Last Fall, Alan made an eight-day silent retreat at Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, Mass. While there, he came across a book he’d read a long time back: Parker Palmer’s The Active Life. He read some of it while he enjoyed those prayerful days in November, quietly sitting next to a little bay on which this retreat is situated. What he learned is today’s theme: Cultivating a Productive Rhythm of Action and Contemplation.

“Sylvia in Austin has learned that she is in control not of life, but of the story about her life.“ (Mary Pipher in Women Rowing North)

After our return from Africa, I could personalize this line like this: “Gem in Amsterdam has learned that she is in control not of life, but of the story about her life.”

I am going to try to make a long story short, so put on your seatbelt. This is the glamour of travel. On our way to Africa, we were re-routed from Newark due to...

Here are the next three devotionals from Inhaling Grace. May you sense the real presence of God shepherding you as you listen.

There are many words of command in scripture that stir and inspire Christian leaders. We love words that invite us to action like “go,” “teach” or “work.” Language like this usually feels like an easy fit for many Christian leaders. 

But there is at least one word of command in scripture that causes many Christian leaders no small level of anxiety. Listen to how David uses it in the last few lines of one of his psalms: 

I remain confident of this:...

Nature is constantly offering advice on how to live our lives. A brief, still moment in the backyard, listening to and watching birds. The random, mundane anthill passed by on a morning walk. Life wisdom is everywhere.

The question then becomes - are you paying attention?

When Alan and I were in the early stages of writing What Does Your Soul Love? (releasing September 17), we spent a week in a Utah cabin outlining the entire project. This cabin was remote, with no internet or cell phone coverage. There was one old-fashioned plugged-into-the-wall phone in case we needed to communicate with the outside world. 

It was absolutely quiet except for the blowing wind, the chirping birds and a noisy chipmunk who hung out in the tree on the side yard. I was raised...

 Welcome to an Inhaling Grace audiobook episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast. Here are the next three devotionals from Inhaling Grace. May you sense the real presence of God shepherding you as you listen. 

If you’ve read it, you may remember that the subtitle of An Unhurried Life is “Following Jesus' Rhythms of Work and Rest.” I continue to find that both inviting and challenging. How about you? 

One of the biblical lines I unpacked in the chapter on “Rest” is Hebrews 4:9: “Make every effort to enter his rest.” From one perspective, that sentence sounds like a contradiction between two very different phrases. “Make every effort” and...

We recently returned home from a dream 34th anniversary vacation trip to Italy and Spain. It was beautiful, we saw amazing sights, and we were gone long enough to disengage from work and to come back refreshed. But it wasn’t all perfect. Today, we thought we would share what we learned about ourselves and what a true vacation for us looks like. How can you get away, have fun, and refuel with deep rest? The answer might be different for everyone. We share what works for us.

Listening well is becoming a precious commodity. Have you noticed the speed with which people interact? 

Picture yourself at the grocery checkout line. There is friendly banter, of course, but you must be rushed along so that the person behind you doesn’t get agitated.  

What about the fast food drive-thru? More quick talking and moving so that you can get in, out and gone.

If you are a parent, you might find yourself hurrying your children along so that you can get to...