Blog

February 1, 2024Like

From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Storytelling Secrets to Inspire Change

Leave a Comment

Today, I want to talk about something crucial for all of us working in nonprofits or ministries: the power of storytelling.

If you have a passion for making a positive impact in the world, you have a story to tell about why you do what you do.

But do you tell that story effectively? Powerful storytelling is a skill that makes your message memorable and impacts people on a deeper level.

I’ve been working in the nonprofit sector for many years now, and I’ve come to realize how important it is to be able to tell my story in

Read More
November 8, 2023Like

THIS IS WHY You Never Pick Up a Pumpkin By Its Stalk

Leave a Comment


A Thanksgiving meditation for you, from this writer currently baking pumpkin pies in Georgia…

Before we begin, brace yourself for a shocking revelation. The canned “pumpkin” sold in the stores is a different vegetable than the orange pumpkins sold in the produce department. Growers raise specialty squash grown just for the canning companies.

Once I learned that, I was determined not to support poser pumpkins. I buy real pie pumpkins every year, then roast and puree them for my pumpkin pie. (see below for the EASIEST way to roast a pie pumpkin—or any hard winter squash)

And

Read More
April 24, 2021Like

Today, Find the Light

3 comments

It’s peach growing season here in North Georgia, although if you remember my video from last season, you know that the most important work happens in winter. Before anyone knows anything green is going to sprout. Life is like that…we have to work when everything looks flat and dead. If I put all my effort in at harvest time, I won’t actually have much to bring in.

But right now is when I have

Read More
October 21, 2020Like

The Best Resources for Parents in the Age of Online Bullying

Leave a Comment

A brief interview with Ginger Garrett about online bullying and the surprising (and free!) resource available to any parent:

And if you’d like a great list of books to recommend to your kids, start here: 9 Novels for Kids Who Feel Like Outsiders

9 Novels for Kids Who Feel Like Outsiders

Here’s a wildly true story, and what I tell the kids I mentor about the power of owning your story. This is the reason I wrote NAME TAGS & OTHER SIXTH GRADE DISASTERS (Carolrhoda, September 2020) and I hope you’ll consider buying a copy for your favorite kid, school, or community program.

 

Read More
May 21, 2020Like

Let Me Send You a Gift!

1 comment

I’ve been sending cards and notes like crazy during the pandemic. Why? Because I read a study that when we receive a note in the mail, our body releases oxytocin, the same hormone that we feel when we get a hug from a friend. And since we aren’t getting a lot of hugs right now, I think opening a note from a friend is the next best thing. And I want to send you a note, too. So here’s how we’re going to do it:

When you pre-order NAME TAGS & OTHER SIXTH GRADE DISASTERS, send me an email with

Read More
May 15, 2020Like

NAME TAGS & OTHER SIXTH GRADE DISASTERS

Leave a Comment

When twelve-year old Lizbeth has to start sixth grade all over again at a new school because of her parents’ divorce, she gets stuck sitting with the Weirdos. She’s also forced to wear a name tag until everyone learns her name—or makes up a new one for her. Meanwhile, all her plans to reunite her parents go awry as she accidentally saves the school arts program and stands up for outsiders everywhere. Oh, and did I mention there’s a SuperChicken?

You’ll laugh out loud, shed a tear at the ending, and close the book with a big huge grin.

We

Read More
April 22, 2020Like

One encouraging thought for today

Leave a Comment

“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”
Augustine

This morning I listened to a professor from Oxford ask the question, “Can anything new be written about Jesus?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, presumably because there could be none, but I wanted to shout across the Atlantic.

“Well, yes, actually. You are here, aren’t you?”

And since Jesus is a physical representation of God’s unconditional, all-powerful love, it follows that a new story of unconditional, all powerful love can be told today through you.

In the middle of a

Read More
April 1, 2020Like

Will This Be Your Year of Wonders?

Leave a Comment

As I read the incredible article below, I couldn’t help but reflect on a scripture that’s been on my mind all week:

“Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Jesus.” Acts 4

May it be.

And now, enjoy this amazing article from Kerry McDonald at the Foundation for Economic Education, published on Friday, March 27, 2020:

College students around the world left campus this month, unsure when they would return and what daily life would look like until then. Forced to leave their friends and classmates

Read More