Clapping Back Against a Virus She Didn’t Earn
• Day S I X • Harvester Island Writers Workshop Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022 Today it’s my joy to tell the story of my new friend Dorah Dunigan. She embodies my favorite things: a deep love for Jesus, an overcoming spirit, joy against the odds, and a quick, good-natured wit that she calls “clapping back.” On Thursday,
Enter, the Cranky Editor and the Rain
• Day F I V E • Harvester Island Writers Workshop Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 Back in Alaska, we’re deep into the guts of writing scene. “We sent the editor away yesterday, but today we’re going to bring her back. We need the editor, even if she’s cranky,” Leslie says. For me, the editor is always cranky.
For the One Who Wants to Live Again
I love that Jesus held her hand before he healed her. The little girl in Mark 5—the one who died while Jesus stopped to heal someone else—felt the Healer’s hand before she got her healing. Scripture says she was already dead so what did it matter? Maybe Jesus aimed His tenderness at her parents—her dad
How to Survive the Family Blame Game
Accusation. If you’ve been falsely accused, that very word leads to a jarring, churning pit-in-the-stomach place. Its roots mean “toward” and “lawsuit.” It’s a guilty-until-proven innocent word. If we’re guilty, accusation is the moment of truth. If we’re innocent, accusation is the truth of the moment. Scripture captures this idea. “The first to speak in
How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?
Ocean tides have a profound healing effect on the trauma of my childhood. This is especially true in the afternoon when waves nudge and inch farther into dry sand but eventually they have to obey centrifugal force and God. The mighty expanse of ocean has a line it cannot cross. It can go only this
Learning To Stand in an Unstable World
Evil advancing in real-time. Intimidation, scapegoating, and finger-pointing. Parents, educators, and politicians at odds. Big tech acting as arbiters of speech. Gender, race, rights, and riots fighting for headlines and our head space. This is an extraordinary time to be alive. Tectonic plates are shifting right underneath our feet. So, where we place our feet