Author * Speaker
“I believe that enjoying your work with all your heart is the only truly subversive position left to take as a creative person these days. It’s such a gangster move, because hardly anybody ever dares to speak of creative enjoyment aloud, for fear of not being taken seriously as an artist. So be the weirdo […]
Read MoreThis weekend, The Cherubs learned that their New Mom knows nothing about grammar. Even though she’s a writer. They are horrified. #1 Cherub came home with a worksheet on homophones. “What’s a homophone?” I asked. I thought it might be a project for his tech-ed class. He stared at me, wide eyed. “You don’t know?” […]
Read MoreLast night I was going through documents on my computer, trying to bring order to the chaos. I found notes from a talk I gave a couple of years ago at a women’s retreat in Maryland, called “Shalom Shattered.” It stuck with me, especially after reading Sarah Bessey’s blog yesterday about how reluctant we are to […]
Read MoreIt has been a fabulous reading week for me. I’ll tell you about three books I’ve loved, and then a bit about what I’m trying to do with what they’ve taught me. Consider it part of Project Stretch & Grow. (Which is not actually a project, but makes me smile when I think of it […]
Read MoreI’m listening to a series of talks right now on “Effortful Growth.” It’s by my friend Jordan, and he’s arguing (in a nutshell) that we need to put some elbow grease into life if we want to be fruitful. Healthy things grow, as the saying goes, so we should want to do that. I’m in […]
Read MoreSometimes people ask me how I still have my faith after all that we’ve been through. I never know what to say. The truth is, I’ve been trying to figure that out for the better part of two years now. Memoir #3 is hopelessly bogged down in this quagmire, my narrative arc looking like a […]
Read MoreSome of you have asked when I’ll post pictures of The Cherubs. I’d love to! Once you see them you’ll fall in love. But that’s a ways down the road, for a couple of reasons. The most obvious is that we’re not allowed. Our status right now is that we’re The Cherubs’ foster/pre-adoptive parents until […]
Read MoreIt’s been an interesting week for me artistically. I’m listening to three songs from Nichole Nordeman’s long-awaited new project, The Unmaking. The basic theme is that sometimes God tears down all the things we build and leaves us standing there, wondering what to do next. Then He rebuilds in ways we never could have imagined. As […]
Read MoreI don’t struggle with forgiveness because the Psalms -particularly the ones scrawled by King David – are perfect for people like me who don’t get over things immediately or think loving thoughts of light and healing in the face of an ugliness and betrayal. The Psalms assure me that people who do wicked things? They. […]
Read MoreThe Cherubs started school today. As my Southern friends would say, THANK THE SWEET LORD BABY JESUS. I’m not sure how it is for other families, but our little blossoms need structure to bloom. And while I’m acing the whole love/feed/clothe them aspect of parenting, the creation of structure is not my strength. So I’m […]
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Trish Ryan 