Come Sit a While... Welcome to July on the Front Porch
Published about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Hey there,
Pull up a chair, we've got coffee, muffins, and a birthday to celebrate!
Usually, I do my best to try to schedule a vacation or at least a little extra time off around my birthday which often works out quite well with the 4th just around the corner. However, this year, July 1 has landed on just a regular workday Wednesday so I'm finding some simpler ways to bring a bit more joy into my day... starting with a pickup of muffins from my favorite local coffeeshop, Rainy Day Coffee. The owner, Shania and I became friends when both our businesses were just babies and she has created the cutest retro themed coffee "Station" and coffee truck, named Lucille. Plus, she's got some pretty adorable baristas including my two daughters! (Peep her website here.) Maybe that's why Purpose + Grit exists in the first place. I've always believed small businesses deserve people cheering them on.
Birthdays have a funny way of making you nostalgic. As I was thinking about the last year, I realized so many of my favorite memories are tied to things I've had the privilege of creating. I thought it'd be fun to share a few of those favorites with you today... along with a 20% off automatic discount at my shop from now thru Sunday!
Whether you choose to celebrate by picking up something meaningful for yourself or simply by spending a few minutes reading today's newsletter, thank you. Both are gifts to me.
Here are a few of my favorite things...
Gardens Are Sacred Garden Flag
For years, I've been looking for the right company to help me produce my artwork on garden flags. Last month, I was finally able to release my first collection. I absolutely adore this one as it makes the perfect addition to your own sacred garden.
Trust the Wait is a prayer from back in 2021 when I first started releasing my prayer art in the form of jewelry collections. It is one that connected deeply with so many of you and it's still one of my all-time favorite prayers... my go-to whenever I get impatient (which tends to be more often than I'd like to admit.) I adore this simple hoodie to remind me that God always has a plan.
When the Words Are Hard to Find: Stories and Prayers from the Trenches of Grief, officially turned a month old this last week. You've all been flooding my inbox and text messages with stories of how this book has resonated with you and how you have used it to connect with someone you love who is grieving. What an honor it is to hold such sacred space.
Even after all these years it still trips me up when I see someone out in the wild wearing Purpose + Grit merch. Knowing you love this little space as much as I do fills my heart. This trucker hat is one subtle way to share about the work happening in this space.
My prayer cards are the heartbeat of everything I create in the jhp Prayer Art line. Each of them is created with original artwork and the prayer that fell upon it while I was painting. They are the soul of my collections and products, each starting as my own private prayer that I've chosen to share to help you connect more deeply too.
Every one of my products starts as original acrylic artwork, but it is rare that I release any of the originals for sale. This one titled Glorious Love is the only original currently waiting for its forever home. Later this fall, I am preparing to launch more originals to the shop again but for now, this beauty (one of my favorites ever) is the only available in the shop.
Every year, we produce an absolutely stunning full-color, coffee-table-worthy publication called Gritty Faith Magazine. It is filled with a year's worth of stories, artwork, poems, and prayers shared by our Creators and our community. Each edition is evergreen, always relevant and forever encouraging. Founding Gritty Faith will forever be one of my greatest life's work. The 2026 edition is called Gritty Faith: Wild and it is our 21st edition of the magazine.
Gritty Faith Magazine
These are just a few of my favorite things. The shop is filled with hundreds of pieces, all of them meaningful. I encourage you to take a peek and remember that now through Sunday, you'll automatically get 20% off as a way to help me celebrate my birthday!
If you love the work that happens in this space but do not need anything at this time, consider leaving a tip in our tip jar to help support the free content we share - including our free daily prayer emails.
Now... refill your coffee and join me on the porch. I'd love to tell you about the direction we are going this month.
July has always held a special place in my heart. Sure, part of that is because of it is my birthday month, but it's much more than that.
It's the slower pace of summer, the longer evenings, and the way conversations seem to linger just a little longer this time of year. July has always felt expansive to me—a month to breathe deeply, gather with people we love, and make room for meaningful conversations.
As I was praying about this month's theme for our daily prayer emails, one picture kept coming to mind.
A front porch.
Not because there is anything particularly remarkable about a porch itself, but because of what happens there.
It's where neighbors become friends.
It's where stories are shared.
It's where coffee grows cold because the conversation gets carried away.
It's where prayers are whispered, burdens are carried together, laughter echoes into the evening, and somehow everyone leaves feeling a little lighter than when they arrived.
That's the kind of place I've always hoped Purpose + Grit would become.
Not simply a Marketplace.
Not simply a magazine.
Not simply a daily email.
But a place where people know they belong. A gathering where stories matter because people matter. A home where creativity is celebrated, faith is strengthened, and no one has to create—or walk through life—alone.
So this month, I'd like to invite you to pull up a chair.
Throughout July, every daily email will include a story from our Gritty Faith community—stories of hope, resilience, courage, healing, and the quiet ways God continues to write beautiful chapters in ordinary lives. I hope you'll laugh with us, cry with us, and perhaps even see pieces of your own story reflected in someone else's.
For those of you who are creators, July is when we open the doors to welcome new members into the Purpose + Grit Creator Community. At the end of the month, we'll release the theme for the next edition of Gritty Faith Magazine, we will be planning our fall Marketplace collections, and dreaming about the Christmas season that will follow.
Beginning this year, the doors to membership will remain open throughout July and on August 1 they will close until next year. I've realized that giving one intentional month each year to welcoming new creators allows me to invest more deeply in the community we're building together throughout the rest of the year.
Whether you are a Creator being featured in this space or a supporter encouraging and cheering us on, please know your presence here matters.
Every story you read, every prayer you pray, every product you purchase from one of our creators, every encouraging email you send, and every time you choose to support this work—you help create the kind of community where faith and creativity can flourish together.
More than anything, though, my hope is that this month feels less like opening another email...
...and more like sitting on a front porch with friends.
However you found your way here, I'm grateful you did. There's always room for one more chair. Happy July, friend.
With gratitude and sunshine,
P.S. If you are not yet receiving our free daily prayer emails, you really should join us. That's where all the best conversation happens. Join us here.
At Purpose + Grit Marketplace, our mission is to uplift faith-based Creators by amplifying their voices and helping them form meaningful connections with those they’re called to serve.
When you read, share, and financially support the work you discover here, you're doing more than making a purchase — you're championing difference-makers who are shining God’s light through their gifts.
Thank you for helping spread more love, more faith, and more hope into the world by supporting the good work being done by good people.
This monthly newsletter is brought to you by Purpose + Grit, LLC, and you’re receiving it because you signed up to stay connected — and we're so glad you're here.
