Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life

She believed she couldn't, so God did.

God doesn’t call us to comfort; He calls us to follow him.

It’s okay to grow slowly.

In fact, it’s in the imperfect—the dirt—where things grow. Not despite the mess and tension, but right smack in the middle of it.

People often ask me how I stay so motivated and energized. I could tell you I try to eat healthy foods and sleep well at night, but the real answer is grace.

When life feels undone and plans seem unclear, we say, God, I trust You. When we’re in the wait, we say, Your will be done. When we feel lost or alone, we say, God, You are in this place. When the world presses in on us, we say, Lord, You are mighty. And when we’re feeling weak and defeated, and tempted to offer words of ingratitude for the season we’re in, we say, God, You are good. All the time. You are good.

You have a unique assignment here on this earth, and your pain, grief, and challenges might be the very things that open your heart to be able to live out that assignment. A seed doesn’t burst through the earth and decide to hop to another spot because it looks better, easier, or more comfortable in someone else’s garden. It grows right in the dirt where it has been planted.

The seasons teach us how to do life well, revealing a life-giving rhythm: we flourish through intentional periods of stillness, growth, hard work, and rest.

Mankind’s first job was to cultivate and keep a garden (Gen. 2:15). God could have given us any number of tasks to do or places to be, but He is the author of intentionality. This first assignment was a meaningful foundation. Perhaps He put us in the garden to teach us something essential.

Try this. Simply tell God what is on your heart and ask Him to help you. Prayer doesn’t have to be complicated.

am fighting tears as I type this, because I needed someone to pray for me during those uncultivated days. I felt alone. I didn’t know how to ask for prayer or where to start. My faith felt broken and distant and imperfect. I needed something bigger than I am to help untangle the mess and give me a fresh start. I needed a way to sift through all the things to get to the only thing that matters: His truth.

If we saturate our hearts with comparison, we are feeding ourselves poison.

I don’t want to live in the lies of lack—focusing so much on what I don’t have that I miss all that I do have.

You don’t have to make it all happen. You just have to take one step forward in faith and let Him do the rest. Where you can’t, God already has.

I don’t have to do it all. Done is better than perfect, and good enough is good.

When we let God’s grace lead us, instead of perfection, good things get cultivated, right where we are.

Making a mess doesn’t mean you become one.

a flourishing life is possible, no perfection required. In fact, it’s in the imperfect—the dirt—where things grow. Not despite the mess and tension, but right smack in the middle of

I thought changing the direction of my life would take a monumental effort on my part, like a grand strike of lightning, but for me it was a surprisingly small spark that illuminated a new path.

Unrushing our lives is a risk, though, isn’t it? It means we may have to give up something—or a lot of things—in order to slow down. And often we don’t like the idea of slowing down, because it sounds unproductive. But we risk missing something far more valuable than our productivity in keeping at a hurried pace: life. Real life.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. —ISAIAH 43:18–19 NIV

Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. (Psalm 103:1–2 NLT)

Cultivating an intentional life is about serving the Lord for His purposes and growing what matters with Him.

Oh, the joys we miss when dismissing what appears imperfect or unfamiliar!

When we cultivate an intentional life, we have plenty to share. We learn to share, not out of our excess but to purposefully grow things to bless others.

You don’t have to do it all. If unrushing your life feels overwhelming or impossible, consider that it is impossible for you. That’s why we need God. Where you can’t, He already has.