The sun is bright today. After days, weeks, and months of rain. I’m still reveling in the glory of sunshine.
We live on a farm. And our neighbors live on farms. While the rain is a blessing, the saturated grounds negatively impacted work. However, it positively impacted hay production. But the grass is high. Very high. Cutting it now is a huge undertaking. Since most hay producers are already behind the power curve, this results in fast, furious work to be done over the next several weeks.
But I digress.
This is my life–divided, into categories. Faith. Farm. Homeschooling. Family. Writing. Housework. Extended Family. Friends. And dot, dot, dot….
But it is my whole life, balled into one.
My husband is bold and straightforward. I love that. He gives me courage to be who God made me to be. He also encourages me to embrace my priesthood.
My faith wasn’t always that way. It started off much differently.
“I was the one who wore tight jeans. I was the teenager who flirted with boys and pretended to be easier than I really was. I was the one who secretly waited. But I was the one dressed in punk-ish clothes in my youth group at my southern church. I was a Rahab looking girl. One you stayed away from if you were a good Christian.” Follow me over here as I share about embracing my priesthood at Outside the City Gate.
I also wrote on motherhood. More specifically, on shame when our relationships with our children go terribly wrong.
It should be out around July 1st at C’est La Vie: The Magazine. The magazine is “a movement of people who deliberately seek to courageously live real, just as we are, trusting God’s purpose and design for our lives, just as it is.” I’m super excited about this whole project. I’m just a writer there. But I’ve been watching it grow for a year and A HALF. Join their Facebook page to learn more and be informed of their first issue.
A homeschool project for our summer is working with my kids on a children’s book. They brainstorm ideas, dialogue, storylines, and then I write them. It’s been fun and we’ve laughed, a lot, over scenes. More on that later.
I live on a farm. Ahem paragraph #2. So, I wrote this thing about it. When I write personal stories like this, the awkward middleschool girl comes out. I get sweaty palms. Fidget. Wonder if anybody likes me. It’s obnoxious, really. But I’m calling it. I’m moving on. I’m not caving to fear. Here’s an excerpt from the first newsletter that went out this week. The next one won’t be until next MONTH:
“I’m no Davy Crockett. I don’t live in the woods or pitch yurts like Esther Emery. I don’t even like tent camping.
I hope you had a great week!
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Here’s more on writing from others, for your weekend reading:
“A Brief Guide to Kick-Starting Your Memoir” by Claire De Boer. This is part 1 in a series.
“Making Time to Write When You Have Young Children: Mission Impossible?” by Joanna Penn. Mine are older but boy, it is tough to stay on task with littles.
“When the Writing Runs Dry” by Beth Stiff. This is a raw and honest take on the writing struggles of writing that many of us can relate too.
“Lessons From BuzzFeed on How to Grow and Engage Your Audience” by Dan Blank. I know. Social media can be a monkey on our back going “Oof, oof!” and banging his monkey fists on us, and basically swinging us around ’til we’re dizzy. BUT, if you are stuck with social media, ie books or such, then this one’s for you.
“How to Spot the Extraordinary in Your So-Called ‘Ordinary’ Life” by Lisa-Jo Baker. This would be kinda the opposite direction of the link above this. Because, let’s face it, we need to remember this.
