Author and Bible teacher Jane Johnson founded Dig Your Well® in 2022 after starting a blog in 2013, eight months after her best friend died from stage four colon cancer and seven years into what would be a decade-long wait for a family.
Throughout those excruciating ten years, Jane dug her well and began teaching women the things she dug up in God's Word in person at conferences throughout the country and with her online community.
Today, Jane teaches women worldwide how to do the same: digging deep into God's Word and studying it for themselves, transforming their quiet times forever. Jane continues her Biblical teaching from her home in Bend, Oregon, alongside her husband, Josh, and their three miracle babes.
the story behind Dig Your Well
I stood in Shawna’s kitchen, looking at photographs on the refrigerator as she expertly pulled shots from the espresso machine in the corner. The motor hummed and the caramel-colored liquid trickled out. She poured it into a cup of ice before topping it off with a swirl of canned whipped cream and a quick finish of sprinkled cinnamon.
Handing the glass to me and keeping one for herself, she led me into the living room and we took our perch on the well-worn, deep purple couch. Kaleb was stirring in his crib upstairs, not yet asleep. And Shawna began asking the kind of questions you ask someone in the throes of a brand-new discipleship-based friendship.
Where are you from?
Do you have any siblings?
What is your major?
Tell me your life story.
This happened once a week—this sharing of learned life lessons. Week by week, we sat there swallowed up in her couch, reading different parts of the Bible alongside commentaries for explanation and insight and application. Shawna knew well that she didn’t have to be a Bible teacher in order to disciple-teach.
Natural conversation followed. The simplest ones that always lead to the deeper ones. The ones that have grit and meaning.
The ones that stick to your bones.
“Dig your well,” Shawna said one day. I had been lamenting my struggle through singleness when the pastor’s wife [who would later become my best friend] taught me her most important life lesson. It was a reference from Psalm 84:6 and the people who pilgrim-pass through the Valley of Baca and make it a spring—or, as it can also be translated, a well. The pilgrims traveling through drew water from that spring-well before continuing on their way.
“Dig your well for yourself,” she said, “and also for the people who follow along after you. And do it now, while you are single and can dig a little bit deeper and linger a little bit longer.” She had a point. I really had nothing else to do but pass the hours drinking coffee, studying for exams, working my part-time job, and dreaming of how the rest of my life would shape up.
Shawna had been digging her own well for years with regular quiet times, letting God fill it with the water of His Word. And on those afternoons, I sipped her handmade iced coffee and drank from her dug-out-well wisdom.
Of all the things she taught me, that was what stuck. To dig down—and dig deep. Every day, coming to God’s presence whether or not I wanted to, whether or not I had the time or the inclination. In the good days and the ones full of tears. Dig in and dig down and dig deep into His Word. So that when life got busy, and there was marriage and a mortgage and little ones at my morning-feet, I could draw from my dug-out-daily well.
And when I walked through the desert, I could drink from it.
excerpt, Mercy Like Morning
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This the way that we warfare. We come boldly to His Revelation 4 throne and join with all of heaven in worship. Then we will receive mercy. Then we will find His grace that helps us when we need it the most. Then we can go back to the front lines and fight another day for as many days as He gives us.
You know those viral videos of little ones who have had trouble hearing their entire lives and a doctor flips the switch on a cochlear implant? Mom starts talking, that child’s face lights up when he hears his mama’s voice for the very first time, and everyone in the room is crying? This is that for me. 😭
Oh, hello there! If you’re new around here, my name is Jane Johnson. I’m on a mission to redefine the way we do Quiet Time, one woman at a time. How? By giving women the proper framework for a daily Scripture study that allows for more critical thinking and less spoonfeeding.
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I’m here just trying to explain that I’m doing things differently now, that I’m committed to a different routine, that I’m working toward Bible-fluency rather than Bible-study-dependence.
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I’m teaching women just like you how to prioritize the sometimes-awkward-feeling digging for Scripture treasures and learning to recognize the voice of God in her life over the ones handed to her and provided for her, written by a woman who knows God’s voice in hers.
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As they say in the world of newborns, it doesn’t matter how you feed your baby – fed is best. I’m taking that same approach here, giving a high-five to the women who prefer the pre-written studies as I keep swimming along upstream from them. And if you’re here reading this, you’re probably ready to do the same.
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Comment “PLAN” to download my favorite Bible reading plan to take the first step into a brand new morning strategy. Then hit my website, digmywell.com, for all of my study tips to get started. Hit janejohnson.com to get to know the background of how I even got here, doing all of this. And hit “follow” if you’d like to jump on board with me!
We hear the word “trial” all the time when it comes to hard seasons or spiritual warfare, but the word probably doesn’t mean what you think it means.
Also, if you want more on the book of James, check out season two of my Dig Your Well podcast!
I have SO much to tell you about my new book, including the nuances of the content, the intentionally designed layout, and all of the built-in tips to give you the confidence you need to study the Bible on your own. Until then, here’s a teaser for you!
I’ve been in Colossians again this last week with some sweet women that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know for the last seven months, while also preparing to teach a portion of Colossians 3 this weekend with a whole other crop of women across the state this weekend. So I thought it might be time to give you a glimpse at the kind of content you’ll be getting in Worthy, straight from Colossians 1.
Learn more and preorder your copy at digmywell.com/worthy
