Faith
Sleeper Posts: My All Time Favorites You Might Have Missed
These posts are what I call sleepers. Not for the fact that they received unexpected recognition like the definition says, but rather they are posts I feel speak to my writing brand “Always Real, Sometimes Raw, Definitely Redemptive,” yet for some reason, they didn’t get a lot of attention, comments, or discussion. I think the…
Change Your Mind
by Brandy Heineman As I started to write this post, the words I typed felt strangely familiar under my fingertips. I checked, and sure enough, I wrote them before in this space last year, which just goes to show that it takes more than a new year to change a person’s mind! The most important…
Abide in Christ
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me…
What it Means to Follow
If God has been teaching me one thing this year, it’s been what it means to follow. Dance has been one giant metaphor for my relationship with God and His leading in my writing career and personal life. While in the past I’ve always tried to follow God’s will for my life, the process in…
The Nature of Art
The opening line of Anne Lamott’s writing memoir Bird by Bird states, “The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth.” As a Christian writer, I often wonder at how truth in fiction is achieved. After studying the parable…
When God Stops by
I confess: I don’t always go to church. Like today, the morning after a jam-packed Lindy Hop weekend with lots of fun, friends, and busyness. Not only is my body tired and achy, but my soul wants quiet…peace. And sometimes that is found at home…alone. So when I awoke this morning, I tended to my…
“Whatever” Teen Devotional for Girls Giveaway
Allia Zobel Nolan is an internationally-published, award-winning author of over 170 children’s and adult trade titles with close to three million books in print. Her books reflect her two main passions, God and cats, and include such varied titles as Cat Confessions: A Kitty-Come-Clean Tell-All Book, The Ten Commandments for Little Ones, and The Worrywart’s…
The Death of a Seed
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” –John 12:24 As writers, we all have our creative processes, complete with our unique ways of getting the job done and our favorite parts of the…
Entrusted with Talents
Recently the Holy Spirit handed me a measuring stick, and I’ve been carrying it around ever since. These moments when God speaks so clearly both ache and inspire at once as He remains at work in my life, changing my heart and mind. In reading through the Gospels, a familiar passage mentioning Judas Iscariot jumped…
God’s Plans Aren’t Changed By Interruptions!
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Romans 8:38 (NLT) I was headed out of town to visit family…