January 2026 - Life Lessons from Jesus
I believe in celebrating my spiritual birthday, which I did on New Year’s Eve.
This December 31 marked 66 years since I received God’s amazing gift of salvation, reconciliation and eternal life. What an adventure it has been! I’ve met remarkable people, been amazing places, done exciting things. All because of choosing to follow Him.
As wonderful as those things have been, clearly the best is getting to know Him, love Him, obey Him, learn from Him. And I have learned so much about life and walking with Him.
Because I seem to have a hard time remembering what God has taught me, I began to put those lessons into sayings or slogans—words I could use to remind myself of what God has shown me. Here are three of them:
God is God and God is good.
When circumstances are difficult, uncertain, painful, scary or just not to my liking, I remember that God is truly God. He is sovereign, in control, aware, able. So it is very good to know that He is also good—how frightening if this powerful God were evil. Jeremiah tells us that God is always looking for ways to do good to us.
The work of God is done on our knees. Then we find out what happened.
Most of us pray a lot—morning and evening, every meal, when we have a need. We pray about everything. But I have discovered that prayer is not a necessary activity for my work and efforts to succeed. Prayer is my work. The fruit will then be discovered as I head out to live my life.
The greener grass was spray painted by the evil one.
All of us are addicted to the greener grass syndrome: We desire something that is newer or better or more fun. Or we think some other place or job or person would be more satisfying. Sometimes God uses discontentment in our lives to spur us on to new opportunities, but mostly He urges us to be content, to rest in His provision. The evil one loves to distract and attract us with his bright spray paint. We need, as Paul suggests, to choose contentment.
You can discover more of these lessons here: judydouglass.com/blog/66thspiritualbirthday
Next Generation Gatherings
The weeks after Christmas have once again been times of rich spiritual harvest among students, in the U.S. and globally. Three different approaches all win, build and send thousands of young people, especially Gen Z, to follow Jesus—wherever He leads.
Cru U.S. Winter Conferences
I remember the winter conference when I was a student back in 65—I was encouraged, equipped, and challenged to walk in the Spirit and say “yes” to whatever God was asking me to do.
Conferences are held regionally over the next month—this year in Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Northeast, Orlando, Raleigh, SoCal, Washington, DC, plus Epic, Legacia, and Design.
Each one is a gathering of college students experiencing Jesus, growing together in faith and discovering their place in the mission of God.
A few comments from students at some of the first conferences:
“Best week of my life!”
“It’s an amazing time to make lasting friendships and learn how to grow closer to God with one another.”
“Fantastic experience to grow in faith!”
Urbana 25: A New Generation Rising
The Urbana conference has been held approximately every three years since 1946. It exists to answer three questions: What is God doing at this moment in the world? What is he revealing through his Word? What is God calling me to do?
This year’s gathering was held in Phoenix AZ, with 7,000 attending. The conference was specifically designed to be an in-person-only experience. No live streaming. The Onboarding Experience as students checked in included an immersive video experience with 15-foot video projection on three walls. Groups of 250 students stood in the shared space and were immersed in the gospel story from Genesis to today.
Passion 2026 Conference: A Generation for His Renown/To the Ends of the Earth
From its start in 1997, the Passion movement has had a singular mission—calling students and leaders from campuses across the nation and cities around the world to live for what matters most. “For us, what matters most is the name and renown of Jesus. We believe in this generation and are watching God use them to change the climate of faith around the globe.”
The 2026 event was held in Arlington TX, with 45,000 in attendance. Worship music and powerful messages captivated and challenged: to take the love of Christ to the ends of the earth. They raised $500,000 for Bible translation. And they prayed:
Women’s Resources
I have the privilege of working with an amazing group of women as I lead Women’s Resources. Most are staff or volunteers in the latter half of life, loving to serve, encourage, connect, and equip Cru staff women around the globe. Gratefully, we have a few younger women who tend to our tech needs.
What do we do?
Manage a global website filled with stories from and resources for the ministry work women are doing all over the world.
We produce The Significance Project materials, equipping people through gatherings, peer coaching, and life coaching tools, to live out their life purpose and help others to do the same.
Prayer for Prodigals includes a secure prayer page, a growing Facebook community (more than 11,000) and a yearly Prodigal Prayer Day on June 2.
Several of our women work in cities with their husbands, focusing on evangelism and discipleship in the community and churches and schools.
Christmas Gatherings equip women to host friends and neighbors in December, serving simple holiday food, sharing a personal story of knowing Christ, inviting them to a Bible study—guests love it.
You’re Not Alone is a conference for our staff who are having some challenges with their children. We provide time, resources, guidance, and fellowship to help them on this journey. Such a blessing!
We have wonderful team members who help facilitate all we do, and others who serve elsewhere in Cru, but join with us often.
I am so blessed to work with and fellowship with these wonderful women. Here are some of us at our annual Christmas brunch.
My When You Love a Prodigal podcast is still alive.
I loved my conversation with Justin Gambino, which was supposed to happen the day of my accident. Justin is from Freeport, Texas, where I spent summers with my aunt. From a strong Christian home, but he took another path, faced prison time, and ended up in the Navy. He tells his story and how he now is a country western singer talking about Jesus.
You can listen to our conversation here:
A Big Thank You from My Shoulder and Arm
It’s been four months since I shattered my shoulder and humerus. A long journey with probably two more months to go. God has truly been answering your prayers.
Most of the ongoing work involves physical therapy twice a week, slowly restoring range of motion and ability to do things with my right arm. I just started driving again, with some trepidation.
And God has faithfully cared for me and helped me to see His goodness through this journey.
Family Time and Animal Time
Over Christmas I spent a sweet time in Alabama with Michelle and Brad and their boys and their dog Spurgeon. And last week I had a fun lunch with Josh and family, which included happy conversation about the kids—that is, the baby goats. Apparently Josh loves them so much he hangs out in their pen with Dunkin in his lap.
Here are three of the six as newborns: Dunkin, Krispy and Cream. The other three are Hiccup, Pip and Rubble (no pic). The close-up is Dunkin.
May God surprise you with His abundant blessings in 2026!
Judy Douglass