Thoughtful Thursdays
Musings on faith, family, & fiction
Though a novelist by trade, one of the trademarks of my books is the spiritual depth and exploration I includes as my characters work through what it really means to walk out their faith. Faith, in fact, is one of the things I like to ponder most. In these once-a-week articles, I gets thoughtful at the crossroads of faith, family, and fiction.
Where We Look
I am under deadline...and on vacation (my goal was not to make those two overlap, but alas! We were hit by sickness, so I now get to finish my book at the beach.) So in short, you're getting some short-and-sweet musings today. One thing I'm doing in September is going...
Throwback Thursday – Written On Our Lives
Original post published 12/9/2019 A couple weeks ago, my church watched Mom’s Night Out–a rather hilarious Christian movie that we all thoroughly enjoyed. In one scene, the heroine’s little girl is drawing on the walls with markers–Mommy ends up putting frames around...
Reflections
My summer, especially the second half of it, has been insane. And as I sit down at my computer to write out this week's blog post, I feel a bit low on insight and inspiration. My mind and body and spirit are all longing for the vacation coming up in a few weeks...but...
True Community, Wherever You Are
We live in a kinda weird world, don't we? We are so connected, with the advances of technology. And we are so disconnected, living such busy lives that we rarely pause to just be with each other anymore. I confess that I struggle with this. I want community. I long...
40 Things
We're somehow to the middle of August again ... which means at my birthday again. Which, in turn, means time for another post reflecting on the year--on things learned, things discovered, things loved, things hated. And of course, this is a milestone year. Forty! (Cue...
Throwback Thursday – The Power of Words
Original post published January 30, 2020In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the...
Throwback Thursday – The Revealer of Secrets
Original post published 9/12/2019 “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,For wisdom and might are His.21 And He changes the times and the seasons;He removes kings and raises up kings;He gives wisdom to the wiseAnd knowledge to those who have understanding.22 He...
Throwback Thursday – The Difference We Can Make
Original post published January 24, 2019 When God created the earth, what did He say? That it was good. What do we yearn for at the end of our lives? That He’ll say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Not only in the Bible, but in pretty much every piece of...
What Does “Repent” Really Mean?
If you're anything like me, you've heard the word "repent" so many times that you never really thought to look too deeply at what it means. You know what it means. To regret. To regret your actions so deeply, that you change your actions in the future. This is, in...
Nevertheless, Rejoice
The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and they said, “Lord, in your name even the demons are subject to us.” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon snakes and scorpions and all the forces...
First Say Goodbye
In I King 19, we get the story of when Elisha is called to follow Elijah: So Elijah left that place and found the son of Shaphat who was plowing with twelve yokes of oxen preceding him (he was driving the twelfth pair himself), and he tossed his mantle on him....
Blessed Is She Who Believed
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy!Blessed is she who believed, for...
Journey Through Prayer
One of my goals for the year was to spend more dedicated time in prayer. So every morning, I've been doing my Bible reading and then taking about half an hour to focus on communing with God. Not just the on-the-fly prayers I send up through the day, but time when I'm...
Pearls Before Swine
Do not give to dogs anything that is holy.And do not cast your pearls before swine,lest they trample them under their feetand then proceed to tear you to pieces."~ Matthew 7:6 This verse came up in a conversation lately...a conversation about the place of Christians...
My Peace I Leave You
“Peace I leave with you,my peace I give to you.Not as the world givesdo I give it to you.Do not let your hearts be troubled;be not afraid. ~ John 14:27 What is peace? Jesus promises to leave us with it--not just any peace, but His peace. It's something we all know we...
You called me, Master?
I've always loved the story of Samuel. In fact, as a writer, I've claimed the verse about none of his words falling to the ground as what I should be striving to live up to. There are so many lessons we can glean from this wise prophet who heard directly from God. But...
Return to Default
I don't know about you, but I love it when I see people in Scripture behaving like...well, like people. Like I would do. I love seeing how they were humans just like me. They mess up, they say the wrong thing--sometimes the stupid thing--and sometimes...sometimes they...
Shining Light and Casting Shadows
Many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles. They all used to assemble in Solomon’s Portico. 13 No one else dared to join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 More believers, men and women, were constantly being added to...
The Cup of Christ
Today is Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday. The day when Christ celebrated the Passover with His disciples--the Last Supper. Tonight He instituted what may be the most sacred of the sacraments--Holy Communion, the Eucharist. He took bread, took wine, and declared them...
Save, We Pray – Hosanna!
"Hosanna!" It's an interjection that we shout as praise in the Christian church. "Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Hosanna. I've sung songs with that proclamation since I was a child (I still...
Something from Nothing
We serve a God who makes something out of nothing. He did it in creation, taking the blank canvas of space and turning it into an ever-expanding network of galaxies, planets, suns, wormholes, black holes, supernovas, matter, energy, light, and life. In that moment...
His Kingdom and His Will
Don’t you love those occasions when you’re reading multiple things at the same time and they all coalesce? That’s what happened to me this week, as I was reading the Gospel of Mark and meditating on the Lord’s prayer. Let’s start with Mark 13:30. Jesus is telling His...
An Untamed Faith
I've been a C.S. Lewis fan for decades. I, like most kids, started out reading The Chronicles of Narnia, and when I reread the books to my own kids a couple years ago, I realized how much of my faith life was formed by those books--especially by The Last Battle. In...
While We Sleep
Have you ever paused to think about all the things God does while we sleep? The Bible is full of examples of dreams and visions that come to people while they're in their beds. From Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph to the prophets like Isaiah and Joel; and then of course,...
Ripping Our Hearts to Pieces
Yesterday was the official start of Lent. Depending on your faith tradition, perhaps you marked it with ashes and fasting...perhaps you took some special time for prayer...perhaps you decided to give something up for the next 40 days, or add something into your faith...
Throwback Thursday – Soul-Tidying
Original post published 9/19/19. I’m not the world’s best housekeeper. This is no secret–I mean, I put it right in my official bio. 😉 Yes, “pretending my house will clean itself” is part of my charming naivete. Ahem. Or at the very least, keeping everything put in its...
Throwback Thursday – The Inspiration
Original post published January 10, 2019 We serve a gracious God, don’t we? Not only has He given us His Son, His Word, but He continues to speak and minister to us today. As a creative, I can tell you in all honesty that there are many days when I just have to...
Unworthy but Willing
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”~ Isaiah 6:8 We all know that verse, right? There are songs about it. It's a key verse for missionaries around the world. It encapsulates the...
Who Are Our Enemies?
In our family devotional time, I've been noticing a trend in many of the psalms and canticles . . . there is a lot of talk about enemies. It's in the songs . . . it's in the prophecies . . . it's in the praises. The writers of both Old and New Testaments talk a lot...
Eyes to See
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your...
Crosses of Purpose
I've done a lot of thinking and writing over the years about the Cross of Christ, and what that means for our crosses, too. I've mused about our Lord's dread of the cross, being willing to give up everything to take up that cross and follow Him, and why one of the...
Introducing Patrons & Peers
Ever since I was girl, I knew what my calling was: writing. Specifically, to write novels that show people the beauty of faith, the glory of God, and how our lives are richer when they’re lived with Him. I love to use human romances, well-drawn and in amazing...
2022 Word of the Year – Devotion
What am I devoted to? This is a question that had been weighing more and more on my mind as 2021, my "intentional" year, drew to a close. I've trained myself to really evaluate how I'm spending my time and energy, and I'm so pleased with how "Intentional" did indeed...
Word of the Year Reflection – Intentional
My Word of the Year for 2021 was "Intentional." (You can read my January 1 post about the choice here.) And now, as 2021 draws to a close, it's time to look back over the last twelve months and reflect on how I lived that out or didn't. Unlike most of my previous...
People, Events, Ideas
Eleanor Roosevelt once said: "Great minds discuss ideas;average minds discuss events;small minds discuss people." I think if we're being honest, we all do all of those things...so let's take the idea of "minds" out of it and assume that we're all capable of discussing...
Coming and Eternal
We are officially in the Advent season. I love that this is the traditional beginning of the Church's year--the time we mark, waiting expectantly for Jesus. Living as we do so long after Him, we obviously know that He came...but we continue to pause and reflect and...
My Unceasing Thanksgiving
"Why do I follow you? Because you are who you are, Lord, and because I rejoice in having been called by you. Let the swiftness of my feet in following you be my unceasing thanksgiving." ~ Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word When I read those words a few weeks ago, they...
Shine Like the Stars
Those who are wise shall shineLike the brightness of the firmament,And those who turn many to righteousnessLike the stars forever and ever.~ Daniel 12:3 Having not grown up in churches that strictly follow the Liturgy, I didn't realize until recently that the...
Quiet Warriors
One year ago, I shared about "The Day That Changed Everything...and Nothing" -- the day my son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. That day that, had we lived in the eras I so love to write about it, he would have died. I know I've mentioned this new life a few other...
Not a Virtue
This begins in a rather silly place, but bear with me. When we went on vacation to the beach in September and I was slathering on the sunscreen and noting the amount of tan I was getting each day through walking and spending the morning at the water, I realized...
Easy Answers…or Deep Questions?
When a family is made up of a novelist wife and her publisher/filmmaker husband, there are a lot of conversations in the house about story--what makes them powerful, what makes them fail. What makes them lasting, what makes them forgettable. A few weeks ago as David...
A Storytelling People
We are a storytelling people. It only takes a look at modern society to see the truth of it. Our advertisements, our movies, our books, our games...we love them and are persuaded by them not because they tell us facts or make promises. We are persuaded and enchanted...
Fruit
Not going too far back for today's throwback post...Revisiting FRUIT. Original Post Published February 27, 2020. We love fruit in our family. Fresh fruit, canned fruit, dried fruit, jammed fruit, fruit from our own garden, or fruit from the other side of the world. We...
The Mismatched
A little throwback post today...Talking about the mismatched Original Post Published June 2, 2016. When I got married, I filled out a registry. A wish list. It had on it all the things one would expect–dishes and cookware, sheets and towels. All of them, sets....
Where Risk and Faith Meet
I want to talk today about where risks and faith meet. And how we walk the line between "foolish for Christ" and just foolish. I'm not saying I have all the answers on where that line is...but I am saying we all need to ask the questions, and I think I've seen a good...
39 Things
Last year I had great fun with my "38 Things" post, and on my anniversary in June I had a blast with "20 things" about marriage. So of course, I have to keep up the tradition and give you "39 Things" from this past year. =) My birthday is on Saturday, but I figure...
Because of the Storms
"And immediately [after feeding the 5,000] He compelled His disciples to get into the boat and to go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. And having said farewell to them, He departed to the mountain to pray. And evening having...
Not Blank Slates
A couple years ago, a newsletter email came into my inbox from Tricia Goyer. It was on New Year's Day, I believe, and was introducing a new Facebook group she'd created, called Write That Book! (Great group, by the way). But part of her intro was a musing that has...
Thowback Thursday. . . Book Lovers
***Today's Throwback post was originally published January 7, 2010*** I will never forget my shock. There I sat, an innocent, in the admissions office at my college. All around me were the usual people that made up my day--the admissions counselors, the office...
Other People’s Problems
We've all heard some version of this wisdom, whether it's an anecdote, an object lesson, or a punchline: if you want to feel better about your problems, just look at someone else's. You're going to be far happier with your own than theirs. The irony, of course, being...