Merry Christmas Catchup from our home to yours!

Hello friend,

So much has happened since I wrote to y’all. It’s hard to imagine how to recap it all, but knowing where to start is easy. Our family had a close call the week before Thanksgiving. The Beloved Farmer had an emergency appendectomy and things got dicey by the time he was wheeled into surgery. We could’ve lost him. It’s hard to type those words. Not only because it’s still emotional for me, but because I’m all to aware that some of you reading these words may have had different outcomes that have left you grieving this Christmas. Please know I care, deeply. If you shoot me an email, I promise to be praying for you. 

Phil was released a couple days before Thanksgiving, with instructions to take it easy. I hadn’t left his side, naturally, so I was coming in hot thinking about the big meal. Thankfully, my daughter, Jessica, and my daughter-in-law, Carey, pulled the traditional feast together for the entire family. Bless them! We’ve always loved Thanksgiving, but this year, our gratitude was multiplied.

Fast forward, and I do mean fast forward, we pulled together something called “A Night of Prayer and Praise” on Dec.11th! I taught five lessons from the new book, Don’t Try to Pray Like Her and it was videotaped for Right Now Media. When I say “we” pulled it off, I’m including the Good Lord and the Beloved Farmer. I was still watching Phil like a hawk, but he had recovered enough to pitch in during the venue decorating. The evening had been set in motion only a few short weeks before Phil’s surgery, and preparing for the guests and studying the material (while tending to Christmas to-do’s) required a herculean effort from all involved! In the end, it couldn’t have been more perfect. The Hub venue was perfect, the guests were so kind, and Father God was His faithful self to help me teach the material. I’ll drop some pictures here.

 

By the way, I’ll be pulling together a launch team for the new book soon. If you’re interested, watch Facebook and Instagram for that news. I’d love to have your help getting the word out. I truly feel like this book can help people who love God but struggle to pray! 

It feels like there’s been so much more life to document, like all the Christmas activities that surrounded these updates but you have probably seen them on my social pages. So, I’ll wrap for now with a little something I wrote during one of my early morning visits with the Lord. I call it–

My Prayer for 2026

In a world of plastic and growing landfills I pray we’ll all remember that people aren’t disposable. Let’s give the broken time and space to heal, change, and move forward with the support of our prayers instead of the weight of our judgments and the confines of our expectations.

As we engage online friends may we never forget true relationships require time, trust, forgiveness, and grace— on repeat. Let’s live offering these gifts without count and measure.

As the ability to twist, create, and manipulate what is presented as reality grows, let’s value Truth and speak it. Our defense against the house of cards the culture offers will forever be the Word of Truth in our hearts and on our lips.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Shellie