Growing up, my family watched a lot of NASCAR. Our driver was Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Bill Elliott, and we would cheer him on every Sunday, whether he was the #9 Coors car, the #11 Budweiser car, or the #94 McDonalds car. I had t-shirts and posters, people. It was serious. Whenever there were wrecks,Continue reading “The Pace Car”
Category Archives: writing
Making Space
At the beginning of 2020 and again at the beginning of the advent season, I wrote about the call to “make space” this year. This phrase manifested itself in a dozen different and surprising ways this year, but perhaps none more unexpected for me than my decision to step down from my role as DirectorContinue reading “Making Space”
On Not Writing
You guys, I used to be a writer. I used to have thoughtful thoughts all day long and scribble them in notes on my phone to reference later in a blog post or article, sometimes three or four a month plus writing projects and essays in which I thought more thoughtful thoughts and then sentContinue reading “On Not Writing”
Seasons of Unproductivity
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 heardContinue reading “Seasons of Unproductivity”
One Week until Official Release of The Family Bible Devotional!
The Family Bible Devotional: Stories from the Bible to Help Kids and Parents Engage and Love Scripture officially releases August 1, but it’s available now on Amazon, and I’m so excited for it to be out in the world. This was a writing project unlike any I’ve worked on before. Here’s how: 1. It isn’tContinue reading “One Week until Official Release of The Family Bible Devotional!”
Creation
I notice it more and more as I get older, how important making stuff is to me. – Paula Scher, #Abstract I’ve been watching the Netflix series Abstract on and off, generally when no one else is around. Every time I watch an episode I remember again how much I love to create, how muchContinue reading “Creation”
Making Room
In the days preceding my attendance at the Indiana Faith and Writing Conference, I found myself needing to release a dozen or so expectations and obligations in order to make room. If you’ve been hanging around here long enough you know that I am a classic over-committer. What else can I say yes to? IContinue reading “Making Room”
This Week in Books and Words and Legos
It’s a big week for me as I head up north to the Festival of Faith and Writing. I love this conference, and at this year’s event, besides hanging out with a boatload of truly excellent people, I get to meet my agent face-to-face. I’m also going to be reading at One Poet, One Poem, andContinue reading “This Week in Books and Words and Legos”
The Body Is Not a Coffin
Over a decade ago, I started scratching down the clippings of diseased rose stems and transplanted Black Eyed Susans alongside the ache and emptiness of miscarriage. The Word doc morphed from computer to computer as we moved from Ellet to South Akron to Ashland to Copley. The story kept changing and growing, from one miscarriageContinue reading “The Body Is Not a Coffin”
The Middle Ground
My latest blog post for Off the Page on the roots of racism and what we ought to do about “The Others” was shared on Wednesday. It was difficult to write this article because the temptation for me and I suspect other Christian writers is to craft the I-was-lost-but-now-I’m-found message, I was bad but now I’mContinue reading “The Middle Ground”
