I’ve been making these trips to Mexico for 13 years now, and I've never had stories that made me cry like this one. Jahir (Yah-EER) was the second eldest child of the family who received a house from my team. He was a perfect model of gentle courtesy. He shook hands to greet me and looked me in the eye whenever we spoke. When our American…
Today I introduce you to one of my lifelong friends. I knew Hannah ever since she was born. I opened her first birthday presents for her (I was two years old at the time, and thought myself infinitely more capable) and we have stayed friends through high school, college, marriage, medical school... Name it, and we've probably dealt with it over the phone! Only our first…
It's my pleasure today to introduce you to my good friend Scott. Scott and I originally met at a meeting to discuss the creative future of an arts and news journal that our church was publishing at the time. The journal disappeared, but Scott and I stayed in touch, exchanging stories after we'd discovered we were both aspiring fiction writers. Scott was always generous with praise…
I sat in a room with 200 amazing, powerful, beautiful women this weekend at the 2012 Women's Leadership Summit and was blown away by the mass of ladies ready to change how women interact with culture, business, and society. Through an act of amazing perfection, I attended this event via a work-trade arrangement (read my ecstatic post about all this coming together). I came away with…
I'm honored to introduce you today to Karen. Karen and I met through a writers' group where, once a week, we write for half an hour, then swallow our pride and read out loud whatever we've just scratched out onto the paper to the three people sitting nearest us. It takes courage, and Karen has been very encouraging to me in my work. She also introduced…
It starts with the heart. I ached for my dear friend who had needed to see a career counselor for many painful years, yet life and fear continued to prevent this. I'd lay awake at night, praying there was something I could do. It's scary as hell talk about your future. It often means facing all the corners of life where you settled for "safe." I've…
I'm honored to present to you the person and work of the talented and lovely Hilary Hayes. Hilary and I met through a writing group that I started in my living room. We write together on a frequent basis and I have found so much encouragement through this women. She's kept me pressing onward even when I'd stopping believing I could push anymore. If you'd like…
Please join me in welcoming the beautiful and talented Mary Katherine. Mary Katherine is one of my friends I've known from birth. She was in my wedding and I was in hers. Throughout our teens her, her sister and I were known to write dramatic fantasy stories, as well as tape-record our renditions of such strange things as an interviews with all nine main characters of…
During a recent bout of summer-like weather, I decided to barefoot run. I suggest trying it at least once in your life (find smooth, clean asphalt). The firmness of the ground pounding against your bare feet is incredible. I brushed up against more than asphalt on my run around Green Lake; I got the reminder that sometimes the fastest and easiest way isn't 100% of the…
This post comes from someone very special to me. Adriel has known me since I was born. She was the older sister I never had. Our mothers were sisters who lived in the same city, so Adriel and I, the cousins, grew up with a very tight relationship. I cried with despair when she left for college and I wailed in the bathroom after her wedding…