Mid-year 'Good Stuff' roundup (part 2)

It's summer, I'm out of town, and I'm sifting through my favorite Substack articles (so far) this year

Jul 10, 2026

I’m off on retreat. Technology-free.

So I thought this would be a good time to look back on my favorite ‘Good Stuff’ articles so far this year, curate them for you, and set them to publish while I’m gone.

So that’s what I’m doing!

These next few Fridays - July 3, 10, and 17, I’m sharing 10 of my favorite articles from past ‘Good Stuff’ Friday blogs.

I can’t tell you how hard it is to narrow them down to just 30 articles (plus one of my own each week). There is SO much good writing about the church, life with God, and how to live a meaningful life. And running. And other random things.

It will be hard to miss a bunch of writing during these weeks, too - I’ll mostly be off-line. But I’ll spend some extra time working on it when I come back.

In the meantime, here’s next 10 articles, from March 13 - May 1, 2026. I sure enjoyed reading them again…

When the Heart Shifts

by Jake Owensby

‘Then I asked her to imagine something else. God sits down beside you, looks you in the eye, and says, “I love you.”

Judith fell silent. After a few moments she said quietly, “I’ve never thought of that. That would be really different.”’

I wanna die with a mellow heart

by Crystal R. Hammon

’In living and dying, my aunt taught me how to be and how not to be.

Because of her, I have a personal goal to live and die without bitterness.’

The Wolf in the Pew

by Megan Costilow

‘There are people who meet the wolf and run. There are people who meet the wolf and try to kill it. And then, every now and then, there is someone brave or stubborn enough to say,

“Come here. Sit down. Eat something. Stop biting people.”’

This is Not Simple Generational Replacement

by Ryan Burge

‘If you walked into a church any Sunday over the last 35 years, the person most likely sitting next to you was a Baby Boomer.

That was true in 1990. It was still true in 2024.

Even as Boomers have gone from 45% of the GSS sample to just 25%, they remain the dominant force in American pews. That’s a genuinely hard thing to wrap your head around.’

Trying to Win at Everything Is Why You’re Losing

by Eric Hoke

‘If you’re reading this, you’re likely ambitious. High-achieving. On this Monday morning, you’ve got a dragon to slay and a mountain to climb. Here’s where many of us go wrong: we refuse to turn any burners down, even temporarily.’

Burnout Is Just The Beginning

by Thea Curry-Fuson

‘Today, I share the truth that your current situation isn’t the end of the road for you. I share my story to show others there are alternative paths to pursuing God’s will and you never have to journey alone.’

Becoming Happy in 10 Easy Steps

by Griffin Gooch

‘But a happiness that comes from living a rich, moral life that’s centered around Him and His kingdom is something followers of Jesus have been pointing toward from the very beginning.Joy, happiness, flourishing, etcetera aren’t the goal of our spirituality, but they’re an undeniable side effect.’

I got married two weeks ago

by Drew Brown

‘I sat there on that chair so forlorn and angry, and then I watched you walking across the street in the sunshine. You looked at me and smiled. I held the door open for you and said a whole bunch of dumb jokes. And you laughed.

Your laugh. So free, so lovely.

During the wedding weekend, people asked me when I “knew” you were someone special. I told them I knew it five minutes into that first date, when you laughed.’

The gel isn’t glamorous

by Julie B. Hughes

‘Delaney, “How was your run, Mom?”

Me: “Great! I ate sugar for 3 hours and watched the sun come up.”

Delaney laughed.

Me: “I’d better go brush my teeth.”

The Silence at the Altar

by Fr. Bliss Spillar

‘When you stand at the altar, you do not stand only with those who are visibly present. You stand within the prayer of the whole Church, with the saints and the faithful departed, with those scattered across time and place, and indeed for a world that does not know how to pray for itself’

Here’s one thing I wrote..

No one is looking at your static church website

‘he internet now works like a city (so does the church). Now you have to actively work to to be seen.

You have to be on a busy street, where people are passing by. You have to have people talking about you. You have to be in conversation.

A beautiful building tucked down an unmarked alley (or a country road) that nobody ever walks by will not be seen.

We know this is true literally for church - now it’s true digitally as well, because of the way the internet has changed.

and finally…