Happy finish-deleting-all-the-valentine's-day-emails-day, friend. :)

Last year, Hayley and I spent two and a half days in Denver, Colorado attending the Q Ideas conference.

Philosopher and theologian James K. A. Smith started off the conference with a talk called "What Does It Means That We Live In A Secular Age?"

He discussed the danger of the disenchantment of Christianity and mentioned that "the future of the church is ancient," meaning that there is a richness to tradition, liturgy, transcendence, communion, and enchanted spirituality. Our contemporary society seems to have lost this enchantment. "What's going to haunt [non-believers] is going to be a religious community that has punched skylights into our brass heaven... where they realize that the cosmos is charged with the grandeur and glory of God," he said. He gave us words and language to help explain why we do what we do at Sacred Ordinary Days.

Watch the full talk. We were yes-ing, silent-clapping, and nodding like crazy. Does it make you feel the same way? (Psst you'll love his book You Are What You Love, too.) 

 
It was one of many talks that we listened to that enriched and challenged us. Q is full of them.

The Q Conference is for you if you want to stay curious, think well, and advance good. In fact, we bought two full tables to this year's conference in Nashville so that we could invite you to join us (literally around a table, which is our favorite place to meet). 

There are eight spots left and we would love for you to come.

Join us for Q 2017, April 26th - 28th, Nashville, Tennessee.

WE’RE MOVING!

Our community has outgrown its home online, but we think you’ll like our new one.

Are you familiar with our online community that's been growing over on Facebook? What started out as a small group of faithful cheerleaders rooting for the production of the first ever SOD planner (almost two years ago) has grown into a group of over 3,800 people having daily conversations about their own sacred, ordinary days. The conversations and connections inside that space have encouraged and challenged me. However, as the size of our group has grown over time, we have found it more difficult to connect and respond.

WHY WE’RE MOVING

We believe that we are called to faithfully steward what God has endowed to us. Right now that includes a handful of products and resources, 3,800 members in the Facebook group, and anyone who wants to get our email newsletters. We want to do our best with the work that God has graced us with. We want to serve our people well; we want to foster growth and relationships; we want to provide more resources to more people; we want to help followers of Christ carry out their own work in the world.

While trying to determine what kind of space we wanted to create, I kept imagining an image of a simple house with many rooms. I described it to Hayley and she started sketching.  Then, as as a team we took a step back and reimagined what our online community might look like--how we might better serve a community that is hungry for connection. What do you think of these?

We want an easier way to connect with folks who are geographically near-by, no matter where in the world you are.

We want to be able to offer classes and cohorts around a shared season of life, vocational expression, or spiritual practice.

We want to be able to offer individual and group spiritual direction.

We want more voices to help shape, lead, and guide the community. 

We want more people listening, noticing, tending to the needs and desires expressed by the community (directly and indirectly).

WHERE WE’RE MOVING

The new online community for Sacred Ordinary Days will be called Common House. Common House is a place of hospitality and generosity, a safe place where individuals can grow with the intention of becoming more like Christ (and walk alongside others through that process as well). You might imagine Common House as a refurbished old church nestled in a small neighborhood. It's been remodeled and turned into a home that is clean, yet cozy, full of antique furniture, stained glass windows, modern accents, and indoor plants--it embodies the blending of old and new. There will be different "rooms" inside our house that foster communication and connection around different topics. We're starting out with an entryway, bulletin board, living room, library, office, and prayer room, and most likely will add more "rooms" as we see fit. You will be able to learn more about each room at our housewarming party.

WHEN THE DOORS OPEN

We are hosting a week-long housewarming party that starts on February 22nd.  Each day of the week, we will walk you through a different room in the house, introduce our team of hosts, and help you get acquainted. 

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

Join our newsletter list and keep an eye on your inbox! We'll be sending you a few more emails in between now and when the doors open on Wednesday, February 22nd so that we can give you alllll the details.

We'll share how to join, who is helping lead us in this new season, and our Common House rule of life very soon.

I can't wait to welcome you inside.

Part of our stewardship in handing you these tools is to help you understand how to best use them. We want to make sure you're able to get the most out of your planner. This may look different for different people. There are many elements in our planner, which we created to work together. As you begin using yours, feel free start with one element and then move on to others, as you find you're ready. Please don't feel pressure to do/use the parts of it that just aren't working for you or that you're not ready to integrate yet. No reason to get overwhelmed. They'll come (or they won't) and that's great. But, if you're ready to dive in, we're sharing a video walking through the full planner. You can see the timestamps for the content in the video below. 

This video was originally posted on Youtube and shared with the Sacred Ordinary Days tribe in September of 2015, right at the beginning of our launch on Kickstarter.  We've re-uploaded it to our new Sacred Ordinary Days Youtube channel and are sharing it with the many, many of you who weren't around in September to see it. 

As you've been downloading the Essentials Workbook, trying out sample PDFs of the planner, and getting your Sacred Ordinary Days planners in the mail, we thought this would be helpful for you. 

INTRO (until 2:40)
Beginning – 1:20 Introduction & About Jenn Giles Kemper
1:20-1:52 Get sample by visiting www.SacredOrdinaryDays.com
Pre-order at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jenngileskemper/sacred-ordinary-days-a-liturgical-day-planner/

ELEMENTS (about 2:40-7:25)
2:41-4:49 Elements of Sacred Ordinary Days
- Dimensions of book (8.5inx7.5in)
- Smyth sewn binding and why we chose it
4:50-5:30 Join our Facebook Group
- www.Facebook.com/groups/sacredordinarydaystribe
- Who is in our group and a great place for more information, questions, and connections

PLANNER WALK THROUGH (about 5:31-10:10)
5:31-7:23 Cover
- Cover details (copy/text has now changed)
- Lectionary/Daily Office
- About Lectionary
- Jenn’s personal application
- Jenn’s church application
7:24-8:24 Open Book/First pages
- Liturgical Wheel Calendar for reference
- Letter from Jenn
8:25-8:51 Artwork
- by Hayley Johnson
- Wreaths and representation
8:52-10:10 Inside real book
- Resources in beginning of book
- References, creating a rule of life, why, ideas on where to start

DAILY PAGES (about 10:10-15:25)
10:11-13:51 Introduction
- Details about daily pages
- How Jenn uses them
- Common prayer reference
- Sample
11:58-13:51 Daily Office
- About the cycle
- Currently in year 1 but printed edition will begin in year 2
- 2 year cycle details
- Will connect users with Christians throughout history
13:52-15:24 3 Projects
- 3/day week days and Saturdays
- Que, rest & reward
- Thinking on that and research

CUE, REST & REWARD (about 15:20-28:25)
15:24-19:40 Cue
- About cue
- Sample
19:41-24:38 Rest & Reward
- Gretchen Rubin influence
- Jenn’s sample
- Drain & fill
- Julie’s thoughts on Drain & Fill
- Review
24:39-27:54 Blank Lines
- How you can use blank line space
- Created simple, clear, beautifully and flexible to cater to any user
- Bottom part for journaling
- How Jenn uses this part
27:55-28:22 End of Week
- Saturday page and end of week explanation

WEEKLY PLAN (about 28:20-43:35)
28:23-30:52 Weekly Plan Layout
- Quote at the top
- Weekly lectionary explained
- This week’s sample reading
- Explanation
30:53-31:19 Reflect & Reset
- Explanation of the purpose for this
- Categories (spirit, body, mind, relationships, home, work)
31:20-41:46 Reflect
- Reflect explanation
- Check in with 6 areas, explanation and examples
Mind, Body, Spirit, Relationships, Home, and Work
41:47-43:32 Sunday
- Page layout
- How to use space
- Quote
- Sunday and weekly plan always lay together

REVIEW (about 43:30-end)
43:33-end Ending remarks
- Jenn recaps video
- Jenn says prayer

And just like that, our journey through the liturgical year has come to a close. Lacy and I both believe in marking milestones and so with enthusiasm, we decided that we needed to mark this accomplishment in a big way. Retreat. Meeting in person for the first time. Recording together around my dining room table.. 

Thank you for walking alongside us on this journey. 

P.S. The Sacred Ordinary Days podcast isn't going anywhere. We have season 2 in the works now. 

Please help us get to 100 iTunes reviews to celebrate the end of season 1! Jenn will draw a random reviewer to win the new academic edition of the Sacred Ordinary Days liturgical day planner when we get to 50 , 75, and 100. If you'd like the chance to win one of the three, please leave an iTunes review! Here’s how.

The Great Fifty Days of Eastertide are over and the feast of Pentecost has guided us into Ordinary Time—the longest season of the year. What better time to explore vocation—what we bring to the world—especially when it so often intersects with our work in the world and how we spend most of our days? This episode is about finding our calling and the Sacred threads that are uniquely woven through each of our lives.

Please help us get to 100 iTunes reviews to celebrate nearing the end of season 1! Jenn will draw a random reviewer to win the new academic edition of the Sacred Ordinary Days liturgical day planner when we get to 50 ,75, and 100. If you'd like the chance to win one of the three, please leave an itunes review! Here’s how.

Listen below, through iTunes, or your favorite podcasting app. 

We'd invite you to check out and catch up on past episodes here. 

SHOW NOTES

Finding Purpose in Life: The Long Guide to Finding Your Life’s Work via The Meaning Movement
The Calling Process: a step-by-step guide to finding purpose and pursuing your dream job by Dan Cumberland
Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer
To Be Told: God Invites You to CoAuthor Your Future by Dan Allender
Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer by Richard Rohr
Sacred Ordinary Days Planner

BRING IT HOME… 

What are your thoughts on the season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time? How do you plan to mark it? Will you be exploring your own vocation or perhaps spending some time nurturing someone else’s sense of vocation and calling?

Let us know in the Sacred Ordinary Days Tribe Facebook group or on social media using the hashtag #sacredordinarydays.