👋🏼 Start Here!

Hi there!

I’m so glad you’re here. No, like, really glad. I spent 10-12 years of my early writing career trying to put together the perfect online blog, and it just never really clicked until about 2018.

Through the many iterations of Stephanie LaPreal Yttrup online, I’m so glad you found me now and here. I think there’s a world of wonder waiting for you by subscribing to my Substack, and I don’t just say that to sway you.

I launched this newsletter specifically out of a desire to speak truth that heals in a society that is too quick to run from reality and a faith community that is too quick to use truth as a weapon. You see, I’m a tell-it-like-it-is kind of girl, but far too often I’ve witnessed people like me in the church push people further from the grace of God and deeper into culture’s lies.

So, I am setting my best (and most gentle) foot forward to change that. This monthly Truth Balm invites Christians to remember the truth Jesus offers, which heals more than it divides and honors more than it despises. We live this out mentally, spiritually, and physically—mind, body, and soul.

Each week, I also share a word study from Scripture because if the Bible isn’t our foundation, and we’re not willing to take the time to understand God’s actual words, then what we speak and how we live is fruitless.

When I finally saw the picture of what God was prompting me to create online, it was two-fold:

Help people fall in love with Scripture (the real, true Scripture, not what we’ve morphed it into out of our selfish ambition and desires)
Challenge people to live out that newfound love for Scripture in a way that engages with and shows love for God’s people, even and especially when it’s uncomfortable or against the grain

And voila! Truth Balm was born.

There are two ways to engage with this publication (do I have a thing for things that come in twos??):

Glean wisdom from the monthly Truth Balms for free and always feel a little bit of FOMO with those weekly word studies you’ll see glimpses of.
Pay just $5/month (or $50 per year, which saves you money because—math) to get those monthly Truth Balms AND weekly Scripture word studies to take your faith one (or ten) level(s) deeper. We’ll explore the original language (Greek and Hebrew) and get a more in-depth exegesis of what God is really trying to say through His Word.
1. You might be saying to yourself: “I’m not really into that,” or “That seems a little too academic for me.”
2. I say to you: God’s Word should be the most important thing to you, the very thing worth going the extra mile to study, AND I hope to bring you these studies in an engaging, practical, relevant, and digestible way. You’ll be able to school your friends in the Greek without needing a “Koine for Dummies” book on the side.
3. PLUS, if you are a paid subscriber, you’ll get to access all my archive of posts forever, anytime you want, AND get some special subscriber-only resources to grow your faith.

Hey, if you don’t have $5/month, don’t stress. You’ll still get some goodies here and there! And if you really feel like the weekly word studies are what you need for your faith right now, just send me an email (syttrup@gmail.com), and I’ll set you up with two months for free.

I do more than just this Substack, by the way! You can learn more, read more, discover more, connect more, and just see more on my website at stephanielapreal.com.

TLDR (that means Too Long, Didn’t Read)

I’m glad you’re here. I hope you’ll stick around and learn to love God and His words more because of what you read. I’d love to get to know you, too!