“Books don’t change people;” John Piper has said, “paragraphs do, sometimes even sentences”— which helps explain why the books I read in 2021 really did work in me, because I crept along in them. I didn’t read pages at a time, but paragraphs, even sentences. Over in the Author Conservatory, we’ve been talking about the … Continue reading Paragraphs & Sentences
If I could find the stamina, I’d like to pick up Metaxas’s big biography and sit down with Dietrich Bonhoeffer for the rest of the summer, reading his words, his wisdom, his sermons, his German heritage, his spy work against Hitler, his imprisonment, his love story, his death. History is one of the things I … Continue reading Two Legs on God’s Earth
I'm thankful for books. Here are the ones on 2020's shelf--- all forty of them, and each was good and glory-reflective in its unique way. (I've linked to Goodreads, where you can thumb through each book a little more.) Cheating Death by Larry Kaniut The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis The Return of the … Continue reading 40 Books on My Shelf
There’s a lot I could do, write, remember, cry over, and give thanks for at the end of 2020. I keep shadowboxing the scary idea of summing it all up— wrestling the last twelve months into a corner and chalking them up as “good,” “terrible,” or “sanctifying” (all the above). But summaries tend to accentuate … Continue reading A Year in Books
Tucked inside Andrew Peterson’s Adorning the Dark is the story of how his home came to be. It’s my favorite chapter in one of my favorite books, and it starts with this confession: “I was born homesick. Maybe we all were.”[i] I remember listening as Andrew read aloud this chapter (Longing to Belong) in a … Continue reading Part One: Belonging to a Place
This article was written for and published on StoryWarren.com. Samwise had climbed too many stairs with Shagrat drooling on his heels. He’d blasted through Cirith Ungol’s gates with Galadriel’s light. He’d searched every black corner for Frodo, and now, his master was a tower trapdoor out of reach. So Sam sang nursery rhymes into Mordor. … Continue reading The Song that was Sharper than Sting
This article was written for and published on TheRebelution blog. My friendship with Sara Barratt is 100% virtual. We’ve never talked over coffee or met up at a conference or worshiped together in church. I met Sara in the Young Writer’s Workshop—a place where everyone shares a thrill for stories, words, articles, novels, and poems. … Continue reading The Girl Who Started a Love Riot for Jesus
May 17 I met Sara Barratt in the Young Writer’s Workshop. As the community grew, I found in her more than a teen who doodles words. I found a young woman with wisdom beyond her years and a heart exploding with love for Jesus and a God-given talent for crafting articles. I was inspired. One … Continue reading The Girl Behind a Riot
February 9 There’s a lot I thought I knew about C. S. Lewis. His is a legendary name associated with children and a wardrobe and Aslan and philosophy and essays and Christianity. But there are too many of Lewis’s works I haven’t read. So I’m challenging myself this winter to get to know this remarkable … Continue reading I’m Getting to Know C. S. Lewis
In C. S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian, Lucy Pevensie shakes awake her siblings to announce she’s seen the lion, Aslan. “I can’t see anything,” said Peter after he had stared his eyes sore. “Can you, Susan?” “No, of course I can’t,” snapped Susan. “Because there isn’t anything to see. She’s been dreaming.”[i] But Susan later admits … Continue reading A Pevensie, a Pharisee, and the Imagination to See Reality
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