I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord; “plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
encouraging words
jeremiah 29:11
Mark Galli, Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today, speaks with Cultivating about the Good, True, & Beautiful
PRACTICE
Christianity Today &
Beautiful Orthodoxy
read the INTERVIEW
Lancia E. Smith shares a new adaptation for one of her most essential soups!
taste
Beloved Chicken Soup
view recipe
Why does Christmas leave us feeling alone and what can we do about it?
READ
When Christmas Feels Empty
READ with us
International Correspondent Pahtyana Moore looks at finding the essence of Christmas in a foreign country
READ
What IS Christmas
to become?
READ MORE
Our soundtrack for cultivating the Christmas season!
listen
Cultivating Christmas Spotify Playlist
listen now
The joy of Christmas does not burst in upon us through extravagance or excess or through a perfectly managed life. It seldom comes through choirs of angels singing good tidings on dark, bleak nights, though they do indeed still sing.
The joy of Christmas does not come to us because our lives are without need. This beautiful, bittersweet season is more than any other time of our year, the crossroads of the now and the not yet, the broken and the good, the ache and the mercy.
The joy of Christmas comes quiet and steady as we keep it, with trust and hope, faith and generosity; not in imagined wealth or strength, but in our real poverty and our heartaches. At the core of Christmas, we celebrate that “the Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God.” In the darkness of all we are and the world we have made bleak with despair, Light came into the world that the darkness cannot overcome. Emmanuel, God with us!
Friends, in that hope and knowledge, let us celebrate this Christmas and make merry bravely! Let us light candles, give deeply, love with abandon, and kindle community.
Cultivating Christmas Joy 2018
CHRISTMAS ISSUE: KINDLING COMMUNITY
from the founder
featured
latest journal entries from cultivating
Cultivator of beauty, teacher, word friend, and camera jedi
lancia e. smith
From the founder
Please accept my deep thanks for your presence here at Cultivating! You are the reason we do this labour of love!
This year we are taking some big steps forward for Cultivating, and part of that step forward requires something for us: asking for help. We are inviting you to be part of this good and holy work in a new way: become direct sustainers of Cultivating through committed prayer and financial support. If you have loved what you find here and would welcome a way to make a difference in helping Cultivating continue, I ask you to please prayerfully consider making a one-time donation or consider monthly support. It will make more of a difference than you know!
Thank you truly for your love, encouragement, and engagement over these years. And thank you for considering support for us. May every blessing be yours and may you ever flourish!
Lancia
It is my prayer that you will resonate with what you find here at Cultivating. May this be a place of shelter for your spirit, encouragement for your daily living, and good company for the journey we share. You are welcome at this table, friend.
