The other day I was getting ready to go for a run when it occurred to me: I’d be more comfortable in my other pair of shorts. I also knew I would enjoy the run more if I downloaded an
What’s your deepest fear?” That’s the question I asked in a recent survey of writers and other creatives, and following were some of the responses: “That people will see the real me and discover it’s not all that great.” “That
Recently we had to send out the dreaded “OP” letter again. It goes something like this: Dear Author and Agent: We are writing to inform you that due to low marketplace demand for your book, we have decided to discontinue
Last summer a friend and I went to an outdoor concert at Frederick Meijer Gardens here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have an amphitheater there, a large stage up front with a leaf-shaped canopy and terraced grass-covered seating for a
At my local YMCA, the gym where I’m a member, you go one direction to lift weights or use machines. You go the other direction to attend one of the group fitness classes. Earlier this week I decided, for the
Recently I asked some writers about their deepest fear when it comes to writing. One of them flatly said “rejection.” Another said, “Will publishers take me seriously if I don’t have a platform?” I hear versions of this all the
The other day I walked past my bookshelf, and this juxtaposition caught my eye—two books that have no business being next to each other. The one is an Advent devotional titled Preparing for Jesus: Meditations on the Coming of Christ,
Chasing a dream can be tough. It takes perseverance–sometimes more perseverance than we’ve ever had to muster in the past. Chasing a dream stretches us in ways we’ve never been stretched. I tend to think we actually become different people
My son and I recently learned about electric motors. In fact, thanks to our friends Gretchen and Bill, we were able to build one through a service called Tinker Crate, which I highly recommend. So we were working on this
Once there was a woman who wanted to help people with a product she had in mind, so she started a company. She read about similar products, and began creating hers. She tested and tweaked it until it was just
Stand up, everybody,” the perky lady said from up front. “We’re going to do a little stand-in-place yoga to get our blood moving.” Great, I thought to myself. Comfortably seated at a conference with two hundred strangers, I was not
Recently our family was getting settled around the dinner table when our seven-year-old son halted all his usual bounciness and pointed. “What’s that?” he asked, staring out the back door. We all looked to discover a young hawk perched on one of our