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October 2014

October 09, 2014

Four Important Things to Understand About Volunteers (from a Mom Who Volunteers Too Much)

Lately I’m being eaten alive by everything on my to-do list. It’s hard to communicate...

May 2014

May 12, 2014

In Defense of Social Media

To dismiss the online world as a repository for irrelevant banter by narcissistic blowhards who...

May 05, 2014

When a Viral Blog Post Doesn’t Change Much of Anything

Being a writer is primarily about writing—not about following some social media guru's five-step system...

April 2014

April 29, 2014

Troll-Proofing Our Online Writing

At the Festival of Faith and Writing two weeks ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan, my...

March 2014

March 18, 2014

How the Internet is Killing the Book Review

Now that I own a Kindle, my ever-raging thirst for new reading material can be...

January 2014

January 01, 2014

My (Unmeasurable) New Year’s Resolutions

The time seems right for me to make some resolutions for 2014. Because I broke...

December 2013

December 31, 2013

My Most Popular Posts of 2013

Here's a round-up of my most popular blog posts of 2013. Perhaps there's something here...

November 2013

November 13, 2013

How to Promote Yourself (& Others) Without Driving People Crazy

In my online group of women writers, we've been discussing Kat Stoeffel's article on New York...

September 2013

September 10, 2013

Caring for the Small and Vulnerable

At the end of each day, somewhere around 9 p.m., comes this moment: I let...

September 05, 2013

How Screens are NOT Ruining My Family’s Life (& Maybe Even Making It Better)

This headline from the Huffington Post: “8 Ways Screens are Ruining Your Family’s Life.” Ah,...

July 2013

July 19, 2013

[Snapshots from Oak Ridge] My Writing Companion

When I sit outside to write, my dog Sunday insists on being nearby, even when...

June 2013

June 24, 2013

Everyday Resurrections (& a New Bench)

This post is very slightly edited from its original version published last August. You'll note...

June 20, 2013

5 Truths About Blogging (IMHO)

As always happens when conflict and controversy and hurt feelings come gushing forth from the...

June 11, 2013

I Have a Kid Hangover (But Manage to Write Anyway)

The past thirteen-plus years for me have been one long exercise in welcoming the messy,...

April 2013

April 29, 2013

Questions Remain About the “Controversy in Candy Land”

On Saturday, Jana Riess posted a piece on her Religion News Service blog raising questions...

April 23, 2013

On Silence and Simplicity & Their Opposites (Or, Why I Have Decided to Keep Writing Despite the Prospect of a “Real” Job and a Paycheck)

My blog has been silent for several weeks now, and perhaps some of you have...

February 2013

February 01, 2013

Why I Love Writing, But Don’t Always Like It

I have been on an Alice Munro binge, gobbling up her latest collection of short...

December 2012

December 04, 2012

Busy Hands, Quiet Heart: Thoughts On Advent

Confession: Every time I come across advice from a fellow Christian urging us to slow...

November 2012

November 29, 2012

No Amount of Yoga or Perseverence Will Allow Me to Run

I have a tendency to stare overlong at the many runners who come to my...

October 2012

October 30, 2012

What We Can Learn from Johnny Appleseed

One of my family's cherished, non-negotiable traditions, ranking right up there with summer camping trips...

October 20, 2012

On Going Viral

Well, this has been interesting. As of right now, my post on "Why I am...

October 12, 2012

On Writing, Reading, and Seeking Direction

I feel I owe regular readers of this blog an apology...or at minimum, an explanation....

July 2012

July 31, 2012

Six Annoying Things that Readers Say To and About Bloggers

One commenter to my essay on the New York Times Motherlode blog last week, in...

July 24, 2012

“No Easy Choice”: Driving People Nuts Since 2012

My favorite line in writer, reviewer, and all-around nice person LaVonne Neff's review of my...

July 17, 2012

Plugging in Again….A Little Reluctantly

Did I say I was taking a three-week break from blogging? Yes. Yes I did....

June 2012

June 01, 2012

Patheos (& Other) Peeps: Katherine Willis Pershey on Marriage, Motherhood, and Ministry

Every Friday, I feature something written by one of my fellow bloggers at Patheos, a...

April 2012

April 23, 2012

A Few of Many Good Words Spoken

I returned yesterday from the biannual Festival of Faith and Writing in Grand Rapids, Michigan....

April 12, 2012

Writing 101 (for the Kindergarten Set)

It's been a busy week of speaking engagements for me—one radio interview, one TV interview,...

April 09, 2012

Welcome to the “Best Thing Blog Hop”

Blogging provides writers like me with lots of opportunities—to publish and reach audiences without going...

April 03, 2012

Just Look Up (A Meditation of Sorts on Psalm 123)

I woke up yesterday feeling surrounded. Put upon. Up to my eyeballs in shhh...tuff. In...