Come to the Well and Drink

August has been full.

A lot of good things. A lot of moving pieces. A lot of go, go, go.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it, my quiet time with God slipped.

Not intentionally. I didn’t decide I didn’t need it anymore. Actually, I could feel the lack of it.

And I missed it.

But that’s one of the realities of really busy seasons. Our brains can lock onto the next task, the next thing that needs to happen, the next finish line.

Even when we can feel the lack, we can become so focused on finishing what’s in front of us that we keep postponing what we know we need.

After that particularly packed stretch of August was finally behind me, I woke up in the wee hours of the next morning.

It was around 3:00 a.m.

The house was completely quiet. No one needed anything. There was nowhere I had to be.

And I remember thinking…

F I N A L L Y.

I could just sit down. Rest. Be still. And simply be with God.

As I sat there, out of the blue a really fond memory came flooding back.

Forty years ago (whoa—40 years! 🤯), at this exact time of year, I was starting my senior year of high school and would have been in two-a-day basketball practices before school started. Back then in South Dakota, we played girls basketball in the fall, and this was before everyone carried water bottles everywhere.

Our water break was the school water fountain.

And our school had the coldest water fountain. 🧊💧😌

After doing sprints and killers and sweating in a hot gym, I remember standing at that fountain and just drinking and drinking and drinking.

That cold water was unbelievably refreshing.

And that is exactly what that morning with God felt like.

I already knew I was thirsty.

But there is a big difference between knowing you’re thirsty and finally getting a drink.

That morning was the drink.

There was no condemnation. No dramatic moment.

Just this deep sense of relief and refreshment.

Oh, how I missed being here.

There is something deeply satisfying about simply being with Jesus.

And I think sometimes the pace of life—even when it is filled with good things—can keep so much of our attention on what has to be done that our thirst gets pushed into the background.

We still feel it. We still know something is missing.

But the demands in front of us keep getting the loudest voice.

August was another reminder of how easily even something I value the most can get crowded out.

But it also reminded me of something even better:

➡️ Nothing refreshes like His presence.

➡️ Nothing restores like His presence.

➡️ Nothing satisfies like His presence.

There is a thirst in us that nothing we achieve, acquire, or accomplish can quench.

And the good news is, the invitation is always there.

Come to the well and drink.

🎯 THE 80/20 RULE

🎯 THE 80/20 RULE

A Simple Principle for Wise Stewardship

There’s a fascinating principle that shows up all over life—in our relationships, health, finances, work, personal growth, spiritual lives, and the way we use our time and energy.

A relatively small number of things account for a surprisingly large share of the results.

You can see it in some very ordinary places:
👚 You wear a relatively small percentage of your clothes most of the time.
🚗 A relatively small number of roads carry the majority of traffic in a community.
🏀 A few players account for the majority of a team’s points.
🎵 You listen to a small number of favorite songs or artists far more than the rest.
🍽️ You tend to eat the same small number of foods over and over, even though you have far more choices available.

But the principle also shows up in things that matter much more:
🌿 A few moments in your day carry far more meaning than all the others.
❤️ A few relational habits—such as listening well, showing up, keeping your word, and being fully present—carry enormous weight in a relationship.
🙏 A few truths you truly believe and live will shape you more than volumes of information you merely consume, repeat, or proclaim.
🏋️‍♀️ A small number of foundational practices account for the majority of your fitness results.
💰 A few key decisions account for the majority of your financial outcomes.

This pattern has a name:

Pareto’s Principle—also known as the 80/20 Rule.

The basic idea is that roughly 80% of results come from 20% of the inputs.

Or, to say it simply:

20% of what you do gives you 80% of your results.

The numbers won’t always divide perfectly into 80 and 20. The point is disproportionate impact:

Not everything contributes equally to the result.

Joseph Juran, who helped popularize the principle, referred to that high-impact minority as “the vital few.”

And that has huge implications for how we steward our lives.

Instead of trying to give equal attention and effort to everything, we can begin asking:

🎯 What result am I actually after?

Once you know the answer, then ask:

⚡ What few actions—the 20%—would produce the greatest share of that result?

Then put more of your time, energy, and attention there.

Sometimes wise stewardship is simply learning to identify the vital few—and investing where your investment will bear the most fruit.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Here’s why this matters so much…

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Life is only becoming busier.

We keep adding activities, responsibilities, subscriptions, possessions, information, opportunities, and expectations until nearly every bit of margin has been squeezed out.

And often, we are not overwhelmed because everything is equally important.

We are overwhelmed because we are giving equal weight to unequal things.

Sometimes we put enormous effort into doing something perfectly when wise stewardship calls for a simpler approach—one that accomplishes what matters most without unnecessary cost.

Ephesians 5:15–17 calls us to live wisely and make the most of our time—to redeem it by understanding and doing what matters most in light of God’s will.

So what might it look like to apply the 80/20 Rule intentionally across the different areas of our lives?

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Some ideas…

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

🙏 SPIRITUAL

What do you really want?

To know God, obey Him, and become more like Christ.

⚠️ What can happen?

We can turn spiritual growth into an ever-expanding list of Bible plans, devotionals, podcasts, books, journaling, memorization, and information.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Perhaps it is deeply believing and living the truth God is putting in front of you right now.

One passage that becomes life in you can shape you far more deeply than twenty passages you quickly consume but never practice.

The goal is not merely to know more Scripture.

The goal is to allow Scripture to renew your mind, shape your character, and change the way you live.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

🧠 PERSONAL

What do you really want?

To feel less scattered and steward your life with greater intention.

⚠️ What can happen?

We build complicated productivity systems, trackers, planners, lists, and routines that create even more cognitive load.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Identify the few practices that create the greatest amount of clarity and direction.

That might be setting aside time each week to look ahead, deciding what matters most for the next day, or reviewing your priorities before the day begins pulling at you.

A few intentional minutes of planning can prevent hours of scattered attention.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

🏋️‍♀️ PHYSICAL

What do you really want?

To steward your body well—to become healthier, stronger, and better able to do the things your life and assignments require.

⚠️ What can happen?

A simple health goal becomes strength training, cardio, macros, intervals, mobility, supplements, tracking, recovery protocols, and an ever-growing list of things we “should” be doing.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Identify the one or two foundational practices creating the greatest return—and protect those first.

For one person, that might be completing three strength-training sessions each week.

For another, it may be consistently hitting a protein target.

This does not mean everything else has no value.

It means we stop assuming that every additional benefit is worth its cost.

A practice can be good and still not be necessary for this season.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 FAMILY

What do you really want?

Strong, connected relationships with the people you love most.

⚠️ What can happen?

“Be more present” sounds wonderful—but it is so broad that it can become one more impossible standard we feel we should meet all day long.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Choose a few specific moments when you will give your family your full attention.

When my girls were younger, I called mine “Take Five”:

1️⃣ Be fully present when we first saw each other in the morning.
2️⃣ Be fully present at mealtimes.
3️⃣ Use everyday car rides for connection—no devices or radio.
4️⃣ Give full attention when we reunited after being apart.
5️⃣ Pray before bedtime.

Your five might look completely different.

The point is to turn an important value into a few concrete rhythms you can actually live.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

💼 PROFESSIONAL

What do you really want?

To make meaningful progress on your most important work.

⚠️ What can happen?

We give equal attention to email, meetings, small tasks, administrative work, projects, ideas, and requests—until everything feels equally urgent.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Identify the few priorities that create the greatest amount of meaningful progress.

Put them in order.

Then protect your best time and energy for the work at the top before lower-leverage tasks consume it.

Your calendar can be full while your most important work remains untouched.

Busy and productive are not always the same thing.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

💰 FINANCIAL

What do you really want?

Greater financial stability and stewardship.

⚠️ What can happen?

We spend enormous mental energy scrutinizing small purchases while overlooking the few decisions shaping most of our financial life.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Find the biggest financial lever in your life and address that first.

Maybe it is eliminating a high-interest debt.

Maybe it is automating savings.

Maybe it is finally knowing where your money is going.

The answer will vary.

But the principle remains:

Not every financial decision carries equal weight.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

🌿 REST & RECHARGE

What do you really want?

To actually feel restored.

⚠️ What can happen?

We fill our downtime with activities that distract us without replenishing us.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Identify the one or two activities that consistently leave you feeling genuinely more restored—and make room for those first.

Not everything we do to escape helps us recover.

Learn the difference between what distracts you and what restores you.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

❤️ PEOPLE

What do you really want?

Meaningful relationships and a life characterized by love.

⚠️ What can happen?

We assume loving people means giving everyone equal time, access, and relational depth.

But our capacity is limited.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Identify the relationships God has most clearly entrusted to you and make sure those relationships receive intentional investment.

The 80/20 Rule does not mean eliminating people or reducing relationships to percentages.

Love can be expansive while depth remains selective.

Strengthen your core relationships first.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

🏠 HOME & ORDER

What do you really want?

A home that feels peaceful, functional, and reasonably in order.

⚠️ What can happen?

We turn “getting the house back in order” into organizing every drawer, cleaning every corner, and completing every deferred project—while unintentionally neglecting the people and priorities the home is meant to serve.

🎯 What might your 20% be?

Ask:

What few things would make the entire space feel substantially better?

Maybe it is clearing the kitchen counters.

Maybe it is removing everything that needs to leave the house.

Maybe it is cleaning out the refrigerator, pantry, car, or garage.

Your 20% will not necessarily look like someone else’s.

The question is:

Which few actions restore the greatest amount of order?

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Protect the Vital Few

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Identifying the vital few is only part of wise stewardship.

Once you know what matters most, you have to protect it from being crowded out by everything else.

Because every “yes” carries a “no” with it.

Every yes to one use of your time, energy, attention, or resources is also a no to something else.

That is why wise stewardship requires more than asking:

“Is this good?”

It requires asking:

“Is this the best place for what God has entrusted to me right now?”

Some things deserve greater investment.

Some things can be simplified.

Some can be delegated, reduced, postponed, or released.

And some things may be genuinely good—but not valuable enough to carry in this season.

Pareto’s Principle is ultimately an invitation to pay attention:

👀 Notice what is actually working.
🔎 Recognize what is costing more than it is producing.
⚖️ Stop giving equal weight to unequal things.
🌱 Invest more intentionally in what bears the most fruit.

You do not have to do everything to steward your life well.

You need wisdom to recognize what matters most—and courage to let that receive your best, even when it means allowing other good things to remain undone.

Faithfulness is not giving everything your maximum effort.

It is giving the right things the attention, energy, and investment they deserve.

Strong & Courageous

One of my favorite verses has long been Joshua 1:9:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged…”

I love those words.

And while it’s important to read Scripture in context—to understand:

👤 Who God was speaking to
📍 What was happening
🎯 What He was calling that person to do

✨ That doesn’t mean there is nothing there for us.

Romans 15:4 reminds us:

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

Joshua had a very specific assignment.

So do we.

And while ours may look very different from his—and may feel incredibly ordinary, unexciting, or even mundane—faithfulness to our own assignment is still going to require courage.

Sometimes courage looks big.

But often, it looks surprisingly ordinary.

It can look like:

🌱 believing God is still at work when you cannot yet see what He is doing
🤝 admitting you were wrong and making it right
💬 having the difficult conversation you would rather avoid
🧭 doing the right thing when the easier thing would cost you less
🚫 refusing to let fear make your decisions for you
🏃 refusing to let discouragement convince you to quit
🌤️ holding on to hope in a world that can feel incredibly fragile
🔄 beginning again after disappointment
🪴 staying faithful when there is very little applause
🛑 saying no when pressure is telling you to say yes
➡️ saying yes when fear is telling you to stay small
🤲 continuing to love people without surrendering truth
🗣️ standing for truth when it would be easier to stay silent
👣 taking the next faithful step when you don’t get to see the whole road

The New Testament carries that same call:

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” — 1 Corinthians 16:13–14

I especially love that last part.

Courage and love belong together.

❌ Biblical courage isn’t swagger.
❌ It isn’t recklessness.
❌ It isn’t pretending we never feel afraid or discouraged.


✅ It is refusing to let fear or discouragement have the final word.
✅ It is trusting God enough to faithfully do what He has put in front of us—even when fear comes along for the ride.

It is trusting God enough to faithfully do what He has put in front of us—even when fear comes along for the ride.

Your assignment may never look dramatic.

It may look like a thousand small, ordinary acts of faithfulness.

But somewhere along the way, it will almost certainly ask you to be brave.

➡️ Be strong and courageous.
➡️ Do not be afraid.
➡️ Do not be discouraged.
➡️ Stand firm.
➡️ And do it all in love.

⚙️ Don’t Let the Process Hijack the Purpose

Have you ever spent so much time perfecting the process that you lost sight of why you were doing it in the first place?

Here’s something I’ve been learning that has been a genuine game changer for me.

I love creating systems.

✅ Checklists.
✅ Routines.
✅ Organizing.
✅ Finding better ways to do things.

I genuinely enjoy building tools that bring more order to life.

But this summer, while working through years of organizing my digital life, I noticed something.

Every so often I’d hit a wall.

I’d get stuck.

I’d start overthinking.

I’d feel that familiar paralysis analysis creeping in.

And that’s when I realized something…

Sometimes I spend so much time perfecting the system that I lose the very benefit the system was created to give me.

💡 Such an aha moment:

Don’t let the process hijack the purpose.

One of the biggest shifts in my thinking has been learning the difference between faithful stewardship and perfectionism.

🧭 Stewardship asks:
“What’s the wise next step?”

🔍 Perfectionism asks:
“How can I make this just a little more perfect?”

Perfectionism doesn’t know when enough is enough. Wisdom does.

At first, additional effort often adds value.

But eventually we reach the point of diminishing returns—where we’re investing significantly more time and energy for very little additional benefit.

That’s often the moment when the process quietly begins hijacking the purpose.

Maybe you’ve seen this in your own life…

🏡 You organized a room until you were obsessing over tiny details instead of enjoying the peace the room already brought.

💰 You tracked every penny until budgeting created more stress than financial peace.

🎉 You cleaned and decorated for guests until you were too exhausted to enjoy having them over.

📚 You kept researching because every decision still felt “not good enough.”

The simple tool that’s been helping me is this:

When I feel myself getting stuck, I stop and ask:

❓ What was the purpose of this in the first place?

❓ Is the process starting to hijack the purpose?

Those two questions usually tell me everything I need to know.

Now, this isn’t permission to be careless.

Some assignments require an extremely high degree of precision.

🌉 An architect designing a bridge.
💊 A pharmacist dispensing medication.
👨‍⚕️A surgeon preforming a procedure.

➡️ Not every task requires that same level of precision.

Wisdom asks, “What does this assignment require?”

The answer isn’t the same for every task.

The standard for launching a rocket isn’t the standard for cleaning a playroom.

The standard for filing taxes isn’t the standard for answering an email.

Wisdom knows the difference.

Anything designed to serve us becomes unhealthy when it begins to rule us.

📅 A calendar.
💵 A budget.
🧺 A cleaning routine.
🥗 A meal plan.
📋 A productivity system.

They’re wonderful servants.

They’re terrible masters.

The purpose of a system is to create freedom—not another form of bondage.

❤️ Don’t let the process hijack the purpose.

🚲 The Bicycle Principle

Years ago, I was sitting in a church service, trying to sing along with the worship team, when I noticed something interesting.

Some worship leaders seemed to instinctively lead at a pace the congregation could follow. Others weren’t doing anything “wrong,” but the tempo was either so slow that people struggled to stay together or so fast that it became difficult for everyone to participate.

That’s when a simple thought came to me:

A bicycle only stays upright within a certain range of motion.

🐢 Go too slowly, and it starts to wobble until it falls over.
🏎️ Go too fast, and you lose control.

I’ve come to believe that life often works the same way.

Sometimes we lose balance because we’re waiting…planning…researching…thinking…but never taking the next faithful step.

Other times we lose balance because we’ve said yes to too much. We mistake busyness for fruitfulness and outrun our ability to faithfully steward what God has entrusted to us.

The goal isn’t to go as fast as possible.

The goal is to find the pace where faithfulness flourishes.

I’ve also realized something else.

A bicycle doesn’t stay balanced because the rider finds the perfect position and never moves again.

It stays balanced through countless tiny adjustments.

The Christian life is much the same.

We don’t have to execute God’s will perfectly. We simply keep taking the next faithful step, listening to Him, making small course corrections along the way, and trusting that He is able to guide us.

Maybe today isn’t about pedaling harder.

Maybe it’s simply about finding the pace where you can faithfully keep moving forward in the assignment God has given you today.

🚲 One faithful pedal stroke at a time.

🧭 Consistency Over Perfection

📆 At the beginning of my health reset and transformation back in 2024 — after all the research I did on menopause and longevity — I decided that lifting weights 3x/week and getting at least 120 grams of protein were going to be two of my personal non-negotiables. 🏋️‍♀️

But a few months in, I was falling short.

I was consistently lifting 2x/week.

Sometimes 3x… but many weeks, only 2x.

I could have tried harder.

Recommitted.

Or beat myself up for not being “disciplined” enough.

But after decades of those approaches not working for me, I chose a different route.

Instead of simply trying harder, I asked a better question:

🤔 Why was I having such a hard time hitting my weekly lifting goal?

Here’s what I realized.

I was following a plan that had me doing 30 minutes of HIIT on Monday and Tuesday, then lifting on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

I’d be on track… 

And then the wheels just fell off.

🥵 By the end of the week, I was gutted.

One of the issues I had been dealing with in menopause was exhaustion, and I finally acknowledged it instead of continually fighting against it.

So I did something that felt totally uncharacteristic for me as a natural rule-follower.

Instead of following the schedule exactly as written, I adjusted it to fit what I could realistically sustain.

I moved my three most important workouts to the first three days of the week — Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

And just like that — voilà. 🗝️

Consistency stopped being a struggle.

I began hitting my lifting goal 3x/week consistently — and I’m still doing it today.

Such a lesson for me.

My old perfectionist self would have had a hard time allowing that. After all, it wasn’t exactly what the program prescribed.

And to be clear, it was a solid, research-based program.

Was lifting three days in a row necessarily the most ideal training schedule possible?

Maybe not.

And it may not be the best arrangement for every person, every body, or every program.

But at that point, with the knowledge and capacity I had, it was the best plan I knew how to follow consistently.

⌚️ For me to be what I call A.I.M. — Appropriate In the Moment — I had to know myself.

At that stage, consistently completing three manageable strength-training sessions mattered more than perfectly following a schedule that repeatedly resulted in me missing the third workout.

🎯 Sometimes you have to know your goal.

Know what matters most.

Know your current season and capacity.

And then prioritize that — even when the solution is not theoretically perfect.

Even when it feels like you are “breaking the rules.”

In this case, consistency mattered more than conformity to a plan.

The plan wasn’t wrong.

I simply needed to apply it with wisdom, humility, and honest self-awareness.

So I’ll ask you this:

👉 Is there an area where you may need to customize what you’re doing so you can consistently do what matters most?

In the future, I may adjust my training schedule again as my capacity, goals, and knowledge change.

But in that season, I knew my one thing — my most important priority — and that was what received my focus and faithfulness.

🌿 Low-Hanging Fruit in the Eight Domains

Have you ever known an area of your life needed attention—but felt unsure where to begin?

Sometimes we make the next step so big that we never take it.

That is where Low-Hanging Fruit comes in.

Low-Hanging Fruit is the smallest meaningful action that moves me in the right direction. 

🚫 Not the biggest action.
🚫 Not the most impressive action.
🚫 Not the action I would take if I had unlimited time, energy, money, and capacity.

✅ The faithful action that is actually available to me today.

When the idea for this framework first began taking shape, I wanted to practice it in my own life.

But I did not begin by choosing an action step for every domain. That would have felt like eight more things to do.

My Low-Hanging Fruit was simply this:

🙏 I prayed for wisdom in each of the Eight Domains and asked God to show me where He wanted my attention.

That was it.

I brought my spiritual life, personal growth, physical health, family, professional life, finances, rest, and relationships before Him.

I did not try to fix everything.
I did not create a plan for every area.
I simply prayed.

That small practice reflected the principle found in Proverbs 3:5–6:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to Him,
and He will make your paths straight.”

That was back in 2018.

It was a small action, but it was meaningful—and it became the beginning of a Low-Hanging Fruit habit I still practice today.

What began as one small seed has grown considerably across all Eight Domains. Over time, prayer led to greater clarity, specific action, stronger habits, and meaningful growth.

But it did not begin with a complete plan. It began with one faithful, doable step.

And that is what Low-Hanging Fruit looks like.

It doesn’t end there, but that’s where it starts. With a little seed you plant and then faithfully nourish.

Your Low-Hanging Fruit may look different. The key is that it is specific, meaningful, and doable—something you can complete.

Here are some more examples:

🙏 Spiritual
Read one verse and ask God to speak to your heart through it.

🌱 Personal
Make your bed upon waking.

🏋🏻‍♀️ Physical
Do twenty squats when you first wake up—or after you make your bed. 😉

🏡 Family
Tell your family members you love them when you say good night.

💼 Professional
Write down the most important task you need to complete today.

💰 Financial
Open your banking app and check your balance.

🔋 Rest & Recharge
Set a bedtime reminder on your phone.

🤝 People & Highest Contribution
Write down the name of one person you want to pray for today.

None of these actions may look impressive.

But they are doable—and doable matters when we are trying to get started, build consistency, and create momentum.

Low-Hanging Fruit is valuable in every season, but it becomes especially important when capacity is low.

We do not abandon stewardship; we simply adjust the size of the faithful step.

So instead of asking:

❓ “How do I fix my whole life?”

We can ask:

🌿 What is one small, meaningful action I can complete today?

The acorn does not need to become the oak tree today.

It simply needs to be stewarded faithfully.

The Three Scorecards

In my last post, I shared the Eight Domains of Life—a framework I use to see the whole field of my life and steward it more intentionally.

But once we identify the different areas we have been entrusted to steward, another question surfaces:

How do we accurately evaluate how we are doing?

Recently, I got together with a friend, and we spent some time looking back over our growth from the past year.

We were trying to rate ourselves in different areas, and both of us kept running into the same problem:

It was hard to know how to score ourselves.

At first, I thought maybe we were just overthinking it.

But later it dawned on me:

We were trying to answer three different questions with one score.

There is a big difference between asking:

🌱 Was I faithful with what God asked me to do?

🌳 What maturity has developed over time?

🔋 What capacity do I actually have in this season?

Those are not the same questions.

They are three different scorecards.

🌱 Faithfulness Scorecard

Am I planting the seeds God is asking me to plant today?

🌳 Maturity Scorecard

What fruit has grown over time?

🔋 Capacity Scorecard

What resources do I currently have available?

This became especially clear when we got to the area of relationships and community.

My friend used to be a social butterfly. She loved being around people. But lately, she has wanted to stay home more.

And she wasn’t sure how to rate herself.

Was that bad?
Was she less loving?
Was something wrong?

But as we talked, I realized we may not have been looking at a character issue.

We may have been looking at a capacity issue.

Sometimes we condemn ourselves because we are using a capacity score as a character score.

🗓️ “I don’t want to attend three social events this week.”

💭 So we think,
“Maybe I don’t love people well.”

👉 But maybe we’re tired.

📋 “I don’t have the energy to start a major project right now.”

💭 So we think,
“Maybe I’m lazy.”

👉 But maybe we’re depleted.

🧠 “I can’t focus for hours like I used to.”

💭 So we think,
“Maybe I’ve become undisciplined.”

👉 But maybe we’re carrying stress, grief, health changes, hormonal changes, or overload.

A low capacity score does not automatically mean there is a character problem.

That distinction matters because the solutions are different.

🌱 If it’s a faithfulness issue, the next step may be to repent, obey, or act.

🌳 If it’s a maturity issue, the next step may be to practice, learn, grow, and stay the course.

🔋 If it’s a capacity issue, the next step may be to rest, recover, replenish, or adjust.

Of course, capacity should not become an excuse to avoid what God is asking us to do.

But neither should the language of faithfulness be used to condemn ourselves for having genuine human limitations.

The acorn and the oak tree should not receive the same maturity score.

But both can receive a high faithfulness score.

The win is not becoming the oak tree today.

The win is planting and stewarding today’s seed.

And God gives the growth. 🌿🌳

The Three Scorecards ToolSheet is a simple printable guide to help you walk through this question in your own life:

The guiding question is:

Is this a faithfulness issue, a maturity issue, or a capacity issue?

Because sometimes we are trying to solve the wrong problem.

We may be treating a capacity issue like a character flaw.

Or treating a maturity issue like a schedule problem.

Or treating a faithfulness issue like we just need more rest.

That is why this matters.

The Eight Domains help us see the whole field.

The Three Scorecards help us understand what we are seeing.

And once we diagnose the right problem, we are much more likely to apply the right solution—and identify the faithful next step.

The 8 Domains of Life

Have you ever wanted to be more intentional with your life but felt overwhelmed because you didn’t know where to begin?

🙋🏻‍♀️ I have.

I am both a box-checker and a squirrel-chaser — which can be an interesting combination.

I can make a list, put my head down, and diligently check the boxes.

But I can also spot a new idea, opportunity, or problem that needs solving and take off after it.

Before I know it, I may be getting a lot done — but I have gotten out of bounds.

One area of my life is receiving nearly all my attention while other things that matter have quietly slipped out of view.

For years, I worked hard to close the gap between where I was and where I wanted to be, but I never seemed able to close it.

It wasn’t because I didn’t care.

It wasn’t because I wasn’t trying.

I didn’t have a clear system for intentional growth and stewardship.

Everything that mattered was swirling around together in one big mental pile:

My relationship with God.
My habits and personal growth.
My physical health.
My family.
My work.
Our finances.
Rest.
The people God had called me to love and serve.

All of it mattered.

And that was part of the problem.

When everything feels important at once, it can be hard to recognize what needs attention — and what may be quietly neglected.

In Haggai 1:5, God’s people were told:

“Give careful thought to your ways.”

That verse had a specific context, but the principle still challenges me:

God’s people are called to pay attention to how we are living, what we are prioritizing, and whether we are faithfully stewarding what He has entrusted to us.

And Ephesians 2:10 reminds us why this matters:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

I love that verse.

But I also think phrases like “good works” can become so familiar that they almost turn into white noise.

We know they matter.

But we may not always know how to translate them into real life.

What do good works look like on a Wednesday morning?

What does faithfulness look like in this season, in this body, with this family, with these responsibilities, with this capacity, and with this assignment?

The good works God has prepared for us to walk in were never intended to be vague, floating assignments somewhere “out there.”

They show up in the actual life we have been given.

That is one reason I began dividing life into eight domains — not because life fits into neat little boxes, but because these categories help me see where faithfulness and good works may need to be stewarded in real life:

🙏 Spiritual
My relationship with God, understanding of my calling, and faithfulness in living it out.

🌱 Personal
How I steward myself — my habits, mindsets, emotional health, responsibilities, systems, and growth.

🏋🏻‍♀️ Physical
How I steward my body through my thoughts, eating, movement, sleep, health, and recovery.

🏡 Family
My care, presence, and investment in my immediate family.

💼 Professional
The work, craft, calling, service, or contribution God has entrusted to me — paid or unpaid.

💰 Financial
How I earn, give, spend, save, and steward financial resources.

🪫 Rest & Recharge
The rhythms of rest, renewal, and Sabbath that replenish me for my Sacred Mission.

🤝 People & Highest Contribution
My relationships with extended family, friends, community, and the people God has entrusted me to love, help, and serve.

This is simply how I have chosen to organize the domains of life.

Other people may divide them differently.

The exact categories are not the most important part.

The important thing is having a framework that helps us step back, examine our whole life, and live intentionally.

Because what we do not intentionally examine is easy to unintentionally neglect.

This is not about perfectly balancing all eight areas or giving each one equal time and energy.

Different seasons require different priorities.

And this is not about turning life into one enormous checklist or trying to earn God’s approval through performance.

Our worth is settled in Christ.

This is about intentional stewardship.

The Eight Domains help me ask:

➡️ Where am I currently investing my attention?
➡️ Has one domain taken me out of bounds?
➡️ Is something important being quietly neglected?
➡️ What is God asking me to prioritize in this season?
➡️ Where are the good works right in front of me?
➡️ Where is love asking for action?
➡️ Where am I being invited to bear good fruit?

The goal is not to manage every area perfectly.

The goal is to see all of life clearly enough to faithfully steward what God has placed in front of us.

Because good works are not just big, impressive, public things.

They may look like:

➡️ Prayer
➡️ Repentance
➡️ Taking care of your body
➡️ Loving your family well
➡️ Doing excellent work
➡️ Managing money wisely
➡️ Resting instead of striving
➡️ Seeing the person right in front of you and choosing love

The Eight Domains take the mystery out of faithfulness by helping me see where stewardship is needed and what low-hanging fruit action I can take today.

The Eight Domains take the mystery out of faithfulness by helping me see where stewardship is needed and what low-hanging fruit action I can take today.

So if you want to be faithful, but you’re not sure where to begin, start by looking at the life God has actually entrusted to you.

Where does stewardship feel unclear?

Where does something need attention?

Where might one small, faithful step begin to move things in the right direction?

That is where the Eight Domains become helpful.

They give us a way to see our whole life — and begin cultivating what God has placed right in front of us. of us.

All-American {Easy} Apple Pie

It’s been fun watching videos of Europeans discovering America during the World Cup.

They’ll come here expecting one thing and end up surprised by something completely different—the wide-open spaces, oversized everything, free refills, Buc-ee’s, ranch dressing, friendly strangers, and yes… our food. 😊

This whole Americana theme, along with the 4th of July just around the corner, got me thinking about some of those simple things that feel uniquely American.

Things like backyard cookouts, baseball games, 4th of July parades, fireworks… and apple pie. 🇺🇸⚾🎆🥧

That reminded me of a little recipe from my teaching days that feels worth passing along. 

One day, while a group of fellow teachers and I were having lunch, one of my friends said, “I’ve got the easiest apple pie recipe.”

Naturally, I grabbed a pen and paper.

She said, “Put that away. You don’t need it.”

Then she gave us the recipe, and it went something like this:

Start with a pie crust. Layer it with apples, sugar, cinnamon, flour for thickening, and pats of butter. Then do it again. And again. Keep stacking it as high as you can while still getting the top crust to fit.

She emphasized stacking it as high as you can because the apples cook down as they bake.

Then she added the part I remember most:

“If you think you’ve added too much butter… add more.”

😂

No exact amounts. Just the ingredients and the clear impression that the measurements were more like personal preferences than rules.

So I went home determined to make this pie.

I’d never made an apple pie before.

I followed her instructions—even though I didn’t have a single precise measurement. 😄

I piled those apples so high it looked ridiculous. It wasn’t a pie anymore—it was a mountain with a crust on top.

And that was the point.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Little recipe note: One thing that’s hard to capture in a written recipe is just how high to stack the apples. If you’re curious, I included an old video below where you can actually see how ridiculously high I pile them. 🍎 It also includes a few little details I didn’t mention here, like brushing the crust with milk before sprinkling sugar on top.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Then came the tricky part: somehow I got the top crust stretched over the whole thing, cut a few slits in the top, sprinkled it with sugar, and put it in the oven.

About halfway through baking, I realized I’d forgotten to put a pan underneath it.

Butter was bubbling out the sides and dripping all over the bottom of my oven.

But the pie?

Absolutely amazing.

The next day, I told my students the story.

They loved it.

Of course, I’m guessing it wasn’t the story they loved as much as the time it took away from science to tell it. 🤭

And that pie became my apple pie recipe from that day forward.

So in honor of the upcoming 4th of July, I thought I’d share it.

Because sometimes the sweetest traditions start simply:

one friend sharing a recipe,
one homemade pie,
and a table full of people to share it with.

🇺🇸✨

If you’re a free spirit in the kitchen, feel free to improvise.

But if you like a little more guidance, here’s the closest thing I have to an actual recipe:

All-American Apple Pie

• 2 pie crusts
• 10–12 apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 heaping cup sugar
• Cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons flour for thickening
• 1 stick butter, cut into pats

Layer everything in the crust.

Then layer it again.

And again.

Pile it as high as you can.

Top with the second crust, cut a few slits, brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar, and bake at 375° for about 70 minutes.

And don’t forget to put a pan underneath it.

Trust me on that one. 😉

I’m sharing this a little early in case you want to plan ahead for the 4th.

🇺🇸✨ Wishing you a sweet and wonderful 4th of July. 

You can watch the video here to get an idea of just how high to pile the apples.  👇