I am blogging for Lent. Pouring in not taking out by sending excerpts from my new book,

THE TOV HEART: God's Design for a Life Rooted in What Matters Most

If you are intrigued, you can order it from Amazon here THE TOV HEART

Whether you get your own copy of the book or not, it is my hope and prayer that you will be blessed and challenged to look for more with God - Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit. No matter how much you think you have, there is always MORE! Godspeed!

There once was a man standing in a magnificent garden. A place full of life. A place where life flourished. But the man’s story is about to go sideways. And so are the stories of his wife and children down through innumerable generations.

In chapter 13 of his Gospel, Matthew recounts one of Jesus’ most famous parables, the Parable of the Sower. In it, Jesus describes four environments where seed can be planted both in our lives and the lives of others. Along the path, in rocky places, in thorny ground, and, lastly, in good soil. In this parable, the environment is your heart, and the seed is God’s Word. Our experience of him in all its forms- Wisdom and Revelation. It is both his Word to us and that Word alive in us, working daily to restore tov in our hearts and lead us to abundant life.

This agricultural paradigm provides a good framework as we step into what it means to receive and recreate tov in our lives through the restoration of our heart. Not all environments are created equal. If you are to find abundant life, you must recognize these environments, how they express themselves in your life. How tov expresses itself in and through the Word of God as its foundation. And renewal of your heart as you experience the love and mystery that is the work of God within you.

Leading to a harvest thirty, sixty, or one hundred times what was sown.

Excerpt From THE TOV HEART: God's Design for a Life Rooted in What Matters Most

Copyright © 2025 Ray Schmidt