Writing, Acting, Living in God's Love
Thanks for showing up! Click the tabs at the top for pages that lead you to my books and other published work, as well as information about the theater company I perform with.
This home page gives you blog posts, starting with my most recent, including resources for churches, families and your relationship with God. I try to be helpful and get to the point – there is, after all, already so much blah, blah, blogging about how to live!
I have a love-hate relationship with my neighborhood, which is also the setting for my new novel. We moved here to be near downtown, be near our church, and be present in an urban neighborhood that was struggling. We figured that at the very least, we could help by paying city taxes and keeping up a pretty old house.
That was 26 years ago, and the place is pretty much embedded in my heart, for better and worse. College Hill is a mix of beauty and despair, with crumbling public housing right next to fairytale old mansions. I love its huge trees, surrounding woods, elegant architecture and the outstanding kindness of many of its residents. I hate the poverty, the garbage on the streets, the emptiness in the eyes of young people hanging out on corners.
The novel I just finished, “Someone They Can Trust” is set in this neighborhood, with characters attending a church there that is grappling with the brokenness of the community. Belonging to a church a lot like the one in the novel has shaped most of my adult life. There I’ve learned everything from staging plays to running a tutoring program, to trimming hedges..
I’ve been enriched by the goodness of hundreds of people, hundreds of events, thousands of worship services. I’ve been tired out to a point of flatness by the problems of poverty, racism, violence and faithlessness in our community.
All those years of the best and the worst of this place have shaped the story arc of this novel. The fictional events take place in a real church, real houses nearby, a real coffee shop and a beautiful bed and breakfast down the road. Spring Grove Cemetary is as much as a gorgeous retreat property for the main characters as it has been for me.
“Someone They Can Trust” is a book about God showing up and healing people in a challenging neighborhood, because that’s what I’ve experienced here. It’s good to know that God does wonderful things even in tough places. That’s why I wrote this book.
“Someone You Can Trust”, my new novel, releases on Amazon on May 23. For more information, subscribe to the author email at the bottom of this post.
In the novel, “Someone They Can Trust”, black people and white people go to church together, pray together and study the Bible together.
This shouldn’t be a big deal, given that the Bible presents a vision of God’s kingdom welcoming every single people group, but the U.S.A. has an abysmal record regarding racial equity, and our churches are mostly segregated.
The black church has been a place of refuge and safety for generations of African Americans, so it’s understandable if they want their churches to stay segregated.
There are many reasons why white churches are segregated – they may reflect the reality of all-white surroundings, they may not know how to go about being welcoming to people of color even if they want to, or they may contain outright racists. Or all of the above.
Despite these wrenching realities, the bigger reality is that God’s Spirit of love is always working to break down barriers of race, class, age, belief and education. This novel shows a church allowing that to happen. We need to be able to replicate churches that are safe for people of color, which are also attended by white people. That’s why I wrote this book.
“Someone You Can Trust”, my new novel, releases on Amazon on May 23. For more information, subscribe to the author email at the bottom of this post.
The novel I recently finished, “Someone They Can Trust”, takes place in a church a lot like mine, in a neighborhood a lot like mine. Because the setting will be familiar to some readers, I want to make one thing really clear – the abusive pastor in this novel is radically different from any pastor I have ever had in any church I’ve ever been to. I have only ever known pastors who are kind, decent, respectful and morally above reproach.
So if anyone reads an excerpt and recognizes my setting, please don’t think I’m talking about any of its pastors!
The fictional pastor in the book, is a compilation character who emerged from several alarming stories I heard from friends. Unfortunately these kinds of stories keep emerging in national media, and holding abusive leaders accountable doesn’t seem to be a strong suit for our churches. If we can’t discipline our leaders in a biblical way, we have a problem on our hands – that’s why I wrote this book.
“Someone They Can Trust” is available for preorder on Amazon Kindle.
“Someone You Can Trust”, my new novel, releases on Amazon on May 23. For more information, subscribe to the author email at the bottom of this post.
A psychologist in my writer’s group read some passages in my latest novel and said, “This is the first book I’ve ever read that has a passage incorporating prayer for inner healing.”
There aren’t too many novels that incorporate healing prayer of any kind, at least not that I’ve found. Leif Enger’s “Peace Like a River” is one luminous exception, and years ago I read a novel by Agnes Sanford, a well-known leader of the Anglican charismatic movement in the mid 20th century, but it was a pretty bad fiction (her non-fiction books are wonderful).
Through prayers, I have seen God straighten out a bent spine, reverse a spina bifida diagnosis, melt away a brain tumor, and salvage someone’s fading sight. I have experienced prayer for mental and emotional issues that substantially reduced my symptoms of depression and anxiety, and gave me courage to realign myself in messed up relationships. I’m convinced that God wants to heal us.
So in the course of this novel, two of the three protagonists, Maya and Janice, experience substantial healing in sessions with a therapist who also prays (therapists who pray in sessions are rare, but there are a few out there.) Maya, who spent time with missionaries in rural China, also prays for people’s physical healing, a normative practice among the Christians she knew there. My training as a reporter makes me scrupulous about writing true scenes – even in fiction, I only write it if I’ve seen it happen or heard of it firsthand from a credible source.
Many people assume that illness is caused by God, or that God is indifferent to it. My experiences have turned such theology upside down. That’s why I wrote this book.
“Someone They Can Trust” is new novel releasing on Amazon on May 23. For more information, subscribe to my author email list at the end of this post…
It’s funny how something can be simmering in you and you don’t know it until you start writing. I didn’t know how angry I was about the sexually abusive behavior of some prominent Christian leaders until I began writing, “Someone They Can Trust.”
I think I was even more disappointed in the institutional leaders surrounding these people – those with more conscience who knew something was wrong and didn’t have the courage to do anything about it.
“Someone They Can Trust” is by no means a wrenching, heartbreaking novel – most of its characters are endearing, witty and love God. However, it is a novel that pulls no punches about how much damage a broken pastor can do to a church, and the responsibility of other leaders to deal with it head-on. That’s why I wrote this book.
I recall talking to my husband one night after everyone else had gone home after our small group meeting. I was frustrated.
“There are three people who hardly say anything,” I complained. “Why don’t they talk?”
There was a meaningful pause, then Bill said, “They don’t get a chance.”
Defensiveness stirred in me, painful self awareness dawning. “What do you mean?”
“Well, some people need a pause in the conversation. It takes a few seconds to gather their thoughts. But if the extroverts just keep talking, there’s never a pause.”
I’m an extrovert.
“So you think me and ___________ and _____________ talk too much?”
Bill was wonderfully diplomatic, “Try the 15-second rule,” he said. “Some of us need a silence that long before we’re ready to talk.”
15 seconds? Why on earth? Well, it turns out that there are two kinds of people – the ones who think before speaking, and the ones who are thinking as they speak. I’m the latter and thought everyone else was too. (Actually, sometimes I speak before I think. That’s usually not helpful.)
So I started trying the 15-second rule. Sure enough, those pauses often resulted in introverts speaking up. I thought they’d been withholding or checking out, when actually they’d just needed me to shut up for a minute. Lesson learned.
That’s what’s so great about an ongoing small group where people commit and just keep showing up. There will inevitably be friction (the ‘storming’ phase of group dynamics) and every moment of friction is an opportunity for us to learn about ourselves and each other.
It’s the emotional equivalent of working out. Not till we excercise our relationship muscles do we realize what’s out of shape, what needs strengthening, what lacks stamina. We show up whether we feel like it or not and we grow in love.
Of course, the group has to have norms that keep it safe for everyone. A toxic group won’t help us grow in love. In a group, for example, where no one is aware of the dynamics and taking responsibility, the extroverts will chatter on and the introverts will check out. It will be our growing up years all over again.
Here are some ideas for making sure everyone gets a chance to participate in a healthy way:
It’s really important that groups do strive for this balance of interaction; otherwise they’ll fizzle. Attendance will start to drop off. Learning to be present for each other and for ourselves at the same time is a key skill, necessary for unity and equity.
15 seconds may seem like a long time to pause, but if it gives introverts a chance to be heard, and extroverts a chance to quietly reflect, everyone wins.
Ok, maybe disaster is too strong a word. Call it extreme discomfort, stinging regret, and probable loss of relationship. When people seek out a church small group for growth and support, they’re acting on a need for good relationships, so it’s doubly disappointing when they join a group and get hurt.
Leaders need to take responsibilithy for setting a loving, respectful tone. More than that, groups need to come up with some ground rules that help everyone feel safe. I’m going to start by just diving into how I’ve personally messed up in my group. Call it a cautionary tale.
So we had a terrific, high functioning, homogenous group when a new couple joined. Basking in our automatic harmony, we neglected to review the norms of our group with them. We covered some basics, like when we met and what we did and the need not to break confidentiality, but we’d forgotten some of the rules that had become so ingrained they were not longer spoken.
One of them – the right to ask one another hard questions to help each other be accountable and make biblical choices.
One meeting, the newest woman began to complain about a relational problem, and I asked her a very personal question about that relationship. She looked stunned.
After several long seconds, she said, “I’m gonna plead the fifth on that one.”
And I realized – we hadn’t talked to this new couple about accountability at all. My question came out of left field for her. She had never granted permission for us to ask that kind of question, and as a person who had no experience in a Christian community, it just seemed intrusive and judgy to her.
I think her trust in me took a few backward steps that day, and it would have been avoidable if we’d been more clear during the onboarding process.
Couples can be tricky in group settings. Common wisdom in group dynamics is that people in the group should say what they have to say to the whole group, without breaking into factions. This keeps everyone in the loop with no one feeling excluded. Nothing destroys a group like people talking behind one another’s backs.
But couples have a prior allegience to one another that has to be considered. One fateful meeting, a wife spoke openly about an unresolved conflict with her husband that put him in an unflattering light, and everyone in the group heard her out. A few faltering comments were made offering support to both of them, but none of us really knew how to handle it.
The husband was angry and shocked that the whole group allowed this interaction. He felt threatened and walked out, and they didn’t return to the group.
As we analyzed how to keep something like that from ever happening again, we settled on the rule that no marital conflict should be brought up within the small group unless the couple has previously discussed it and agreed to seek the group’s guidance and support.
That wasn’t the first time one spouse had used the group as a place to seek help with a marital issue at the other spouse’s expense, but you can bet it was the last.
As someone with a degree in counseling, I’d had a sense all along that we were venting too much about our spouses, but I never did anything about it until we lost two people from our group.
I’m the biggest whiner of all, so I’m mostly talking to myself here. I think sometimes getting empathy from my small group, and having my problems prayed for, made me slower to do things I needed to do to take better care of myself.
For instance, I’ve suffered depression my whole life, but didn’t go on an antidepressant till I was 40. Having wonderful friends who listened and cared probably kept me from suffering worse depression, but I should have tried the drug a lot sooner!
There’s a fine line between venting in a healthy, honest way, and whining too much, but we have to help each other find it. We need to get comfortable with offering patient, affirming support and respectfully encouraging action. Some groups stay stuck by supporting an unhealthy status quo (like when we complain about our churches). Some groups stay stuck by trying to fix each other all the time without truly understanding and empathizing first.
Truly loving each other will help us avoid both. Love comforts and speaks truth at the same time.
The Bible is full of guidance for how to relate to one another. Small groups are the perfect place to learn this guidance and put it into immediate practice. We work on getting it right with good hearted people who are all committed to the process and playing by the same rules. That strenthens us to go out and relate well to the rest of the world, to bring in the same peace and joy where we live and work.
Because of my small group, I can bring three insights to any situation:
Have you ever been in a group situation where you’ve failed to communicate clear expectations and suffered for it? How would you handle it differently now?
Fourth in a Series on Why to Join a Small Group
The span of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas brings out the best and the worst in us.
One minute, we’re selflessly loading up groceries for families in need, the next – snapping at store clerks for making us wait too long in line. One minute, we’re wiping away tears at the touching message of a Christmas movie, the next – groaning at the prospect of Christmas day drama with our own families.
It’s an intense time. The hopes and fears of all the years kind of crash in on us, exaggerating joy and pain.
Small groups can help with all that. Over the years I’ve been in a Christian small group, we’ve always followed our Bible study with a time of sharing what we need prayers for.
That bimonthly discipline of meeting and praying gives everyone a chance to process how they’re feeling about approaching events. Over many Novembers and Decembers, I’ve heard a lot of statements like:
“Pray that I’ll be able to get everything done. I feel like I’m racing my advent calendar.”
“I hate shopping. We don’t have the money and I never know what to get.”
“Holiday’s aren’t the same now that Mom’s gone. Pray that we’ll figure out how to keep everyone together.”
“Pray that my _____________ doesn’t start an argument about ___________________ when we get together.”
It helps to talk about our plans and struggles with people who care, to people who want to help us keep God at the center of everything. I know that with the support and prayers of people in my small group, I’ve been able to navigate the holidays with more grace, and bring more joy to what I’m doing. I don’t think all those plays, parties, outreach events with church or family dinners would have gone so well if I hadn’t had a place to angst about them and get them prayed for!
Small groups can be especially important to people who are too far from their families to join them for holidays, or too stressed by their family dynamics to enjoy them. A low key holiday meal with a small group can be so refreshing, either as a substitute for celebrating with family, or something you do beforehand.
In our group, everyone brings one dish to the meal, we skip the presents, and we focus on the good that God has brought into our lives. Often someone will do a reading, or lead a song, and we usually throw in a game. When our kids were little, they’d often do a short Christmas play with an adult narrating. Those moments made for some fabulous memories, and some of those kids are friends for life.
We can’t choose our families; some of us have terrific families and some of us dread getting together with them. But we can all choose a small group of kind people who care for each other, and we can set up ways of relating that keep everyone safe.
A group like that keeps us centered in God’s love and gives us strength for whatever stresses the season might bring.
The recent election led me to reflect on the odd reality that my Christian small group, my most intimate friend group, is full of people on the other side of the political fence from me. How can this be?
Two reasons, I think. One is the reality that all of us know God is bigger than the USA, Jesus is more important than any other affiliation, and our unifying task is to follow Jesus and serve people his way. We rally around one big story, and one guidebook we’ve come to believe is ultimately reliable. The guidebook sees love at the center of everything, so there’s that.
The second reason is that there’s a magic that happens when people commit to meeting regularly and helping each other grow. As long as we agree on some norms that give structure and protect each other from our innate selfishness, it works really well. You can go as diverse as you like. Mix up ages, races, and walks of life. Welcome people with strange ways of speaking, weird clothes, or different political convictions.
I’ll go into more detail on group norms next post, but suffice to say, we work on listening well, we keep our tones respectful and we choose to love. Here’s the beginning of a conversation I had with one of the other members of our small group:
Me: I think most of the people in our small group voted differently than me.
Friend: I think you’re right.
Only read this paragraph if you last voted Democrat: It became clear to me as we talked that my friend was utterly misinformed, deceived by the misinformation spewed by ultra-right news sources.
Only read this paragraph if you last voted Republican: It became clear to my friend as we talked that I was utterly misinformed, deceived by the misinformation spewed by liberal news sources.
All resume reading: How could such a longtime friend, such a sensible, loving person, buy into this craziness? How could they be trusted with family secrets and be called on for help at a moment’s notice and yet buy into a belief system that was :
It was unsettling. Nevertheless, we kept listening to each other without interrupting. We surrendered the need to convince the other to snap out of their delusions. We spoke out of our decisions to choose love over political outrage, and stay connected.
And that’s what we keep doing, week after week, year after year. That’s how, in these barbaric times, you hold together a small group. That’s how you hold together a church. That’s how you hold together a nation.
Question for Reflection: When did you last have a respectful, productive, political discussion with someone who voted differently than you?
Second in a series on why to join a small group
In 1994, the year after we got married, my husband and I started a Christian small group. We’re still in the same group. Here’s why:
I was 32 when we decided to invite some friends to a weekly evening gathering, where we’d do a Bible study and pray for one another. I’d like to say my motivation was an abundance of holiness, but no, it was more – neediness.
I’d been married for a year, after more than ten years of wanting to be married, seeking and hoping and praying to be married. But after a year of being married, to the best of men, I was surprised to find myself lonely. All those rom coms had oversold romantic love. A husband wasn’t enough. A husband and God weren’t even enough. We needed something else.
We both had good families, and good jobs. We belonged to a strong church, had friends and hobbies. We traveled, we volunteered. Life was full, but we needed something else.
I found myself wanting my living room to be full of people who were walking the same path as Bill and I. People who were followers of Jesus, trying to be like Him in a culture that was pulling us towards selfishness, busyness and status. I wanted a large enough group to expand our perspectives, but small enough that we could tell each other about the junk in our lives and help each other with it.
We started with a couple we were good friends with, invited another couple who had just moved into town, and were soon joined by others.
I remember one of our first meetings, in the small apartment of the couple who had just moved into town. They’d come to Cincinnati to lead a campus ministry, which sounded cool to me, until I saw the plastic taped to their windows, and the government-donated cheese in their fridge. Not a lucrative field, campus ministry.
While the rest of us made more money than they did (we did end up among their financial supporters, by the way) we all had our own equally urgent needs of other kinds. It only took a few meetings to scratch through the veneer and start being real with each other.
We prayed together, for more money, more peace, more health, less fear, deeper understanding, greater love. We wrestled with Bible passages, seeing so many more facets of truth than we would have found on our own. Just talking about the things that were weighing us down lightened the loads.
The conclusion I’ve come to, after 29 years of marriage and 28 years of being in a small group, is that God is experienced in different ways when we’re alone, when we’re with a partner, when we’re with a small group, and when we’re part of a larger community. We need them all.
After our small group started, I knew I’d found what I needed. I wasn’t lonely any more. I had God, I had my husband and our full life but now I also had a safe group of people who would help us stay on the path we longed to walk.
Question for Reflection: What are some of your best group experiences, from any time of your life, in any type of group? What did it feel like?