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Good Letters

Tania Runyan

Select a Category A. G. Harmon Alissa Wilkinson Allison Backous Art Authors Brad Fruhauff Bradford Winters Bryan Bliss Caroline Langston Chad Thomas Johnston Chris Hoke Christiana N. Peterson Culture D.G. Myers D.L. Mayfield Daniel Bowman Jr. David Griffith Elizabeth Duffy Faith Film Greg Wolfe Guest Contributor Interview Jan Vallone Jeffrey Overstreet Jessica Eddings-Roeser Jessica Mesman Griffith Kelly Foster Lindsey Crittenden Morgan Meis music Natalie Vestin Nick Olson Peggy Rosenthal Personal Reflection Poetry Friday Reflection Relationships Review Richard Chess Richard Cole Sara Zarr Shannon Huffman Polson Sonya Bilocerkowycz Tania Runyan Tony Woodlief Topical Categories Uncategorized Vic Sizemore Writing

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

November 2015

November 18, 2015

Christian Kerfuffles, Taking Offense, and the Poetry of Li-Young Lee

In late October, I had the privilege of teaching two workshops at the Indiana Faith...

October 2015

October 27, 2015

Trauma’s Not a Sin

Recently I ran across the following sentences in a status update and, in short, wanted...

October 07, 2015

Life-Saving Moments of Art

 In August, the musical duo Alright Alright, composed of husband and wife Seth and China...

September 2015

September 16, 2015

Not Your Mother’s Book Tour

In my world, a typical book signing involves sitting behind a small publisher’s table at...

August 2015

August 25, 2015

How To Begin a Book

I’m a bit Type A for a poet—or for what people perceive as one. I...

August 04, 2015

Breaking Bad’s Walter White is My Shining Star

When I first met Walter White, I was in pretty bad shape. Incapacitated by my...

July 2015

July 21, 2015

A Bug Night of the Soul

It was a night of tumors, broken relationships, lost jobs, and loneliness. A night of...

June 2015

June 05, 2015

Hello, Insomnia, My Old Friend

It may have started with the antique grandfather clock in my childhood living room. The...

May 2015

May 18, 2015

In the Marrow of Depression and Anxiety

By the time you read this, I’ll be feeling much better. Therapy will have commenced,...

April 2015

April 29, 2015

Sexist Assumptions and the Difficult, Dirty Work of Grace

My husband was deep into a bathroom remodeling project when he asked me to stop...

April 15, 2015

Writing This Post Was on My Bucket List

I’ve never left North America, seen the Statue of Liberty, or dipped a toe in...

March 2015

March 27, 2015

Dollar Store Evangelism

Because I enjoy the finer things in life, I ran into Dollar Tree the other...

March 11, 2015

“A Pair of Silk Stockings” and Other Frivolous Pleasures of Mothers

After a harrowing weekend of yelling at my children, I decided I needed to take...

February 2015

February 20, 2015

Back to the Drawing Board

To say I can't draw myself out of a cardboard box is to assume I...

February 03, 2015

The Power of Twelve

You won’t want to do it, but I’ll ask just the same: imagine being twelve...

January 2015

January 21, 2015

Childhood Cinema Redux

Over our recent winter break, my husband and I introduced our two older kids to...

January 06, 2015

An Introvert’s Resolution

My husband and I saw a stage production of Harvey in Milwaukee last month. The...

December 2014

December 17, 2014

In Defense of Fruitcake

At some point or another, every Christmas celebrant in America has to draw lines in...

November 2014

November 25, 2014

A Tradition without Tryptophan

November is always an interesting time for a family of vegetarians. While my three children...

November 03, 2014

Praying the “Sleeping Tune”

In an effort to help believers who struggle with prayer, many evangelical speakers and books...

October 2014

October 23, 2014

Raising Kids in the Creation/Evolution Divide, Part 2

Continued from yesterday.  At the time of our children’s young-earth themed Vacation Bible School, I...

October 22, 2014

Raising Kids in the Creation/Evolution Divide, Part 1

Two summers ago,my husband Jeremy and I decided to cancel our family’s cross-country road trip...

September 2014

September 25, 2014

Better Red(head) than Dead

One day my mother came home from the interior decorating shop where she worked, very...

September 11, 2014

How to End an Era

We're supposed to shake our heads when Daisy Buchanan, considering a summer solstice celebration on...

August 2014

August 27, 2014

Your Life Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means

On the last night of Image's Glen West Workshop earlier this month, after a moving...

August 06, 2014

He Fits Right In: Our Story of Open Adoption

I’ve tried to stop policing adoption language, no matter how much phrases like “real mom,”...

July 2014

July 21, 2014

My Own Desert (Tortoise) Father

I didn’t spend enough time with Oscar this summer. For forty years I've believed time...

June 2014

June 04, 2014

My Date with One-Eared Joe

I didn’t get many dates in high school. At the time, I thought I was...

May 2014

May 15, 2014

That Woman is Gone: Discovering Postpartum Depression

On some spring mornings, even nine years later, a remnant returns: red-winged blackbirds wake me...

April 2014

April 28, 2014

Pennies from Heaven

I’ve never really been into crosses.  Like fire hydrants or Starbucks, there are so many,...

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