The year still feels new to many of us, and we’ve been hearing about ways that people continue to explore hopes and dreams for 2025. Many of us might be hoping to continue or refresh our practices of prayer and worship, so we’re delighted to offer a conversation that can help with that aim. Author and horticulturist Julie Lane-Gay joins us on the podcast to discuss her recent book The Riches of Your Grace: Living in the Book of Common Prayer. Julie shares her journey of companionship with the Book of Common Prayer and describes ways that its prayers have infused her life with meaning. We talk about a few practical ways we can get started in utilizing this historic book in our prayer lives, and we also talk about Julie’s personal passion for plants and gardens. Read on for discount codes from InterVarsity Press for Julie’s book in addition to a lovely edition of the Book of Common Prayer. And if you listen to the end of the credits, you’ll hear an excerpt from our conversation where Julie describes a very unique class called “The Boat Class” that she and her husband teach at Regent.

“Do what you do with love. Whether you’re gonna teach physics coming out of Cambridge and Harvard or whether you’re gonna go teach first-year English at your local community college — do it your best and do what you do with love.”

As we think more deeply about our spiritual habits, one might branch out to consider how our digital habits are shaping our spiritual lives. We’re reminded of Felicia Wu Song’s three-part series on the way technology affects our spiritual formation. Start here to dip into that series, or listen to the podcast interview or book club finale focused on Felicia’s book Restless Devices. It’s a challenging topic to tackle, but Felicia’s research and pastoral direction gives easy footholds to start managing our digital lives better — and living more fully into a new year.

“We know that we have all been there. When we make the split second decision to ignore the person and to attend to our screens instead. We all know that meaningful embodied interactions with family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors take a lot of work and that the payoff can be great.”

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Pray with us! Prayer meetings resume today! You can join our online, 30-minute guided prayer meetings on Fridays at 8 am, 9 am, and 12 pm (Eastern). Can’t come? Send your prayer requests anyway by emailing us at wsap@intervarsity.org. Ready to pray? Join the Zoom meeting here for those Friday meetings.

Join Women Scholars and Professionals this spring for a discussion of Habits of Hope: Educational Practices for a Weary World. Register now to receive your 40% discount for a copy of the book and prepare for online discussions about a Christian understanding of hope in academia. We hope you can join us!

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