New beginnings need blessing to reach their potential.
No one seemed a more fitting source for blessing this publication and this effort than Rev Dr Malcolm Guite. In many ways, he has been the patron saint of this project since its beginning and indeed, all brave souls who create to give praise to their Creator. Here receive Cultivating’s Spring Benediction!
With each unfolding seed, with every Spring,
He breathes the rumour of his resurrection,
As birdsong calls your hidden heart to sing.
So may this season be his benediction,
To lift your love, and bid your prayer take wing,
To thaw your frozen hope, to warm your mind,
For Spring has come! Can Heaven be far behind?
~ Malcolm Guite
May we be courageous to take up our given work with joy
and enter boldly into God’s great work of restoration.
Many blessings, friends, and may every grace be yours!
Lancia E. Smith is an author, photographer, teacher, and publisher. She is the founder and Executive Director of Cultivating Oaks Press, Cultivating Magazine, and its fellowship of writers and makers, The Maker’s Project. She has been honoured to serve in executive management, church leadership, school boards, and Art & Faith organizations throughout her career.
Now empty-nesters, Lancia & her husband Peter make their home in the Black Forest of Colorado, keeping company with 200 Ponderosa Pine trees, a herd of mule deer, two beautiful black cats, a wild fox, and an ever expanding library. Lancia loves land reclamation, website and print design, beautiful typography, road trips, being read aloud to by Peter, and cherishes the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and George MacDonald. She lives with daily wonder of the mercies of the Triune God and in constant gratitude for the beloved company of Cultivators.
Her newest endeavours will be released in the spring of 2026. Bearing Witness: Fifteen Years of Conversations with Malcolm Guite, and Cultivating A Writer’s Life: A Field Guide for Word Shepherds.
You can follow Lancia here in Cultivating and on her Substack Cultivating A Writer’s Life.
Thankful to have found you and to enjoy all of your gifts. Look forward to following and supporting the progress of this new venture. Blessings!
Terry, thanks so much! It is good to have you here and we look forward to sharing so much more with you!