If you subscribe to my weekly email, you know that I went to a writing conference called Re:Write last month and it rocked my world. (If you don’t know this, you should probably subscribe to my weekly email. It’s not spammy.) I walked into the conference feeling all jaded and unsure why I had come, thinking maybe God was going to have me quit writing. Whether that was temporary or for a longer period.
You see, things have been hard around here. And weird. We lost Rob’s mom and that is still sinking in, every day. It’s still hard. Every day. My kids’ preschool closed suddenly in January and the lovely, long hours to write and blog and be in a peaceful house were suddenly gone.
I had planned to coach roller derby for my old team the Bosses and skate with a new league Yellow Rose Roller Girls, where I had been elected co-captain. With the emotional weight and the pressure of everything, I knew I couldn’t handle it. I quit coaching and thought that would be enough, but still felt like it was too much, so I quit skating. I had been with the Bosses in some capacity for six years. SIX YEARS. And coming back to skating with a new league brought me so much joy. So this was HARD. Really, really hard.
Was God going to make me quit everything? This is what I wondered going into the conference. I felt like it was a cruel joke. I wanted to be prepared, just in case.
Instead, I felt the freshness of life. Prayer invigorated me and ideas flamed alive. I may have cried a little.
I have been a busy little writer since then. Thinking thoughts, praying prayers. Writing words. A LOT of words. Sending words across the internet world to people on the other side who may or may not want to help put them in print. I am like that photo of Quin up top, skipping the food and going straight for the whole dang table in my mouth at one time.
Want to read some things? Right now I have a short story called “The Tunnel” (that I read at my thesis reading in grad school) up on WattPad, which is a free place for writers to share work. I’m just getting started there and feel like a tourist dropped into the middle of a rush hour in a city where I don’t know the language, but I’ll get there. Click HERE to read it. (You may have to sign up for a free account.)
I am also offering Church Isn’t Cute over on NoiseTrade. If you don’t know NoiseTrade, you are missing out on free music and books. Don’t think Napster. It’s artists and authors who want to offer their books and music to help find fans and create fans. It’s lovely. When I get there, I binge-download songs and books, so watch out. My Easter devotional workbook, Consider the Cross, is also there for free. So much FREE!
And I’m still here, blogging. Though Quin took the wheel for a bit. And I updated one of my go-to recipes with better photos. There is simply NOTHING like these Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins, you guys. Go eat them. Your kids will call them cupcakes and you will go through more than two batches in a week’s time. Trust me. 