Forgotten coffee and an overflowing purse…

So, I have a ritual. Every weekday, like clockwork, I drink one cup of coffee while I’m sitting in bed with my Bible and journal. I drink another cup while I’m getting ready. (Which usually consists of throwing my hair in a messy bun and trying to convince myself a Needtobreathe t-shirt counts as office wear.) And then, right before …

Do Less, Be More in 2017

Note: Every year around New Year’s, I take a day or two to reflect. To journal, think, pray, process, dream…all that lovely introspective stuff. This year was no different. It was wonderful, enlivening, refreshing, reviving. Most of what happened in my head and heart is just me and God sorta stuff. But some of it’s shareable and so here we …

Writing Hard and Clear About What Hurts (a heartfelt guest post)

First of all, minor housekeeping note: I’ve been super absentee around these parts lately. I’m sorry…and yet not. Because April was thrillingly full with book stuff and speaking engagements and May is thrillingly carefree with lots of family and friend fun. I do hope to churn out a post in the next week or so, but thankfully I’ve got some …

Four years ago today…and an un-lessoning.

February 22, 2012 It was just a normal day and I was just doing a normal thing–procrastinating by way of checking my email. Only there was something unexpected waiting for me in my inbox. An email from an acquisitions editor at Bethany House Publishers telling me she’d followed my blog for some time and kept up with me on Twitter …

That New Year’s Post.

Soooo…I keep saying I’m going to write a New Year’s post. Because that’s what you do when you’re a blogger. Even an infrequent (as of last summer-ish, I was all scheduled and committed before) blogger like me. It’s just what you do. You tell the Internet about your resolutions or your “one word” or your writing goals for the coming year… …

Why CALLED is going on my ‘favorites’ shelf

Earlier this week I posted an interview with debut author Ryan Pemberton. We talked about his new book—CALLED: My Journey to C.S. Lewis’s House & Back Again—and I had a chance to gush just briefly. But today I’d like to gush at length. What follows is half-review, half-reflection. Oh, and if you haven’t had a chance to enter the giveaway …

Grabbing the impossible

I saw this quote written on a marker board recently and snapped a photo. It’s an awesome quote. It’s an even more awesome quote when considered in the context of where I spotted it…on the board hanging in the classroom of a recovery center for homeless men. It made me smile so much knowing a man who is in the …

A confession, a song and a new favorite book (i.e. the post where I get honest)

If you happen to know me outside this blog and you’ve talked to me at all in the past couple weeks, you’ve probably already heard me gush about Jonathan Merritt’s new book, Jesus is Better than You Imagined. It is hands-down one of my favorite non-fiction reads ever and I can’t stop talking about it. I’ve appreciated Merritt’s writing for …

A bright thought in the middle of the World Vision ruckus.

So, the World Vision thing. If you haven’t followed it, you can read about it all over the place, but to start, here’s Christianity Today’s recap. Basic gist is this: World Vision initially decided to start employing people in same-sex marriages. People got mad and started pulling their sponsorships. Then World Vision reversed its decision. And other people got mad …