Heather Holleman's Blog, page 26

Stunning Little Nest

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When It’s a Different Voice

When I teach writing, I’m often talking about different “voices” depending on the audience. There’s this “scholarly academic voice” that’s part of the academic journal article community; there’s the advocacy voice of opinion writing; there’s the professional voice in application materials; there’s the personal narrative voice. But what kind of voice would you use for a middle-grade novel? It’s harder than I thought. It mostly involves different sentence lengths and wording and less complex grammatical structures. You’re always thinking about audience. What do they know? What do they understand?

If you’re starting a new writing project this summer, consider your audience and your written voice. Let me know how it’s going! Here’s Elita’s voice in This Seat’s Saved.

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Announcing This Seat’s Saved!

Hello! I’m so excited to announce that my new middle grade novel, This Seat’s Saved, will come out on June 6th! For the next month, I’ll share all the good things I’m planning with Moody Publishers about this book including a summer book club guide, a free summer devotional booklet, gift ideas for young readers, and a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to write publish a novel. I hope you love these characters as much as I do! To pre-order and read more about This Seat’s Saved, you can head to amazon.com or moodypublishers.com to find out more.

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How We’ll Pass It On

In Psalm 145, we read how “one generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” David explains how personally, he will live in this way: “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.” Together, everyone will make God’s name famous.

I like thinking about how each of us might do this more and more for the next generation. Which mighty acts of God might we declare from our own lives and how? How might we declare God’s greatness? Consider the unique form God might invite this to take in your own life. Writing? Singing? Speaking? Painting? Simple conversations with children? Podcasting? TikTok? Film?

Every new season, I ask God what I might declare about Him and how and to whom. It’s a great prayer to begin the month of May.

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Back to the Soups

It’s a cold, rainy day—perfect for a big pot of soup for dinner and the coming rainy weekend. My colleague sent me the recipe for Kale Soup with Potatoes and Sausage from The New York Times, and I cannot wait to try it. She sent it because we sat together at a dinner recently, and Penn State catered the meal that included this amazing potato, sausage, and kale soup. She told me she had a similar recipe her family loved, and she emailed it yesterday. Perfect timing!

It’s simmering on the stove right now, and the kitchen feels warm and cozy this late afternoon. It’s easy to make, and it’s even better to eat. I’ve never made a recipe with Spanish chorizo before, but Wegmans had what I needed. Yum!

I’ll spend the weekend indoors— grading, reading, and preparing for a week of great news for you about the release of my middle-grade novel called This Seat’s Saved. And I’ll have soup the whole weekend long. Stay tuned!

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Saying the Blessing

It’s my last day of teaching for the spring semester. Saying good-bye to students always chokes me up! What a journey we’ve been on together as we’ve explored their professional, personal, scholarly, and political voices!

At the end of each class, I traditionally ask permission to say the Irish Blessing over my students. I cry. Sometimes they cry. It’s such a beautiful moment of having an elder (me) speak words of life over the young (them). I wish we incorporated more blessing-speaking over people in our lives.

There’s something about the Irish blessing that moves me deeply in its beauty and symbolism. It reads like this:

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face

the rains fall soft upon your fields,

and until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May God bless you with these words today.

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A Little Bit

It’s that time of year for weeding. Weeds have completely overtaken the garden.

I start slowly, in tiny little segments. A little bit at a time is the only way I can do it. I know some gardeners who spend the whole day in the yard, exhausting themselves with joy. I can’t do it like that. I get overwhelmed and tired, and I wonder why anyone wants a garden at all. But when I tell myself I’ll go out there and weed for a few minutes here and there, I can manage the task. Sometimes, I entice myself with the promise of a new podcast or a whole music album to enjoy. Then, I’m out there for an hour or so. I love the feeling of deciding I’m finished for the day. It feels so adult; nobody is forcing me to keep doing yard work, and nobody cares if it’s not finished. I can weed or not weed.

I do think it’s fun to know your own work habits. I like small chunks of work time, and I like to entice myself to do it. And I like the choice of it.

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Bringing in the Fig and Lemon

We receive a frost warning, so that means I bring my little potted fig and lemon tree indoors. I like having them near me in the kitchen, and it feels good to know I’m helping protect their leaves and roots from the freezing night. If I were to imagine the stronger plum and peach trees outside protesting or mocking my less hardy little trees, I’d say, “We know their limits! We know some atmospheres aren’t good for them! They’d never recover from the damage!”

Based on your own make-up and what God designed you for, some places aren’t good for your soul. Some situations won’t help (or instead might even damage) your growth. And when you feel God removes you from people, places, or projects and seems to tuck you away beside Him like a potted lemon tree hanging around indoors, remember it’s for a time. You might stay hidden away until the weather changes and until you’re strong enough to enough a cold, dark night.

Last year, a bitter cold night killed one of my potted plumcots. My fruit-tree expert neighbors said to transplant it anyway and water and fertilize it. The limbs looked dead. I saw no green anywhere. But still, underneath, in that tangle of roots, life might still circulate. I cut away all the dead limbs and planted that little spindly trunk of tree. Spring has come. Nothing. No growth. The neighbors say, “You never know. It might come back in another year.” Every time I look out my back window and see that (nearly) dead trunk sticking up, offering no growth at all, I think that so much could be happening underneath: the work of repair, of strengthening. I’ll wait another year until I give up hope. I do wish I had brought that plumcot inside to enjoy the same warmth as the fig and lemon. All three trees remind me to listen to where God may want me (or not want me) to protect my own growth.

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Immersed in The Chosen

I know I’m late to the game, but I started watching the next two seasons of The Chosen. (I’d seen the first season when it first came out, but then I stopped.) I hesitated because I didn’t want to picture the actor, Jonathan Roumie, every time I prayed to Jesus. He’s such a compelling Jesus! I also didn’t want to fill my imagination with someone else’s interpretation of the Biblical stories I’ve treasured all these years. I know the power of film and story. I know the power of a good screenplay. Something made me hesitate.

But then, our family immersed ourselves one night after finishing another show. This time, I found myself captivated by the artistry of it. My family watched every night (first on Peacock and then on the app). We’re almost finished with Season 3, and I’m already bemoaning the fact that I must wait till 2024 for season 4. It’s the littlest things that send me into tears of worship and wonder: how Jesus calls the woman “daughter” and touches her face when he heals her after 12 years of bleeding; how Jesus says “I know” when people talk about their pain; how Jesus gets tired; how he says “I am the law of Moses” and you realize the power of the setting for the first time; how he can’t resist his mother’s request at the wedding; how he sings with little children. So many things make me read the Bible in a richer way: I can think of John the Baptist’s eyes in prison, of Matthew’s precision when I read his gospel, and of Peter’s personality. I think of Jairus at the moment Jesus raises his daughter to life. You cannot hold back your tears when you see Jairus interacting with Jesus. And you’ll laugh at things like how Jesus doesn’t like raisins (same!).

I’m happy I returned to The Chosen and immersed myself in it. My daughter and I talk about the scenes on the drive to school, and it’s deeply theological about Jesus being both God and man. You’ll see Jesus—and even read the Bible— in fresh ways as you watch The Chosen. At least I have.

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Like a Shepherd

I read something interesting this morning about Psalm 23 from Andrew Murray. What if we consider this Psalm in light of Christ indwelling us by the Holy Spirit so we become the Christlike shepherd for others? The thought delighted me. I wondered about asking God to help me assist Him in leading others to places of rest, to still waters, to restoration, to paths of righteousness in Christ. What if part of our role on earth involves preparing a table for those who need it; Involves helping the cups of others overflow; involves being a person who ushers in, through the presence of Christ, goodness and mercy into the day?

I’ve never viewed Psalm 23 this way. I’ve always interpreted it as God’s kind, shepherding heart towards me. Or, I’ve read it as a picture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and what He calls to mind about God. But I’ve never seen it as a way to behave towards others.

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