Posts Tagged ‘Guest posters’
Grace. It Just Is. (Guest Post by Jules Middleton)
I think we often talk a good game about God’s grace – we note how it is sufficient. Or abundant. Or amazing. But, what does it actually mean? Trying to suss out what grace is, is almost impossible, there are just too many answers, too many variations or possibilities. But we all have our own interpretations of grace, based on our own experiences of God, and that is so valuable.
I mean you can talk to someone all you like about God and they can put up objections and questions and arguments, but tell them your own story and it’s a different matter.
It’s much harder to dismiss someone’s personal experience, when you hear it from their own mouth.
Read MoreMaking Peace With My Weirdness (Guest Post by Holly Pennington)
Today I’m delighted to welcome my friend Holly Pennington to my blog. Holly is a uniquely gifted writer, blogger from near Seattle, US. She writes about vulnerability, and faith, and has so much wisdom to share. Take it away Holly!
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I’ve never tried to be weird. But I have always felt weird. No purple spiky hair, grunge obsessions or gothic dress phases. Not even a single tiny hidden tattoo. Growing up in the 1980’s, I was a predictable Guess jeans-wearing suburban kid.
But I did own a pair of red plaid Doc Martens once. To be exact, I was only part-owner. My sister and I shared them. We simultaneously fell in love with them but Doc Martens weren’t cheap, so we each paid half. When I went away to college, I took them with me just until my next visit home; then, her turn. Being part-time keeper of the boots somehow made my love for them stronger.
Treading across the Wake Forest University quad, an insecure thumb tucked under each backpack strap and self-conscious eyes fixed downward, the surprise of my feet clad in red plaid filled me with a distinct burst of joy. I felt daring in my Doc Martens. My connection to them was made of courage, awe and a tinge of rebellion.
But, what made me feel weird was not my style; it was my interests.
Read MoreLetter To Me: Rhiannon Hall
In 2014 I ran a series of guest posts by writer friends, all writing a letter to themselves – either a past self from their present self, or to their present self from their future self.
This inspired my friend Rhiannon Hall, who wrote a letter to herself, and shared it with me. I loved it so much, I got her permission to share it here.
Rhiannon’s is a powerful, moving & courageous letter. So here it is:
Dear 37 Year Old Rhiannon Hall,
First, breathe.
I swear that I remember sitting there starting to reading this… I know you feel that tightness in your chest and you think you are about to cry because you want answers and life seems so complicated and scary. Just do us a favor and breathe for a minute.
Then read on. (And I know you are now fully crying and that’s okay.)
I am proud of you for getting where you are at the moment you are living in. 2015 changed a lot of things for us, didn’t it?
You risked so much to become whole and truly live your authentic life.
Read MoreFear vs Trust (Guest Post by Nancy Kay Grace)
Hi friends. Today I’m delighted to be welcoming Nancy Kay Grace to my blog. She is a speaker & author from Arkansas, in the US. She has contributed to several anthology books, and been in ministry over 40 years. Nancy has recently launched her new book, ‘The Grace Impact’. Grace is one of the things I’m most passionate about, and today Nancy shares more about this with us:
“The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1)
Fears can grip and paralyze us, becoming larger than reality. When faced with fears, we have a choice: to look at the fear and let it grow larger or focus on the Lord in deeper trust. When we trust the Lord in fearful situations we grow in understanding His grace. In the below abridged segment from The Grace Impact, we are encouraged to look to the Lord to press out our fears:
Read MoreHow To Overcome Burnout (Guest Post by Brenda McGraw)
I’ve been taking a little break from blogging, but I’ll be back next week. Meanwhile, today I have another guest post for you all. I’m delighted to host my friend Brenda McGraw on this site.
Brenda is a author & speaker from South Carolina, a heart attack & cancer survivor who now helps people find joy beyond the complexities of modern life.
Today she’s sharing on an interesting perspective on an important subject – how we handle the burnout many of us today experience. I’ll be blogging around this topic soon myself. So, over to Brenda:
How do you handle burnout? When life just gets to be overwhelming and is coming at you faster than you can keep up with it, what happens? Do you shut down purposely? Or are you the one who keeps pushing yourself until you get sick and have to shut down?
Are we listening to our bodies when they are yelling at us that they are “stressed out,” or are we avoiding the signs of stress or burnout?
Read MoreThe Ordinariness Of Grace (Guest Post by Ashley Hales)
Today I’m honoured to host Ashley Hales on the blog. Ashley is a blogger, author and mum who loves talking about story, and believes deeply in the power of story to shape us. She’s an excellent writer & become a good friend, I’m delighted to host her here, talking today about grace. So without further ado, over to Ashley:
This post was going to be about how grace is violent, how it knocks us down and changes our categories and realigns our desires. Something akin to how Flannery O’Connor unites grace with the grotesque in daily ways. Grace does do that – it rushes in and knocks you down.
But it’s the quietness of grace, its small and ordinariness, that I want to tell you about.
You see, I grew up on a diet of “you can be anything you want to be” and “the world is your oyster.” And as an entire generation who is coming to age now knows, such statements just don’t hold water anymore.
You can’t be anything you want. You can’t just live an exotic life and get rich quick. You can no longer simply work your way up the corporate ladder and arrive at the pinnacle of success.
Read More10 Things To Know About Bisexuality (Guest Post by Liz Mallory)
Today we continue the series on LGBT & faith. We’ll conclude next week with a personal story, but today, we have a guest post from Liz Mallory, who I guest posted for last week. She’s a Christian, a great writer, a married woman, and a bisexual.
Bisexuality is rarely talked about in context of faith – and today Liz bravely dispels some common myths surrounding bisexuality & bisexuals.
I’m delighted to welcome Liz here.
I am a woman. I’m attracted to women, men, and genderqueer individuals. I’m married to a man whom I love dearly. And I’m a Jesus follower.
I’ve known for years my attractions weren’t “normal.” But it took me until 2014 to have a name for what I am: bisexual.
Bisexuals are called a lot of things we aren’t: polyamorous, loose, unfaithful, sex-obsessed, questioning, slutty. None of those things describe who I am. For a long time I went back and forth between calling myself lesbian and straight. Neither fit right.
All this could have been avoided if I’d known what bisexual actually means.
Read More4 Secrets To Inviting Creativity (Guest Post by Shannon Trindade)
Today I’m delighted to be hosting Shannon Trindade here on the blog. Shannon is a writer, blogger and communications pro who helps business & individuals all over the world connect better with their audience.
She’s an excellent writer & communicator & has a powerful message about creativity to share with us today. So, without further ado, over to Shannon…
If you’re like me, you’d do almost anything to experience more “ah-ha moments”. Those moments of pure creative energy are priceless.
In addition to feeling euphoric, creative moments allow us to experience being connected to something bigger than ourselves. More accurately, it’s a type of connection beyond what our brains can comprehend, control, and measure.
So how do we get more creativity in our lives?
It’s clear you can’t force creativity and ah-ha moments into your life, but you can help them evolve naturally.
Read MoreLetter To Me: Vicki Nelson
As I mentioned earlier in the week, for the rest of the month I’m going to be running several guest posts, whilst I focus on some other important work (which I’ll let you know about in due course). And this includes a new blog series, beginning today – called ‘A Letter To Me’.
A while back I posted a blog which was a letter from my older self to my current self. I shared about this on Facebook, and it resonated with quite a few of you. In fact, some of you offered to share your own. So in the next month or two, I’m going to be sharing a few with you.
Today, I’m hosting the awesome Vicki Nelson – so without further ado, it’s over to Vicki!
Hey you,
Recognize me? I hope not, not completely anyway. I hope when you receive this letter, you will make some changes. And by the time you get here, meeting me in this spot, there will only be glimmers of you left, the bright spots, your wit, your courage, your ability to make others smile.
Life hasn’t slowed down for you. I have to tell you that, because I know you, and you will always want to stay busy. So I’m letting you in on this secret – stay well, take care of yourself. You will need it. Your knees are a little weaker now, a few more tweaks in that back, and those random pains that hit your body, well, they still do. But you will persevere, you always do.
Do you ever wished you hadn’t abused your body quite so much? That you hadn’t driven it, constantly working out? And for what?
Read MoreBorn To Live (Guest Post by Brooke Lynn)
For the rest of this month I’m going to be running a few guest posts, whilst I work some other projects (more on those soon). This will include a new blog series, which begins Wednesday.
Today however I’m honoured to host the awesome Brooke Lynn, with a powerful guest post I know you’re going to love. So, it’s over to Brooke…
Have you ever wondered who you really are, or what your purpose is in life?
I asked myself these questions for many years, comparing myself to people and measuring my worth against them. I chased after identity, success, love, value and good looks. I assumed beauty was in the outward appearance and I became obsessed with my body trying to achieve the air-brushed model look in magazines.
This only led me onto a road of self-destruction with eating disorders and disappointment while striving to meet unreachable expectations.
As a child, we have a tendency to believe what we are told. This is when I began to believe the words spoken deep into my soul; I was worthless, ugly, fat, unwanted, and never good enough.
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