Michelle DeRusha's Blog, page 31

Weekend One Word: Wait

It’s been a tough week, friends, as we grieve with our black brothers and sisters in South Carolina. It’s easy, at least for me, to lose hope in situations like these. Isaiah is reminding me this week that God is in all things, even tragedy, working to bring hope and goodness out of the ashes. Together we wait in faith and hope, for the Lord is a faithful God, and he will show his love and compassion (Isaiah 18:30). Amen.

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Don’t Ask Me How the Book is Coming Along. Can We Talk about Latex Paint Instead?

Well now I know which question never to ask a writer who is writing a book.

How’s the book coming?

Yeah. Not coming. Not coming along at all, thank you very much for asking.

I can, however,tell you about a number of projectsthat are coming along well, really well indeed. Ask me, for instance, about my cleaned-out closet and my color-coordinated wardrobe.

Or about the best method for pruning a magnolia tree.

Or howto properly dispose of26 half-empty cans oflatex paint.

Because clearly when y...

The Importance of Doing Nothing

Lately, because I’m taking this Mindfulness inPlace writing workshop, I’ve been thinking a lot about place and its purpose in my everyday life. Last week we returned from ten days in the Pacific Northwest. We mostly traveled the coast, heading north from San Francisco and up the Pacific Coast Highway into Oregon, with a quick jaunt inland to visit Crater Lake. We covered a lot of ground, and the trip, great though it was, reinforced something I already knew about myself:

I like to stay in on...

Weekend One Word: Return

Anyone else besides me have trouble returning to and resting in God? I know. It’s harder than it sounds, isn’t it?

But here’s the deal: God gives us infinite grace, which means even when we turn away from him, even when we wrestle our lives with all our might instead of resting in and trusting in him, he gives us the chance to return and rest, again, andagain and again.

Keep returning to him, friends; return torest in him. He will welcome you back with open arms every single time. Amen.

You...

Becoming Mindful in Place: Observations from the Back Patio

I’ve recently enrolled in an online writing workshop called “Becoming Mindful of Place,” hosted by Tweetspeak. I realize that participating in a writing workshop while researching and writing a 70,000-word book sounds like a completely bonkers decision (and it may turn out to be exactly that), butfor some undefinable reason, it feltlike something I needed to do. So for the next eight weeks or so I’ll be sharingsome of my reflections from the workshop in this space. These posts will likely be...

Hittin’ the Road

Hey Friends,

Just wanted to drop in and let you know I’m taking a bit of R&R for the next few days. Summer starts early here in Nebraska, so the boys and I are off drinkingin some new sights, scents and sounds. I’m stepping away from the computer – alleluia! —so I’ll see you on the other side (next week sometime).

Peace.

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10 Things I Wish I’d Known as a Brand-New Graduate

Fluttering black gowns and tassled caps are filling my Facebook feed these days. We don’t have a graduate in the house this year — there’ll be time enough for that — but because graduation is on my mind, I wrote this little piece recently for the Lincoln Journal Star.

It’s been 27 years since I walked across the football field, my heels sinking into the freshly mowed grass, my hand outstretched to receive my high school diploma. I’ve learned a lot since then, most of which was gleaned not f...

Weekend One Word: Vineyard

Friends, no matter what your vineyard, no matter what your dream or calling, God is watching over it, sustaining it, nurturing it, watering it. Even if you can’t perceive the growth just yet, it is happening.
Peace for your weekend, Lovelies.

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God Chose YOU

Often when I tell my faith story or give my testimony, I use phrases like, “When I returned to God…” or “When I came back to God…” or even, “When God found me.” That’s the way I’ve understood my story: I was estranged from God for twenty years, and then I slowly came back to him. Recently, though, I’ve begun to realize that while my understanding of that process isn’t wrong, necessarily, it’s also not the whole story.

The whole story is encapsulated in this one simple verse from John:

“You d...

God is Not a God of Dead-Ends & Dashed Hopes

Back Patio Newsletter readers: you already read a version of this post, so feel free to skip this one.

Check thisout – I snapped this picture with my phone on the way to the post officea few weeks ago:

Yeah, it’s a publishing contract! I know! I know!

After eight long months of wilderness wandering, I’ve finally stepped onto a new path – though it’s not the path I anticipated or perhaps even initially desired.

Youmight rememberthat myoriginal book proposal was turned down no fewer than 15...