Who am I? I know who people tell me to be. The smokin' hott wife. The Pinterest perfect mom. The articulate writer. The long-suffering friend. But much of the time, I am not. "Conform to this political ideology." "Believe this particularly theology." No matter what I choose, it's wrong, at least according to someone. So I ask again, Who am I? I am created in the image of the One who is I Am. So perhaps, instead of searching for who I should be, I need to remember who I Am. … [Read more...]
Happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a great week. Now, on to my favorites from this week! John Blase is one of the most gorgeous writers that I read. This post that he wrote for A Deeper Church resonated so hard with me this week. I am so right here. I've gone through bad writing seasons. This post by Billy Coffey was a good one for me to read, because his novels are so beautiful and it's hard to imagine that he could ever had a bad writing day. Be sure to check out his newest novel, When Mockingbirds Sing. And while you're reading writing advice (I'm gearing up to really work on my book, does it show?), I love this piece from Andi Cumbo about writing what makes you feel. Sometimes we have to write things that we have to write, but it's important to do this as well. This … [Read more...]
Often we hear from people who have had someone else move away from the faith they grew up with, but today, Natalie shares about how her faith changed and evolved, and how she moved from a Protestant belief system to embrace Catholicism, while still remaining married to a Protestant. I'm grateful for her words today in this space. If you’d like to contribute, check out the details here. ++++++++++++++++++ Dear Readers, I didn’t want to write you this letter. I thought I possessed enough humility and grace to never need to write a letter of this sort. Then, I realized that what was actually in my possession was a stowaway bag of pride. I don’t want to travel with it anymore. So, here I am to write you these words, which I do not free from my heart begrudgingly, but … [Read more...]
I'm honored to once again be guest posting for my friend Hemant Mehta. Last September I had the opportunity to stay with him when I went to STORY. We had dinner together and I even got to see his chlamydia. So it was a pretty good visit. Today I'm at his place, writing about the yearly tradition of Christian students standing up to the "radical minority" of atheists and agnostics by praying at their high school graduations and why I don't think that's a good representation of the Christian faith. I'd love it if you'd head over to his place and give it a read. And if you're visiting from Hemant's, welcome! Be sure to check out The Christian Guide to Atheists series and look me up on Facebook and Twitter. … [Read more...]
Myth: Atheists think they sin too much to be accepted by God Last time, I examined the idea that atheists don't think they sin at all. This week, I want to examine the other side of that, which is that atheists thing that they are so sinful that they can't be accepted by God. There are a couple of reasons why this particular line of thinking doesn't work. As we said in the last piece, the atheist notion of sin is, generally speaking, far different from the Christian idea of sin. Additionally, since atheists don't believe in God, the idea of needing to please this being is somewhat nonsensical. So when you suggest that an atheist is concerned that they are a sinner unworthy of God's love, the language alone is likely off-putting enough to shut down much further … [Read more...]
A couple of weeks ago, I received an email in which I was called a gross, disgusting name. I deleted the email almost immediately, but something like that doesn't delete from your mind very quickly. Or ever, I expect. It was awful because I ceased to feel like a person in that moment, instead I was just a body part. I wasn't someone who had feelings that could be hurt by name-calling, I was a symbol of something that had hurt this person in the past and I became an easy target for that anger. On reflection, I can recognize this. I can see that this person also had scars. They had been wounded and they were responding out of that painful emotion. But that day I just felt terrible, and when I told my husband about it, I said, "Some people are just assholes." With that statement, … [Read more...]
This was the first week that my kids were home for the summer, so it was nice to spend some time catching up with them. Thanks to those of you who offered your prayers and kind words about my mom on Tuesday. They are all appreciated. And now to some of my favorite things from around the internet this week! Jamie Wright always impresses me with her writing, and this post about sanctuary was no exception. When we stop thinking in terms of salvation and start thinking about sanctuary, it can change us profoundly. David Henson wrote a fantastic post this week about the Lenten practice that he started with his kids of talking about the saints. How this related to the Easter story moved me deeply. My friend Elora suffered a loss this week. I am so moved by her honest writing … [Read more...]
I'm almost out of my thirties. Well, in one year and three weeks. I have led a fairly charmed life in these (almost) thirty-nine years. I've spent 16 of them married to my best friend. I've given birth to four healthy, smart, funny kids. I've never wanted for food or clean water. I've always had a roof over my head, shoes on my feet, and clothes for my body. I've had educational opportunities. But so many do not have the same experience that I have had. Many are lucky to make it to celebrate a 39th birthday, and if they do, they face struggles for food, clean water, and education. Nuru International is helping to change that. By giving people loans to purchase grain and teaching them better farming techniques, they have increased their maize yield 123%. With this, … [Read more...]
I'm taking a little break from blogging this week. So I thought it was a perfect time to run this absolutely beautiful post by Cara. I love it when we meet people who love us without question and this is a fantastic example of that. +++++++ It was just me and Mr. Darcy for a long time. The two of us, girl and dog, figuring out life’s beautiful mess together. He was alongside me in every significant moment, working or resting or vacationing. He was my other, my companion. And then, as often happens to dogs, a man entered the picture – and by sacred utterance of the words, “I do,” we became a family of three, all under one roof. It was altogether lovely: but even with husband beside and Mr. Darcy at foot, newness surrounded me, seeming to define every area of my … [Read more...]
Today I'm writing over at A Deeper Family. I love writing there because it allows me to tackle some hard things that I don't usually write about here. I hate it for the same reason. Today's post is about my mom's recent diagnosis with ALS. My sister and I were standing outside of a restaurant. We had met to talk about my trip to Moldova and to catch up on what was going on in our lives. We were enjoying a surprisingly beautiful February day and before we said our good-byes, she said, "I don't think Mom had a stroke." Head over to read the rest. I'm sorry for not sharing about this sooner, but I want to honor my mom's story and to give her and the rest of my family a little bit of time to process it. I thank you all for this space. … [Read more...]
