Here is what I know. My arm still hurts from a monster scrape I got on Friday night after a rehearsal. It is profoundly annoying. The end. Also, some beautiful posts today. Check them out and enjoy! Oh my. This poem by Holly Grantham makes me blush. And sigh. Absolutely stunning piece of writing. If you've ever wondered how your unique self works with the rest of the world, don't miss this short, poignant post by Kimberly Knight. I pretty much never, ever recommend that you listen to an hour-long sermon. But I'm making an exception this week. DO NOT MISS this sermon by Greg Boyd. This resonated so strongly with me. Preston Yancey wrote a little bit about unity and a little bit about mysticism and a little bit about quiet. And as I have come to know this man over the … [Read more...]

  Thanks for the grace last week. I had an amazing time at the Sacred Friendship Gathering but wow. It wore. me. out. Finally feeling a bit more human and have way more respect for my friends who travel and speak regularly. Anyway, here are some of my favorite posts from this week. Here's to some good conversation resulting from the following! This post at A Deeper Family by Diana Trautwein is absolutely beautiful. I echo her hopes for the future. Rachel Held Evans wrote a profoundly thoughtful piece about the way that we frame the abortion debate. This is a great piece that gets into some of the nuance of the issue without trying to answer questions. I am crazy happy for my friend Preston who recently signed a two-book deal with Zondervan. His writing is just so … [Read more...]

  We've finally made it to Sunday in a week that was not one of the best we've seen in a while. These are the times when I'm extra grateful for the love I have in my life. It's a gift. I loved this reflection from Jen Luitwieler about the runners in the Boston Marathon. So good. I miss talking with Knox McCoy every week about The Walking Dead. But when he writes pieces that combine parenting and Saved By The Bell and LOST and Christianity, I remember why I like him outside of the podcast. Two friends announced book deals this week. Both Dianna Anderson and Addie Zierman have book deals. I am so happy for both of them and cannot wait to see what they have to say. These are smart women. I got to share a beer with Sonny about five minutes after we met. Clearly this is why … [Read more...]

  Hello all! I trust you had a good week. Here are some of my favorite reads from around the internets this week. I'm so excited for my friend Nish Weiseth who has recently signed a two book deal with Zondervan. And I absolutely love the way that she made this announcement. If you're a writer, you've had a bad day writing. Ed Cyzewski has some great thoughts about how to deal with those bad days. This article about how to avoid saying the wrong thing to people going through difficult times is crazy smart. Jen Luitwieler wrote this week about the flawed people we see all around us. I loved this post by Nicole Cottrell to Rick Warren following the death of his son. Absolutely beautiful. Apparently since we're not playing football right now, cake wreckers forget what … [Read more...]

  Hello friends! If you missed last week's list of favorite blogs, be sure to check it out. Now, on with today's link up. Preston Yancey (who just posted here on Friday) posted one of the best things that I've read this week. His reflections on Holy Week are just gorgeous and you need to read this when you have some time to soak in it. Don't rush his words, but do NOT miss them. There are a lot of people talking about the new Pope. I really appreciated what Zack Hunt had to say about Pope Francis's "militant humility." When Sarah Bessey preaches, you'd better give a listen. Her post this week about Jezebel giving way to Deborah makes me SO EXCITED for her book. A whole book of Sarah's writing? Swoon. Peter Enns had a fantastic post about homosexuality and biblical … [Read more...]

So this is basically the 100th time I've posted a Stuff I've Been Reading post. Actually, I'm probably way past 100, but some are called by other names, so of the straight up "Stuff I've Been Reading" posts, this is the 100th. Well, actually next week will be the 100th because I called this something else. Whatever. For my 100th post, I'm going to link to 26 blogs that I just love. I was going to do 100, but I decided for sure to do this way too late to come up with something to say about 100 blogs. And I picked 26 because I wanted an even number so I could have an equal number of male and female authors, but a round number like 20 or 30 seemed so...ordinary. These are not all Christian blogs. They were not chosen based on their Compete numbers or their Klout scores. They are not in any … [Read more...]

  I am once again lamenting my inability to make it to Killer Tribes this year. I swear, some day I'll get there! I hope that all of my friends who were presenting and attending had an amazing time. There were a lot of great posts about the Steubenville trial this week, but one of my favorites was by Dan Brennan. He writes eloquently about how our views about cross-gender friendship affect our views about rape. I'm so excited to be partnering with him again in April at the Sacred Friendship Gathering! Another friend that I can't wait to reconnect with at the Gathering is Kathy Escobar. This week, she wrote a really helpful post about how to reconnect with the Bible if you've drifted away from regular reading. One more from one of the Gathering speakers - Emily Maynard talks … [Read more...]

  I hope you've had a great week. Thanks for joining me for some of my favorite reads of the week. Stop by the authors' sites and let them know what you think of their work! Sometimes as writers, we'll get passionate about a subject and write a lot about it. And sometimes that gets categorized as a rant. My friend Preston puts that notion TO BED with this amazing post. I just plain loved it. Ed Cyzewski had a fantastic mini-series this week on his blog about tenets that evangelicals hold that are actually impossible to enforce. All three are great, but I particularly liked the first one in the series about living biblically. This post by Nish Weiseth about parenting her child on the autism spectrum is both painful and beautiful. Kind of like parenting a child on the autism … [Read more...]

  Hello, my friends! Good to see you here for another list of favorites from around the internet this week. Enjoy! Far and away the best thing that I read this week was this post by Rachel Held Evans. She has put into words what so many of us who still tenuously claim Christianity are thinking. Best sermon I received all week. Maybe this year. You may have heard some talk about the alleged abuse allegations related to Sovereign Grace Ministries. My friend Joy Bennett has written about these things, and has received push-back from those writings. I love her response to her critics about what it means to speak on behalf of the silenced. Matthew Paul Turner wrote a beautiful tribute to his daughter in honor of International Women's Day. Amber Wackford has been going through … [Read more...]

  This was a tough week for me emotionally. Thank you all for your encouraging words. I can't speak highly enough about the readers who make up this community. You're a gift. Now, on to my favorite reads of the week. I hope you find something here to spark some interesting conversations today! My friend Jen Luitwieler is talking about weight on her blog. I do not like this topic. But I love (!!!) how she is handling it. Read all of her posts, but this was my personal favorite. Sonny Lemmons has been knocking it out of the park lately. This post about censorship in the Church is spot on. I am crazy excited about Matt Appling's new book. I will be giving a full review here soon, but in the meantime, be sure to go watch the trailer that is available now (and then go read … [Read more...]