Michelle DeRusha's Blog, page 20

Weekend One Word: Let

“Let God transform you into a new person
by changing the way you think.” (Romans 12:2)

Or, as Propaganda so succinctly put it:

“Caterpillars who fall in love with their own cocoons…lose.”

I may have written about this verse for Weekend One Word before, because every time I read it, I’m struck by the word “let.”

Let God transform you.

That one little three-letter word speaks so clearly to the fact that God gives us free will, doesn’t it? He doesn’t force us to transform. He doesn’t transform...

The Song is Wrong: They Don’t Know Us by Our Love

I recently saw a “New Yorker” cartoon that depicted God speaking to a frowning angel as they gazed down at planet Earth. The caption read: “I’m starting to prefer the ones who don’t believe in me.” I laughed when I read that, but it also hit a nerve.

Last summer I struck up a conversation with a middle-aged woman on a flight from Denver to San Francisco. We engaged in the kind of small talk two strangers sitting side-by-side on a three-hour flight do. She told me she was headed out to vis...

Books Your Mom Will Love for Mother’s Day

I’ve never done a “Gift Guide” here before, but I got the idea this month because the e-book version of 50 Women Every Christian Should Know is on sale this week for 99 cents, which got me thinking about other books that might make great Mother’s Day gifts. So here you go…my first official Mother’s Day Book Gift Guide:

50 Women Every Christian Should Know
Starting off with a bit of shameless promotion…but honestly, you have no idea how many people have told me they have given this book to the...

How I Read the Bible

I write about Scripture pretty frequently here because, well, I write about faith, and for me, faith and Scripture are woven together like a brightly colored tapestry. Butlet me be clear: I don’t consider myself a teacher of Scripture at all. At all, at all. This gets tricky, because I write in a public space. I have a platform, and though it’s a small platform, it’s still a platform. People are listening. I need to remember that.

Which is why I feel like I need to set the record straight. W...

Let’s Grow Something Beautiful…Together

When I was young I was always the kid who wanted to compare test scores with my peers. You know, the annoying one who asks, “So…what’d you get on the math test?” I was competitive, and I wanted to make sure my grades were at least on par. If I came up short, I often got mad. And jealous.

Truthfully, I haven’t changed all that much, except now I’m a big kid, and my competitiveness shows up not in weekly arithmetic and spelling quizzes but in my career as a writer. My question isn’t, “What’d y...

Weekend One Word: Accept

I’ve been mulling over this verse lately, namely because I have to write a devotion on it for my church next week. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to say yet, but I do know this: It’s a tall order.

It sounds lovely when you first read it, doesn’t it? “Accept others as Christ accepts you.”In fact, it sounds deceptively simple. But think about this verse as it applies to your real, everyday life for a moment.

Jesus accepts us exactly as we are – flaws, sins, foibles, missteps, beauty, selfle...

You’re Running a Marathon, Not a Sprint

I ran 12 miles (well, “ran”is a bit of an overstatement – “slogged” is more accurate) this past Sunday, and all I could think as I was huffing and puffing and swearing under my breath was how that training run was the perfect metaphor for my professional life as a writer (yeah, cursing included).

Here’s the deal. Have you ever looked up your favorite author on Amazon to see what other books he or she haswritten? I have. And this is what I discovered:

Before the New York Times bestselling boo...

Why Poetry?

I admit, I’ve always been a nervy-nelly when it comes to poetry. I am easily intimidated by it, and I tend to avoid it when I can (which was tricky during my English major years). But poet Megan Willome has me thinking these days. Her new book, The Joy of Poetry , has cracked the door, and I’m quietly slipping in, trying on a poem or two, letting the words simmer and sit for a bit. If Megan can get me to read poetry, I think she can get anyone to give it a try. And if you might be wondering, “...

Knowing Your Strengths Can Help You Say No

A few months after Noah was born I decided to make him a scrapbook. I scoured the aisles at Michael’s for stickers and dye-cuts and special scissors with ruffled edges. Every night after Noah was finally settled into his crib, I sat at the dining room table, construction paper littering the floor at my feet, and I scrapped.

The problem was, I hated every minute of it.

Nothing turned out like I had envisioned. I didn’t have a creative eye for matching papers and pictures. Everything I cut wit...

When Our Words Signal a Members-Only Club

Fifteen years ago, when we were new to Lincoln, my husband and I tried out a few churches before eventually settling on a largish congregationin town, namely because it was big enough for me to get lost in the crowd. After all, I wasn’t exactly a model church-goer. I wasn’t even sure I believed in God. Stepping across a church threshold after a twenty-year hiatus was a big enough step for me.

Early on weattended anew member orientation. The class went smoothly, and I was tentatively interest...