Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life launched this week! I have had the pleasure of being part of the Cultivate Book Launch Team. I have been hardly able to contain my excitement and wait until launch to share this review with you all. This book came at just the right time and deals with ten lies we are prone to believe and contrasts them with God’s truths. Cultivate was written by Lara Casey, the creator of the Powersheets I’m always raving about (sorry friends, they’re sold out until next year’s batch are ready!) While the Powersheets are not specifically a Christian product, other items in the shop, such as the Write The Word Journals I love, make no secret of Lara’s faith and that faith is the central theme of this book.I found Lara’s blog and social media posts at the perfect time, when I needed to hear them most: last summer when I was dealing with debilitating, extreme morning sickness. My carefully built and balanced life of trying to do ALL THE THINGS was crumbling as my body seemed to turn on me and while I was so thankful for this miracle I was helping with, I was also dealing with great fear- anxiety, judgement of myself, and the desire to want to be the best mom possible for my kids. Lara seemed to speak all the things I had rolling around in my head and I’m happy to say this book feels like getting to sit down and have an extended conversation with her. It is delightful without being surface level or sugar coated.

Lara’s story that she shares in this book is powerful, genuine, and she does a masterful job of applying what her experiences have taught her to universally applicable wisdom. I love the way this book is described: “Written as part encouragement anthem and part practical guide, Cultivate offers wisdom from God’s Word alongside lessons Lara has learned in her garden” The practical guide part is especially wonderful. There are questions and prompts throughout the book to help you put some of the wisdom into action. This book is not passive- it asks you to reflect on where you are, where you want to be, and what God might be calling you to next.

As I mentioned before, this book is structured around ten lies our current culture leads us to believe and suggests God’s truth as an answer to those lies. I want to share a few wonderful thoughts from the chapter that spoke most to me in this particular phrase of life:

Lie: I have to know all the details of the path ahead.

Truth: Forethought is important, but faith is essential.

Cultivators have faith, believing in what they can’t yet see.

“Consider my friend Casey’s wise advice: “Just take the next step forward. That’s it. Just one step forward.”

“Instead of the popular phrase “She believed she could, so she did,” consider this truth: She believed she couldn’t, so He did.”

“Having farmer’s faith means cultivating something bigger than we are. We step forward in faith to cultivate the things that really matter, believing in what we can’t yet see.”

“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1 niv).

“Are you planting an intentional life or just planning one?”

Loving this extra hard right now.

Ready to add Cultivate to your summer reading list? You can buy it here directly from the Cultivate shop, or here for those who live the amazon prime life or check out your local book store to see if they are carrying it (I know lots of Barnes and Noble locations do!) And if you haven’t read Lara’s first book, Make it Happen, you can buy the two in a bundle on the Cultivate what matters website 🙂

Want to know a little more first? You can preview the first few chapters here. You can also reach out and I’d be happy to talk about it with you!

I’m planning to be back tomorrow with another post on a look back at the first half of the year and my goals and plans heading into the second half. You’ll understand the double post days when you read what I have in mind for July!

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review. This post contains affiliate links which does not alter the price for you but may send me back a small percentage of any purchase you make to help keep this blog going! All opinions are my own 🙂