My writing life started when my mom taught me to read before I started kindergarten. My early elementary years were spent sneak-reading classroom reference books I hid inside primers. I dreamed of becoming a writer when I grew up, but those dreams got swallowed alive by tangle and turmoil as I moved into adolescence. I was lost, and not all that certain I wanted to be found, but Jesus my Messiah was waiting for me in the midst of my mess. (Read an excerpt from my book, Parable Life that shares this story in a bit more detail.) 

Shortly after I married Bill in 1979, a friend from church approached me with an out-of-the-blue idea. “I work for the National Public Radio station in Chicago, and we’re producing a children’s show in our studios. We always need short scripts. It seems like this might be something you might enjoy doing.” I don’t remember exactly why she lobbed this idea my way, but I do remember feeling like I must have been waiting my whole life for a request like this. 

I immersed myself in playwriting books, and the station produced a few of the scripts I wrote for them. I devoured every “how to write” book and magazine on the library shelf, and had a few articles and a number of children’s stories published during those years.

After a hiatus from writing when my three children were young, I began writing for publication in earnest beginning in the mid-1990’s. I did a little of everything: reviewed home school curriculum, wrote press releases for an art gallery, served as a communications coordinator at a non-denominational church, entered playwriting competitions, created skits for congregational use, and crafted lots of articles for a variety of evangelical print publications. I also began tutoring groups of home school students.

Since then, I’ve worked at a seminary bookstore, produced church services at a church and at a Christian university, served as a Communications Director for a parachurch ministry, and have been a consultant for several faith-based nonprofits. I received a graduate certificate from Northern Seminary in June, 2017. In addition, I served for 8 years as the U.S. Administrator for the Caspari Center for Biblical and Jewish Studies. 

I am grateful for the collaboration of other bright and talented writers and thinkers. I’m a member of the Pelican Project, a guild of women fostering commitment to Christian faith and practice across cultural, denominational, and racial lines. I am also a co-founder of The Sage Forum, a discipleship  initiative focused on serving women in the second half of their lives. 

My primary vocational focus today is blogging, writing books, and speaking about spiritual formation topics. If you’d like to know more about what I’ve published to date, click here.