Michelle DeRusha's Blog, page 12

Why We Need to Take a Moment to Call Our Work Good

I recently finished up a busy three weeks with back-to-back-to-back weekends of speaking engagements. You should know, speaking is not my sweet spot. Not that I don’t love connecting with women – I do! I love nothing more than sitting face-to-face with another woman to hear her story and share a bit of mine. And strangely, lately, I really don’t even mind the actual speaking part. Once my heart stops slamming around in my chest like a caged lemur, I kind of enjoy speaking a message I feel pa...

Weekend One Word: Witness

I admit, as a writer, I don’t much love this verse. As a writer, I tend to put a lot of weight on words. And I hope that my words will make an impact on the spiritual lives of others. I want my words to bear witness.

But God’s got me thinking hard about this. I think Jesus is actually saying two important things here:

One: Our words — what we say about God — are not the most important thing.

And two, perhaps even more critical: our actions — what we do as the result of our faith — are not the...

How to Pass Through Rather Than Brace Against

A few years ago I wrote a newspaper column about same-sex marriage. I received a good number of emails in my in-box in the days following that newspaper column, and one in particular was pretty pointed. A woman — I’ll call her Linda — wrote to tell me that she’d been reading my writing for years, but the column I had written about same-sex marriage had disappointed her, and she proceeded to explain exactly why she thought I was wrong.

I wrote back to Linda and laid out a point-by-point counte...

Why We Need Both Solitude and Community

Two weeks ago my husband and our two boys spent spring break in Minnesota. I stayed home with only the dog and the lizard for company in order to prepare for a speaking engagement at the end of the week.

I’d looked forward to my week alone for a long time. The thought of hours of quiet and uncluttered kitchen counters made me giddy with anticipation. I stocked my freezer with Lean Cuisines, borrowed a stack of novels from the library, purchased a large bar of dark chocolate and a bottle of M...

I Am From

This past weekend I spent some time connecting with a lovely group of women at a retreat. They were a welcome infusion of energy and delight after a long week cocooned in quiet solitude while my gang of men frolicked in Minnesota for spring break.

On Saturday, a few of the retreat ladies and I participated in a fun and fruitful writing exercise that I simply have to share with you. I can’t take one bit of credit for it. I first spotted this exercise on my friend Evi Wusk’s blog, and the mome...

Weekend One Word: Give Up

Well, yes, I realize Weekend One Word is actually two words this time. Sometimes it can’t be helped, right?

I heard this verse in church last week, and it was one of those knock-me-flat moments. I’ve read these words countless times before, but for some reason, they leapt off the page of the bulletin, grabbed me by the metaphorical throat, and would not let go. That ever happen to you?

I think I’ve repeated this verse — particularly the “Give up your own way” part — to myself at least two or...

What I’m Learning from My Social Media Fast

It started with a purple slip of paper on which I’d penned one word.

“Distraction.”

“What is keeping you from growing in your relationship with God?” my pastor had asked at the beginning of the Ash Wednesday service. “What sin is standing in the way?”

I wrote the word “distraction” on my purple slip of paper and dropped it into the basket as I walked forward to receive the ashy cross.

Smart phone in hand, I spend a lot of my in-between time scrolling and swiping, liking and emoting, clicking...

What You Might Not Know about Refugees

I admit, before we sponsored a refugee family from Iraq, I knew nothing about refugees. In fact, let me be as frank as possible: I hardly gave refugees more than a passing thought. Sure, my heart sank when I saw photos of lifeless bodies washed ashore or heard stories of persecution and genocide, but in some ways it didn’t even seem real. I was able to keep myself at a distance. It was terrible, and I felt badly for those who suffered, but it didn’t impact me in any real way.

All that changed...

God Doesn’t Guarantee Success

I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago when I saw that a major industry publication had reviewed my recently released biography about Martin Luther and his wife, Katharina. Getting a book reviewed in this publication is a big deal and something I’d aspired to for a long time. Neither of my first two books had been reviewed by this particular journal, so I was delighted to hear my third book had made the cut.

Then I read the review. By the time I finished the last sentence, my eyes brimmed with...

Weekend One Word: Possible

“I’ll put my spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands.” (Ezekiel 36:27)

A few months ago, after I heard an Iraqi refugee speak at a local event, I felt compelled to do something I’ve never done before. A few days after the event, I called the refugee resettlement department of Lutheran Family Services and volunteered to sponsor a refugee family.

Within a few weeks we had received the names and ages of the six refugees who would be traveling fro...