Sarah M. Wells is the author of The Family Bible Devotional (2018), Pruning Burning Bushes (2012), and a chapbook of poems, Acquiesce, winner of the 2008 Starting Gate Award through Finishing Line Press (2009). Sarah's work has been honored with four Pushcart Prize nominations, and her essays have appeared in the notable essays list in the Best American Essays 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017. She recently completed a memoir-in-essays, American Honey, about marriage and the complications of being a wife, mom, career person, and woman. Sarah is the director of content marketing at Spire Advertising, associate editor for River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative, and regular blog contributor at Off the Page, a ministry of Our Daily Bread. She resides in Ashland, Ohio with her husband and three young children.
I chose as a word for 2018 “resolve,” which seems a little lazy, given that the New Year is all about resolutions: “I’m resolved to be happily married in thirty years. I’m resolved to be healthy in thirty years. I’m resolved to be wiser, humbler, and more closely aligned with Christ in thirty years. Will … More On Failed Resolutions
I haven’t been writing. Even as I try to type these words I’m fighting to keep my eyelids from closing. It’s Monday morning and I’m up at the time I set my alarm so it’s just me for a moment, just me and the Christmas tree and the clinking of radiant heat. I’ve already heard … More Seasons of Unproductivity
Let me tell you a familiar story: There is a beautiful girl, dressed in beautiful clothes. A man finds her attractive and schemes with a friend how he can have her. When she is alone with him, he grabs her and demands that she go to bed with him. When she cries out, No!, he … More When Rape Is in the Bible
This tour through the last fifteen years of our marriage is over now; we’ve arrived at our destination – the 15th anniversary. Crystal is the traditional 15th anniversary gift. It symbolizes the “clear and sparkling love” between a husband and wife, and I think that’s just about right for where we stand these days: clarity … More Celebrating 15 Years of Marriage
Fall 2017: Learning about Settling We buy what Brandon affectionately calls our “death house” – forget the forever home business, this is the place we’ll die someday. It’s unlike any other house, with weird pockets of weirdness tucked into corners of weirdness. We love it. The place we buy is where we want to stay. … More Marriage: Year Fifteen
2016-2017: Learning about Wilderness Every day we can, Brandon and I take walks around our neighborhood in Copley with Izzy. It’s a one-mile trek. We leave the kids at the house and walk. We walk and talk. We walk and don’t talk. We talk and laugh. We talk and disagree and explain what made us … More Marriage: Year Fourteen
Fall 2015: Learning about Patience The fall of 2015 began Donkey’s Farewell Tour – Brandon’s last season of working on the road with ESPN. When he was gone, he was out late eating great food and drinking bourbon with friends. When he was home, he was impatient, irritable, distant, and angry. I walked a deserted … More Marriage: Year Thirteen
December 2014: Learning about Chocolate Cake and Bourbon One thing I learned in December 2014: Don’t try to keep up with the guys who are drinking bourbon at your new job’s end-of-year party and also eat chocolate cake the night before you’re supposed to fly to Connecticut for a wedding. You will recover before the … More Marriage: Year Twelve
Fall 2013: Learning about Landmark Occasions Celebrating ten years together feels like circling around for a victory lap. Whew! We made it! Nothing seems impossible now. We travel together to Blacksburg, Virginia. Brandon’s gift to me this anniversary is a new engagement ring and an original song, and it feels like a brand new promise, … More Marriage: Year Eleven
Fall 2012: Learning Why We Make Vows Here is one thing I learned in the fall of 2012: There are some people in the world who don’t care about your marriage vows. Here is another thing I learned in the fall of 2012: I do. There is tension, temptation, strength, and fear between those two … More Marriage: Year Ten
