Hi there,
I hope your week’s been kind to you.
Take a moment to breathe and become still. I’ve been sitting with something lately that I almost didn’t write. It felt too small. Too ordinary. But I’ve learned that sometimes the smallest things are the ones we need most. So I’m sharing with you something real and deeply personal.
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
Galatians 6:9 (NLT)
A question for reflection: What do you tend to give up on when it feels like no one notices?
A Story That Stuck With Me:
Over the past ten years, I’ve started and stopped a few blogs. Every time I didn’t see the response I hoped for, I deleted them. I told myself it wasn’t working. That my words didn’t matter.
I recently shared this with my wife. She looked at me and said something I didn’t expect:
“You need to remember leg days.”
She was right.
Leg day is the part most people skip at the gym because it’s hard, and the results aren’t as visible. But your legs are what carry you. And when you train them, you’re building strength that supports everything else, even if no one sees it.
I’ve been learning that writing is like that, too. You show up. You do the work. And even when it hurts, you trust that something is growing beyond the surface.
A Simple Prompt for You
What’s something you’ve kept doing, even when no one saw it?
What has it shaped in you?
A Few Things to Explore
Read the full blog post: Remember Leg Days
https://gracebeyondthesurface.org/blog/remember-leg-day
From the archives: Put away the measuring tape
https://gracebeyondthesurface.org/blog/put-away-the-measuring-tape-learning-to-love-jesus-instead-of-earning-his-approval
Here is a song to reflect on: “Do It Again” by Elevation Worship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOBIPb-6PTc
A Thought to Carry
Perhaps you’re going through your version of leg day at this moment. If that's the case, remember you’re not alone. Godly strength develops when no one is watching.
Take heart: you’re not forgotten.
Support This Ministry
This newsletter will always be free.
I know what it’s like to be homeless, to sit in a prison cell, and to feel completely desperate. That’s why I’m working toward creating care packs, simple, practical items for people doing it tough. Something they can hold in their hands that reminds them they are loved and not forgotten.
If the words shared here have encouraged you, your support helps make those care packs possible. It also helps cover the costs behind the writing, the website, and the time it takes to create these resources.
If you feel led to give, thank you. And if you’re just here to read and receive, I’m grateful you’re here too.
If the newsletter spoke to you today, maybe God put someone on your heart, too. Feel free to share it with them. Sometimes a simple word of grace is all someone needs to keep going. “So encourage each other and build each other up…” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NLT).
This newsletter began because of the encouragement from Christian Story Lab. Their guidance helped me step out in faith and start this newsletter, sharing the kind of reflections I believe matter, real, honest, and grounded in reality, and hold significant importance in Scripture. If you’ve ever felt called to write or share your story, I can’t recommend him enough.
