A WORD FROM RAE
Cultivation & desire. Can one exist
without the other? I don’t believe they can.
Cultivation, the act of tending, developing,
and improving, is a process that takes
commitment and grit. The desire for a
long-term result is its fuel, whether your
desire is for a productive garden plot, a
healthy marriage, or intimacy with God.
families in ministry? What does it mean to
truly desire what God desires?
I am so excited to present to you 64 pages
of inspiring, challenging material in answer
to these questions. My prayer is that you
take away simple truths to apply to your
life, and that you feel encouraged to keep
on keeping on. Life is not a sprint; it is a
marathon, and its theme is redemption. As
you wrestle through the honest questions
of desire and do the hard, hot, sweaty work
of cultivation, I pray you are rewarded with
peace and strength to continue on.
Summer is the season of planting and
harvesting, tending and nurturing. The
earth is verdant and ripe. How is your
heart? We wanted to support its growth
by focusing this issue on the work of
cultivation and the desire that motivates
it. It has been fascinating, as always, to
see deeper themes emerge as the July/
August issue came together. Receiving
special emphasis is the topic of cultivating
relationships. As a staff, we want to move
beyond the sugary, how-to formulas and
into an honest discussion of growing closer
to each other, and to God. What does it
look like to relate graciously to difficult
people - who may never, ever reciprocate?
How can we intentionally involve our
More than anything, here at DOP, we
believe that our highest honor and calling
is to follow Jesus. As we turn our gaze on
Him, we find the endurance to be faithful. I
hope your heart is encouraged as you read
and abso Ɉ