In a world filled with noise, constant distraction, upward mobility, bad stewardship, and the relentless pursuit of more, it can be hard to hear the still, small whispers calling us to live with intention and simplicity. Recently, I read Tri Robinson’s A Journey of Gratitude which offers a refreshing antidote to this chaotic lifestyle. Robinson and A Journey of Gratitude are one of those small whispers calling us to live with intention and simplicity. In this memoir, Tri Robinson walks readers through the four seasons of his life, telling the story of a life lived with the wisdom gained through decades of intentional living, sustainable stewardship, and a deep connection to the land, Tri’s reflections challenge us to slow down, embrace the quiet, and find purpose in the small moments that make up a life well-lived. After a divisive and polarization election season, maybe this book as an important reminder in it for us. This Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos has often reflected on my journey to live a quiet life, minding my own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11). This book is fuel for the journey.
Seasons of Life: A Journey Toward Simplicity and Legacy
In this autobiographical memoir, A Journey of Gratitude, Tri Robinson traverses what he calls the four seasons of his adult life. Robinson shares that just as the natural world experiences distinct seasonal cycles, “these cycles can also be seen in human experience.” For those familiar with Robinson’s stories and legacy as a man deeply connected to the land, his reflections on the seasons of his life, intertwined with the rhythms of the natural world, feel perfectly fitting. Robinson self-published A Journey of Gratitude in 2024, and this engaging read uniquely stands out as among his previously authored works. In the past, Tri has authored books such as Revolutionary Leadership, Jesus in the Mirror, Rooted in Good Soil, Saving God’s Green Earth, and my previous favorite – Small Footprint, Big Handprint. In this autobiographical work, Robinson has deepened his understanding of self but also has evolved as an author, offering a new level of transparency and authenticity. Robinson’s skillful storytelling captivates readers with adventures of a bygone era, written with the thematics of the Wild West, but it also reveals how the small moments in our lives often serve as signs and preparations for the greater adventure God has woven into our journeys.
The book begins in 1966 as Tri prepares for his college journey and follows his life into retirement. The Spring season of his life is a season of breaking out and exploring the world for himself. It is a time to grow in “distinctive personality, character, and individuality” This season of his life reflects on his transition to college and the many adventures that followed. Chapters 1 through 12 cover these formative years of his adulthood, filled with exploration, meeting his wife, and discovering his desire to live in harmony with the land. This season was marked by hiking trails, flying his Piper Cub over the countryside, training to become a teacher, and preparing for the life God was calling him to. Early on, Tri aptly notes, “Through the years, I’ve learned adventure always has a cost.”
In the summer season of his life, covered in Chapters 13 through 22, Tri enters a period of personal cultivation and growth. He begins to mature, describing this as a “season of hard work that can be painful but necessary for human development.” Through stories of “weed pulling and the anticipation of faithfulness,” Tri steps into the person God created him to be as he starts a family and deepens his connection to the earth and its Creator. Reflecting on his experiences with a community inspired by the Jesus Movement, he shares, “God did a supernatural work in me, tenderizing my heart.” Witnessing the change in his wife and feeling the intrigue of the Jesus Movement’s influence as it spread from Oxnard Beach into the small rural community of Three Points, Tri found himself drawn to the simplicity of a church plant where he could even arrive on horseback. For a man rooted in the land, disconnected from the excesses of technology and complexity, this felt right. However, his faith journey deepened in a unique way when he ventured into the woods, wrestling with his thoughts about God’s reality. In a profound and otherwordly encounter with a deer, Tri experienced God revealing the presence of God to him, and was inspired to “pant for God in the way a deer pants for water.” At that moment, Tri realized God had “revealed himself to me in a way I could understand.” Tri finds himself on some adventures of a new kind – starting with the forming of the passionate Jesus community of the Desert Vineyard Church, a trip to China with the bible smuggling work of Open Doors, and Brother Andrew.
This catalytic experience with the Jesus People and the Vineyard ushered Tri into his third, Autumn season of life. J. Robert Clinton might call this phase “convergence,” and for Tri, it certainly was. It was a time of learning how his story, skills, and gifts all fit together. Autumn symbolizes a season of seeing how God bears fruit in your life, creating a lasting legacy. Tri explores this chapter of his life throughout chapters 23 to 33, a season of completion and harvest. In many ways, Tri emerges as a new person. Alongside his adventures on the ranch and in the mountains, he embarks on trips to the Thai-Burmese border—adventures of a different nature—and faces some goodbyes, including one to his friend Pat and to teaching. He accepts a calling to serve Jesus, His Church, and His cause with the Desert Vineyard.
Tri learns about spiritual battles, especially through his experiences in Burma and Thailand with Shwe Ya Hai. He would go on to say yes to Jesus in such a way that broadened his worldview and led him to ministry and service in Asia, Zambia, Tanna Island, the Xingu River, Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. This season, though rewarding, was also taxing—full of ups and downs, growth in understanding the Kingdom of God, and an increasing sense of responsibility as the church grew. As often happens in life, in a season of transition, something from the past reappears. Tri’s old friend Pat called him to help rebuild a backcountry airstrip in the Middle Fork of the Salmon River for the summer. Though the church was thriving, Tri began to sense that he was ready for another challenge and adventure. While becoming aware that he was finishing the work he was ordained to do in that season, he embarked on the trip with Pat, where the call of the wild rejuvenated him, and a small yellow balloon tangled in the brush became an otherworldly, divine invitation. This moment called him to pull up roots and leave the ranch, where he had spent twenty years, taught for twelve, and honed his skills at the Desert Vineyard. God had given him a dream to move to Idaho, a new adventure that came with obstacles, setbacks, and tough moments, but through it all, it was clear that God was still with them. In this season, Tri and his family would go on to plant what would become Vineyard Boise Church in 1989. It was in this season that Tri also began to call for the church to live with a small footprint and to steward the earth well. His work would land him into the Windsor Castle, before presidential leaders, and across the United States (and a movie called Cowboy & Preacher).
The Call to Live with Intention in a Chaotic World
Entering the Winter Season, Tri entered a period of afterglow—a season of completion and reflection. Quoting Billy Graham, he noted, “The gift of old age is remembrance.” Tri describes this season as winter, a time of longing for “warmth, security, and comfort” after years of growth, hard work, and fruitfulness. More than that, it became a season of “prayerfully reflecting with gratitude and giving thanks to God for the miraculous opportunity to experience the richness of every season.” Chapters 34-41 explore this era of his life. For 23 years, Tri and his wife faithfully served as Lead Pastors, challenging their church to love the world in radical, tangible ways and to be authentic disciples of Jesus, not just in words, but in actions. In this season, they hear a new call—one that beckons them to return to a simpler life. As their parents pass on to eternity and they reflect on the work they’ve completed, the Robinsons (a fitting name for the season ahead—think Swiss Family Robinson) decide they are called to make a home once again, with a more intentional connection to the land. Through a God-ordained series of events, they begin to launch the Timber Butte Homestead, a place rich in beauty and history, which also holds a deep connection to their own story.
Through the Timber Butte Homestead, God brings new adventures their way, including a wine-producing vineyard, an unexpected opportunity on the Camino de Santiago trail, new friends, and the chance to enjoy God’s presence on their grassy Idaho grounds. This is the afterglow of a life well-lived—a sustainable, organic farm where the family comes together, learning the truth of Mother Teresa’s words: “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”
Lessons from Tri Robinson: Embracing Contentment and Stewardship
I read A Journey of Gratitude for several reasons. As someone who was also shaped by the Vineyard Movement, I’ve often found myself connected to and intrigued by its early stories. This is full of those moments. Even more so, I read this because of Tri’s love for God’s creation. Through my first pastoral mentor, Jerry Shannon, I was introduced to Tri Robinson and his books as a resource because he was someone who viewed environmental stewardship as both a theological and spiritual responsibility, much like I do (and perhaps Tri embodies this even more!). However, there was even a greater reason to read this book. When I saw Tri share his book on Facebook, a deeper reason stirred within me, compelling me to read it. A few years ago, I felt that God gave me 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 as a life verse—at least as a focus for this season I am in—and I’ve been wrestling with what this means for me and our family ever since. I’ve had seasons where I’ve learned well, and seasons where I’ve completely derailed. There is so much chaotic noise in the world that it can be hard to hear the still, small whispers about living a life that’s “on guard against all kinds of greed, and not in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). I’ve come to realize that we are never truly satisfied with income (Ecclesiastes 5:10), and even more so, that “the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). Along the way, it often feels like we lose part of who we are. As Parker Palmer once inspired me to think, we spend so much of our lives trying to become something, only to spend the rest of our lives unlearning what we’ve become to rediscover who God created us to be in the first place. This is why I read A Journey of Gratitude, to reconnect the things that have been choked out by the images we collect along the way.
A Life Well-Lived: Finding Purpose in the Small Moments
In A Journey of Gratitude, Tri Robinson reflects on his life, recounting the various seasons he refers to as the four stages of his adult life—a profound journey toward simplicity and legacy that defines an extraordinary lifetime. There are more stories, kairos moments, and invitational calls for simplicity in this book than ten book reviews could fully capture. This autobiographical tale takes readers through four seasons of a life well-lived and inspires them to embrace a similar path in a contagious way.
Writing from the isolation of the Idaho mountains, Tri and his family have truly “learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). In their connection to a minimalist way of life, they remind us that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). Their story encourages readers to “not conform to the pattern of this world” but to live differently—for the sake of the Kingdom, for the earth, and ourselves (Romans 12:2). Readers will enjoy A Journey of Gratitude because it offers a rare and refreshing perspective on living a life of purpose and authenticity. Tri Robinson’s story is not just about personal achievement but about embracing a lifestyle that prioritizes simplicity, contentment, and a deep connection to both the earth and God. Tri’s reflections provide valuable insights for anyone seeking to step away from the noise of modern life and live with intention but also have a way of calling us to reflect on our own lives. Whether you are searching for inspiration to find peace, to live simply in the midst of chaos, or looking for practical examples of how to lead a life of meaningful legacy, this book offers inspiration, wisdom, example, and encouragement. Through his journey, Tri invites readers to reevaluate what truly matters—living with gratitude, purpose, and a heart focused on legacy.
A Simpler Life Essay by Tri Robinson
Buy A Journey of Gratitude on IngramSpark
Visit Timber Butte Homestead
Here’s a revised version for clarity and flow:
P.S. In mid-September, while our family was enjoying a restful week in Ocean City, Maryland, I read A Journey of Gratitude by Tri Robinson. After finishing it, I promised Tri a review to share how the book impacted me. I hope I’ve done both the book and Tri justice in this review that I finally got around too.
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