2020 was a strange and wonderful year in so many ways! The Next Step Community shared 135,572 words in 186 posts, encouraged 13,625 people who viewed our next step content a total of 27,351 times (and counting)!
Fifteen different blog authors and contributors helped make that engagement possible. Of those fifteen, five in particular created an amazing amount of content geared toward helping you take a next step. As we head into 2021, take a look back at some of your favorite blogs. Find an author you like and explore more of their content. Share something meaningful with a friend. Look for ways Jesus is speaking into your life through the people He has placed around you. We follow Jesus better when we follow Him together.
Kristeen Bruun
Kristeen Bruun takes an honest and faithful look at her own life and the lives of the people around her. She often challenges herself to see things differently, and in so doing, transforms our ordinary experiences into invitations to follow Jesus. From pedicures to ponderous tomes, from price tags to children’s rhymes, Kristeen opens us up to seeing the Spirit at work all around. See All Blogs from Kristeen Bruun.
In Case You missed it
Adding Color
Kris leans into the adult coloring craze and end up thinking about Jesus.
Living With the Laughing God
Kris Bruun reflects on her transition to a small town in Texas where she eventually found a sense of belonging through community involvement, but now faces the challenge of relocating to Pueblo, Colorado. Despite the unexpected change, she sees it as an adventure and finds comfort in Jeremiah 29:11.
Rosemary
Kris remembers her friend, Rosemary.
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Katie Helmreich
Katie Helmreich’s writing combines her faith and her family life. You’ll find practical tips for leading family devotions. You’ll catch a glimpse of the weariness and frustration that seems to hound motherhood. But you will most clearly see dependence on Jesus shining through the ups and downs of common, ordinary, everyday life. From fireworks to burnt cookies, from growing pains to treasure hunts, Katie invites us into a vibrant attitude of exploration and discovery. See All Blogs from Katie Helmreich.
In Case You missed it
Holiday Prep with Lüthla and Güthla
Take a few moments and think through your holiday to-do list before you get caught up in all the *doing.*
Don’t Wear the Gorilla Sweater
It’s tempting to think that, if something is in God’s plan for us, it will work. Sometimes though, it’s simply about abiding.
A Beautiful Day for Needing Jesus
I notice my need for Jesus when things are falling apart. It’s easier to spot my need for an anchor in the midst of storms. I need Jesus to point out my dependence on him when things are only “partly cloudy”!
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Kim Longden
Kim Longden approaches following Jesus as an adventure of discovery. You’ll see her experiment with something new, and invite you to do the same. You’ll see her try and take a small next step and then look for what Jesus is inviting her into next. Kim’s attitude of excitement and experimentation is contagious. From little things, like adding some music to family devotions, to big things, like preparing for your child’s surgery, Kim opens us up to a way of living that looks for the Spirit’s work and leans into dependence on Jesus. See All Blogs from Kim Longden.
In Case You missed it
Souvenirs of God’s Faithfulness
Looking back at her hymn journal, Kim discovers a souvenir of God’s faithfulness.
Ozymandias
Everything is subjected to the power of time and decay. I am dust, and to dust I will return. But I face the desolation of inevitable decay not with lonely despair or mocking defiance, but with confidence in the One who holds time and eternity in his hands.
Christmas Lights in the Dark
All those Christmas lights twinkling in the dark give Kim a sense of courage and hope.
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Valerie Matyas
Valerie Matyas shares her faith walk and her family life often through the lens of Visual Faith™ Ministry where she serves as a Visual Faith Coach and Educational Development Consultant. Not surprisingly, many of Valerie’s blogs included video tutorials to help people engage the three hymn journals from Next Step Press. See All Blogs from Valerie Matyas.
In Case You missed it
Authentic Imitators
Visual Faith® Coach Valerie Matyas shares the last in a series of devotions on our relationship to God and to creativity.
Concrete or Abstract?
Visual Faith® Coach Valerie Matyas shares the second of a series of devotions on our relationship to God and to creativity.
Reflecting Beauty
Visual Faith® Coach Valerie Matyas shares the first of a series of devotions on our relationship to God and to creativity.
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Justin Rossow
Justin Rossow, founder of Next Step Press and The Next Step Community, also made significant contributions to our blog this year. Though the topics very from cultural studies to help for pastors, all of his blogs are designed to help you delight in taking a small next step following Jesus. See All Blogs from Justin Rossow.
In Case You Missed It
Information, Imitation, and Innovation
“Wednesdays are for Walking With” explores the Disciple Like You Mean It (DLYMI) online training.
One of the Triads from the OG cohort of the course joins us today to talk about how they experienced information, imitation, and innovation in their micro-small group of three.
Their conversation is an encouragement to anyone who is trying…
Lowering the Bar for Your Next Step
“Wednesdays are for Walking With” explores the Disciple Like You Mean It (DLYMI) online training.
Today one of our Triads (small group of three) explores how you might take a super small next step, and also what to do when the conversation seems to get kind of deep, but you want to help.
Listening on Behalf of Jesus
“Wednesdays are for Walking With” explores the Disciple Like You Mean It (DLYMI) online training.
Professional coach Dr. Jonathan Brandenburg helps us think about listening before speaking as a way of embodying the Gospel.
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Special thanks to these authors! They helped make The Next Step Community a vibrant place to follow Jesus in 2020.
If you would like to see more from these and other Next Step contributors, check out Jesus at the Center of My Messy Life: Tales from the Next Step Community, Year One.
