Erin M. Straza's Blog, page 2

Tilting toward the Warmth

Does anyone else find Midwest winters way too clingy after January 1? I realize winter technically didn’t begin until December 21, so my patience with it shouldn’t be quite so thin. Spring arrived on time, just a few weeks ago, on March 20, forcing winter to release its grip ever...

TODAY Is My Aim for 2019

If you are the sort (like me) who makes New Year’s goals, you know there are million ways to tackle it. You can pick a word or set goals by categories or choose one habit to practice a month and on and on. A quick online search gives you more...

Coffee-a-Month Roundup for 2018

Sometimes it seems that life is merely an ongoing attempt to break bad habits and establish good ones. It can feel like a burden, even though I love dreaming about change. In an attempt to make life routines a bit more fun, I’ve been building a coffee-a-month habit for the...

Drawing Near in 2018: The Year in Review

My 2018 theme was Draw Near, based on this passage from the Book of Acts: “And [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God,...

Persuasion Podcast Holiday Mini-Series!

Christmas is here! And Persuasion has you covered. Check out the mini-series Hannah and I recorded, call Lessons & Carols. There are three episodes, each one touching on the lessons we’ve learned from the popular carols we sing every year—and how those lessons set us up for some not-so-helpful holiday...

A Little Refresh for Persuasion Podcast

For more than three years now, Hannah Anderson and I have been meeting on Persuasion to talk about everything from food preferences and movies, to political upheaval and relationships. This steady talking has shaped me in myriad ways. I am forced to think through issues beyond the hottest hot takes;...

Lethargarians, Israelites, and Me

Some days I feel quite productive, completing projects and meeting deadlines and even returning phone calls (ahem.). But many days, productivity eludes me. These are the days where I’ve touched all the projects, but haven’t pushed any of them forward any measurable distance. (On these days, I certainly did not...

Drawing Near in 2018

Just 14 days ago, the clock struck 12, and time starting tick, tick, ticking away the new year. That’s 12 months or 52 weeks or 365 days or 8,760 hours of life ahead, as God allows. The possibilities get me giddy, which is why I always sketch out some goals...

True You 2017: The Year in Review

For a few years now I’ve selected a theme for the new year, meant to give me some focus for goals and prayer and life in general. For 2017, I settled on True You, based on something the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians: “You have heard...

Coffee-a-Month Roundup for 2017

For two years now, my new year’s resolutions have included trying a new coffee each month. In 2016, this was the only goal I achieved. (Priorities, right?) In 2017, life got away from me a few times; three months were barren, devoid of freshly roasted beans. Such a shame! I...