It All Counts: Finding God Everywhere They Told You Not to Look

What if I told you that whatever it is you are doing, if it is done with love, is enough?

It All Counts is a fiercely compassionate and deeply personal exploration of faith, doubt, and the sacredness of everyday life. With humor, honesty, and theological insight, pastor and podcaster Natalia Terfa invites us to reimagine what it means to live a spiritual life--especially when it doesn't look like the version we were taught.

Through stories of grief, joy, digital ministry, nature, rituals, and rage walks around the lake, Terfa challenges the idea that faith only "counts" when it fits inside institutional boxes. Instead, she offers a liberating vision of spirituality rooted in authenticity, curiosity, and love. Whether you've been told your questions are too big, your worship too unconventional, or your body too broken, this book insists: You still belong. You are not alone. And yes--it all counts.

For spiritual seekers, deconstructing Christians, and anyone longing for a more expansive, inclusive, and embodied faith, It All Counts is both a balm and a rallying cry. With each chapter, Terfa dismantles shame-based theology and replaces it with grace, reminding us that God is not small, stingy, or confined to buildings--but present in every breath, every doubt, and every messy, beautiful moment of being human.

Jeff Chu is an award-winning journalist and editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure. He is the author of Good Soil and Does Jesus Really Love Me? and the co-author, with the late Rachel Held Evans, of the New York Times bestseller Wholehearted Faith. Chu is a former Time staff writer and Fast Company editor whose work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Modern Farmer. He lives with his husband, Tristan, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Natalia Terfa is a Lutheran pastor, co-creator and cohost of the Cafeteria Christian podcast, and the writer behind the popular weekly e-devotional The Friday Uplift. She is the author of Uplift: A Little Book of Promises to Give Hope and Uplift Your Soul and a contributor to The Deconstructionists Playbook. Her work has been featured on Church Anew and Our Bible App, where she writes with an accessible, expansive, and inclusive theology for the sake of being human. She lives in Minneapolis with her family, two cats, and a large number of plants.