BOOKS
Becoming Sage: Cultivating Meaning, Purpose, and Spirituality in Midlife
For the last several decades, Western churches have focused the bulk of their resources on the early stages of discipleship—children’s Sunday school, youth group, college ministry. These are all important, but we’ve neglected spiritual growth in the second half of life. In fact, an outside observer might think that after the growth of the college years, the goal is simply to coast through the rest of your Christian life. The book explores what the unique challenges of midlife can teach us about Jesus and how to think about everything from church, friends, and family, to money, bodies, and meaning. Don’t settle for a life of coasting. Releases April 7, 2020. Pre-order today!
READ THE PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY REVIEW!
Born To Wander: Recovering The Value of our Pilgrim Identity
Over and over again Scripture tells us that the people of God are exiles and wanderers. And this is good news because exile is what transforms us into pilgrims. In Christ, we are no longer directionless wanderers, but pilgrim followers who have a clear purpose and a secure identity. In Born to Wander, Michelle Van Loon weaves together personal stories and keen insights on the biblical themes of pilgrimage and exile. She will help you embrace your own pilgrim identity and reorient your heart toward the God who leads you home. Engaging and thoughtful, enhanced with practical suggestions, prayers, and questions, Born to Wander will teach how to trust God even when you don’t understand what’s happening around you and follow Him even when it hurts.
Audiobook available here.
Moments & Days: How Our Holy Celebrations Shape Our Faith
People rarely slow down to experience their days, and so they feel rushed through life even as they begin to suspect that life lacks significance. By introducing (and reintroducing) us to the feasts and festivals of the Bible, as well as the special celebrations of the Christian calendar, Moments and Days restores a sacred sense of time throughout our year, enriching our experience of each “holy day” and enlivening our experience of even the most “ordinary time.”
If Only: Letting Go of Regret
Learn to let go of the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” thoughts in life. Discover how Jesus can redeem our regrets for his glory and our good. He can transform our past into wisdom for today and a flourishing, free future. (Beacon Hill Press, 2014) AWARD OF MERIT: Christianity Today’s 2015 Book Awards, Christian Living category
Parable Life: Living the stories Jesus told in real time
This book offers us an insightful, creative and Biblically-faithful exploration of ten stories Jesus told in order to describe what it means to follow him, step by step, choice by choice. (FaithWalk/CSS)
Uprooted: Growing a parable life from the inside out
Jesus’ stories starring grocery store ingredients like mustard seeds, yeast, wine and figs show us his power to transform us from the inside out. (Faithwalk/CSS)
The Wonder Years: 40 Women Over 40 on Aging, Faith, Beauty, and Strength (Contributor)
Well-known women of faith from 40 to 85 including Lauren Winner, Joni Erickson Tada, Madeline L’Engle, and Kay Warren tackle themes relating to midlife with humor, sass, and spiritual wisdom. (Kregel)
Holy Bible: Mosaic (NLT) (Contributor)
This Bible is about helping us encounter Christ in a deep and authentic way, through insight from every continent and century of the Christian Church. Historical and contemporary art and writings from across the globe offer a depth of Scriptural wisdom and understanding as you read and reflect on God’s Word. (Tyndale)
Quiet Reflections of Hope: 120 Devotions To Start Your Day (Contributor)
Each reading includes Scripture, a devotion that highlights God’s promises, and a prayer of encouragement for the day ahead. (Revell)
NIV Hope In The Mourning Bible (Contributor)
Complete text of the NIV and daily devotions written for and by those who have experienced the loss of a loved one or who are helping a loved one through extended terminal illness. (Zondervan)
Take My Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time (Contributor)
Each one-page, 150-word devotional exposition references a short, insightful quote from a famous woman writer from history or a woman on today’s bestseller lists. Each daily reading includes a Bible verse and brief prayer. (Zondervan)
Spark Story Bible Psalm Book: Prayers & Poems For Kids (Contributor)
Fifty of the most well-known psalms are rewritten in child-friendly language. Divided into four sections, the Psalm Book contains prayers of morning and evening, prayers of praise, prayers of comfort, and prayers of creation. Covering topics ranging from overcoming fears and facing bullies to expressing thankfulness and joy, the prayers in the Spark Story Bible Psalm Book help children (ages 5-8) talk to God when they are not sure what to say.
ONLINE ARTICLES
Co-founder of The Perennial Gen website
Regular contributor to Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog:
- Church Volunteers: An Oxymoron
- Not Just Everyman’s Battle
- The Trouble with Confessing in Church
- The Best Christian Halloween Party
- Would Jesus Walk Away From A Mortgage?
- Why Boys Are Failing in the Classroom
- The Hutterites: Beyond Bonnets and Buggies
- ‘Happy Holidays’ in Church?
- Christ and My Curly Hair
- When A Midlife Crisis Becomes Serious
- Taking A Break From Your Spouse
- Holy Hot Flashes! A Spiritual Take On Menopause
- Raising Yeshua-Followers On The West-Bank
- When Higher Education Is Neither: Why Should I Earn A Degree?
- Stop Turning Thanksgiving Into A Facebook Like
- Learning The Spiritual Disciplines From A Mormon Blogger
- Is It A Sin To Look Your Age?
- Why Nancy Sleeth Wants You To Be A Bit More Amish
- Voice of the Victims: Sex Abuse Survivors and the Church
- Green With Housing Envy: Bursting the Bubble of Coveting My Neighbor’s Home
- The Cynicism Trap: Why Trusting Fellow Christians is a Spiritual Discipline
- Why Friends Disappear When You Reach Midlife
- A New Chapter In The Homeschooling Movement
- Exposing The Sins Of The Baby Boomers
- How To Wait For A Slow-Moving Messiah
- Sexy `n Spiritual Tees For Jesus
- Jodie Foster’s Confession (No, Not That One) Made Her My Hero
- In Defense of Church Hoppers
- How Adulthood Is Like High School All Over Again
- Like Valerie Harper, We’re All Terminal
- My Teenager Made Me Finally Grow Up
- Don’t Let Women’s Ministry Turn People Into Projects
- Women Of The Web
- Who Raised These Millennials Anyway?
- The Transformative Heart Of ‘What Not To Wear’
- God Doesn’t Want Christian Clones
- The Unfortunate Art Of Female Self-Sabotage
- Raised In A Christian Cult
- Aged Out Of Church
- Tied Up In Our Own Preferences
- Faith Unsettled
- The Church Deserves Better Than Ugly Decorations
- To Have and to Hold, In Hardship and Unhappiness
- The History We’d Prefer To Forget
- Holiday Traditions, Under Construction
- Parented By Grandparents
- Faithful Compassion Over Gut Reaction
- Sex, Drugs, and Getting Old
- Blogging Truth To Power
- Long Way From Home: The Housing Crisis Lingers On
- Fear Of Missing Out Isn’t Just a Season
- The Blessing Of Missing Christmas
- We Don’t Age Out Of Our Sexuality
- Put Down The Church Attendance Scorecard
- Confessions Of A Media-Protective Parent
- Why I’m Not A World-Changer
At CT Women
- Why Advent Is More Jewish Than You Think
- Why Your Deflated Retirement Dream Might Be God’s Open Door
- Middle-Aged Women Face A Crisis Of Discipleship
- Treasures in Heaven, Tchotchkes on Earth
- Six Ways To Support and Challenge Those Who Leave Church
- Pilgrim’s Progress: How Restlessness Leads Us To Jesus
- How BSF Saved Sandi Patty
- Your Peak Life Now: How to Face Career Decline with Grace and Faith
At ChristianityToday.com
- The Midlife Church Crisis
- Passover Is For Christians, Too
- How To Keep Time Like A Christian
- Your Church Needs Boomers
At ChristianityToday.org
At Today’s Christian Woman
At Christianity Today‘s Parse blog
At In Touch magazine:
- Spirit Calling: How To Hear The Voice of God in Old Testament Prophecy *First place, article series, 2018 Higher Goals Awards, Evangelical Press Association
- Fun Challenged: A Good Time Is What You Make Of It
- Simply Christmas: The Beauty of Paring Down, Rather Than Piling On
- Born Again Dependence
- Father, Forgive Them?
- The Measure of Love
- Neither Do I Condemn You
- The ‘And’ of Advent
- Why Church history matters
- Imitate These Things (Not Those)
- Waiting at the End of the Driveway
At the Washington Post Acts Of Faith blog:
At Conversations Journal blog
The Well/InterVarsity
Convergent Books blog:
Missio Alliance blog:
Sojourners online:
The Christian Post
Outreach Magazine
iBelieve.com
BibleGateway.com blog:
Fathom magazine:
Boundless.org
Facts & Trends
Crosswalk.com
MTL magazine
Elisa Morgan’s Really blog
PRINT ARTICLES
Articles and curriculum reviews in print magazines including Discipleship Journal, Pray!, Practical Homeschooling, Children’s Ministry, Group, Charisma, Today’s Christian Woman and more.
VIDEO SPEAKING SAMPLE: You Tube
Facebook Live 6/27/18: Born To Wander discussion with Moody Publishers
RADIO/PODCAST
Faith Conversations with Anita Lustrea: Episode 42, Episode 51, Episode 78, Episode 95, Episode 115, Episode 116, Episode 124, Episode 128, Episode 140, Episode 147, Episode 162, Episode 172, Episode 174, Episode 178, Episode 185, Episode 187, Episode 196, Episode 207
Podcast discussions with Martha Manikas-Foster of Family Life Radio’s Inside Out program – Looking Your Age, But I Want THAT, The Church Over 40, Regret, Avoiding the Pitfalls of Homeschooling, Becoming a Pilgrim, Slowing it Down in Advent
Moody Radio Network’s Midday Connection – How People 40+ See The Church, Generational Differences, If Only – Part 1, If Only – Part 2, If Only – Part 3, If Only – Part 4
Moody Radio Network | Chris Fabry Live! – The Whisper App & Confession (hour 1 of the program), Born to Wander discussion
Moody Radio Network | This Is The Day podcast with Nancy Turner – Calendars and time
Chicago Sunday Evening Club’s Things Not Seen podcast: Healing From Regret
Legacy Out Loud with Carrie Abbott – Sterilization: Fear Or Faith (Parts 1 & 2, 6/25 and 6/26/14), Fear Of Missing Out!
Millrose Podcast with Lori Neff and Mark Breta – Episode 1-003
Post-Consumer Reports podcast with Chris Marchand: Episode 33, Episode 70
Moments & Days conversation on WYLL Chicago
Chained No More Radio 12-20-16 – Stepping Out Of Regret and Remorse
Songtime podcast – August 2018
Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman – 9/15/18
Spirituality for Ordinary People – 9/18/18
Spark My Muse – 12/5/19
The Way Home (ERLC) – 12/29/19
Women Encouraged – Episode #27
Called Out with Tyler Braun – 7/2/19
Lay Renewal Ministries – 10/22/19
CURRICULUM
Contributor: Bible Study Media Hearts Alive Children’s Church and Sunday School curriculum
PLAYS
The Selfish Giant (Pioneer Drama Service)
Fairy Tale Academy and Imagination’s Music (Brooklyn Play Publishers)
Skits for the church market published by Eldridge Play Publishing, National Drama Service and Lillenas.
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER GUIDE
A Quiet Chamber Kept For Thee (Creative Communications for the Parish)
Together In His Footsteps: A Family Lenten Booklet (Creative Communications for the Parish)
The Blessed Way (Christianity Today)