What I’m Reading August 2016

  So, before we get to the books I'm reading ... can I tell you my big news? I'm writing a book! In May I signed a contract with Bethany House Publishers to write Praying for Girls: Asking God for the Things They Need Most. Y'all, for real, I can't even explain how excited I am! You can read all the details over on the Prayers for Girls blog. And speaking of Prayers for Girls, are you a girl mom? {or aunt or grandmother or teacher ...} We'd love to have you join us over there for ... [Read More]

{Five Minute Friday} View

Every Friday this amazing group of writers join together to write—unedited, fearless, and brave—for five minutes.  Our favorite (in)courager Lisa-Jo Baker, the Gypsy Mama herself, offers us a prompt and we write. This week's prompt:  VIEW. GO My view is changing so quickly.  I used to look around and see Fisher Price toys with all their bright colors and lights and sounds.  Just when all the batteries finally died and I thought silence would be found in our house, the next view ... [Read More]

Go Ahead! Chase Your Dream

I am proud to call myself a dreamer.  A big dreamer.  An "idea slinger," in the words of Sarah Mae.  I thrive on exploring, digging, discussing, expanding ... words, causes, processes.  I love all of it!  The conversation, the debate, it's all thrilling to me. Most of what I write is connected to those big ideas—those topics and conversations that don't fit into 140 characters and are filled with paradox and contradiction, because after all, don't we all have a little bit of paradox inside us? I ... [Read More]

Living the Art

We've been told we just need to make the proclamation: I am a writer. We've been told there's only one rule: Content is king. We've been told the path to success: Build your platform. And yet, day after day, we read the story of those who have made the statement, written the content, and built the platform and still feel unsuccessful insecure tired empty. Why is that? What is it about pursuing the craft that leaves us drained? A few weeks ago my husband and I attended the Creative conference ... [Read More]

Discovering God’s Agenda

I must confess that my own life is ever torn by my desire to be a writer of significance and my desire to be nothing more than a soul who wants to discover God's agenda for my life - one minute at a time.   Calvin Miller How I long to write words that matter ... words on this screen, words in my newspaper column each week, words for magazines and books.  Words that influence, challenge, inspire, encourage ... words that impact. But what if the words that matter are not the words written or ... [Read More]

When Words Don’t Come

Nothing. I want to write, to convey all the mixed up thoughts running through my mind. But somehow the words are not coming. This rarely happens to me ... I always have something to say. But today ... nothing. Blank pages haunt me.   Five days of no blog posts scare me. What if the words are gone? Just typing that terrifies me.   Writing, speaking, articulating ... that's my thing.   That's how I describe myself.   How I define myself. If the words are gone, what is left? Today is rainy and ... [Read More]