It’s almost spring! How do we know? We observe signs of it all around us in the cherry tree blossoms and the stores with blooming tulips for sale. What about growing something that is good to eat, like your own fresh greens? Things like bean sprouts, lettuce, bok choy, & kale are greens.

Each year I always look forward to planting the garden with my daughter. She loves to help plant, water, and harvest. This is a time that I will always cherish no matter how the garden turns out that year because, let’s face it, some years are better than others. Each year is a learning experience, and every year I try to learn a few new things.

God wants us to tell our stories to others, and not just the parts that make us feel good. In fact, God is invested in writing our stories so that the bad parts highlight His goodness and mercy. In other words, the bad parts are the best parts! From Israel recounting the times they were forgiven and restored, to Jesus sending the sinful and the sick back to their communities with deliverance on their lips—our God desires that we take our true stories and give them away to others so that they can see what He’s like and what He can do. 

In a world dominated by social media, Christians are under a microscope like never before. We’ve put ourselves out there to be criticized by others and looked at with scrutiny, but on the other hand, this could be the greatest opportunity to show Christ’s love.

When was the last time you had a conversation with someone you care about and you know disagrees with you on something important? (Facebook doesn’t count.) Take a moment and truly think about the last time you had a healthy dialogue of disagreement with someone you love. What was it about? How did it end? Was it with another Christian? How did everyone walk away feeling?

We are so excited for the opportunity to host a Collective Workshop with a Dive Collective member. Emily LeVault is part of our community and is teaching Lettering Basics beginning next week, and we wanted to dig a bit deeper with her and her love for both teaching and the art of lettering—we decided to ask her a few questions.

Recently, I wrapped up a four week study of the Book of Ruth with Dive Collective and my heart is expanded. I’m going to share some of that freshness here. These are the juicy fruits I plucked from this book, startled silly by their potency and relevance to my own life. Here’s hoping there may be something here for you too.