DAY 23 – SUPPORT A LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS OR FARMER’S MARKET

THEME: ROOTED IN COMMUNITY

FOCUS: STEWARDSHIP, CONNECTION, AND INTENTIONAL SPENDING

PRACTICE:

Today, choose to support a local small business or visit a farmer’s market. Whether it’s buying a handmade item, enjoying a meal at a family-run café, or picking up fresh produce from a local farmstand—this simple act helps cultivate community and sustainability.

If you can, pause to learn the name of the person behind the counter. Ask where the product came from. Let the exchange be more than a transaction. Let it be a moment of human connection.

If you can’t make a purchase today, consider recommending a local business to a friend, leaving a kind review, or sharing their story online. Even small support can help someone feel seen.

REFLECTION:

Our spending habits are often shaped by convenience and speed. But when we slow down and choose to support what’s local and rooted, we become part of something deeper—an economy of care. Behind each table at a farmer’s market or each small storefront is a story of risk, labor, love, and dreams.

Today’s practice reminds us that faith is not abstract—it shows up in how we live, eat, and spend. What did it feel like to intentionally support someone in your community? Did it shift your perspective on what or who you often overlook?

SCRIPTURE:

Let all that you do be done in love.”

— 1 Corinthians 16:14 (NRSV)

Supporting local businesses is more than economics—it’s love in action. It’s choosing relationship over convenience, rootedness over rush.

It’s seeing your neighbor as part of your story. It’s trusting that small, faithful choices ripple outward with grace.

PRAYER:

Generous God,

Thank You for the people who plant, bake, craft, build, and dream in our communities.

Help me see them—not just as vendors, but as neighbors.

Give me the eyes to notice the beauty of local life

and the heart to support it with kindness, gratitude, and intention.

Amen.