let-go list, your personal mission statement.  Perhaps you're fed...

Okay, Lord, I get it. My stubborn insistence that I never need help is the opposite of koinonia. Koinonia is a lighter way to live. An easier way to breathe. It takes the shape of rest–right in the middle of writing a book. Looks like a yes to relationship-building, which is wired in all of us, by God's design.  Every time you link arms, share a burden, trust a friend with your confession, unite i...

When we read primarily to check a box, it's only a matter of time before we check out. If we read out of guilt or obligation, we approach the Word already bored. If we expect the words to go over our head, we'll forget God promises us wisdom if we'll only ask (James 1:5). And if we give up before we get started, we'll never give the Word a chance to become our lifeline in crisis, our won't-miss rh...

What if we could make the new year better than the last? If we could guarantee that God's goodness–up close and unmissable–would overshadow the trials? If we could see, threaded through the seams of our stories, the through-line that makes everything make sense?   Links mentioned: Stuff I'd Only Tell God   by Jennifer Dukes Lee. Songs I Play on Repeat playlist (in the resource library ). Apple and...

For every weary soul needing a bit of light, a scrap of real hope, a simple Christmas prayer. For every taxed mama and bustling grandma. Every newlywed and fresh divorcee. Every grieving heart. Every family scrambling to make Christmas happen.  Wherever these words find you, and whatever heaviness fills the room, I pray for gritty, overflowing hope. I pray that the tender nearness of Jesus meets y...

As I step back to see where I've gone wrong, I see three potential pitfalls where you might be stuck as well. Links mentioned: Get a list of 200 missional word-of-the-year ideas HERE . Get the word-of-the-year month reflection sheets  HERE . To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up  HERE. Read the written version of this episode  HERE .

Ann Voskamp says korban boils down to closeness: Sacrifice in Hebrew is  korban,  which literally means an approach, a moving closer. Sacrifice is not losing something  but moving closer to Someone. Korban isn't so much about loss as it is about proximity to Jesus. And to draw closer to Christ I must let rest all I try to do on my own strength. Links mentioned: To get a short, doable tip in your i...

We slow-baked gratitude into our DNA for this. This! So that we might make space for awed worship, genuine praise, honest adoration. Links mentioned: To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE. Read the written version of this episode  HERE .

It's almost Thanksgiving, and maybe this year you're just trying to make it through. Trying to smile through the "fixings" and the feasting while something feels empty inside.  Maybe everything is right on the surface but stress is eating at your inner calm. Or you're grieving a shift, an unwelcome season, a spot empty around your table. Perhaps the budget simply can't cover the holiday spread you...

An accessible life is permeable.  God can get in. God can ripple out through us.  A no-place-off-limits openness to God welcomes the tender work through which He frees and heals us. Trust gives God permission to inhabit. He enters where He's invited, never barging through barricades in our hearts, but knocking with patience and persistence.  Openness in our relationships allows the work God is doi...

But what if we've tried to keep gratitude too quiet? What if it gets buried in the lines of our journals? What if gratitude is looking for a way to ripple beyond us–spilling over like uncontained laughter? Links mentioned: The Spill-Over Gratitude Challenge To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up  HERE. Read the written version of this ep...

But what if we've tried to keep gratitude too quiet? What if it gets buried in the lines of our journals? What if gratitude is looking for a way to ripple beyond us–spilling over like uncontained laughter? Links mentioned: The Spill-Over Gratitude Challenge To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up  HERE. Read the written version of this ep...

Reversing the hurry of the holidays sounds lovely, but let's get practical. Without a plan, I get swept into the busyness of the holiday season. I don't linger. I squeeze in more and move faster and connect less. You too? Links mentioned: The Spill-Over Gratitude Challenge The Greatest Gift : Unlocking the Full Love Story of Christimas by Ann Voskamp Merry and Bright : Rediscover the Hope, Peace,...

You might find yourself in a similar situation, caught between what you think you  should be able to do, and what you can, at this moment, achieve. Between the voice in your head that says slowing down is shameful and the kind tone you'd use to encourage anyone besides yourself. So until you have the courage to tell this to yourself, here is permission to break pace. Do solid B work. Set a boundar...