Friendship requires participation, and most real relationships are formed in moments that feel slightly inconvenient. Someone’s kid spills juice on your couch. A neighbor needs help at exactly the wrong time. Real connection costs time, comfort, energy and effort, but that cost is not a flaw. It’s the point. You weren’t created for a life you don’t have time for. Sometimes we get so focused on ourselves and our own family that our lives get too inward-oriented. Self-obsession shrinks the world we live in. The truth is, in everyday life, the biggest battle isn’t good versus evil; it’s doing good versus doing nothing. Connection grows when we choose participation. This is the year to do things. Make eye contact with strangers when weird and funny things happen. Bake cookies for your neighbors, cheer that friend on for her 5K, say yes to the invite and don’t cancel at the last minute — help someone move and bring pizza, practice inviting people to just stop by. Anyone can show up when it’s convenient. Be the kind of person people can count on when it’s not. Bring back being a normal, generous person. Bring back inconveniencing ourselves for others. This is how we resist overwhelm: by choosing availability, by being someone who can be interrupted by whatever God puts in front of us that day.

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act." PROVERBS 3:27

Reading the Bible is how we learn to be friends with God. Intimacy is built through long conversations and learning someone’s voice well enough to recognize it anywhere. For many of us, the Bible has been reduced to a rule book. But it is far more magnetic than that. It’s sacred but refuses to stay tame. Unpredictable. Confronting. Comforting. Somehow new every time you open it. It’s a story full of unlikely heroes, unexpected grace and a God who keeps pursuing the people he loves. This isn’t just a book you read, it’s a book that reads you. It changes us and reveals what really matters. Like any real relationship, it isn’t always easy or convenient. Some days it feels electric and clarifying. Other days, it’s quiet or confusing. But closeness is formed through consistency, curiosity and faithfulness. So, this is the year we choose the Word over worry. The year we stay in the conversation. The year we truly get to know God. One verse or chapter a day; an entire book in a month; or join us and read the whole Bible in a year, together.

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." JOSHUA 1:8

As women, God gave us the natural ability to elevate everything we touch. Hand us the raw materials of everyday life, a little flour, sugar and butter, and we’ll turn them into a party. Give us a bachelor pad, and we’ll make it into a cozy home. We take the love between a man and a woman and turn it into a baby. At our best, God has given us the ability to make life more beautiful, more delicious, more meaningful, more enjoyable. We don’t just keep life going; we help make it worth living. Beauty isn’t about how something looks; it’s about how something is lived. It’s the decision to bring joy into a room. To celebrate what’s good instead of endlessly rehearsing what’s broken. Negativity is easy. Cynicism is everywhere. Complaining can feel like connection. But none of it builds the kind of life, reputation or community we actually want. In a world constantly inviting us to outrage, a cheerful heart begins to feel like medicine, not just for us, but for everyone around us. Beauty isn’t a frivolous luxury or indulgent excess; it’s a tactic of resilience and survival. So, we choose beauty on purpose. To celebrate often. To make a habit of being in a good mood. Not because life is perfect, but because beauty is an act of war against the darkness. We need a resurgence of beauty-bringers, and this year, it starts with us.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." PROVERBS 17:22

Sometimes it feels lonely to know so much and still not know what to do. We don’t need more information; we need more wisdom. Discernment. Dignity. In a world trained to compromise, character is what makes a life stand out. Integrity is choosing to live well instead of merely looking good. It’s being the same person in public and in private. It’s doing what you say you’re going to do, especially when no one is watching. We’ve been trained to worry about trivial things, chase validation and put ourselves first. But self-help hasn’t helped. We don’t want to work harder to just feel the same; we want to know what’s actually true. Integrity keeps us grounded when the world is yelling, “Do whatever it takes to get ahead.” Wisdom steadies us when the rules aren’t clear, and shortcuts are tempting. It helps us choose well when doing the right thing feels costly, and when living by our values makes us feel behind. It reminds us of who we are and helps us live like someone we’re proud to be. Scripture tells us there was no one like Solomon in wisdom and that his wisdom was a gift from God, rooted in humility. When God invited Solomon to ask for anything, Solomon didn’t ask for success or influence; he asked for a discerning heart. God was pleased with that. May we learn to long for the most important things.

"So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong." 1 KINGS 3:9