“Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” As I listened to Oprah’s speech at the Golden Globes, I thought about all the #metoo stories that have poured out since Alyssa Milano tweeted “if all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of… Read more →
Joy feels urgent to me as we enter into this Christmas season. It’s the season of Advent which is all about waiting- finding hope in the midst of darkness that never seems to end. My friend Alex Kuykendall released a book recently, Loving My Actual Christmas and it was a hopeful reminder that we can choose to experience joy this… Read more →
Have you ever gotten on social media out of boredom and seen something that completely derailed you emotionally? I have a friend who always posts angry rants about people he thinks are stupid, another friend who posts articles about animal abuse, or how kids brains are rotting because of iPads and another friend who makes “vague book” posts- you know,… Read more →
Do you ever get jealous of fictional characters? I find myself envying Zoey Deschenel’s wardrobe in New Girl, and that Wonder Woman can roam around with a lasso of truth in some killer red boots. I also get jealous of real people- random friends on social media I see who seem to be having amazing time connecting with friends, and… Read more →
I’m not entirely sure skedaddle is a real word. But I know fear is real. I know it lurks in the places where we start to think about trying something new, especially when it comes to spirituality. You may be a Christian & feel afraid of taking a step of faith to follow him in an area he’s been challenging you about. You… Read more →
I have a lot of friends who are in network marketing. For a hot minute I joined up with one of these companies to sell their product which I really liked and used personally. Though I didn’t end up making a career out of selling nail wraps I was blown away by what I learned from the network marketing community. … Read more →
When it comes to making new friends, what holds you back? Here are a couple things I’ve been learning as I face my friendship fears in a new city. I recently moved to a new city and I am plagued by doubts in building new relationships: What if I reach out and she doesn’t respond? What if I share something… Read more →
Can I make a confession to you guys? I’ve been afraid. Afraid of you and what you’ll think of me. I fear that I’m too much or I not enough. Though I just had a book released this past August I’ve been afraid to keep putting myself and my writing out there for fear people will think I’m a self-promoting megalomaniac or… Read more →
I met Krista for the first time in person when I was bunking up at her expansive lake home in Northern Idaho. A group of writers had bonded together to support rather than compete with one another because we all realize that writing makes us crazy and jealous. Not a good combo when you’re trying to put good things out… Read more →
Thinking about joining the 40 Days of Fearless Challenge? Check out our video to answer your questions about what it is and why you should do it. Read more →
Can you imagine if you lived without fear for even one day? What if you gave up fear for Lent? Yes. I realize that probably means you won’t lose any weight like you would if you gave up chocolate or French fries. But don’t you think life could be different if you spent 40 days with a community of women… Read more →
I’m not setting the scene for the latest horror movie or describing a really strange online meet-up site- I’m telling you what I’m going to be doing this weekend. Having just put out a book I feel the pressure to get my stuff out there. To speak. To tweet. To blog. The issue is that I just moved to Kansas City… Read more →
In a little over a month my book, Beautiful Feet: Unleashing Women to Everyday Witness will be released with InterVarsity Press. Though I’d like to be all like “aw, shucks, no big deal, it’s just something I did on the side,” I’m not really that kind of person. I’m SUPER PSYCHED my book is about to drop! I’ve been dreaming… Read more →
I would love someday to wake up and see a Facebook feed where black lives aren’t devalued. Where black kids, teenagers and adults feel safe doing normal things like going to a pool party, walking home from the store or sitting and talking in a hotel lobby. I recently preached at a predominantly black church here in Cleveland- I was on a panel… Read more →
“Pain is God’s megaphone to us” C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia series once said. I love and hate this quote because so much of it depends on the person’s willingness to listen to what is being said through the megaphone. At times I have clamped my hands over my ears, closing my eyes and been unwilling to look at… Read more →
A couple years ago I was feeling really sluggish and chalked it up to being a mom of a two year old- when I went in to get a sinus infection treated my doctor drew some blood. Turns out I wasn’t just a tired mom- I had hypothyroidism- an autoimmune condition that affects just about every other function in the… Read more →
Reading Small Talk by Amy Julia Becker felt a little like watching someone pan for gold, getting wet and messy in a river, sifting through a lot of rocks, silt and dirt to find the nuggets of gold that can appear unexpectedly. It feels a lot like experiences in mothering- trying, failing, feeling desperate, feeling joyful, worrying whether it’s ok to do… Read more →
Have you ever listened to yourself give advice to a friend? Words of encouragement come so easily to us as we guide a friend through a tough situation, help them work through a problem or want to help them succeed in a new venture. You know what’s terrible? Not taking your own advice. It’s so much easier to listen to a… Read more →
Years ago I heard a preacher say these words: “Patience is a virtue, and a virtue can’t hurt you.” That little rhyming phrase has stuck with me for at least a decade, especially when I’m prone to be impatient about something. And there has been a lot to be impatient about in the last decade of my life: waiting to hear… Read more →
Many of you have probably made resolutions or goals to be more awesome this year. To lose weight and get to the rec center, to read more instead of watching Netflix, to quit smoking or stop biting your nails. It’s also likely that you’re already starting to hear the mean voice of January Defeat. January Defeat loves to whisper, “It’s January… Read more →
There are times I love my kids so much I think that my heart is going to explode. Kissing their round little cheeks, hearing Reuben tell corny knock-knock jokes, having Ozzy wildly cackle when he wins Candy Land. I marvel at the gifts they are to me and how full my life is with them. There are other times where… Read more →