Today I’m thrilled to bring you a guest post from Matt Appling. I discovered him when his book, Life After Art: What You Forgot About Life and Faith Since You Left the Art Room, was released in 2013. He’s a pastor and an artist—an unusual combination, but naturally one I like :-). He’s a great...

Philip Gulley was the keynote speaker at the first Midwest Writers Workshop I attended. In fact, he’s a large part of the reason I went. I was just starting to do some writing—short, 350-word essays in my church bulletin—and Mom read about the conference and saw that he was speaking. She and I both already...

I know you write from a pure heart. I know that when you put words on paper, you dig down deep. You turn your soul inside out to try to express the depths of all that you feel, of all that you see. You hold nothing back. And yet the blog numbers don’t follow. You...

When I first saw Emily Freeman’s A Million Little Ways on a table at Barnes and Noble, I had a little moment. And not a good one. OK, I was consumed with jealousy. I started reading how to “uncover the art you were made to live,” absolutely convinced that she’d already written my book—or at...

I finally have all of my endorsements for my book and can share them! Let me tell you, I felt tons of anxiety knowing that my words were being read by some really incredible authors. And I was blown away by the positive, kind responses. I’m going to share them with you, one at a...

Emily Freeman is one of my favorite bloggers—if you don’t already know her, check out chattingatthesky.com. Every month, she does a “what I learned” post, and this week she’s posting her year-end roundup. I decided to join in the link-up. These are just a few of the things that I learned this last year, in...

So…whaddaya think? I’ll tell you why I like it. It’s hand-painted and hand-lettered (by one of Tyndale’s fabulous designers), so that brings in the art aspect. This optical illusion—the faces and/or chalice—is one that’s featured in the book. (But you’ll have to wait until then to read the whole story behind it.) The image depicts...

Sorry for the silence the last couple of weeks. My RSS feed (an information stream created by my blog) was broken—something so abstract and technological that I was thoroughly stumped until I finally found someone to help. But it [seems to] be fixed again. Yea! Since no emails went out, I thought I’d point you...

Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of God. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

When have you felt closest to God? When have you seen Him in the darkness? I’d love to hear your stories if you’re willing to share. “I will have nothing to do with a God who cares only occasionally. I need a God who is with us always, everywhere, in the deepest depths as well...