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Last year, my daughter’s fifth grade reading class was assigned a historical fiction quilt project. Impressed with this assignment, I immediately started brainstorming how this project could be modified, specifically for younger readers. My daughters love to read. They often like to write stories and draw pictures. If you know kids like mine, this could …
As I mentioned in a previous post, I pitched a book at the ACFW Conference in August. In preparation for meetings with editors and agents during that weekend, I filled a spiral-bound book of index cards with important details about the manuscript. The book was small and lightweight, occupying little space in my bag. Though …
When we started attending our church (a large, multi-site church in Cincinnati), I volunteered for Angel Tree, hoping to meet people and make the place feel smaller. I’ve continued to serve with this ministry for the past 11 years because I want to be part of the overwhelming generosity of others in our community. According …
Earlier this fall, I submitted the first five pages of my most recent manuscript for young adults to the 2016 ACFW First Impressions Contest. As I entered this contest for the second year, I was not expecting to win or even be named a Finalist for that matter. My goal was to earn higher scores this …
I’m excited to write this fourth and final post about our November trip to Nicaragua. I’ve had people ask me, “Why Nicaragua? Why now?” These questions can best be answered by my previous posts, but here’s the short answer: In November 2015, we agreed to sponsor a child through a partnership between our church and …
I originally planned three blog posts to highlight our November trip to Nicaragua. (The first two posts can be viewed here). As I began writing this third post about some of our favorite memories, I realized there was too much to tell. Instead, I decided to write about the final day of our Central American …
In my last post, I described how and why I invited God to break me as we climbed Cerro Negro on our first day in Nicaragua. Fast forward to the next morning… During devotionals, we learned we would be working on a project in La Chuscada. Up until three years ago, the people in this …
After a long day of travel, including a four-hour layover in Houston and a lengthy bus ride from Managua to Chinandega, we arrived at Amigos for Christ around 1:30am local time (2:30am at home). We rose four hours later and joined the rest of our group for a delicious breakfast of pancakes, pineapple, rice, and …
As we finalize preparations for our trip to Nicaragua, I’m experiencing a broad range of emotions–mostly excitement, but if I’m being honest, I should mention anxiety, fear, and anger as well. Yes, anger. This week, Travis has battled a nasty eye infection, and Brooke has been fighting a virus that resulted in an ear infection. …
My 11-year-old daughter and I attended Books by the Banks in Cincinnati this October. When we entered the Author Pavilion, she rushed over to meet Chris Grabenstein, the author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. Both of my girls were drawn to the book by the challenging puzzles that were woven into the story. After …