Caryn Rivadeneira's Blog, page 8

Folks Prayers

I’ve never read The Color Purple. Mostly because I loved the movie so much. I didn’t want to “ruin” it. Of all the things I love best (grace, redemption, “Maybe God is trying to tell you something“) about the movie and that have sunk deep into my heart, mind and soul, there’s one thing about the movie I apparently got very, very wrong.

For years, I’ve been calling any sort of wide, elastic-y, bold-patterned pants “Folks Pants,” meaning: the pants Miss Celie made in her store at the end of the movie. Because I thought that this was what she called them. Apparently–according to extensive Google searches–she merely calls them Folk Pants. I like this much less.

Because of course, folk implies culture (folklore, folk stories, folk songs, folk whater) whereas folksssss implies people–the regular people. The folks. (Except of course, when it refers to your or my folks…) And I liked that these were pants for the folks. Which they were.

But I was more distressed to learn I was wrong (and will be so happy to be shown that I was actually right!) because somewhere along the line in my terrible, random, awful prayer life folks pants turned into folks prayers. These are the prayers I pray when I’m thinking broadly and generally–about various random groups of people, of folks. These are the prayers I pray when I sit at the airport, for instance, as I did last weekend, with a group of linemen (not the football kind, the kind who fix wires on utility poles) from Providence. Their accents drew me in (Rhode Island may have the best American accents around). But thinking about the work they do–and how terrified I’d be–made me shoot up a couple prayers to God for folks who dig heels into pegs on wooden poles and hang 30-feet in the air while snipping and wrestling wires. The linemen who did this in the pole in the corner of my yard several years ago, would’ve had to ring my bell and ask that our dog be brought in. Our Rottweiler wasn’t a fan of these folks. I imagine many dogs aren’t. Add that to the list of dangers…

But anyway, linemen aren’t the only folks needing prayer. And I need to stop being so random in my prayer list. So I thought, maybe, I could start writing them. I’ve always considered my writing life–whether I’m writing books or or bad poems or essays or reviews–to be prayer. But in a veiled sort of way.

So I don’t know. We’ll see how this goes. If you’ve got folks needing prayer–a broad group, please, no specific names (God’ll know)–feel free to put them in the comments. And I’ll add them to the list I’ve already got going.

For the record, as I’ve written about, I take a broad view of prayer. I go to God in all sorts of ways. Sometimes on my knees, often with a shaking fist. Sometime with open hands, often with rolled eyes. Sometimes, with actual head bent, eyes closed and folded or pressed-together hands. But I believe God’s okay with any old way we come. So long as we do. So, that’s what I’m trying to do here.

[NOTE: One of the reasons I'm a terrible personal blogger is that I get lazy editing myself. I like having editors. But I don't have one for this. So, if you see typos or errors or small issues, just ignore. If you see something horrifying, feel free to let me know.]

SHADES OF MERCY

Proud to announce that Shades of Mercy: A Maine Chronicle (River North), the novel I co-wrote with Anita Lustrea, has released for Kindle. The hard copy releases September 1.

RT Reviews gave Shades of Mercy 4 out of 4.5 stars and wrote: “The authors’ vast knowledge of the Maliseet Indians helps paint an accurate and realistic tale of the unfairness racism has caused in our history. The story is fraught with frustration and sadness but also has an underlying tone of hope and grace. The reader will find joy in not only the message from God but also the lessons we learn from reading of others’ trials and tribulations. Even the most unlovable characters restore our faith in humanity.”

Curious to read more? Check out: Shades of Mercy Sampler Chapter 1.

I’ll continue to update this page with information about the book! Stay tuned.

Big News and Quick Information

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by my site. Glad you’re here.

Some cooling things happening in my writing world:

Known and Loved: 52 Devotions from the Psalms launched this Spring (yay!) and Shades of Mercy: A Novel is stomping at the gate, awaiting its release. In fact, to prepare for that release,  we’re busy assembling our Launch Team. Interested in joining? Read more here.

In the meantime, if you’d like to read some other stuff I’ve been writing, check out Chrsitianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog, where I’m a regular contributor; at Re:Frame Media’s ThinkChristian, where I’m a columnist (my column’s called “Wonderlust,” which I’m crazy about!); and at Soulation’s Breakfast Reading.

Of course, you can check out my other books. Or find out about my speaking.

For more about me, visit my Very Official Bio.

Out and About

Thanks for stopping by my site. Glad you’re here. You’ll notice that I don’t blog much here at all. I’m a blogging failure. At least, when it comes to blogging for myself. Truth is: I love to write, but I also love to be edited. I also love deadlines. And paychecks. So, you’ll find me writing regularly for places like Chrsitianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog, where I’m a regular contributor; at Re:Frame Media’s ThinkChristian, where I’m now a columnist (my column’s called “Wonderlust,” which I’m crazy about!); and at Soulation’s Breakfast Reading.

Of course, I also write books. And do a lot of speaking.

For more about me, visit my Very Official Bio.

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my site. Glad you’re here. You’ll notice that I don’t blog much here at all. I’m a blogging failure. At least, when it comes to blogging for myself.

Truth is: I love to write, but I also love to be edited. I also love deadlines. And paychecks. So, you’ll find me writing regularly for places like Chrsitianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog, where I’m a regular contributor; at Re:Frame Media’s ThinkChristian, where I’m now a columnist (my column’s called “Wonderlust,” which I’m crazy about!); and at Soulation’s Breakfast Reading.

I also write regularly for Today’s Christian Woman, Revelant, and several other places. I get around, ya know?

For more about me, visit my Very Official Bio.

Known and Loved Released!

Thrilled to celebrate the release of my 3rd book, Known and Loved: 52 Devotions from the Psalms in partnership with MOPS International!

Here’s what people are saying about the book:

“Profound, funny, and affirming. On days that can feel like they are never going to end, or at moments when we doubt that we are up to the talk of mothering, this book will restore weary hearts.”

-Jennifer Grant, author of MOMumental

“Known and Loved offers moms a refreshing dip in to the Psalms, bathing their souls and with comfort and encouratement found in both honest lament and joyful praise. If you’ve ever wondered if God understands what you’re going through, if he loves you when you make mistakes, if what you’re doing matters–you need this book!”

-Keri Wyatt Kent, author of Deeply Loved

“Caryn’s wise, witty, and warm words will help you enter into God’s presence in a deeply reassuring and comforting way as you experience anew his desire to know and love you and discover that you are far from alone in your journey of motherhood.”

-Helen Lee, author of The Missional Mom

Buy it here today:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Christian Book Distributors

The MOPS Shop

Speaking Requests

I get a lot of requests for speaking–for which I’m grateful! And I do my best to be able to accommodate the requests. But before I can figure out if your speaking engagement is a good fit for me (and vice versa!), I need some information from you. If you’re interested in me as a speaker for your next event, please shoot me an email at caryn@carynrivadeneira.com and include: the name of your organization, the venue, the date and time, the expected attendance, the topic you’d like me to speak on (or, if a retreat or conference, how many talks you’d require), the budgeted honorarium, and any other information that might be useful.

Also, please visit my Speaker page for more information on past talks. Hope to hear from you soon!

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my site. Glad you’re here. You’ll notice that I don’t blog much here at all. I’m a blogging failure. At least, when it comes to blogging for myself.

Truth is: I love to write, but I also love to be edited. I also love deadlines. And paychecks. So, you’ll find me writing regularly for places like Chrsitianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog, where I’m a regular contributor; at Re:Frame Media’s ThinkChristian, where I’m now a columnist (my column’s called “Wonderlust,” which I’m crazy about!); and at Soulation’s Breakfast Reading.

I also write regularly for Today’s Christian Woman, Revelant, and several other places. I get around, ya know?

For more about me, visit my Very Official Bio.

My Books

Even after years of doing it, it’s still a a thrill to open a box of my newly published books and see my name on the cover. Childhood dreams die hard and all that, I suppose. I do not take for granted the blessing it’s been to have the opportunity to write books for some of the finest publishers around.

 

 

 

For information on any of my books, feel free to click on through:

Known and Loved: 52 Devotions from the Psalms (Revell, April 2013)

 

 

 

 

 

Shades of Mercy: A Maine Chronicle (River North/Moody Press, September 2013)

 

 

 

 

 

Grumble Hallelu jah: Learning to Love Life Even When It Lets You Down

(Tyndale, August, 2011)

 

 

 

 

Mama’s Got a Fake I.D.: Discovering the Real You Behind All That Mom (WaterBrook Press, March 2009)

Sinners Welcome Here: My Hope for the Church

Last fall, I was invited to be part of a Christianity Today International's Hope for the Church project. An idea that encourages Christians to think more about what the church should be for, instead of against. I was happy to take part in this–especially since my role was simply to think up a hope (not hard, I have many!) and shares it with a camera crew for the video-project part of this. You can see the result here.

 

 

Of course, the soundbite version of this hope—that church is a place where all people are welcome—is easy to say, but hard to live out. And yet, it's something that I've felt a pressing, urgent need for and a pressing, urgent calling toward for some years.

I share two stories in Mama's Got a Fake I.D. that kicked off this calling. In one story, I find myself annoyed at a homeless man (!) sleeping on a pew before my brother's wedding. Another is a story about me catching myself nearly scowling at a young woman in a rather provocative outfit at my own church.

In both instances, my conviction of my own sin and inhospitality in God's house hit me hard (though, obviously I needed a couple of doses to really get the point!). Since then, I've been super aware of the ways we as a church ostracize. Sometimes in big ways–by seemingly non-stop public haranguing of certain groups. Sometimes it's in small way–by simply not being a friendly church, by not saying hi to new people.

Whatever the way or the reason, I do hope that church becomes a place where all sinners are welcome. At least as welcome as all sinners are with Jesus.