🍃 Big News: NEW BOOK Reveal 🍂

All about this new book, why I wrote it...and why the cover is a window.

What does it look like to live a flourishing, messy, wonderful life together?

As parents, we’re tasked with nurturing and guiding our children, even as we navigate our own wonderings about faith. In the overwhelm and constant demands of life, is it possible to tend to our own souls and to our family’s flourishing?

I wondered these questions as fresh spring air shifted into summer’s thick humidity and finally nestled into a crisp autumn chill. As the seasons folded into each other, I sat on my front steps, watching my kids get into sacred shenanigans while scribbling away in notebooks.

While four kids stomped in rain puddles, played in the backyard sprinkler, and then jumped in golden piles of fallen leaves, I wrote page after page, thinking of you.

Thinking about what it might look like for us to take care of our souls and work out our wonderings about God while raising connected, compassionate kids at the same time.

Introducing: Every Season Sacred

Whether I’m writing prayers or working on an article, I write what I need to read — as a parent, as a child of God, as a fellow human navigating the beautiful and awful moments of life — and I hope what I’ve written offers hope & honesty to you, too.

I’m excited (and I’ll be honest, nervous — nail-bitingly, so) to share this new book with you: Every Season Sacred: Reflections, Prayers, and Invitations to Nourish Your Soul and Nurture Your Family throughout the Year.

Woosh. This cover represents so much of the heart of this book — and it’s inspired by the 115-year-old arched windows on the third floor of our home. (If you’re new here, we call it The Craigmore — and while now just six humans and two dogs call it home, it once was a convent for the Sisters of Mercy.) What a gift to see my random scribbles turn into sacred art — a huge and heartfelt thank you to my talented designer, Eva, at Tyndale. I can not wait to see the cover’s gold foil and hold it in my hands!)

I hope Every Season Sacred will a bit of a window into your soul and speak to your experience of receiving God’s love and living in light of that belovedness. (If you connected with To Light Their Way, I think the deeper offering of this new book will connect with you in what I hope is a tender, accessible way.)

Preorders are Open

It officially launches into the world on September 19, but preorders on Amazon are already open. (Wow, my hands are shaking typing that.) As it lands in more bookstores, I’ll be sharing more links. (In the meantime, please consider placing your preorder — or 100,000 preorders — now, haha!)

From the Back of the Book

With tender curiosity and contemplative wisdom, Every Season Sacred is a weekly invitation to grow spiritually alongside our children. Blending thoughtful musings and practical resources, author Kayla Craig meets parents in their real lives, offering

• honest and hopeful reflections for every season of the parenting journey;

• encouragement to parent with intention and imagination, presence and purpose; and

• open-ended discussion prompts and prayers to explore and practice as a family.

Every Season Sacred is an invitation to ask big questions, embrace faithful rhythms, and experience God’s mysterious, loving presence together. You don’t have to have all the answers―and if we’re honest, many answers aren’t ours to have. This is the beauty of faith.

As you parent your children and explore your questions together, may God reveal sacred moments to you―in each season of your life.

This is a book made for you — the soul of a parent or caregiver (or honestly any fellow person on this winding and weird faith journey) — and then acts as a guide for you to start to navigate connection for the soul of your family. It’s a real both/and.

5 Reasons why I Felt Compelled to Write THIS book:

1. It offers weekly reflections and prayers that speak to the realities of modern parenting and the challenges that parents face.

2. It provides open-ended discussion prompts and connection questions to help families explore and practice their faith together.

3. It addresses important social issues such as justice, racism, and creation care, and offers guidance on how to live out the values of God’s kingdom as a family.

4. It offers a contemplative and accessible approach to Christian spirituality, resourcing folks in all places on their faith journey, including those who may have felt disconnected from church.

5. It is a year-long resource that can be used in all seasons and stages of a family's life, providing ongoing support and guidance as you navigate the ups and downs of raising kids.

When I pitched this wild to my publisher, she paused and said, “I don’t think I’ve quite seen a book like this before.” And then, by the grace of God, she nodded and said, “Let’s do it.”

They’re taking a chance on me — because they believe parents like you deserve thoughtful, nuanced, honest, non-judgmental resources to come alongside the deep and difficult work of raising kids. I’m deeply honored to share these genuine, honest, vulnerable parts of my heart.

A Sneak Peek Inside

Every Season Sacred is split into four seasons (pulling from nature and a bit from the Christian calendar). Each season is split into 13 weeks, and each week has:

• A reflective essay that’s a bit memoir, a bit devotional-ish.

• A breath prayer to borrow

• Scripture to reference (if you’d like)

• Open-ended questions to reflect on your own & share with your kids, family, and loved ones

• Two short family prayers to share: One with accessible language that might connect more with younger crowds — and another prayer that is a bit more lyrical & liturgical.

It’s a…robust offering. (As my editor Jillian said, it’s hefty!) But somehow also light and airy inside, and made for you to pop in and out of, season after season, time after time.

I go deeper in the essays than in To Light Their Way, and I hope the honesty helps you feel a little less alone. I borrow from my experience as a journalist and parent in crafting open-ended questions for you to make your own. There are more than 100 prayers and just…so much. I want it to be worth your time & limited energy — but in a way that feels accessible and real because none of us have a lot of margin or extra time to take on extra reading.

TBH: My Face is Hot and I’m Sweating

I feel awkward sharing about this. I’d rather be behind the scenes, inelegantly hacking away on my keyboard. But part of this work is in the sharing, and it’s a profound honor to get to steward stories in this way.

Thank you for being here and supporting my writing. I don’t take it lightly; your genuine support means the world. Writing can be quite the solitary act — thanks for reminding me with your messages, comments, and emails that I’m not alone.

That we are all wondering and wondering and figuring this out together.

I’ll share the book reveal on Instagram and Facebook soon (and would appreciate your love there!), but I wanted to share this big piece of my heart with you here first.

Stay tuned for ways to link arms in bringing this book baby into the world together from now until September. We’ll return to a care package of prayers later in the month. As always, you can listen to the weekly Liturgies for Parents podcast (this week, we’re praying for the Lent season).

May all your life — your fantastic, dirty, messy, holy life — be a prayer.

Kayla