John and Kathy Deisher

One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams

life

Noticing God

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Let’s be real — life can feel like standing in the middle of a freeway. Everything’s moving fast, flashing, and demanding our attention. It’s 2025, and the noise of life isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

But here’s the thing: a meaningful life isn’t about keeping up with all the noise. It’s about slowing down long enough to notice what really matters — and staying present long enough to listen.

That’s why I want to talk about some old, unflashy, but deeply grounding practices often called spiritual disciplines. Things like prayer, reflection, rest, generosity, and honesty. They’re not boxes to check — they’re ways of creating space for what’s sacred.

Think of it this way: your inner life is like a garden. Growth takes time — joy, peace, hope, and love don’t just appear overnight. But every garden needs a structure to grow on. Without it, things sprawl everywhere. These simple practices are that structure — they give your life shape so that what’s good can grow.

Here are 3 simple ways to begin this week:

  • Pray Simply – Skip the formal words. Speak honestly, like you would to a close friend. Then pause and listen.
  • Read Slowly – Take a few lines from something that inspires you. Sit with them. Let the words follow you through the day.
  • Find Silence – Even five minutes counts. Turn off your phone. Let quiet do its healing work.

Let’s not just make it through 2025. Let’s move through it with intention — one step, one breath, one conversation at a time.

God at Work

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It’s surprising how often what we call “coincidences” are actually God at work. Not long ago, I came across my old daily planner from the early 1990s. When I opened to August, the pages were packed—every 15 minutes scheduled from morning to night. I had two young kids, no staff, and felt the pressure of trying to grow our student ministry. Back then, I believed the outcome rested on how hard I worked.

A few days later, while sorting through files, I found a paper I wrote in grad school. It was about Meister Eckhart, a 14th-century priest and mystic. He taught that people often get so busy doing things “for God” that they miss God Himself in the middle of it all. His advice was to slow down, expect God to be present, and actually look for Him in every moment. That reminder hit me again—He’s always at work, whether we see it or not.

Was it just chance that I found both of those things right as a new season begins? I don’t think so. Starting something new can be exciting and exhausting at the same time. I love meeting people, sharing stories, and seeing lives change. But the long hours, the heavy work, and the emotional ups and downs can make it hard to notice God in the middle of it. Yet the truth is—He’s there. Even in the ordinary, even in the messy, even in the moments that don’t go as planned.

So here’s the challenge: take a few pauses this month and look for God. Did something small go your way? He’s there. Did a plan fall through? He’s still there. Did you gain something? God’s in it. Did you lose something? He’s still in it. Even finding the best wings in town—yes, God can be in that, too.

He is present in all things. If we slow down and look, we will find Him.

A Wrath Full of Compassion

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“[God’s] wrath is a wrath of compassion.” (Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, 13:86).

“For we have been consumed by Your anger, and we have been terrified by Your wrath. You have placed our guilty deeds before You, our hidden sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days have dwindled away in Your fury; we have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is only trouble and tragedy; for it quickly passes, and we disappear. Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:7-12)

Psalm 90 isn’t the kind of passage we usually print on a coffee mug or hang on the wall. In fact, it is probably a Psalm we would rather skip over (you would be in good company; the Reformer Martin Luther was not a fan of this chapter).

My devotional reading this week took me to a Psalm where Moses (yes, that Moses) writes with raw honesty about God’s anger—how it consumes, how even our secret sins are fully exposed in His presence. It can feel weighty, especially in the middle of a busy ministry season, when we’re already carrying a lot.

But then there’s this quote from Martin Luther in his writings on Psalm 90: “[God’s] wrath is a wrath of compassion.”

Luther may not have liked the chapter, but he recognized its truth, and that truth stops you in your tracks.

God’s wrath isn’t like human anger. He’s not explosive or distant. His wrath comes from love. It’s His fierce resistance to what breaks us, wounds us, and distorts the truth. In that light, His discipline isn’t something we need to run from—it’s something we can actually lean into.

Moses does just that. He turns from lament to prayer: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Our days are full, and yet, they’re also limited. Short. Sacred.

God’s wrath here isn’t rejection—it’s a holy wake-up call. It’s compassion that calls us to live intentionally, humbly, wisely, so that we make the most of our days.

And don’t miss how the psalm starts: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place through all generations.”

Even in His correction, He remains our refuge. Even in His holiness, He is still our home.

Springtime

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Tree budding in the spring

Photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (John 15:1-8)

It may be Spring on the calendar, but no one told the weather. The last few days have been sunny, which gives you the illusion of warmth until you go outside and face the cold and wind.

I have been through seasons of life that felt the same. There was nothing outwardly that seemed to be wrong. There was no crisis, no gloomy clouds of doubt. But inwardly, I felt cold and blown by winds that I could not shake. In those times, it becomes easy to give in to introspection that questions everything. Just as you might question your plans on a cold, windy day, you find yourself searching for meaning in those seasons of spiritual winter. It is not despair, for we know that just as the cold of winter will pass into the new life of spring, our spiritual winter will birth a season of new life. But we struggle to make sense of such seasons.

I have learned to accept those seasons as a time for rumination and germination. It is a time to ask questions, but instead of forcing answers I allow those questions time to see what begins to grow and what withers away. Just as a gardener takes a seed and plants it in good soil, I plant my questions in the soil of a life having served a very faithful God. He knows His plans and purposes for me, and while I might feel like I am ready to take charge and be productive for the Kingdom, the Master Gardener knows that there are seasons of being hidden and germinating, becoming strong so that we can bear the pruning necessary to be productive in the next season.

The sun will shine, and the air will be warm and the winds refreshing, and what we have allowed God to do in our lives in those winter seasons will be rewarded with abundant fruit.

Another Year Comes to a Close

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Photo by Eden Constantino on Unsplash

Another intern year comes to a close this week. For 27 years, my end of the year was defined by graduation. For the last five, year-end is determined when the intern class is released to their next assignment – missions ministry, vocational ministry, graduate school, etc.

That release comes this week. So, we are reflecting on the year and what we are taking with us, and what we are leaving behind. Sometimes it is just as important to know what you should leave behind as it is to know what you should take with you. I suppose this is a part of growing up, of maturing. The Bible tells us there comes a point when things we did as a child no longer have a place in our lives as someone growing up and answering the call to fulfill our purpose.

The day after the year closes, we begin our own evaluation of the year. We look at who is coming into the intern class, what their needs are, what worked well and what we want to keep, what did not work well and how to make it better, and what we will leave behind. “Done” always creates a new “To Do”.

Graduation 2021

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Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

This past weekend I attended four different graduation ceremonies at Oklahoma State. Considering they had five ceremonies, I was at a pretty good percentage of them. Some of the staff and students joined me at different ceremonies so we could celebrate the accomplishments of our friends.


I have attended graduation ceremonies for years. At Texas A&M, I had a certain section and a certain row I sat in. Students knew where to find me. There were years when I would only attend one ceremony, and other years when I would attend as many as six ceremonies. It makes for long days, but the accomplishments of the students that have been a part of my life while in college deserve to be honored.


The ceremonies are all different. Some have no commencement speaker. Some have the students walk in, while others already have them in their seats. Some receive their degrees in alphabetical order, while in other ceremonies the students are seated in random order by the college. Bagpipes and drums, bands, pre-recorded and live state songs, and the national anthem are also varied.


But the common denominator is that families come to see their student receive their degrees. Mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends all make the trip and sit in uncomfortable chairs in crowded arenas for two hours just to be able to cheer for two seconds for their graduate. Often I get a chance to meet them, and many times it is the first time I have met the family. I get to meet the people I know only by name for a brief moment before graduate and family head home.

I come away from the weekend exhausted many times. But it is worth the effort. It is worth being a part of what is probably our last shared experience. It is seeing the full cycle of wide-eyed freshman to hopefully wisdom-filled graduate. We will have shared many moments. I am glad I am here to share the final one.

Big Surprises Reveal Little Surprises

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Front Row (Left to Right): Tyger, Lane. Back Row (Left to Right): Eli, Dakota, Me, Warren, Patrick

Kathy surprised me this week with a surprise birthday party (I suppose that is somewhat redundant). Along with her and the staff, she invited the guys from my small group, The Vectors. My co-leader, Warren, was a math major (he just graduated!) and started the group, so I suppose he had naming rights. Not everyone could be there because we are in finals, but the surprise within the surprise is that these guys wanted to come and have a birthday lunch with me. Being with these guys this past year and doing life together will always be a highlight.

Tick-tock, am I on the Clock?

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Being self-employed means I feel like I am always on the clock. In truth, I am not, and have some fairly defined boundaries, but it still feels that way. So, it was no surprise when I pulled a list of all my saved-for-reading-later bookmarks and discovered a wealth of time-management and productivity tips. But, to be absolutely honest, each article may have a sentence or two that means something to me or gives me an idea I want to try.

Since January, I have been using Obsidian as both my task-management and personal knowledge management tool. It was a move born of necessity since I do not have the internet at my home and my freebie phone refuses to act as a hot spot (my phone is pretty much relegated to communication; everything else is in Obsidian). So, I have to do most of my work offline on my computer. I use Obsidian and a notebook to do most of my work (including printing out my notes for talks and lectures, which is pretty old school). I am still tweaking Obsidian, but I am committed to this process through 2022.

So, I need to go through these sites, pull the one or two things I want to retain, and then delete them. And maybe quit looking at so many articles on being productive and just go be productive.