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A Letter to My Daughters (Ages 7 and 3)

Many of you may not be aware of it, but there is a growing conversation on the internet right now regarding the treatment of women by the church and society at large. I think it’s a discussion that everyone needs to engage in because not only is it shaping who we are today, it’s also shaping the world in which the little girls around us will grow up.

Last night, I read this beautiful post by Sarah over at Emerging Mummy entitled “In Which I Thank My Brothers.” It reminded me of a guest post that I wrote for Rachel Held Evans nearly one year ago. You can view the original post and ensuing comments HERE. I’m posting it today on my blog because I’m sure many of you missed it the first time around.
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How a Harebrained Idea is Turning Into a Cross-Country Trip

Over 10,000 miles. 31 states. 115 days.

I want to leave tomorrow.

For years, Maile and I have dreamed of hitting the road for an extended period of time. We’ve always enjoyed road trips and exploring new places. When I started writing full time just over two years ago, this idea began percolating: What if I could line up enough writing work to pay the bills while we traveled the country? Continue reading “How a Harebrained Idea is Turning Into a Cross-Country Trip”

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Why Having a Terrible Memory Can be a Really Good Thing

Forgetfulness gets a bad rap. Don’t believe me? Try forgetting your spouse’s birthday, forgetting to switch your license over to the new state where you live, or forgetting to set your alarm for a final exam. You’ll quickly discover that forgetfulness is not appreciated or esteemed.

But for many people, forgetting isn’t the thing that’s ruining their lives or chaining them to emotional pain. Forgetfulness isn’t withering their relationships or enslaving them to past failures. Forgetfulness isn’t the problem.

Remembering is the problem.
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A Reminder to Fathers for 2012

The three-year-old boy stumbled through the field behind the horse-drawn equipment. His father drove the plow, turning up the dirt, staring straight ahead at the back of the horses as if the future of the planet depended on him never looking away. Sometimes the young boy tripped and fell in the deep, fresh furrows, muddying his hands and the knees of his tiny trousers. Sometimes his bare foot stuck in the deep gaps, but after pulling it free he stumble-ran to catch up.

His father never looked back. All the boy wanted to do was help, to be with this great masculine presence in his life, but all the father did was keep plowing. The boy followed him all day. His father never once said a word to him, never once shared his lunch, never once lifted him and, pointing off into the distance, told him stories about the forests and the fields and the place where the land and sky collided.

He just kept plowing. And the boy kept walking along behind him. Continue reading “A Reminder to Fathers for 2012”

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What Do You Believe About the Coming Year?

What do you believe about yourself in regards to the coming year?

Do you believe there is no way out of your current life?

Do you believe that this could be the year when your untapped potential rises to the surface?

What do you believe?

“When we bring people to believe differently, they really do become different. One of the greatest weaknesses in our teaching and leadership today is that we spend so much time trying to get people to do things good people are supposed to do, without changing what they really believe.”
Continue reading “What Do You Believe About the Coming Year?”