THE WAY BACK TO OURSELVES LITERARY JOURNAL PRESENTS:

THE SPRING COLLECTION: IN HIS GARDEN

APRIL 2025

The Spring Collection: IN HIS GARDEN print journal is here. Buy your copy now.

The Way Back to Ourselves is proud to present our FIRST print journal. Enjoy the free digital collection below and purchase this stunning keepsake on Amazon in matte paperback with full color from The Way Back Books, an imprint of TheWayBack2Ourselves.com.

Listen to the poets of The Way Back to Ourselves Literary Journal perform their work with our podcast, The Poetry Corner, a spin-off from The Way Back Podcast, hosted by Edward Holmes and Deidre Braley.

The Wonder of Nurse Logs
art, essay Kimberly Phinney art, essay Kimberly Phinney

The Wonder of Nurse Logs

In her beautiful art and essay, “The Wonder of Nurse Logs,” Hannah Sanders explores the power and beauty of the intergenerational care found in nature and humanity.

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Letting Go and Other Artwork
art Kimberly Phinney art Kimberly Phinney

Letting Go and Other Artwork

Kelsey Helen Bogan explores brokenness and surrender in her art pieces entitled Letting Go, Consider the Wildflowers, and Beauty for Ashes.

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She Comes with New Blessings: Art
art Kimberly Phinney art Kimberly Phinney

She Comes with New Blessings: Art

In her art, Wendi Coats honors the Renaissance spirit in her depiction of a woman surrounded by flowers and a delicate butterfly in an oil painting entitled She Comes with New Blessings.

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Ascend
art Kimberly Phinney art Kimberly Phinney

Ascend

In her acrylic painting “Ascend,” Cara Day explores how God’s Spirit is always with us, even in the darkness.

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The Way Back to Ourselves and our Literary Journal is not for profit and FREE for all to read and enjoy. If you believe in our cause and want to support our mission and the creation of our journal and other content, like our podcast and blog, please consider donating. Thank you. God bless you. You belong here.

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🌳This is my friend Chelsea. She’s pretty great—and very creative. And she just so happens to be the author of The Mother Tree, a debut poetry collection I had the great honor of mentoring, editing, and writing the foreword. Fun fact: C
🎉✨It’s here! It’s here! We are so excited to announce that @karenswallowprior will be our special guest professor for our FIRST-EVER Gatsby Cohort!✨🎉 ✨This 8-week course meets on Zoom (live and recorded) every Thursday, August 14-Octob
♥️🙏🏼🙏🏽♥️This is a post in praise of friends who walk in when everyone else is walking out. It’s also a post in praise of the beautiful mosaic God is making with our lives. In my darkest days of loss of all kinds in 2022-20
❤️‍🩹Trying to process it, but I can’t. So I prayed in poetry tonight, and this is what came: ✨A Lament for Mystic✨ We are speechless. This tragedy at Mystic reaches down into the depths of our shared parental ache to see these babies
🎉It’s here! TWBTO is blessed, honored, & downright delighted to announce that the PRINT EDITION of the spring literary journal’s 🪴IN HIS GARDEN🪴 is on sale on Amazon right now! 🎉And guess what? It’s already a TOP NEW RELEAS
👋🏼Hi, friends. Can you believe it? I’m still pinching myself that this is even REAL! 🎉🎉Day #2 of #CultivatingHope25 is done! What a powerful time we had together today! ♥️🥰☺️❤️‍🩹We loved seeing all of your smiling faces, hea
🎉Tonight’s kickoff for CULTIVATE 25 took my breath away. It was surely a SACRED SPACE. The entire TWBTO team was an unbelievable gift! And so were YOU! All your beautiful faces was such a blessing to us! ✨More than 75 faithful creatives, wr
🙌🏾🙌🏼🙌🏿 Don’t miss this life-changing, soul-filling virtual event for faithful creatives, writers, and leaders happening June 20-22, brought to you by TheWayBack2Ourselves.com. 🎟️These are your LAST days to secure a ticket! And to sweete
✨Dreaming with God and beloved community really saves the soul. The past two nights, after many very sick weeks, I have finally been able to walk a little distance consistently. ✨Gazing up at the night sky continues to hold all my big feelings&hell
🕯️ Please excuse me while I geek out and marvel at what God is doing! 🙏🏼I was praying God would show me a way to integrate all the things he’s teaching me and what I’m learning in my doctorate and in community with TWBTO for our CULTI
🪴 This is a story so much bigger than me & my grief. It’s a God story. It’s a story about YOU. About US. About what we can BECOME—together—when we choose THE WAY. ✝️Did you know that “The Way” was the name f
❤️‍🩹If you’ve been struggling or suffering and have wondered, “What good could possibly come from this?” then @sam.decosmo has an essay for you! Here’s a sneak peek from My Way Back’s newest post (find l!nk in b!o
🪴The other day, I had the most powerful conversation with a precious friend of mine. We both had to leave what was once familiar and safe because of circumstances beyond our control and because God was on the move. ❤️‍🩹In tears, we recognized
🎉🎉BIG NEWS! Check it out in the slides! Congratulations to @bysarahsteele and @heatherlobejohnson! We love you both! Your hearts, talents, faith, & dedication are a gift to all! ✍🏼Sarah Steele is now our SENIOR EDITOR & POETRY CONSULTAN
❤️‍🩹Sometimes, I’m asked how I keep going after suffering for 5 years. I ask people who suffer the very same thing—because let’s be really honest: I’m still trying to be okay with not being okay. I’m sure there&rs