Before Theo of Golden

How Allen Levi gave me courage to quit my job

Before Theo of Golden

If you’re an avid reader, you’ve likely heard of Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. Published in October 2023, this work of fiction by a Georgia attorney-turned-musician-turned-author topped many “best reads of 2025” lists and currently sits at #1 in Amazon’s Southern Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Classic Literature & Fiction categories.

I’m eager to read Levi’s novel, but not just because of the hype. Levi’s words have stirred my heart and imagination in the past—most recently in 2024 when I was beginning to contemplate quitting my job.

Allen Levi, Traveling Musician

I first encountered Allen Levi around the time I went off to college. Then, he was a traveling musician who played a concert at my home church in Birmingham, Alabama. I remember loving his folksy tunes and his wise and gentle voice. I left the concert with his 1998 album Accidental Roads on CD, and listened to it off and on during my years at Vanderbilt.

Apparently, some of the lyrics stayed with me. In May 2024, as I was likely wandering around my neighborhood and checking on my garden, looking for signs of Spring, a chorus popped into my mind.

You can plant you a seed in a small paper cup

The roots will grow down and the flower grows up

It is safe by the window, but that’s not life enough

Flowers were made for the field

Yes they were

Flowers were made for the field

The words were from a song on that Allen Levi album!

A Song about Calling

Well, I listened to it in 2024 over and over again, this time noticing the line, “A voice calls you softly from somewhere outside….” I realized that this song was about calling—that God invites us to step out of places where we seem comfortable yet aren’t flourishing, so that we can step into the abundant life he has for us.

Like a plant contained in a small cup, we can become rootbound. We want to grow, but we’re stifled. We want to blossom and bear fruit, but we can’t because we’re constrained. We reach for more space, more nourishment, more light. And so we become stressed and begin to languish.

Ditching the Paper Cup

That Spring, I was awakening to the idea that God might want me to do more in my professional life. Don’t get me wrong, in many ways, I was in the perfect job for my gifts, skills, and experience. Yet I felt constrained, and I was beginning to realize that my opportunities for growth in my organization would be limited.

Through a simple plant metaphor, one that resonated deeply with this wannabe avid gardener, Allen Levi’s song helped open my eyes and my heart. I heard the Spirit’s whisper—that “voice calling softly from somewhere outside.”

It would be months before I actually quit my job. In fact, last January, I called my boss to resign from my position. I ditched the paper cup and flung myself out into the field. And though I had to grieve for a while and miss regularly connecting with my work friends, it’s been a year of tremendous growth—certainly not easy, but good.

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Happy New Year + Giveaway Winners

Happy 2026! I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and have entered the new year with joy and expectation!

Congrats to our Christmas Giveaway winners: KW & CH.

Thanks for reading. See you next time!