The End of Summer

Summer has been full of so much of the right thing. Sunshine and much loved people...and, when we were lucky, both at the same time. We drank in days upon days of family. With me working from home and my husband off for the summer, it made for a sweet, slow stretch of kayaking and pontooning that stretched on so long, it all--looking back--seems like one beautiful, endless summer day. There was mountains of quality time both with our two boys and the extended family beyond ...

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Back to the Beginning

Today, I spent the longest chunk of my day on the back deck, tilted back in a gravity chair, sun hat flopping around my face, iced tea within reach and laptop in front of me. It was a peaceful way to revisit my early twenties, when I first put together the content of my first book Dear Church: Letters From a Disillusioned Generation. Zondervan, the publishing company behind the title, has decided to release an updated version (likely with a new title) next May and for me, that meant ...

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The Books I Write and the Blog Posts I Don’t

Even though I give myself permission to completely unplug and indulge in family and the outdoors every summer, my mind and heart are never far from this blog's content or from the related projects. For example, this week my friends at Moody and I have been putting finishing touches on my new book, The Well Balanced World Changer: A Field Guide to Staying Sane While Doing Good, which will come out in October. While some of my books have been aimed at a narrower, niche audience (and I'm prone ...

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Markup: Text Alignment

Default This is a paragraph. It should not have any alignment of any kind. It should just flow like you would normally expect. Nothing fancy. Just straight up text, free flowing, with love. Completely neutral and not picking a side or sitting on the fence. It just is. It just freaking is. It likes where it is. It does not feel compelled to pick a side. Leave him be. It will just be better that way. Trust me. Left Align This is a paragraph. It is left aligned. Because of this, it is a bit more ...

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Cheers To Home

Sometimes I surprise even myself. For a person as driven as I am, who always has her hands in a project, a manuscript, or an event, it fascinates me how much I love the summer slows. The every day rhythm of having my husband home, of gliding with our little family across our region's countryside lakes, watching the wind skim through my boys' hair. The two and three day stretches where my brothers and their families assemble here, where morning cinnamon rolls wake us up and ribs ...

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