Casey - Cultivate - a grace-filled guide to growing an intentional life

CONTENTS

PRAISE FOR CULTIVATE

Cultivate is delightful and breathes grace through every page. Lara gives inspiration to nurture life through the seasons in which we find ourselves. Reading this book will make you feel that you have a personal friend standing by your side to give you encouragement to live your life well.

SALLY CLARKSON, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF OWN YOUR LIFE, THE LIFEGIVING HOME, AND DIFFERENT

Cultivate is rich soil for the soul! Whether you are a new sprout, just beginning to brave life in the light; a tender shoot fighting for space among rocks and weeds; or a mature plant in need of nurture and pruning, this book will help you thrive. With her characteristic honesty, humility, and patience, Lara Casey uses her spiritual green thumb to gently nudge us toward an intentional life of godliness and growth. Scriptures and stories from Laras own spiritual journey inspire us to self-reflection without self-sabotage and progress without perfection. Journal prompts and reflection questions help to demystify the growth process and break it down into manageable steps. If you are ready for a new season of spiritual growth, dig into Cultivate and get ready to bloom!

ELIZABETH LAING THOMPSON, AUTHOR OF WHEN GOD SAYS WAIT

Laras commitment to growth, in both her personal life and in business, has long inspired me. To lead an authentic life, we must look inward for answers. In the pages of Cultivate, she candidly shares her triumphs and failures, and her secrets to success for growing a purpose-filled life. What an incredible gift to the world!

ERIN BENZAKEIN, FARMER-FLORIST AT FLORETFLOWERS.COM, AUTHOR OF CUT FLOWER GARDEN

I loved Cultivate. Through these pages, we learn to embrace the season were in: when to get our hands dirty, when to rest, when to prune, and when to wait. Lara shows us through examples and actionable steps that the best thingswhether thats a garden of colorful zinnias or an intentional life focused on what truly matters mostare not created all at once, but through the little-by-little.

INDIA HILL, TWENTYSOMETHING WRITER AT BOOKSANDBIGHAIR.COM

Are you exhausted, weary, or worn out from trying to keep it all together? Cultivate is a life-giving read that invites you to pause and choose a different path. Laras authentic voice will encourage you to let go and embrace the messiness of a truly abundant life. Youll be refreshed and ready to step toward an intentional life rooted in what matters most.

EMILY ENOCKSON, RELUCTANT FARM GIRL AND SERVANT LEADER AT ZACHARIAHS ACRES

This book will help you know about God and growing things. I like the part about the butterflies and bees.

GRACE ISAACSON, AGE 5

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ALSO BY LARA CASEY

Make It Happen: Surrender Your Fear.

Take the Leap. Live on Purpose.

2017 Lara Casey

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version). ESV Permanent Text Edition (2016). Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

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ISBN 978-0-7180-2166-5 (TP)

ISBN 978-0-7180-2167-2 (eBook)

Epub Edition May 2017 ISBN 9780718021672

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017935761

Printed in the United States of America

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For my little gardeners:

Gracie, Joshua, and Sarah

I love you from my head tomatoes.

God lives in every garden,

He loves each growing thing.

Forget your ills,

Get out and dig and sing.

A WEATHERED SIGN IN MY GRANDFATHERS GARDEN

B efore we get started, you should know something: I am an unlikely gardener. My grandfather could grow tomatoes with his eyes closed, but I never seemed to get it.

For most of my life I craved instant results and quick fixes. I wanted flourishing and full bloom right from the start.

I preferred to skip the in-between part. The sometimes-awkward waiting, tending, and growing part.

So its no surprise that Ive killed a lot of plants in my life.

Several years ago, during a long season of marriage challenges, I bought an orchid for my desk, thinking the colorful blooms would help me feel something other than despair. But within days, my poor little plant was withered and dying.

That orchid represented my life at the time. My soil was dry and depleted, and I desperately needed sustenance.

My husband, Ari, and I met at the gym, back in another life-time when I was a personal trainer and he was in the navy. We got married five months later in Las Vegas. (Typing that never ceases to make me feel a little shocked at my own story!) We had both gone through painful relationship endings shortly before we met. Neither of us was in a great place to start a new relationship, much less a serious one. But we fell for each other quickly, and when it came time for him to move to a new base across the country, we had to make a choice: Do we say goodbye or take a huge leap of faith together? We chose the latter and eloped.