There is an old joke that goes, "How do you eat an elephant?"

"I don't know, how do you?"

"One bite at a time."

The not-so-hidden truth in here can be applied to so many things—projects, goals, ginormous meals. But today, I'm going to talk about how I have found this true when tackling emotional hardship.*

*No elephants were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Photo recap of a whirlwind weekend road trip to Seattle, Washington, with a ton of natural beauty along the way.

Some days, writing fiction for a living feels like walking through sludge in a mudstorm. I'm going to be honest—I spend a little bit of every day wondering if I'm actually going to be able to pull this off. But no risk, no reward. Right?

For some people, the Christmas season is their most difficult grieving season of the year.

Not me. With the passing of Noah's birthday on February 26, I have been descending pell-mell down the slope of anniversaries that bring up bittersweet memories of Levi.

Apparently, getting puppies is how I deal.

On Sunday afternoon, I had the privilege of being interviewed on Facebook by author Joy Norstrom, one of the authors with whom I am co-hosting the Inspiring Women event at Audreys Books in Edmonton on Thursday. (The other is P.D. Workman.) For posterity's sake, and in case you missed it, I am copying the interview here.

I work alone, people. And usually, I love it. But on days like today, when all I wanna do is drink tea and read books, this is what conversations around my office sound like...

Obligatory blog update. Mostly about writing. But also with a motivational Facebook Live video and guest post mention, in case you missed it. ;-)

Today, I had a break from writing. So it was kind of a look-at-life-through-the-lens sort of day. Here are a few things my camera and I saw. Also, I was so honoured to be featured on Mary DeMuth's podcast the Restory Show.

A video knitting tutorial explaining my 5-in-1 Pickup technique for eliminating thumb gaps when picking up stitches.

I hosted the book launch for Finding Heaven on November 16 at my local library, two days after the book was released. It was a great event. Here are some photos to prove it.

Over and over again, I have seen how what we believe to be true about ourselves, we make true about ourselves. And there's nothing that anyone else can say to change that self-image unless we want to change it.

Two years ago, when I began this journey, I was terrified. I was newly grieving. I didn't know why this was the story God gave me to write, but I did know that it was the one I was supposed to write. Here are some early reviews that confirmed that to me.

A photo essay of what's been filling up my blog silence.

So often in the aftermath of tragedy, Christians who have been raised to think of God as their protection charm turn away, and atheists mock the impotence of the God we declare to be firmly in control. But is it possible we have God—and his view of human tragedy—all wrong?