A RULE
FOR THE REST OF US
An Ancient Practice for Making the Daily Decisions that Shape Faithful Lives
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 22, 2026
You’ve got so many decisions, so many distractions. How can you learn to live well—and love well—in an algorithmic world?
Discover an accessible, five-step framework for writing a rule of life with award-winning author Jen Pollock Michel, who transforms this ancient practice into a grounded way of living faithfully.
A rule of life isn’t a rigid list of spiritual disciplines that makes you feel guilty when you fail. It’s an intentional way to follow Jesus in the chaotic world we inhabit.
Drawing from years of leading spiritual formation workshops, Jen Pollock Michel helps you:
1) Keep company with God: Establish practices to abide in Jesus, living in and from his love.
2) Name your givens:Honestly assess your current season, roles, and limitations as crucial context for decisions.
3) Attend to your desires: Examine what your heart truly longs for as an important step toward faithful response to God.
4) Articulate faithful habits: Develop specific, sustainable practices for your spiritual life, relationships, work, and daily rhythms.
5) Review and revise:Create systems for ongoing reflection and adaptation as life changes.
Your finished rule might include a weekly date with your spouse, morning prayer before checking your phone, or boundaries around evening work emails. The specifics will be as unique as the life God has given you.
Combining the enduring wisdom of Saint Benedict with the realities of modern life, this book proves that ancient practices can help you live with clarity, courage, commitment, and care—right where you are.
A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Jen Pollock Michel is the award-winning author of:
In Good Time
A Habit Called Faith
Surprised by Paradox
Keeping Place
Teach Us to Want
Jen holds a B.A. in French from Wheaton College, an M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University, and an M.F.A from Seattle Pacific University.
A wife and mother of five, Jen’s writing has appeared widely in print and online publications, including her popular weekly Substack. Jen also serves as the first-year writing mentor in the Whitworth University low-residency MFA program in Creative Writing.
Pre-Order at Retailers Below:
“Michel has a full life as a wife and mother, a friend, a writer, a speaker, a teacher, a daughter, a caretaker, a church member and more. She navigates these various callings through her own Rule of Life, and she offers us what she has discovered in her own practice. In doing so, she hands us a well-worn map for our own winding journeys. She is a clear thinker, a deep reader, and a trustworthy guide. Christians today are longing for roots, thirsty for meaning and for deeper nourishment than what a consumerist or culture-warring faith can offer. And voices like Michel are both deeply needed and rare.”
From Foreword Writer Tish Harrison Warren
