Okay, Lord, I get it. My stubborn insistence that I never need help is the opposite of koinonia.

Koinonia is a lighter way to live.

An easier way to breathe.

It takes the shape of rest–right in the middle of writing a book. Looks like a yes to relationship-building, which is wired in all of us, by God's design.

Every time you link arms, share a burden, trust a friend with your confession, unite in prayer, accept help, or make space around your table, a little light gets in under your shell. Your got-to-keep it together begins to erode. Your self-defeating assumptions are deflated. Your insecurities are dethroned.

But koinonia with God is where it begins. There's no sweeter fellowship than with God's son. No conversation more life-transforming than with the Word of God. No bond more true than you can have between God and you.

Links mentioned:

1. Find the Instagram carousel fromWholeHearted Enneagram here for encouragement for the rest of the Enneagram numbers.

2. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.

3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

When we read primarily to check a box, it's only a matter of time before we check out. If we read out of guilt or obligation, we approach the Word already bored. If we expect the words to go over our head, we'll forget God promises us wisdom if we'll only ask (James 1:5). And if we give up before we get started, we'll never give the Word a chance to become our lifeline in crisis, our won't-miss rhythm, our reassurance of God's with-ness.

Links mentioned:

1. For shorter, guided plans, check out the ones on YouVersion.
2. Mary Demuth's 90-day Bible reading challenge.
3. Ann Voskamp's Sacred Prayer journal.
4. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.
5. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

What if we could make the new year better than the last? If we could guarantee that God's goodness–up close and unmissable–would overshadow the trials? If we could see, threaded through the seams of our stories, the through-line that makes everything make sense?

Links mentioned:

1. Stuff I'd Only Tell God by Jennifer Dukes Lee.
2. Songs I Play on Repeat playlist (in the resource library).
3. Apple and Spotify playlists of my top 25 songs from '25 (also in the library).
4. Names of God phone wallpaper (free).
5. Word-of-the-year ideas & monthly reflection sheets to amplify your word-of-the-year growth in 2026 (get both HERE).
6. Read more about nevertheless gratitude HERE.
7. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.
8. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

For every weary soul needing a bit of light, a scrap of real hope, a simple Christmas prayer. For every taxed mama and bustling grandma. Every newlywed and fresh divorcee. Every grieving heart. Every family scrambling to make Christmas happen.

Wherever these words find you, and whatever heaviness fills the room, I pray for gritty, overflowing hope. I pray that the tender nearness of Jesus meets you in this moment. That His peace supersedes the pressure you're feeling right now.

When you're emptied of all you can do on your own, when you've used up all the words, when your edges fray and your adrenaline runs out–there's room for more of God. Only when we're at the end of ourselves do we open in uninhibited welcome. And God? He always makes good on His word:

Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you.

James 4:8, The Passion Translation

Today, let's stand on this promise together. Because when we really need real hope, we can rely on the unwavering Word of God.

Links mentioned:

1. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.
2. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

As I step back to see where I've gone wrong, I see three potential pitfalls where you might be stuck as well.

Links mentioned:

1. Get a list of 200 missional word-of-the-year ideas HERE.
2. Get the word-of-the-year month reflection sheets HERE.
3. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.
4. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

Ann Voskamp says korban boils down to closeness:

Sacrifice in Hebrew is korban, which literally means an approach, a moving closer. Sacrifice is not losing something but moving closer to Someone.

Korban isn't so much about loss as it is about proximity to Jesus. And to draw closer to Christ I must let rest all I try to do on my own strength.

Links mentioned:

1. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.
2. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

We slow-baked gratitude into our DNA for this. This! So that we might make space for awed worship, genuine praise, honest adoration.

Links mentioned:

1. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.
2. Read the written version of this episode HERE.

It's almost Thanksgiving, and maybe this year you're just trying to make it through. Trying to smile through the "fixings" and the feasting while something feels empty inside.

Maybe everything is right on the surface but stress is eating at your inner calm. Or you're grieving a shift, an unwelcome season, a spot empty around your table. Perhaps the budget simply can't cover the holiday spread you envisioned on your table.

Can I reach a hand right through your screen—a hand to steady yours right now?

You might not be able to see how yet, but you will make it through. How do I know? Because I know the God who won't let go of you.

I know that at this very moment, He's giving thanks for you. If Jesus were seated at your table on Thanksgiving, and you were going around saying one thing you're grateful for, He'd lock eyes with you and say, "It's you. It's you I can't stop thinking about. It's you who squeezes My heart. It's you I'd give everything for."

Links mentioned:

1. The Spill-Over Gratitude Challenge
2. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up HERE.
3. Read the written version of this episode HERE.