Jennie Lusko’s New Book Helps Women Find Purpose: ‘No Matter What Age We Are, We Can Flourish’ (Exclusive)
The Fresh Life Church co-founder opens up about grief, faith, and finding God's mercies every day
Key Takeaways
- Author Jennie Lusko opens up about the heartbreaking loss of her daughter.
- Creating personal margin and setting aside quiet time alone is essential to stay rejuvenated.
- Starting your morning with a Bible, journal, and zero phone distractions transforms your day.
Jennie Lusko knows what it means to cling to God’s faithfulness through both joy and heartbreak. The bestselling author, speaker and co-founder of Fresh Life Church alongside her husband, Pastor Levi Lusko, has spent years encouraging women to trust God in every season.
Together, the couple are parents to four daughters and host the popular ‘Hey! It’s The Luskos’ podcast, where they share honest conversations about faith, family, and everyday life.
In her new 40-day devotional, Fresh Mercies Every Day: Cultivate a Life of Trusting God, Following Him Daily, and Learning to Flourish, Jennie, 43, invites readers into lessons God has taught her throughout a lifetime of journaling. “As I was just reading through old journal entries, I was realizing that God was reminding me and encouraging me of things that he had taught me a long time ago throughout my life. And so these are just little snippets of things that God has shown me throughout the years,” she says.
The book is inspired in part by Psalm 92, a passage she treasures because it reminds believers that “those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing.” Jennie believes that promise is for every woman. “I really do believe that every day God has something fresh for us,” she says. “And no matter what age we are, we can bear fruit, and we’ll be fresh and flourishing.”
Here, she shares with Woman’s World her tips for refreshing a depleted soul, recognizing when you’re running on empty and starting each day with hope.
Finding hope when grief feels overwhelming
One of the most powerful themes woven throughout the devotional is the hard-won perspective Jennie gained after losing her daughter, Lenya, who died suddenly from an asthma attack at age five. It was a grief that could have destroyed her faith, but instead, deepened it.
If you’ve ever woken up feeling like the weight of your grief might crush you before your feet even hit the floor, Jennie understands. “I remember there definitely being days, and I still have them too, where you just wake up in the morning and it’s like, I don’t want to face this day,” she shares with honesty. “I feel like this weight is going to crush me.”
In those moments, she says, it is easy to question whether your life matters. “It kind of feels like anyone could be doing my job right now. Like, what significance am I bringing to the table?” Yet she has learned to challenge those thoughts with truth. “You are a Daughter of the King, first and foremost. Second of all, you matter. You are known and loved, and you have a purpose in your life.”
Through grief, Jennie has discovered that both mountaintops and valleys are part of the journey. “We’re not always gonna feel the good feels and the goosebumps and the high moments. Part of life is the valley of the shadow of death. It’s not always the green grass on the high hills. It’s ups and downs and lows and highs, but the point of it is that our Good Shepherd is leading us and with us.”
The telltale signs your soul needs refreshing
The everyday demands of life — caring for others, managing a household, showing up for work — can slowly empty your tank without you even realizing it.
Jennie encourages women to pay attention when their souls are running on empty. “I know I’m feeling stretched thin when my responses to the people who I love the most are snippier and not as kind,” she says. “That’s an obvious sign, that’s a flag. I need to consider what’s going on here, what is going on inside my heart.”
She notices that when irritability begins creeping in, she tends to snap at the people she loves most over small things. Her solution? What she jokingly calls a “holy smoke break,” where she steps outside to breathe fresh air, feel the sun on her face and reconnect with God before going back inside.
If you’re juggling aging parents, children who still need you and a to-do list that never ends, you know exactly what Jennie means. Those exhausted feelings are your soul waving a red flag that you need to pause and refill your cup.
She has also learned that creating margin is essential. “Time by myself is very rejuvenating,” she says. For Jennie, that may mean simply being home alone doing everyday tasks or reflecting on what God has been teaching her. Journaling remains one of her favorite practices because it helps her remember God’s faithfulness and the lessons He is revealing in ordinary moments.
Why starting your day with God changes everything
When life feels overwhelming, Jennie returns to her main foolproof habit: meeting with God before anything else. “Good morning, Lord,” she still begins many mornings, just as she has since she was 16 years old. Even though she doesn’t consider herself a routine person, she has found that starting the day with God provides the mental reset she needs.
“For me, that is definitely the most important thing of just starting with God and not starting with anything else.” She heads to a favorite spot at the end of her couch with her tea, Bible and journal, intentionally putting her phone away so she can focus. You can create your own sacred morning space too on a cozy corner of your couch, a chair by the window or even your kitchen table, before anyone else wakes up.
“You just have to know yourself and know how to set yourself up for success,” she says. Those quiet moments help create space for God to speak into her heart before the distractions of the day take over — a practice that has sustained her through both ordinary mornings and the darkest valleys.
How to begin when you feel disconnected from God
For readers who feel disconnected from God or intimidated by daily devotionals, Jennie offers plenty of grace. “When I imagine God looking at me, I imagine Him saying, ‘I just want your heart,’” she says, imagining God’s invitation to His children. “‘You don’t even have to have a plan. Just come to Me with your Bible in your hand and your tea or coffee. Just come to Me and be with Me.’”
Rather than striving for perfection, she encourages women to simply come hungry. “If we come hungry for His presence and hungry to hear from Him, that’s my hope that Fresh Mercies Every Day would be like a jumpstart to start your time with Jesus.”
Ultimately, she hopes readers will learn to trust God one day at a time. Quoting one of her favorite passages, Proverbs 3:5-6, she reminds believers to “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” She adds, “If we acknowledge Him and trust Him, He’s going to be in charge of laying out the road before us.” Her prayer is that readers will discover there’s so much comfort in learning to depend on God’s “fresh mercies, literally every single day,” she says.
With warmth, honesty and hard-earned wisdom, Jennie Lusko offers the kind of encouragement that feels like sitting down with a good friend over a cup of tea on her couch. Her willingness to share both her deepest grief and her greatest lessons makes Fresh Mercies Every Day a powerful companion for anyone longing to grow closer to God.
If you’re feeling depleted, disconnected, or longing for more of God’s presence, Jennie’s message is clear: You don’t have to have it all figured out. Just come as you are, open your Bible, and let God meet you right where you are. His mercies really are new every morning.
Pick up a copy of Fresh Mercies Every Day: Cultivate a Life of Trusting God, Following Him Daily, and Learning to Flourish — now available wherever books are sold!
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