236 - Koinonia: What Happens When You Need Greek to Unlock Your Word of the Year
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
Release Date: 01/13/2026
242 - For the One Feeling Alone: A 5-Day, FREE Email Course
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
This is for you, feeling alone even when you’re surrounded by other people. This is for the introvert keen on deep friendships but second-guessing her own merit. This is for those new to town, missing home, starting over. This is for the long-time homeowner who knows fewer than five neighbors by name. This is for lonely Christians longing for something to shift. Links mentioned: Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up Read the written version of this episode
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241 - How to Best Relax When You’re Overwhelmed, Dear Heart
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
I wonder where you’re feeling most overwhelmed. What’s beneath your tension headache and audible exhales? What stiffens your shoulders and triggers an insatiable, internal stopwatch? “Don’t forget to enjoy this season,” my literary agent says, and it startles me. Because I’m so busy sorting out the next two years I forget that the season I’m in should feel slow. There should be room to breathe. To dream, not all rushed like I’m in crunch time, but like lungs expanding. Like a soul at rest. Maybe you relate. You try to solve problems ahead of time to eliminate potential stress....
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240 - Breakthrough Boasting: The Best Thing to Brag About
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
I lived on Nicollet Ave. in a city that’s been ablaze with rage, but I was too tiny to know anything but the security of arms cradling me. Minneapolis, MN was simply home. My birthplace. My nativity. This morning a candle wafts rich vanilla into my chilly basement and my Bible is open to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s intensity seems fitting for the fractures dividing our country. “There is no cure for my grief,” he writes. “My heart breaks for what I see and hear” (Jeremiah 8:18, The Voice). Maybe that’s what you feel too. The heaviness. The defeat....
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239 - Open Letter To The One Playing It Safe
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
I’m typically the one playing it safe. I minimize risk through research and reluctance. Control what I can and avoid the rest. Perhaps it won’t surprise you that this is the first time in four days I’ve left my neighborhood. But the interstate is stunning. I’m heading into the sun, which accentuates the ice. I would have missed this ethereal wonderland if I didn’t brave the roads—just like I can miss the adventure God calls me to if I insist on playing it safe. Links mentioned: To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your...
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238 - Four Unique Friendship Archetypes: Which One Are You?
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
To springboard off Christine Hoover’s "back-door friend," I’ve turned items from around my house into archetypes to help us better understand friendship. Which one best describes the type of friend you are? Links mentioned: by Christine Hoover. Sometimes we keep our friendship shallow–by accident. Discover if you are making any of these ten common mistakes by grabbing the free download . You’ll also get a powerful secret to help you deepen your friendships. To get a short, doable tip in your inbox every week to help you get to know your neighbors, sign up Read...
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237 - For the Hinge Seasons: Three Ways to Transition Better
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
Maybe January feels like a hinge month. Like what happens the rest of the year rests on what you do with this one month. You feel all kinds of pressure to pick the right New Year’s resolutions, the perfect word of the year, the habits that will stack up to lifestyle change. You write and rewrite your measurable goals, your keep and let-go list, your personal mission statement. Perhaps you’re fed up with merely existing. You long for depth, clarity, connection. And January, you determine, is the tone-setter for the remaining months. The mark of your maximum braveness. The hinge-point...
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236 - Koinonia: What Happens When You Need Greek to Unlock Your Word of the Year
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
Okay, Lord, I get it. My stubborn insistence that I never need help is the opposite of koinonia. Koinonia is a lighter way to live. An easier way to breathe. It takes the shape of rest–right in the middle of writing a book. Looks like a yes to relationship-building, which is wired in all of us, by God’s design. Every time you link arms, share a burden, trust a friend with your confession, unite in prayer, accept help, or make space around your table, a little light gets in under your shell. Your got-to-keep it together begins to erode. Your self-defeating assumptions are deflated....
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235 - How to Pick the Best Bible Reading Plan for 2026
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
When we read primarily to check a box, it’s only a matter of time before we check out. If we read out of guilt or obligation, we approach the Word already bored. If we expect the words to go over our head, we’ll forget God promises us wisdom if we’ll only ask (James 1:5). And if we give up before we get started, we’ll never give the Word a chance to become our lifeline in crisis, our won’t-miss rhythm, our reassurance of God’s with-ness. Links mentioned: For shorter, guided plans, check out the ones on . Mary Demuth’s . Ann Voskamp’s journal. To...
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234 - How To Make The New Year Better Than The Last
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
What if we could make the new year better than the last? If we could guarantee that God’s goodness–up close and unmissable–would overshadow the trials? If we could see, threaded through the seams of our stories, the through-line that makes everything make sense? Links mentioned: by Jennifer Dukes Lee. Songs I Play on Repeat playlist (in the ). Apple and Spotify playlists of my top 25 songs from '25 (also in the ). (free). Word-of-the-year ideas & monthly reflection sheets to amplify your word-of-the-year growth in 2026 (get both ). Read more about nevertheless...
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233 - A Christmas Prayer for When You Need Real Hope
The Uncommon Normal with Twyla Franz
For every weary soul needing a bit of light, a scrap of real hope, a simple Christmas prayer. For every taxed mama and bustling grandma. Every newlywed and fresh divorcee. Every grieving heart. Every family scrambling to make Christmas happen. Wherever these words find you, and whatever heaviness fills the room, I pray for gritty, overflowing hope. I pray that the tender nearness of Jesus meets you in this moment. That His peace supersedes the pressure you’re feeling right now. When you’re emptied of all you can do on your own, when you’ve used up all the words, when your...
info_outlineOkay, Lord, I get it. My stubborn insistence that I never need help is the opposite of koinonia.
Koinonia is a lighter way to live.
An easier way to breathe.
It takes the shape of rest–right in the middle of writing a book. Looks like a yes to relationship-building, which is wired in all of us, by God’s design.
Every time you link arms, share a burden, trust a friend with your confession, unite in prayer, accept help, or make space around your table, a little light gets in under your shell. Your got-to-keep it together begins to erode. Your self-defeating assumptions are deflated. Your insecurities are dethroned.
But koinonia with God is where it begins. There’s no sweeter fellowship than with God’s son. No conversation more life-transforming than with the Word of God. No bond more true than you can have between God and you.
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