“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” (Psalm 92:14 NIV) Late last spring, like a lot of other people during the pandemic, I experimented with container gardening. Conditions were far from ideal when I took the last, wrinkled grape tomato from the basket and just stuck it in…
I never wanted to be a writer. The written word was for people whose brains operated differently than mine. Much of college was dodging professors who assigned papers in favor of those who leaned on exams. Grad school was an exercise in getting papers finished as efficiently and quickly as possible. Being an analytical thinker…
It’s award season in the Christian literary world. Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with writing contests. Being named a finalist or winner is wonderful for promotion, affirmation, celebrating great writing, and receiving helpful feedback from judges. For those reasons, I do enter a book into one or more contests most years that I have…
When was the last time you cracked open a book that you really wanted to read? Reading for work or school doesn’t count. I’m talking about that pile accumulating on your nightstand or in an electronic device. I get it. Reading can be hard to fit in. I shared five ways to make time for…
It has been said often that refusing to forgive someone is like drinking poison and hoping that your enemy dies. In many ways, this is true. Unforgiveness is often far more damaging to the one holding on to it than to the one who has committed the offense. God knows that, and He doesn’t want…
In 2006 I attended a “Girlfriends Night Out” fellowship at my church. The speaker asked us to rewrite Mary’s conversation with Gabriel beginning in Luke 1:29, but using our names and making it personal. During that period in my life, my children were slowly drifting into their own lives. I knew being a full-time mom…
March brings with it several things: March Madness (I’m more of a football girl, myself). The start of springtime. And good ol’ St. Paddy’s Day. Now, there’s a really neat Christian backstory in the life of St. Patrick the man, but when I think of St. Patrick’s Day, it floods me with fond memories from…
[Alyssa Roat] Disabilities in Fiction
Picture Credit: Dysautonomia International I’ve always been a reader, and like anyone else, I love an inspirational story. And what’s more inspirational than miraculous healings, rising above disabilities and illnesses, or an able-bodied person learning lessons from someone who has it worse? There’s a place for that. Especially since fiction is just that, fictional. But…
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